BuWizz - High Performance LEGO Power Functions Controller and Battery

[HectorMB]

2 minutes ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

I don't want to even mention him, as he is here as a private person, not as their ambassador... He is aware of the situation already and seems to be not happy but also not in the position to change this to the better. Its About Fortronik / Buwizz product - nothing to do with Zero as a natural person!

I also agree here. 

[JaBaCaDaBra]

6 minutes ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

nothing to do with Zero as a natural person!

If that is/was true why is/was he advertising/praising the product here?

Edited February 18, 2023 by JaBaCaDaBra

[aFrInaTi0n]

@JaBaCaDaBra May have been the case in the past, latest information I have: He doesn't want to be messaged with Buwizz related things, as he clearly stated its his private account. For the subject of the app development, he already helped out with stating, that he pointed the issues and concerns from us here to his colleagues several times and gave me the recommendation to try mails again (which I did and wasn't helpful).

He is giving the best support he can as a single employee of the company and being not the CEO. (btw Roni Leben is the CEO of Fortronik d.o.o. - he is responsible for decisions for the company).

Maybe Zero is as embarrased as we are, maybe even a little more, as more and more people are complaining at him without him being able to do a thing against it... He is just a regular employee.

Edited February 18, 2023 by aFrInaTi0n

[HectorMB]

I don't ask @Zerobricks for official answers or support. Nevertheless, is true that I would just ask him about if we can realistically-honestly expect any update or were just wasting our time here. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by HectorMB

[aFrInaTi0n]

3 hours ago, HectorMB said:

I don't ask Zerobricks or official answers or support. Nevertheless, is true that I would just ask him about if we can realistically-honestly expect any update or were just wasting our time here. 

But you have still mentioned him in this very thread, I personally find that already too much for "you not asking him about official ansers or support" - why mentioning then? I would reconsider at least..
Anyways: What shall he say as an employee who wants to get his next salery? It is the issue of the only the company Fortronik - so the CEO's - not one of their workers issue.

[HectorMB]

Well, you might be right, I don't know I think one thing is to send a private message asking for issues with BuWizz, and other thing is to discuss here, sharing opinions. Everyone is free to ask and not to answer, I guess 

Nevertheless, Zerobricks, if you're offended, I feel really sorry and I apologize. All this issue with BuWizz drive me REALLY mad about the company. And I feel frustrated and scammed. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by HectorMB

[Danil]

Hi dear!  I want to share my thoughts on this product.  what is happening now, I mean support for the device, suggests certain thoughts ... after actually 9 months of the expiration of the promise to implement the product features that were not fulfilled from the word AT ALL, and the subsequent silence of the support service, I think it makes no sense at all  to expect anything.  most likely at the moment the remaining products are being sold and this company will disappear.  I agree with you - yes!  we've spent some money on the bouviz and the engine, but so far there's nothing stopping us from using (albeit very limitedly) the features of the product.  It is sad, of course, that everything happens like this, but nothing lasts forever under the moon.  although the potential was great.  Let's wait a bit - and it will become more obvious - either we are left with nothing, or we will eventually be surprised by innovations.  Respect to everyone from the Urals!  And let's leave the pictures alone, there is no politics in them, the fact that someone draws conclusions is purely his right.  let them think according to their development and perception.  Hope for understanding.

Edited February 19, 2023 by Danil

[Jundis]

Two weeks ago I asked the Buwizz team when the gearbox control module will be included and Jernej Krmelj answered the next day, that they are testing it.

But so the said half a year ago...

Without this modul, I can abandon my big Claas Torion MOC :-/

[Milan]

I have hidden posts that are not related to BuWizz.

While it is encouraged to express our satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the product, let's do it in a proper manner.

Use regular fonts.
Keep it on Buwizz.
Use the report button if needed.

[SNIPE]

I wonder if it is possible to use a spike prime small angular motor as a servo with a buwizz2 and an adapter cable from PV productions.

Maybe @kbalage can test this?

