The lure of cheap stuff....

[Skywalker]

Just a word of caution for those getting into this hobby. Most of the challenges I have faced are because of improperly placed wires in wiring harnesses. Most of these products were from E-bay or discount Chinese Hobby stores like Hobby King.
My first issue was a Video Tx/Rx from Hobby King. Two of the wires were swapped in the harness causing it not to work. I then received a Camera Gimbal controller from E-bay. The sensor wire had two wires swapped. My latest was a Go-pro AV cable. Two wires swapped! Im really lucky on this one that my camera was not damaged!
Im not saying that everything from Hobby King or E-bay is junk, but be cautious on who you get your stuff from and double check your wires...

 

[Motopreserve]

I feel your pain - but it sounds like you escaped fairly unscathed.

I just had a bad crash due to the cheap PDB I bought from Hobby King lose power to one ESC. Should have known that $4 was too good to be true...in fact when I ordered I DID know! Just allowed myself to think "it's only copper and some female bullet clips, how bad can it be?" Answer: pretty bad (and expensive!).

 

[Bartman]

...........Im not saying that everything from Hobby King or E-bay is junk, but be cautious on who you get your stuff from and double check your wires...

you definitely have to be careful when ordering from them and keep in mind that just because one product may have worked out ok, that doesn't mean everything they sell is airworthy! inspect everything.

 

[gtranquilla]

Hoping you are not talking about the Super Hungry Power distribution board...... IMHO the concept still needs some work as the only reason for aluminum heat sinks is for situations where the copper plate gets into a thermal runaway condition due to being too thin. Simply smarter to eliminate the heat sinking and use thicker copper plate..... duh!!!

I feel your pain - but it sounds like you escaped fairly unscathed.

I just had a bad crash due to the cheap PDB I bought from Hobby King lose power to one ESC. Should have known that $4 was too good to be true...in fact when I ordered I DID know! Just allowed myself to think "it's only copper and some female bullet clips, how bad can it be?" Answer: pretty bad (and expensive!).

 

[mbowser]

I had the same thing happen with a HobbyKing 900mHz fpv setup. The vout and + socket was reversed on the camera board. I'm glad I spent time going through reviews and lots of forum posts researching the product prior to connecting power or I would have likely damaged the camera. I was able to fix it myself without much effort.

You may save a few bucks going for the discount parts, but you'll more than pay for it in time spent trying to find a user manual that isn't written in a comically bad translation. Fortunately, I like solving puzzles, but some of the parts I've ordered have really put me to the test. You will pay one way or another. Discounts like those found on ebay or Chinese discounters come with a price.

 

[jbrumberg]

you definitely have to be careful when ordering from them and keep in mind that just because one product may have worked out ok, that doesn't mean everything they sell is airworthy! inspect everything.

I am slowly coming to the belief with HK if it is out of stock and/or back ordered it usually pretty good stuff; even better if a USA based supplier is carrying that particular item. I have a friend who was a tool and die worker craftsman for many years. I showed him the machinework on the Turnigy HAL frame kit. He said it was machined really well and a really decent product for the price. But like Bartman said....

If it's too good to be true then.....

 

[Bartman]

i won't buy stuff that is obviously cloned from something legitimate as i've personally experienced the work/time/money that goes into making an idea into a product but for a lot of little stuff HK can be ok.

 

[mbowser]

I'm a total noob at this hobby so forgive my ignorance, but it seems like a lot of companies in the U.S. are selling the same stuff that HobbyKing and other Chinese discounters are selling but rebranded (Aren't most circuit boards printed in China anyway). The difference is price and ship time/cost. Do the stateside sellers introduce a real QA/QC department to test and reject bad parts or maybe produce decent manuals that could legitimately increase costs or are they just acting as middle men (and woman)?
I've only been involved in the hobby for about a month, so please don't take this the wrong way. I am looking for a reason to buy stateside, and will pay more; but unless I see a demonstrable value add from some local resources, I'll continue to buy from HobbyKing and other discounters knowing that I will have to do my homework and troubleshoot faulty parts.

-matt

 

[Motopreserve]

Mbowser,

I totally hear where you're coming from when it seems that certain stuff is rebranded. I think that many of the parts ARE Chinese manufactured. But...

I think the one thing that can hopefully be said about stateside sellers (especially if they have a brick & mortar location) is that if they are pedaling bad product they are going to hear about it. And that makes it in their best interest to make sure the products they sell work. I've had a nightmare getting a refund on a $10 part from HK. But I stuck with it - because they advertised, and then sold a defective product. It was the principal of the thing. Took a month.

Ideally you test the components, even if they are from a seller you trust. These multirotors are based on a ton of small electrical components that can all fail at any time, more so if you don't spend the time to check them yourself.

Tranquilla, I don't think that was the one. It was just a basic PDB. I had planned on making my own squid for it the minute I put it on, but then moved onto other things and forgot about it... Dumb!