VERY IMPORTANT!!! Castle Creations Hydra Ice Recall

[JIM MARCUM]

Castle has a recall out on all HV E$SCs. Check out thier home page, click on recall, fill out the form & mail your ESC to them. It will take 3-4 weeks cuz ther're still working on a beta version of the fix. But at least it won't crash your boat. But FIRST, check your out receiver for any issues by using another ESC on the bench at low throttle. If it's still screwed up then it's the receiver. Either way you gotta send your Castle ESC back eventually. The problem with their HV ESCs have been them catching on fire. Not good. JIM

[Fluid]

Jim, you're two weeks late. This thread is about the recall, see post #1.



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[1truckerdan]

FYI.... I just got off the phone with Joe ford at Castle Creations and he informed me that All air HV escs are in the recall ...
BUT......
ONLY the Hydra Ice HV 200 (12s) part #010-0087-00 is in the recall.......

NOT the Hydra Ice 240 (8s) part #010-0086-00

[427srule]

Has anybody received their contollers back yet?

Thanks,
Mike

[liteumup69]

NO!!! its been 2 months GRRRR its gona snow soon

[Raydee]

Castle posted on a couple different sites that they are extremely backed up and didn't anticipate the problems with the recall. They have a post on RC Groups in the Castle section.

[JIM MARCUM]

Smoked one of my Hydra IC@ 200 HVs too & mailed it to Castle weeks before the recall. That was on 11 August. I held onto my second 200 HV, but it blew the caps at the Legg Lake SAW this weekend and won't respond when I try to download the datalog. Guess I'll have to send it back too, but wonder if I will will EVER se either one of the again. JIM

[sigelitest]

240 HV just went back to castle i got 2 runs on it. seems very expensive for two runs it was only 1 month old.has anyone found one by another MFG that is the same amperage and voltage. I want to buy it as a back up while i wait. oh now i have a 5s that is a 4s because of the ESC guess u can never have too many 4s bats

[sailr]

I'm sitting here with 3 of the danged things. I'm waiting a while to let 'em clear the backlog, then I'll send 'em in. I'm not in much of a rush. Just gonna sell 'em as soon as I get 'em back anyway. I'm having much better luck with cheaper controllers like the Swordfish.

[Rumdog]

Castle marine esc's = JUNK.

[Jesse J]

Rummy, care to inform us on your reasons? your post is not informative and since we are here to share information, I for one am interested in why you say that.
Please report your bad experience(s), even though this is the recall thread...

[Rumdog]

This thread is one reason. Use the search function and check out the reviews for their old HV line as well. Pure junk.
They are HIGHLY overpriced. They obviously are manufactured cheaply. (cap issue with the current Hydra Ice) I can buy a Turnigy esc for LV apps, and a escfrom fightercat for HV use. Both of which will be a fraction of the cost. How many guys dropped big bucks on these things and have burned them down, ruined a boat, cells, rx, and are now sitting with no esc. Even if it didn't burn, and they sent it in... they have no esc.

I've owned 4 LV 240's. Old version. They were great esc's. I never ran over 5s however and was warned numerous times about even tying 6s. I do LIKE the LV 240's however.
On the other hand, I'll trust a T-180 more than a CC LV 240. And, look at the price difference.

So to recap, IMO.. Castle has been left in the dust as far as esc's for marine apps. I wont buy one unless it's the old style, and I get a screaming good deal.

[Fluid]

You of course are welcome to your opinion. Castle HV Marine ESCs were a mixed bag, the lower amp versions worked well as proven by my club members who used them. The 240HVs not so much. A great new product is the Hydra ICE240"LV" - good to 34 volts. It is fine to use for 6S. I used one on my SAW record holder, running 17 pairs of 6S passes and 2 pairs of 4S passes averaging near 300 amps - and it didn't miss a beat. This is extreme use and will easily burn up a marginal ESC, but not this HydraICE. I used the BEC feature too, not a bobble.

I also run an ICE200 in my P Sport Hydro (pretty much the same as the Hydra240LV minus the water cooling), averaging 180+ amps on 4S. A year and a half of heavy racing use and that ESC hasn't missed a beat. I've won a lot of trophies with that boat....

Live in the past if you want, it's a free country. And if you'd rather buy a cheap ESC, that's fine too. Some of us want low price, some want value. The definition of the latter word 'depends'.



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[Doby]

For the price, Castle controllers should not be having the issues they are with performance or their manufacturing processes.

They are marketed as the Cadillacs of controllers and as such, should be held to a higher standard.

[Rumdog]

OK
Lets live in the present. Their top of the line big boy high dollar esc is a turd. What is meant to be their best product is their most unreliable. People who have bought them are left with no esc as of now.

It gets a little old hearing the "cheap" or "China junk" thing. Turnigy/Seaking and Swordfish esc's are fantastic units. They are priced much better than Castle's gear, and are proving more reliable. Cheap? Sounds more like valuable to me.
If they hiked the price up $150.00 or so, I'm sure a lot of the "pros" would feel better about using them.
You DON'T always get what you pay for, and this thread serves as proof.

Does anyone really believe that a Hydra ICE 200HV is a better esc than a Swordfish 240HV?