I could use a buwizz 3 but I'm limited by space

Edited February 19, 2023 by SNIPE

[kbalage]

22 minutes ago, SNIPE said:

I wonder if it is possible to use a spike prime small angular motor as a servo with a buwizz2 and an adapter cable from PV productions.

Maybe @kbalage can test this?

I could use a buwizz 3 but I'm limited by space

Even without testing it I'm 99.9% sure you cannot use any PU motor as a servo with a PU / PF adapter cable. 

[JaBaCaDaBra]

21 hours ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

But you have still mentioned him in this very thread, I personally find that already too much for "you not asking him about official ansers or support" - why mentioning then? I would reconsider at least..
Anyways: What shall he say as an employee who wants to get his next salery? It is the issue of the only the company Fortronik - so the CEO's - not one of their workers issue.

since @Zerobricks in the past was not the most pleasant guy to discuss with and quite persuading about his product he can expect these questions.
no offence intended but if he can't stand the heat he shouldn't have turned on the gas in the kitchen

[Zerobricks]

On 2/18/2023 at 11:15 AM, JaBaCaDaBra said:

Same goes for that neverending cada topic.

btw

@Zerobricksis quite silent lately

I was a bit distant lately due to personal issues and stress, but I always try to give a proper reply where possible.

On 2/18/2023 at 11:17 AM, aFrInaTi0n said:

I don't want to even mention him, as he is here as a private person, not their ambassador... He is aware of the situation already and seems to be not happy but also not in the position to change this to the better. Its About Fortronik / Buwizz product - nothing to do with Zero as a natural person!

Thanks for seeing it from this point. Like I sad I've been trying to get these things fixed as much as I can, but utlimately I'm not the CEO.

On 2/18/2023 at 11:20 AM, JaBaCaDaBra said:

If that is/was true why is/was he advertising/praising the product here?

Only "advertising" I've been doing of lately was showcasing my own personal models which use BuWizz components.

On 2/18/2023 at 11:25 AM, aFrInaTi0n said:

@JaBaCaDaBra May have been the case in the past, latest information I have: He doesn't want to be messaged with Buwizz related things, as he clearly stated its his private account. For the subject of the app development, he already helped out with stating, that he pointed the issues and concerns from us here to his colleagues several times and gave me the recommendation to try mails again (which I did and wasn't helpful).

He is giving the best support he can as a single employee of the company and being not the CEO. (btw Roni Leben is the CEO of Fortronik d.o.o. - he is responsible for decisions for the company).

Maybe Zero is as embarrased as we are, maybe even a little more, as more and more people are complaining at him without him being able to do a thing against it... He is just a regular employee.

Exactly, people ask me all the time when things will move be fixed on Youtube, in personal messages, on Whatsapp, etc... and it's simply overwhelming. Please know that my role is to build models and give tech support. All the E-mails you sent, I forwarded and that's all I can do, since I'm not qualified to reply about business decisions.

5 hours ago, Jundis said:

Two weeks ago I asked the Buwizz team when the gearbox control module will be included and Jernej Krmelj answered the next day, that they are testing it.

But so the said half a year ago...

Without this modul, I can abandon my big Claas Torion MOC :-/

I personally tested it in Friday and it seems to be working really good. We also updated the Bluetooth library, app update should be in a week or two, I hope. Also, the new version supports mutiple steering motors, so I can't wait to build a monster truck or a telehandler or such.

1 hour ago, JaBaCaDaBra said:

since @Zerobricks in the past was not the most pleasant guy to discuss with and quite persuading about his product he can expect these questions.
no offence intended but if he can't stand the heat he shouldn't have turned on the gas in the kitchen

My apologizies if I left a bad impression. The product itself is objectively good, though it has shortcomings which can (and should have been already) fixed. I totally understand that people are (rightfully) pissed about the lack of updates. Trust me, I want the fixes too, I have to deal with them every day while using the products and replying to all the support tickets.

For now I can give you recommendations and tips on how to reduce the probability of overloading the BuWizz 3.0 for example, by introducing a ramp time, slightly reducing the power in the power curves and by watching that the sum of currents doesn't go over 7A.

