Software beta testers needed for 'Anteater'

I wonder how many Anteater units have been sold and are in operation, compared to the number of units that are having connectivity issues ?
Because it seems to be the biggest issue... Although this could be a small sample.
You don't hear anything from guys that have no problems, but it might be time to think about better wiring and connectors at development/production level for the next batch of Anteaters.
 
biggy238 said:
Did you replace the remote or the control unit? The remote or the wiring near it appears to have a connection problem.

What do you mean by "jumping until 35"?

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Yes I have had the remote replaced. Basically when the remote freezes and you start from a stop or get the speed below 35 and try to accelerate it will continuously up and downshift every couple seconds until the speed gets to around 40 unless you are under around 15% throttle. If I stop and power cycle the truck it will drive fine for a while again.
 
QMFB said:
I wonder how many Anteater units have been sold and are in operation, compared to the number of units that are having connectivity issues ?
Because it seems to be the biggest issue... Although this could be a small sample.
You don't hear anything from guys that have no problems, but it might be time to think about better wiring and connectors at development/production level for the next batch of Anteaters.
Click to expand...
I will say it looks like a quality piece. I know they sell a lot of them and have a bunch running without issues. I did a bunch of reading before deciding to purchase it to begin with.
 
When I bought mine, I had issues right from the start. Firepunk sent me a new harness right away, and that fixed it...
But it still remains that mine also had connectivity issues.
 
QMFB said:
When I bought mine, I had issues right from the start. Firepunk sent me a new harness right away, and that fixed it...
But it still remains that mine also had connectivity issues.
Click to expand...
Yeah I had issues from the start also but kept trying to tune it to correct the problems. I work near their shop and stopped by. They mentioned when i went to the shop that they would send me a harness to try if the remote didn't fix it.
 
QMFB said:
I wonder how many Anteater units have been sold and are in operation, compared to the number of units that are having connectivity issues ?
Because it seems to be the biggest issue... Although this could be a small sample.
You don't hear anything from guys that have no problems, but it might be time to think about better wiring and connectors at development/production level for the next batch of Anteaters.
Click to expand...

I was kinda curious myself. Here are the Anteater boards sitting on the dead shelf:
SN# 23 - DOA. Wouldn't power on after assembly.
SN# 32 - DOA. Also wouldn't power on after assembly.
SN# 48 - DOA. No power LED. USB connects fine.
SN#196 - RMA. Gov MOSFET burnt and trace lifted. Customer states VB harness was crushed internally.

In addition, I have two early harnesses that failed our road test and were scrapped. Both had speed sensor issues. Recently we had the power wire partially seated in one harness. I'm assured by my supplier that they are doing the failure analysis for the terminal. I've also repaired a handful where the customer manages to unseat the wires from the terminals in the cable ends, but those are fixed and sent back out.

Remotes are a different story. They see the most abuse. To fix tearing connectors off, we swapped to THT parts for the USB and 6 pin cable which mechanically locks the connectors to the board. There have been less than 5 that have come back since that change was made in 2016.

So total failure rate before shipping is right at 1.0% for boards, 0.6% for harnesses, and 2% for remotes. RMAs average 1.5% of total kits sales. Those include the "I didn't want one after all" customers.

I believe the low RMA% is two-fold. One, each Anteater is road tested before leaving the shop. To be shipped, it must accept a tune upload and do a 0-60-0 road test with all gears + lockup represented. Two, each member of the after-sales team at Firepunk drives an Anteater powered vehicle. They know the product inside and out.
 
Never tried to find out what was wrong with the harness my Anteater came with... But when I got the replacement harness, that solved the problems.
 
Joefarmer.......
You interested in taking my truck as is and testing it out......then install this deal and report back? I know you're past the testing phase but maybe it would help demonstrate the capabilities of the anteater. I'll pay for it, of course. I can deliver the truck anytime you want it. Drive it, beat it, Race it.......I don't care.
 
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matty169 said:
Joefarmer.......
You interested in taking my truck as is and testing it out......then install this deal and report back? I know you're past the testing phase but maybe it would help demonstrate the capabilities of the anteater. I'll pay for it, of course. I can deliver the truck anytime you want it. Drive it, beat it, Race it.......I don't care.
Click to expand...
I have some beta testing going on right now. Let me think about it and I'll get back with you.
 
Hey all. If you have experienced an issue with the remote freezing after a few hours of drive-time, I've isolated the issue in firmware and have released a firmware fix for the Anteater Classic. If you could email me using the site's email functionality, I'd appreciate it.
 
Joefarmer... Just saw Lavon's Anteater Pro Facebook Video. What is the time frame for those of us looking to upgrade to the new remote?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
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Looking for some insight here into a couple issues I've been having.

1. When the Anteater commands a 4-3 downshift with zero throttle input, the transmission will skip 3rd and go straight to 2nd. This happens maybe 50% of the time when the transmission is fully warmed up.

2. On tunes where lockup is commanded in 3rd, more often than not, the transmission will lockup for a couple seconds and then drop back to 2nd.

For both conditions, the transmission won't shift back to 3rd unless you drop speed to below the 2-3 shift point or you pull the gear selector into manual 2nd for a few seconds and then shift back to drive. I'm just looking for some insight into what I should check before I just order a new valve body from someone to try to fix this. Also, what is the "error" column reading supposed to be in the FSTC Dash while driving? Mine bounces around a lot and I'm wondering if that's my issue.

The current setup has a Transgo shift kit, fresh rebuild with all billet shafts and extra clutches, and a Revmax triple disc.
 
jgossage said:
Looking for some insight here into a couple issues I've been having.

1. When the Anteater commands a 4-3 downshift with zero throttle input, the transmission will skip 3rd and go straight to 2nd. This happens maybe 50% of the time when the transmission is fully warmed up.

2. On tunes where lockup is commanded in 3rd, more often than not, the transmission will lockup for a couple seconds and then drop back to 2nd.

For both conditions, the transmission won't shift back to 3rd unless you drop speed to below the 2-3 shift point or you pull the gear selector into manual 2nd for a few seconds and then shift back to drive. I'm just looking for some insight into what I should check before I just order a new valve body from someone to try to fix this. Also, what is the "error" column reading supposed to be in the FSTC Dash while driving? Mine bounces around a lot and I'm wondering if that's my issue.

The current setup has a Transgo shift kit, fresh rebuild with all billet shafts and extra clutches, and a Revmax triple disc.
Click to expand...
Answer I was given:

gov psi mod is too low for warm operation. either decrease static tv or raise gov psi mod. error is the gov psi feedback. it should be +/- 20 in steady state.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
 
Wow I wish I could have gotten a response like that the few times I called Firepunk. The only input I’ve gotten from them is that it could be a lot of different things and they had no suggestions of what to change. I’ll mess around with the settings some more and address my error readings bouncing out of control and see if that fixes it. Thanks for the input.
 
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