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Other => Off-topic => Topic started by: Arvicco on April 16, 2013, 05:48:27 PM



Title: **
Post by: Arvicco on April 16, 2013, 05:48:27 PM
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Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: BitSyncom on April 16, 2013, 05:52:15 PM
that's unfortunate, we will work out a solution to ship this one back and send you another.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: kirukisu on April 16, 2013, 06:22:12 PM
Already a Happy End ? :)
Nice move AVALON.
And another + for letting us take a closer look.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Syke on April 16, 2013, 06:24:26 PM
I'm surprised this didn't happen with more systems. There needs to be top supports if they're going to ship them fully assembled.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: rammy2k2 on April 16, 2013, 07:54:14 PM
waiting so long and receiving a broken one ....


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Fiyasko on April 16, 2013, 08:00:18 PM
I'm surprised this didn't happen with more systems. There needs to be top supports if they're going to ship them fully assembled.
I agree!, They appear to have a 99% sucess rate when it comes to shipping thier product intact! Luck finally ran out though.
I think they should put some wedges of some form (like cardboard, crumpled newspaper, foam) inbetween the hashing units to prevent them from taking shipping damage if they come loose like with what we see above


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: bcpokey on April 16, 2013, 08:00:49 PM
Horror of horrors. Truly a worst case scenario. Sorry about that man, hope you get a replacement in good time. I'd imagine that any spot fixes would be very difficult but I'm not a CE.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: kev7112001 on April 16, 2013, 08:36:16 PM
how much for the broken one?


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: squall1066 on April 16, 2013, 08:51:26 PM
how much for the broken one?

He has to return it.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Bitsaurus on April 16, 2013, 09:04:56 PM
I feel sorry for your loss  :'(


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: TiagoTiago on April 16, 2013, 09:13:30 PM
Horror of horrors. Truly a worst case scenario. Sorry about that man, hope you get a replacement in good time. I'd imagine that any spot fixes would be very difficult but I'm not a CE.
Worse case scenario would be if he didn't got it at all and the company didn't offer a replacement. This is unfortunate, but definitly not the worst possible thing.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Bowjob on April 16, 2013, 10:43:21 PM
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3ty1a5/


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: yxt on April 18, 2013, 10:04:56 AM
Is apparently not the only shipment -> https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=156323.msg1872222#msg1872222

A transport lock of cardboard would be really good


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: TeqnoHaxor on April 18, 2013, 10:44:22 AM
someone dropped the unit on its corner, most likely during the shipping and handling phase. Mining modules unhinged and the unit was obviously damaged at this point (clanking sound, anyone?) but the guy still packaged it as if nothing happened and shipped to customer... You need to take better control of your shipping and handling procedures, Team Avalon!

Do Avalon actually have any involvement in that process? Wouldn't it be drop shipped from the manufacturer? Still disappointing, every day you're not mining you're loosing potential profits - I mean it's great they're taking steps to rectify the situation but I cannot begin to imagine your frustration.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: senseless on April 18, 2013, 11:10:12 AM
If I were you I would unscrew and remove any damaged "blades" (i can see at least 4 with missing components). Then go through the modules one by one to see what will has and what not. Your biggest problem will be if the controller was damaged. If the controller is undamaged you should be ok to keep the working modules and send back the non working ones. If it was damaged you'll need to send it all back in.

Also, was this a batch 2 order?



Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: BitSyncom on April 18, 2013, 11:26:29 AM
pm me order number, we are looking into this situation.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: itcamefrommars on April 18, 2013, 02:12:26 PM
It looks like only some caps got knocked off.  If so - that is really easy to fix.
I know a local hackerspace would probably have the parts and even do it for free for the cool factor.  I would.

Good thing is since they are smt caps - they pop off pretty clean without opening up and getting the electrolytic pcb eating goo all over.

Seriously though... an electronic repair shop could knock that out in a few minutes - if it's only the caps that were damaged. 

Hell you could probably reattach the same ones yourself with a soldering iron if the caps did pop off clean without pulling the legs out.
New caps would only cost a couple of bucks anyhow.

This is all assuming that the only issue is the capacitors being knocked off.