[onzenuub]

Why not a word form the CEO of Fortonic . It is his trade. it is hert workers. So let's hear from hi whart is realy going on.

[howitzer]

Here's something I'd like to address in this discussion. To preface my comment, I don't have any Buwizz products, though I've considered getting one (but decided against it, due to cost and the fact that I don't really need one between RI hub and PF components).

I saw some people commenting along the lines that Buwizz is a scam, but this is patently untrue. They have previously made functional, usable hubs with multiple iterations and delivered on the orders for those and many builders have used their products with great success. On the other hand it's obvious that there's significant shortcomings in their products and it's also true that they have failed with communication, along with some of the promises that they have made regarding future developments and fixes on issues. These are significant problems and dissatisfaction with the product is justified, but for me it still seems to be a gross exaggeration to call it a scam.

I don't know the exact history of Buwizz, but for me it seems to be a product born out of enthusiasm and love for Technic, and desire to add something that TLG won't do out of their need to keep everything safe and durable. But developing this kind of product is a significant undertaking and for someone without tons of money or a huge corporation to back it up, it's going to be really, really hard. I'm not surprised that there has been promises that can't be delivered on and technical issues that can't easily be fixed. It's a tight rope to balance on between marketing a product that's interesting and wanted among potential buyers, and making it actually happen in a package that delivers on the promises while being not too costly to drive away the buyers. I don't know what's going on in their headquarters, but I wouldn't be surprised if the issue was that they promised too much in a too short timeframe and that turned into inability to deliver. Maybe there's also management or some other issues which have led to communication failures, but this is pure speculation on my part.

[amorti]

@howitzer scam may be strong, but maybe not.

The big claims for bw3, with which it was advertised, were that it could power 2 buggy motors without shutting down and had increased range due to Bluetooth 5.

Neither of those work.

In the meantime the claim about buggy motors has been taken down, but there's been no word about that from the makers to those of us who bought that claim.

The claim about up to 100m range is still on the site, but the use of "Bluetooth 5" taken down. It's been shown in this thread that the bt5 protocol doesn't work, and this sounds right to me because it'll definitely lose signal before that IME. So how should it have that range? Bt4 only claims 60m, you'd need bt5 for more. Again, no word from the makers to those of us who bought that claim, I even bought a new phone to take advantage of the functionality.

It is more powerful than the old one though, for sure. So it'll get out of range quicker. When it does lose signal, it has no failsafe so if you had the pedal down, your model is going to continue until it hits something.

These are my 3 issues with it. Two false claims and one really dumb design choice.

Edited February 20, 2023 by amorti

[msk6003]

Is BW2 has better current limit than BW3?

And I think the current limiting problem can be temporarily solved by adding a speed step like BW2.

[amorti]

Bw2 can provide less current than bw3. In fact it can provide less current than various Chinese battery boxes which cost 1/10 the price, but that's another story.

Bw2 limits power in a similar way to bw3, but then bw2 never claimed to handle two buggy motors so I just don't put two on there.

I can add steps to reduce the acceleration power, but if that's necessary for the hardware not to crash (literally crash) then it should be handled by firmware, not software. I'm trying to play with a toy, not be a beta tester and software programmer. Bad things happen if your battery goes into shutdown on a motorcycle model, as it'll freewheel until it hits something.

[aFrInaTi0n]

As I am using the term scam without hesitations lately: At least I am clarifing that I am speaking of the poor software support and no communication at all - but stating that the hardware is working as should.

It is nice to now get a little update by now, that the app updates are "around the corner" - BUT Fortronik, aka Roni as the CEO needs to understand:
 

• This leftout communication of any status-update cost the Buwizz brand product already plenty of reputation
• Further: You think anyone will be satisfied with one little update which may bring some of the announced features or not, or if we are now already upset and will have a close look over the next month to see if its was an accidental one-timer or if the knot is now released and we can get regular updates again?!
• We are living in 2023 and as you are the small company which delivers a product which customers kind of asked for (kickstarter campaign) and accepting it very well till now, never thought about the community being so forgiving for the vendor, that even if an status-update would tell "will need very long for us to bring the next, because plenty of taks to hassle and getting IT personal is hard these days" it would be ok and we could understand?

