They deleted several posts on their Facebook page. Not returning the cup is one thing. However not responding to pot failures and then deleting posts about such pot failures is of the greater concern. It suggests they are trying to hide something.

Have you lost a Jetboil cup?
Do you personally have a claim to disparage this company David?

How in the World am I disparaging this company by posting a link to this thread so that they can read it? Time to step off the soapbox, methinks. Or do some research on the Ti pot failures on these forums. Or re-read one of my previous posts where I mention that the fins on my flipping pot are starting to tear away from the pot. Yup, I Want JetBoil to read this thread for all the reasons mentioned previously. There is also no way that I believe only 1 (one!) person could help the OP but he happened to be out of the office. Pure stinky bunk in this case.

Why not send your pot in so they can learn from it's "failure" instead of sniping by proxy?

Maybe he's afraid he won't get it back...

I don't find anything wrong with them deleting posts on their own Facebook page. I do have a problem with them getting BPL to delete threads.

I have been blocked from being able to post on their facebook page. I think it is time to ramp it up with them. We have several posts about the fins failing or starting to fail. I would imagine that, given for canister fuel burning systems, that a failure of this type would be considered dangerous. and a government entity would like to know about it. Perhaps a few posts concerning we are on to their design flaw and are willing to turn them in would help motivate them?

The last option idea I have is for everyone that has had the Jetboil fin failure (or is having it occur slowly) call the better business bureau and report them for the faulty product and lack of response to warn the public about the issue. This occurance of it not only shows they are unwilling to do right by their customers, it is also an admittance that this issue is dangerous by their stance to not send the cup back. Especially if that was in writing (but even if it is not) they would have a hard time disputing this. I am sure the BBB would follow up on a dangerous product claim.

Guys, let's give it a break. They've said that they're working on changing their system. As long as the conversation is continuing, let's give it a chance to see if they can do right by people.

_SHig

Looks like somebody got paid to keep his mouth shut


Sorry I'm just having fun. It seems too me a little more communication could have avoided this whole thing. At least they're talking to you now.

-Tim

I don't want to sound like I hate this company, hell I own half of their products. But they need to know there is a price to be paid for by not doing the right thing.

I understand that they told you that they are looking into changing their warranty program. Did they say aything concerning the fin failures and anything they were planning on doing to fix that issue or are they going to continue selling failures?

Edited by devoncloud on 06/19/2012 08:45:45 MDT.

Gee dude, sorry we got their attention for you.

First heard of melting fins in February.

JetBoil has been silent. But now that we know they only have one person in the company allowed to help, the silence is understandable.

Edited by redmonk on 06/19/2012 09:10:44 MDT.

I am with Cameron on this. You wanted help and now have it, due entirely to this thread. I'd say that is pretty darn efficient. Heck, more than JetBoil.

Nobody was paid anything. I guess the wheel squeaked, and now there may be grease in return. I agree about more communication may have prevented this, however I felt like Jetboil had put down a hard line in the sand, and that their line was unreasonable and unacceptable.

I posted here looking for other what others had experienced, not for a flaming pitchfork mob. The fourth post said that they had experience and suggestions, but they never responded to my PM. But whatever the methods, the outcome was a dialog with the manufacturer. Let's take advantage of this and see if we can make forward progress without additional foment.

As far as the fin failures, I was told of their top notch quality control and that it was unlikely that any units could have left the factory with unbonded fins, but clearly mine did somehow, and it seems like others may have as well. I'd love to talk to their engineers to see what sort of solder/braze they use to affix the aluminum to the titanium and what surface prep they do. With the thermal coefficient of expansion of aluminum being nearly three times that of titanium, I wonder with temperature cycling the solder joint becomes weak? Not the case with mine as it failed on the first heating, but food for thought for the other failures.