I certainly would try that first.  Could possibly have it working in a day or less     ;D

If you posted higher res pictures of the damage to circuit boards - I'm sure alot of people here could help figure out any other possible damage.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Bicknellski on April 18, 2013, 02:16:03 PM
that's unfortunate, we will work out a solution to ship this one back and send you another.

WOW! Nice.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: BBQKorv on April 18, 2013, 05:38:04 PM
Customer service seems to be top notch based on the messages in this thread. Lets hope for a very fast shipping on the replacement unit. Some sort of super expedited airmail would be nice.

That kind of sight during unboxing is horrible  :'(


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Bogart on April 18, 2013, 07:24:08 PM
I would suggest that future designs at the least feature longer anchoring screws of a larger diameter.

Anchoring the heatsinks to both panels would be even better physically, and for heat dissipation, but would make opening the unit more difficult.

Someone else mentioned copper heatsinks.  This would be a nice touch also, so long as there are no galvanic corrosion issues with a bi-metal design.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Mikej0h on April 18, 2013, 08:30:42 PM
Questions to the community:

Is there some Avalon owner who found himself in a similar situation?
Any advice how to best handle this?
Obviously, it is preferable to fix the unit on spot and not waste time on return and replacement, as it may take god knows how long...

I've had a similar thing. Luckily the insides were not looking as destroyed as yours.
Packaging outside and inside looked perfect, when unpacking I noticed several cut corners and even bend alu what holds the screw and bolt.


Mine hashes away fine after I opened it, reconnected all etc. not sure who to blame too, as packaging itself was perfect shape...

As the unit does what it needs to do, I accepted it, and not even contacted Yifu about it...


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: klondike_bar on April 18, 2013, 08:49:18 PM
It looks like only some caps got knocked off.  If so - that is really easy to fix.
I know a local hackerspace would probably have the parts and even do it for free for the cool factor.  I would.

Good thing is since they are smt caps - they pop off pretty clean without opening up and getting the electrolytic pcb eating goo all over.

Seriously though... an electronic repair shop could knock that out in a few minutes - if it's only the caps that were damaged. 

Hell you could probably reattach the same ones yourself with a soldering iron if the caps did pop off clean without pulling the legs out.
New caps would only cost a couple of bucks anyhow.

This is all assuming that the only issue is the capacitors being knocked off.

I certainly would try that first.  Could possibly have it working in a day or less     ;D

If you posted higher res pictures of the damage to circuit boards - I'm sure alot of people here could help figure out any other possible damage.


^this. looking at the pics it seems like only the caps are broken. If that is the extent of physical damage repairs could be easy and effective. However, the stability and future performance of the boards could be affected by damage that is not visible to the human eye


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: rudrigorc2 on May 02, 2013, 11:31:24 AM
nice and fast response here but does the damaged pcbs have some kind of identification ?


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: minternj on May 02, 2013, 05:57:25 PM
Customer service seems to be top notch based on the messages in this thread.



UPDATE: 18 days after I received the damaged unit, I'm still waiting for Bitsyncom to provide any guidance regarding the replacement they initially promised. :(


Sorry bbqkorv, but you may be the first to say Avalon customer service is top notch. I got order in too to Avalon, but really?


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Clearfly on May 03, 2013, 01:21:51 AM
18 days and no guidance = he posted in forums only to quell any backlash in sales but has done zero in terms of customer support = avoid like the plague.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: BBQKorv on May 05, 2013, 08:02:18 AM
Customer service seems to be top notch based on the messages in this thread.



UPDATE: 18 days after I received the damaged unit, I'm still waiting for Bitsyncom to provide any guidance regarding the replacement they initially promised. :(


Sorry bbqkorv, but you may be the first to say Avalon customer service is top notch. I got order in too to Avalon, but really?