Not really understanding how since its one year annual of the 18th Feb '22 post, this could happen inbetween:

If I would want to be sarcastic I would state something like: "If someone wants to know how much Fortronik cares about the complaints I gave to every single FB post of theirs since Dec'22 till the latest posts? 4 more BS PR-posts it seems..." 😅

Edit: Btw did Roni ever thought about someone in the community being so pissed and just creating a competitor for Buwizz and - in the worst case for Fortronik - it becoming the new "gold standard" of RC components? I heard is not so easy anymore, if a company has to share a market... So keeping his current customers happy would be benefitial for Fortroniks future too...

Edit2: Maybe it won't be benefitial for RacingBricks, Sariel, (or even Zero) to considerate cooperating with Buwizz furthermore because of maybe hurting their own reputation to a certain point if they would go on.

Edited February 20, 2023 by aFrInaTi0n

[howitzer]

@amorti, @aFrInaTi0n: There's always tendency to hype new products in marketing, and as a potential buyer it's prudent to take all marketing speak with a grain of salt, but I think the word "scam" involves dishonest intent, and not merely a product that doesn't quite meet up to the expectations. If BW3 were sold but never delivered and buyers wouldn't get refunds either, then I would also call it a scam. But they delivered a functioning product which did some of what it was supposed to do, while also not doing everything that was promised. It's entirely justified to call it a bad product or failed product, but calling it a scam is gross exaggeration.

[aFrInaTi0n]

I am open for better terms which would fit to:

"Not given any service which was offered proactivly by the vendor and then going silent for over 1 year already with just giving the feedback 'give us more time' via email requests with no real progress visible for the single user nor us as their customers".

I am very sorry that it may be interpreted as a very harsh term - but I am doing it intentionally, because they have to make sure for themselves:

The Kickstarter period is over since a long time, they are a regular company which should be interested in future customers. If they are not, all their advertisment campaign are missleading people into buying their products with maybe wrong expectations - if it wouldn"t be advertised in relation with "fastest brick" terms, I would be fine for indoor use - but also by their advertisment the impression is given that you can use those outdoors.

And then we hit again the topics of the hardware range specs still being stated as way more than the real deal, even under best conditions (tested plenty of locations, all nearly the same results).

Edited February 21, 2023 by aFrInaTi0n
typo fixing

[howitzer]

25 minutes ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

I am open for better terms which would fit to:

"Not given any service which was offered proactivly by the vendor and then going silent for over 1 year already with just giving the feedback 'give us more time' via email requests with no real progress visible for the single user nor us as their customers".

I am very sorry that it may be interpreted as a very harsh term - but I am doing it intentionally, because they have to make sure for themselves:

The Kickstarter period is over since a long time, they are a regular company which should be interested in future customers. If they are not, all their advertisment campaign are missleading people into buying their products with maybe wrong expectations - if it wouldn"t be advertised in relation with "fastest brick" terms, I would be fine for indoor use - but also by their advertisment the impression is given that you can use those outdoors.

And then we hit again the topics of the hardware range specs still being stated as way more than the real deal, even under best conditions (tested plenty of locations, all nearly the same results).

If you imply dishonest intent, then you have to prove it. Merely delivering a bad (but still usable) product doesn't make you a scammer.

[aFrInaTi0n]

What would you call their (lacking) delivery and what would be the correct term then? (native German speaker here, may be minor langueage differences which make the difference, would like to know if I did something wrong).

Would a "rip off" be better fitting?

[X0_mocs]

Does anyone of you experienced the issue that the BuWizz 3.0 just won't turn on anymore? When charging the LEDs light up in a spinning red pattern, that' it. Can't connect to my phone, it just doesn't work anymore :/

[aFrInaTi0n]

@X0_mocs

try to put it to charging over night. Seems to happen occationally afaik