Also, from the few photos on the web of the melted fins, there seems to be at least two failure modes. Like mine, where it seems like the fins weren't bonded or became unbonded - the entire unbonded fin has melted away and the adjacent well adhered fins are untouched. And some others where it looks like the fins are still bonded to the cup but the tips are burned/melted away. This failure mode seems more consistent with heating the cup without water or cooking somthing other than water at too high a heat which allowed the bottom of the cup to overheat. This would allow the parts of the aluminum fins furthest away from the heat sink of the bottom of the cup to burn away first. Interesting that I haven't seen any failures on aluminum systems where this failure mode would be just as likely as on Ti units.

I think using titanium fins may be cost prohibitive, or perhaps the low thermal conductivity of titanium would make the resulting flux ring inefficient. Again, talking to their engineers would be really interesting.

I really wasn't out to skewer anyone, however, and I'm a bit embarassed at how rabid this has become. I was just a bit miffed about how they were dealing with my problem so I reached out for some input. I got it. It worked. Let's see what comes of it.

Thanks!

_SHig

Now is not the time to play nice. They made a major customer service faux paux. They should have never said they were going to keep your cup without restitution. It is not their right. They are now trying to make amends with you, but they need to make amends with the community. They need to post a full mea culpa on BPL and list exactly what actions they are going to take to prevent this from happening in the future. What is happening on the customer service side and what is happening on the fin separation issue? How is it possible that one and only one person at Jetboil could properly respond to your issue? Their customer service department shuts down when he is on vacation? If Jetboil wants this to go away, they need to respond to the people who brought it to their attention. It was a community response which drove them to respond. Blocking a community chock full of their own customer from their facebook page does not seem like the appropriate response. Jetboil: This community loves your products. (That is why we are so passionate about them) Please assure us that we can trust you to stand behind your products!

I guess for my last post on this is while you may be receiving a little communication, you have to understand that these products are ones most of us have in our arsenal and want to know we are purchasing a product from a company that that has our best interests in mind and practices good business.

While I understand that this is your post we are refering to, the problem that this post brings to light is everyone's problem that deals with jetboil and therefore I believe anyone wishing to continue with the postings until Jetboil gives an on the record response is justified. We want to make sure this gets handled not only to your satisfaction but ours as well, as the outcome affects us all.

If they want to join the forum and explain themselves and tell us how this will be handled in order to remedy the issues, that would be a great way for them to bring a lot of upset individuals in this forum back to their side of the fence as long as they practice what they preach.

I sent an email to JB's customer service yesterday, I'll see after work if I received a response. For the cooking I do, I see no need yet to acquire a JB or a Reactor from MSR, I'll stick with my arsenal of 19? MSR stoves and a few other assorted brands. Good thoughts and input so far.
Duane

Well, it's over.

After all is said and done, I now have a new Sol Ti with no debonded fins. No, I haven't fired it up yet, but I feel confident that this one won't go China Syndrome on me. And no, I haven't (and don't plan on) modified this one. ;)

I really haven't heard what the new warranty protocol is at Jetboil, but they were pretty dead set against taking any ownership of the failure of my original cup. I had to sign a waiver saying they were off the hook for any damage/injury due to the mods. Because I had tinkered with it, even with engineering analysis that pointed to a different failure mode than what they had proposed, it's all on me.

Basically, their company line is that they will not speculate on any failure if any modification has been done to the product. Fair enough - it's not as designed and tested.

In a nutshell, though it was a bit of an ordeal, Jetboil did come through for me, even though technically they didn't have to warranty my cup. I give them credit for that. Thanks for all of your input and support. Now to get up into the high country and take her for a test drive!

_SHig

Actually they did have to warranty your cup unless they were able to show that your modification caused the failure as defined by the Magnuson-Moss Act.

(this is only my opinion based on my understanding of warranty laws in the US)

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of mod did you do on the one that failed and could it have led to the melting fins?
I cut the handle off mine which could be considered a "mod" but I would hate to think that this would null a warranty, especially with melting fins...