Now 18 days later I have to say that their customer service is just as bad as it gets. I had high hopes that they would get this broken unit fixed ASAP but seems like thats not really happening  :(


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: rudrigorc2 on May 05, 2013, 08:47:40 AM
Did you send them back already? I know it might be sad to handle a crippled hardware, specially on times like these, but please try to identify them somehow to prevent someone getting one refurbished item in the future that might fail sooner than later.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: ma_rine_sa on May 05, 2013, 08:57:45 AM
is it just only me? but the first thing that comes to my mind when i see those capacitors is dodgy soldering?

to be honest it doesn't look like those capacitors were soldered correctly.

if a capacitor was soldered correctly it would require a good amount of energy to pull it off even with pliers!


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Fiyasko on May 05, 2013, 04:32:20 PM
Wow i see like... Seven broken off caps... Where the hell is TeamAvalon!
Oh wait, 18 days is WAY the fuck better than 10 months...
Go Team Avalon for appearing with a post relative to the OP


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: Fiyasko on May 05, 2013, 06:55:43 PM
-snip-

The capacitors are soldiered solidly but the mining module itself is quite heavy. Once all the modules are loose,  they hit each other with formidable energy during shipping and handling. So, the capacitors pins are broken half-way above the soldiering. Nothing to do with poor soldiering, everything to do with the fact that a BROKEN unit was packaged and shipped, as I documented in my original post.

Surely things like this can happen to any manufacturer, handling cases like this in a consistent and timely manner is another matter.
Yeah, Arvicco has lost approximatley 20 days of potential mining uptime, Mining on an AVALON. Do the math yourself and see how much money he is missing out on every HOUR that Avalon takes to fix the issue


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: AM4Bitcoin on June 03, 2013, 06:17:08 PM
Maybe a fast solution is to sell this unit to some of the developers here to have something in hand quickly.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: seleme on June 03, 2013, 06:21:31 PM
Wow, what a bad luck... to order and receive machine that made people who ordered at same time some 20k already and to watch it broken and useless..

You'd probably freeze through in Ethiopia.
   


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: deadweasel on June 03, 2013, 06:27:49 PM
UPDATE: 50 days after I received the damaged unit, I'm still waiting for Bitsyncom to provide any guidance regarding the replacement they initially promised.  :o


This is fucked up.  I hope they make it right, Arvicco.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: flyonwall on June 03, 2013, 10:04:07 PM
pm me order number, we are looking into this situation.

Have you sent Bitsyncom your order number? When?


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: seleme on June 04, 2013, 12:04:56 AM
You're pretty cool though, I have a feeling that damaged one wasn't the only Avalon piece that came to your door  ;D


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: kaerf on June 04, 2013, 12:54:34 AM
UPDATE: 50 days after I received the damaged unit, I'm still waiting for Bitsyncom to provide any guidance regarding the replacement they initially promised.  :o


FWIW, at Bitcoin2013 Yifu said he didn't understand why you did not send the unit back to the address on the shipping label. He spoke quite excitedly like this was the obvious thing to do.

Personally, I would not send a package back unsolicited....but who knows how they work over there.

Maybe it's worth the risk to send it back since it's just sitting there


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: rudrigorc2 on June 04, 2013, 12:58:26 AM
UPDATE: 50 days after I received the damaged unit, I'm still waiting for Bitsyncom to provide any guidance regarding the replacement they initially promised.  :o


FWIW, at Bitcoin2013 Yifu said he didn't understand why you did not send the unit back to the address on the shipping label. He spoke quite excitedly like this was the obvious thing to do.

Personally, I would not send a package back unsolicited....but who knows how they work over there.

Maybe it's worth the risk to send it back since it's just sitting there

Let me understand , the guy came here to this post and didnt send one PM to arvicco requesting the board then months later he says it was obvious thing to do ? Thats what I call good communication...


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: fasmax on June 04, 2013, 01:14:21 AM
Since the schematics and documentation are released you could probably get this this up and running most of the way if the controller board survived.
You might have to buy a new WR703 board if is was broken.


Title: Re: Avalon unit arrived in a badly damaged condition.
Post by: seleme on June 04, 2013, 01:30:58 AM
You're pretty cool though, I have a feeling that damaged one wasn't the only Avalon piece that came to your door  ;D

Indeed, it wasn't - which in no way excuses complete absence of customer service which Bitsyncom clearly demonstrated in this case.

Absolutely. And now when I saw that he talked about you on conference and what he said it's even more mental.