Datamars, who bought out Tru-Test about 6-7 years ago when they were struggling financially, are making more and more customers upset these days it seems. They discontinued the Stafix brand about 5 years ago, which is no big deal because they're the same thing as Speedrite. But what they've gone and done, is they discontinued the models Stafix M36R/Speedrite 36000 and Stafix M36R/Speedrite 63000 about 3-5 years ago when they came out with their new budget models. Which is fine, but what's happening now when it comes to servicing a bad 3-5 year old unit is the issue.
The bad thing now is you can't get the parts for either one of them anymore. They're now saying that any non production model, when it's only been 3-5 years since they stopped making a model, they're not able to support them with service parts. The main hub here in the United States down in Texas, isn't even taking in any non production models anymore, but if they do show up, they're not fixing them and offering a buyback and offering a small (10-15%) discount off a new model. With the price of their newer ones being $2000+, it's still a hefty price tag even with the discount after you tack on any taxes etc.
We've gotten in for repair about 7 of the older Stafix M20R and M36R models for repair, and unfortunately they're cooked on the boards and there aren't any replacements available that I can find. So now what I'm working on is another electronic schematic for a PCB to be made to retrofit into these units. Once you remove the board inside, there's a lot of working room to install a different board. So I've got a 28-35 stored joule, 20+/- output joules and a 45-50 stored joule to 36+/- output joule board. I'll be able to reuse the factory transformer, I'll just have to cut and splice by soldering and heat shrinking some wires onto the transformer primary to make them longer so I can plug onto my board. That's in the early stages though of the schematic drawing, but it is doable. All old school electronics, overbuilt and serviceable.
Though, the only downside for the customer, they can't use the remote anymore to talk to the unit to turn it on and off from the fence, but they can still use it as a fault finder. I'll guess they'll have to invest in some good quality cut out switches to turn a section of fence off.
Fencer Fixer Repair LLC.
Datamars, who bought out Tru-Test about 6-7 years ago when they were struggling financially, are making more and more customers upset these days it seems. They discontinued the Stafix brand about 5 years ago, which is no big deal because they're the same thing as Speedrite. But what they've gone and done, is they discontinued the models Stafix M36R/Speedrite 36000 and Stafix M36R/Speedrite 63000 about 3-5 years ago when they came out with their new budget models. Which is fine, but what's happening now when it comes to servicing a bad 3-5 year old unit is the issue.
The bad thing now is you can't get the parts for either one of them anymore. They're now saying that any non production model, when it's only been 3-5 years since they stopped making a model, they're not able to support them with service parts. The main hub here in the United States down in Texas, isn't even taking in any non production models anymore, but if they do show up, they're not fixing them and offering a buyback and offering a small (10-15%) discount off a new model. With the price of their newer ones being $2000+, it's still a hefty price tag even with the discount after you tack on any taxes etc.
We've gotten in for repair about 7 of the older Stafix M20R and M36R models for repair, and unfortunately they're cooked on the boards and there aren't any replacements available that I can find. So now what I'm working on is another electronic schematic for a PCB to be made to retrofit into these units. Once you remove the board inside, there's a lot of working room to install a different board. So I've got a 28-35 stored joule, 20+/- output joules and a 45-50 stored joule to 36+/- output joule board. I'll be able to reuse the factory transformer, I'll just have to cut and splice by soldering and heat shrinking some wires onto the transformer primary to make them longer so I can plug onto my board. That's in the early stages though of the schematic drawing, but it is doable. All old school electronics, overbuilt and serviceable.
Though, the only downside for the customer, they can't use the remote anymore to talk to the unit to turn it on and off from the fence, but they can still use it as a fault finder. I'll guess they'll have to invest in some good quality cut out switches to turn a section of fence off.
2 months ago | [YT] | 10