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we had conversations with retailers back in March and are now contractually obliged to deliver them lights
Not putting the boot into these guys specifically, but the number of times this happens to kickstarter products is really frustrating. Backers give you the capital to actually start production and then commitments to retailers are honoured in preference. It stinks.
salmonchild-
Backers give you the capital to actually start production and then commitments to retailers are honoured in preference. It stinks.
not everyone does this ;) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/attackthepack/attack-the-pack-the-cycling-card-game
But I do agree, the commitment should be to backers first. However in order to absolve themselves of all responsibility Kickstarter have to declare that all backers are providing a 'donation'. So your contract is defunct because of kickstarter, not the project. I would like to see a kickstarter enforce delivery... but it won't happen.
benjam
More delay :(
Hi all,
As you may all be aware, the first batch of 500 lights were shipped two weeks ago and four major issues have been highlighted. I am going to briefly outline what these issues are and then what’s being done to resolve them.
Issues
The light is able to rotate while in its bracket.
What’s being done
The final 3 indicator lights are not lighting up on a full charge because this was an error in a line of the code – it is technically near impossible for the light to reach true ‘100%’ charge. In a normal use case the numerical limit of a ‘full charge’ is a lot lower and the code has now been corrected to reflect this. The lights will now show ‘fully charged’ when the battery is functionally full.
20 minute cut out. This was a safety feature built into the light so that if a Burner ever got too hot internally, it would turn off to protect the PCB. In real life use, this is only reached in its brightest, constant setting (and often in warmer environments – Eg. on a desk, not outside on a bike with air flowing over it). The limit for this was overcautious and set too low in error. It has now been changed and raised to reflect the temperature the light can in fact handle. We are now working to change the code so that if the light does ever turn off for thermal protection, it switches into a less power hungry mode, instead of completely off. We have only seen this in a very small number of Burners, which could be due to the sensitivity of these individual lights, but the changes we're making will ensure that it's not an issue going forward in any lights. If you’re one of the first to receive a Burner, we shall be resolving your light too.
The cable connection. This is the same cable that we use with the Laserlight, we have increased the strength of the magnet but otherwise it is the same cable. The problem is with the fit with the connectors. Although your light does charge, and even if it hopefully won’t need charging again for a couple of months, we agree the connection on these first lights is too fiddly and the cable is too easily knocked off. We agree this needs changing and have found solutions that involve a rework on the charge pins on either the cable or on the light. Eitehr vastly improve the magnetic connection, allowing you to gently pull the light across the desk by its cable and for the cable to automatically locate itself onto its pins. I do not currently have all the information on the timelines for these reworks but it will be done for all lights going forward. If you’re one of the first to receive a Burner, we shall be resolving your light too.
The ‘spinning’ lights – we believe there are two issues here: A light that can rotate and a light that spins freely. The former sees a light which if knocked or taken over very bumpy road, can move from it’s original position by the end of a ride. While we appreciate people find this annoying and the light may need straightening, the light is still firmly held and will not detach from your bike. Compounding this problem is that these first 500 lights had a rework where the magnetic sockets were individually machined further down (as mentioned in earlier update), which makes the connection looser and this rotation more likely. This process is no longer necessary and we fully expect the next batch to have a snugger connection and to see minimal rotation.
From this point the redesign and manufacturing and supply chain changes and testing necessary to reintroduce the pins is likely going to be too lengthy to include now, however we are exploring if this is an option. As background, the decision to allow the light to rotate beyond fixed vertical or horizontal, was in part to allow it to work with the saddle mounts that we had created due Kickstarter backers' request.
The second issue under this title sees a light being able to ‘spin freely’ in its bracket. We are only aware of two lights like this. We would ask these people to send their light back to us immediately. This affected a couple of the very first lights out the door, due to the connecting screw not having the specified amount of Loctite glue. This was immediately flagged and was corrected going onwards into production. So if your light is also doing this, please get in touch via support@blaze.cc straight away.
Other issues
The light turning off in car headlights. This is only possible if a headlight is directly shining onto a Burner for a drawn out period of time – likely stationary at traffic lights (as there is an extended lag time before switch off). As soon as the car moves away and the light is returned to ‘darkness’, it will switch back on. In the above mentioned changes to the code, we have also taken the opportunity to amend the length of time required for the light to turn off, preventing this from happening.
Burners appearing in retail
We fully appreciate how irritating this is for those awaiting their lights, please do not believe this is due to any lack of respect, but an uncomfortable yet necessary business decision. We never envisaged shipping lights this late in the season, we had conversations with retailers back in March and are now contractually obliged to deliver them lights. However, we delivered the absolute minimum we could get away with – one or two per store, so they could at least see the product and allocate shelf space for a few weeks’ time, once the bike light season had started and Kickstarter had been delivered. These lights are 20-40% more expensive (depending if you’re an early bird) in retail and now that obligation has been fulfilled, our complete focus is back on sorting the above issues and making as many lights as possible.
What this means for you
We will be offering a replacement light to all backers who have already received their Burner and are seeing one or any of the above issues. If you have not yet received your light, we are committing to resolve these issues and sending you a fully functioning light. We are working around the clock to fix these issues and deliver you a light with problems resolved and have come a long way in 2 weeks. The software changes have largely already all been made, it is the mechanical issues will take longer and we are working on a revised time line for this now.
For those of you who already have a light, we ask that as long as you’re not riding with it in ‘Bright Steady’ for lengthy periods, to keep riding with it if you want to. It does still work, it will charge fully (if fiddly), it will stay in its bracket... and so we ask you to hold onto it for now. We will be in touch with you all once we have new lights with problems solved. We will then ask if those with existing lights want a replacement and will pay for return postage. Just to reiterate, please do not return your light back to us, unless we have explicitly asked you individually to do so.
That’s it for now. I am so sorry these issues have occurred. Believe us we are doing all we can to resolve them as quickly as possible and we will be back in touch later this week, as soon as we have more detail on timelines.
Emily + Team Blaze.