June 01, 2024
New eSpinner Prototype (EEW Fold)
Here is a new video that shows a new eSpinner prototype. It will be between the size and price of the EEW Nano and EEW 6. It also folds down to a super small size for shipping and storage. Watch the video for more details. Please leave feedback if you haven’t, but based on the feedback so here are some things I’m working on for the prototype I’m making for my beta testers.
- Probably will be named EEW Fold
- Will include the display
- I’m working to see if I can make a better bottom holder for the flyer
Shipping Box and Quality Control Report for EEW 6.1
I’ve seen several posts on the Facebook/Ravelry group where people have reported damage to boxes and other issues. I think it’s good people report these since I like to be open about there being issues. However, I hope people remember a much higher percentage of people report issues than report everything is working. A lot of other businesses try to avoid these kinds of open discussions because it can make people think there are more issues than there really are, but I am taking an approach where openness is best. It also really motivates me to reduce issues going forward.
I don’t have a good way of measuring box damage since many won’t report it, but very few of the EEW 6.1s had shipping damage. The EEW is designed to be durable so the items inside the box are usually fine even if the box was beaten up during shipping. I know some people feel worried when a damaged box shows up, but what really matters is what’s inside. If anything is damaged I obviously replace it. Out of the 1000+ EEW 6.1s that shipped in the first few days there were only two people who I think actually had their eSpinner damaged in shipping (0.2%). That said two other people decided to return the EEW 6.1 for a refund because of box damage without opening so I should say 0.4% were affected. I do want to improve this, but I think the cost and carbon impact of double boxing every item to avoid this is too high. Instead I will focus on other improvements. I can try to make the box smaller which will help and perhap add some internal support. Items that are smaller like the EEW Nano and future EEW Fold have a big advantage here just due to box strength increasing exponentially as box size reduces. Better taping will also help strengthen existing boxes.
A bigger problem has been quality control issues. My best estimate is this affected around 3-4% which is a lot of people when shipping over 1000 of these in the first few days. I target under 1% issues. This is stuff like loose motor screws, and missing parts. I’m not counting the reversed flyer hooks which is a different process issue that was very easy to fix by people just flipping the hooks around. I actually had the quality control pretty good on the EEW Nano 2 and Cone Winder (my last two products), but there was a regression with the EEW 6.1. I asked the factory to try and go a little quicker (assuming they would keep quality control in place, but they didn’t). I’ve made it clear to my factory that quality control checks are going to always be important going forward. Quality inspections add to my assembly costs, but I think doing a reasonable amount of quality checking is important and is something I factor into my prices.
Reducing Vibrations on EEW 6
I made this video to show ways to reduce vibration on the EEW 6. There are chapters in the youtube video so you can skip around, but the topics covered are balancing the flyer, aligning hooks, adding a clamp, adding weight, and tightening the bottom cover.
EEW 6.0 Circuit Board Upgrade and Store Spare Parts Change
Previously, I sold parts packs for the EEW 6 and EEW Nano. The reason I did this is because each item I carry in my store adds complexity for people getting the parts they want and for myself keeping things in stock. I really don’t even want to care about these kinds of parts so on any generic part I also list on that item’s page where you can buy them elsewhere online. However, I also know people like the convenience of buying directly from me and those people have been asking me to sell individual items. Because of these requests and to try and create less waste, I’ve changed to selling individual items in my store. Now people can buy individual items like drive belts, orifice hooks, bearings, and more. For the non-custom parts I will continue to list alternative stores. Just go to the main www.dreamingrobots.com page and then at the top go to “Product Info” and select your product. That page will list all the replacement part options. If you want to buy things from me just to my store.
One of the new parts I added to the store is the circuit board for the EEW 6.1. I created this video about upgrading the circuit board on the EEW 6.0 to the EEW 6.1 to increase motor life. So watch that if it is something you are possibly interested in doing. This only applies to the EEW 6.0 since the EEW 6.1 already uses this new circuit board. This new circuit board is an item in my store now.
Product Updates
Below are estimates and the dates may change.
- EEW Fold Kickstarter – December 2024
- EEW Nano 2.1 – January 2025
– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel
www.DreamingRobots.com
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