Cracking Radion G5

[Hypnotize]

Hello
A friend of mine texted me today that he noticed that all of his five G5 XR30 Pros have cracked staring from the screws so I checked mine and sure enough all three of my G5 XR30 Blues have cracked as well at the same spots.

In utter shock I looked online if we were the only ones and came by this thread.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/radion-g5-shipping-boxing-issues.698814/page-3#post-7285979
Please check your Radions

 

[Blknovass]

That almost looks like it was overtightened and too much stress put on the case. Sorry to see that.

 

[Hypnotize]

That almost looks like it was overtightened and too much stress put on the case. Sorry to see that.

That's what I thought to or the material of the casing was just to weak.

 

[Blknovass]

Yea either way too expensive of a device to have that happen. Hope they make it right for you they are a decent brand at least.

 

[HolySmoke]

Thanks for posting this. It makes a lot of sense and is the source of the popping I believe. I thought it was coming from the lens. The expansion and contraction is def the cause of that. The higher the intensity of my lights, the more they pop.

Those bolts were definitely torqued too much. Everyone check your G5s for a ripple on the bottom of black housing about 3/4" away from where the lens starts. 2 out of 3 of mine have a imperfection on the housing. It's not really a big deal who is staring at the bottom of the light but I'm curious how common this is. My xr15 does not have this. It has zero popping and fan is a tiny bit quieter. I asked ecotech to switch xr30s for 15s for multiple reasons and predictably they said NO. It wasn't because BRS released a video on spread numbers at all and one of the main reasons for the upgrade was to cut down on units over the tank.

I almost feel bad for ecotech at this point. Bragging about R&D and building a fan from scratch, and the light is a disaster haha. Almost every versa that went out is leaking from the john guest fittings. The funny thing is even with all this crap I still much prefer the light over the g4.

 

[banger32]

Just read this post and decided to check mine and sure enough they are cracking.

 

[HolySmoke]

I'm sure if I check mine they are cracked but honestly It doesnt even matter at this point. Every single person who recieved a light should stand their ground about getting replacements. This is unacceptable on so many levels.

The housing is clearly not rigid enough to handle the heat or the connection points.

 

[t7ri]

Oh, god, I immediately just checked two of my XR30 Blue and both are cracked as well. dang!

 

[Brian_68]

Perhaps the heating / expansion and cooling on a daily basis. Either way wow is that a terrible design. Have to wonder how long they tested beta units and how many prior to releasing to production.

 

[GlassMunky]

Thanks for posting this. It makes a lot of sense and is the source of the popping I believe. I thought it was coming from the lens. The expansion and contraction is def the cause of that. The higher the intensity of my lights, the more they pop.

Those bolts were definitely torqued too much. Everyone check your G5s for a ripple on the bottom of black housing about 3/4" away from where the lens starts. 2 out of 3 of mine have a imperfection on the housing. It's not really a big deal who is staring at the bottom of the light but I'm curious how common this is. My xr15 does not have this. It has zero popping and fan is a tiny bit quieter. I asked ecotech to switch xr30s for 15s for multiple reasons and predictably they said NO. It wasn't because BRS released a video on spread numbers at all and one of the main reasons for the upgrade was to cut down on units over the tank.

I almost feel bad for ecotech at this point. Bragging about R&D and building a fan from scratch, and the light is a disaster haha. Almost every versa that went out is leaking from the john guest fittings. The funny thing is even with all this crap I still much prefer the light over the g4.

Don’t feel bad they did this to themselves, and deserve the bad rap from it.
In the past 2 years, As a company as a whole, they have seriously dropped quality all around from products to customer service.
Moving forward I don’t think I’ll ever buy anything else Ecotech ,except maybe a couple MP40s, whereas I’ve been using most of their products since the first generations. Seriously disappointing

 

[mfinn]

All 3 of my brand new ones( right out of the box) have cracks on almost every bolt.

 

[robbyg]

It could be that they got shafted by the supplier of the cases. Our company had numerous occasions when the first demo batch sent from China was really good and then the production batch that came later was made of cheaper material. We always had to keep on top of QC on every delivery.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

It could be that they got shafted by the supplier of the cases. Our company had numerous occasions when the first demo batch sent from China was really good and then the production batch that came later was made of cheaper material. We always had to keep on top of QC on every delivery.

that usually what happens when a company try to cut costs by out sourcing but again if it was made here it would be $1000 for a XR15. Then no one would buy it, then the cycle of other companies out sourcing start it all over.

 

[robbyg]

that usually what happens when a company try to cut costs by out sourcing but again if it was made here it would be $1000 for a XR15. Then no one would buy it, then the cycle of other companies out sourcing start it all over.

There are a lot of custom made items that just cannot be made in the USA cheap enough to meet the markets price expectations. I think as a whole the society needs to be willing to start paying more if we want better quality products and more investment in the country. I am sure Ecotech will make this right by most likely sending out new cover panels. Unfortunately given the current situation this is probably going to be months away from happening. It would be interesting if a Poll was done to see how many people are having this problem, It may not be as wide spread it seems.

 

[Brian_68]

There are a lot of custom made items that just cannot be made in the USA cheap enough to meet the markets price expectations. I think as a whole the society needs to be willing to start paying more if we want better quality products and more investment in the country. I am sure Ecotech will make this right by most likely sending out new cover panels. Unfortunately given the current situation this is probably going to be months away from happening. It would be interesting if a Poll was done to see how many people are having this problem, It may not be as wide spread it seems.

In our work the custom designed plastic components are sourced both domestically and from China and the cost difference is really not that much since it is automated. The intial tool is much cheaper in China usually since that has much more labor to machine. It is a balance, if we manufacture everything in the US we would have a much lower standard of living for everyone, as opposed to having the country that can do it the most efficient do it. That is what makes a country more productive, doing what they do best, and outsourcing the more labor intensive non-value add tasks.

 

[Hypnotize]

Do I have to say more?

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Just came across this thread, walked over to my tank, sure enough, cracks..

 

[Hypnotize]

Just came across this thread, walked over to my tank, sure enough, cracks..

Sorry to hear...

 

[ca1ore]

I think as a whole the society needs to be willing to start paying more if we want better quality products and more investment in the country.

Agree 1000%!! Folks cannot complain about the lack of domestic manufacturing jobs and advocate for made-in-the-US without also recognizing that labor arbitrage is real and that things will cost more. Cannot happen overnight as skills and facilities have to be rebuilt here also. Sorry for the mini soap box ....

 

[ca1ore]

It would be interesting to see what percentage of G5 owners are having this problem. Also, whether they come already cracked (suggesting it’s a bolt torquing problem) or crack with use (suggesting it’s a thermal management problem, at least in part). Either way, an ‘ouch’ for ETM.

Neither here nor there perhaps, but it did occur to me that ETM seemed to be taking on a whole lot of new stuff simultaneously for a small business .... versa, mobius, G5. Had they asked me (which they didn’t ;)) .....