BD Recon recall

[~mikey b]

ok - this is getting old - I’ve been patient with BD/Pieps, but consumers must be getting tired of this

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.co..._pNCF1fL_F5Udk

Black Diamond Equipment Issues Voluntary Recall for its Recon LT Avalanche Transceiver

[summit]

"oopsies"

At least you can flash the firmware with your phone... better fix than the DSP Sport "here is a plastic clip to prevent accidental search mode" or the gen 1 vipec toe issues.

[~mikey b]

absolutely

easy fix at home

unfortunately they way they handled the DSP has already eroded consumer confidence in the their products - that’s probably why they’re offering full replacement

[Meadow Skipper]

ok - this is getting old - I’ve been patient with BD/Pieps, but consumers must be getting tired of this

Exactly what I thought when I saw the subject.

[snowaddict91]

^ yup. I still have a lot of BD gear kicking around, but I've made a point to not buy any more. Definitely no beacons.

[chicken feathers]

In the last year I have picked up 2 pairs BD skins on sale, a pair of Tectons, and my wife got the Recon jacket and pants. All those items have been solid. I think the outerwear is still real nice too.

I'm still using and impressed with skins, coats, poles, shovels, gloves, etc. that I've bought from them over the years.

Still they've sorta have had that vibe that they are about to go out of business for the last 10 years or so. I don't know why they decided to make shoes for example.

I sure liked my Pieps DSP but after the recalls I'll be using other beacons for the foreseeable future.

[Jonathan S.]

Given that updating the firmware took me about as long as writing this sentence, sure doesn't seem to be all that big a deal.

[snowaddict91]

Given that updating the firmware took me about as long as writing this sentence, sure doesn't seem to be all that big a deal.

Its more the pattern for me. 3 beacon recalls in the last few years. And I still can't get past how they denied the first one for so long. I've never owned a Pieps or BD beacon FWIW, the whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way.

[~mikey b]

Given that updating the firmware took me about as long as writing this sentence, sure doesn't seem to be all that big a deal.

boom

good to know

[Jonathan S.]

Its more the pattern for me. 3 beacon recalls in the last few years. And I still can't get past how they denied the first one for so long. I've never owned a Pieps or BD beacon FWIW, the whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way.

The switch problem was definitely a ... problem.
However, both Steve Achelis and I spent a lot of time testing that switch, yet we never experienced any problems.
And both of us are pretty picky about ... everything. If you scroll through the reviews we've collaborated on, you'll find all sorts of complaints about all sorts of switch designs.

The issue seems to have been that just a slightly deformation of the plastic rendered the switch unreliable.
I have no idea what was going on behind the scenes with BD/Pieps, but I can understand how at first they didn't think anything was wrong.
Although the follow-up to that vacillated between generosity (free replacement!) vs lameness (plastic thingy).

This latest recall though just seems to be erring on the side of the caution, i.e., telling everyone to upgrade the firmware asap.
If anything it's an example of No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.
(Although the subject header in the email I received was definitely alarming at first! "Whoah, what, my beacon is defective? Oh, just click on my phone to upgrade the firmware, whatever.")

Also, IIRC (which I might not!), the second recall was, "Yo, just make sure your beacon is switching modes correctly. If so, you'll cool bro."
So I turned on my beacon, switched modes, then turned it off, and was able to safely ignore the rest of the recall email.

[Meadow Skipper]

An effective solution: Mammut-Barryvox

[goldenboy]

An effective solution: Mammut-Barryvox

True, it would be my first choice if I was buying. But I'd honestly still put Pieps over BCA, Ortovox, and Arva.

Sent from my SM-G996U1 using Tapatalk

[~mikey b]

you might be right

[XXX-er]

Given that updating the firmware took me about as long as writing this sentence, sure doesn't seem to be all that big a deal.

good to hear but updating firmware can be a hassle

updating the firmware on my shimano e-bike motor took a couple of hours of wanking about and staring at a little display which didnt really bother me as an IT perfessional ( recovering )

but i can see how some angry brit would think he sodded it or bricked it or wtf those guys are on about, i wish they would just speak english on that shimano owners site

I asked a guy who knew > me what firmware is and he said its software on the hardware

[ASmileyFace]

Not going to help how consumers feel about BD/PIEPS but this seems like not that big of a deal. I was one of the people most critical of PIEPS response to the DPS Sport debacle, as I saw first hand a few of the defective beacons (we had two that were in a rental fleet I managed).

How many Recon LTs are actually out there? I check beacons at one of my jobs and I've seen maybe one this entire season? And as far as I can tell BD has learned their lesson and is offering full refunds and along with the firmware update.

[Jonathan S.]

good to hear but updating firmware can be a hassle

updating the firmware on my shimano e-bike motor took a couple of hours of wanking about and staring at a little display which didnt really bother me as an IT perfessional ( recovering )

but i can see how some angry brit would think he sodded it or bricked it or wtf those guys are on about, i wish they would just speak english on that shimano owners site

I asked a guy who knew > me what firmware is and he said its software on the hardware

I bricked my new Di2 bike last year when I finally capitulated to the E-TUBE app's insistence that I update the firmware.
Took my LBS about a day to fix it, and that was with a mechanic who used to be the regional Shimano rep, and after much back-and-forth between him and Shimano.
(Search on your "bricked Di2" with your favorite browser to find many such incidents. And yes, I uninstalled the app afterwards and have no plans to reinstall it!)

Fortunately, the BD/Pieps firmware update took less time than writing this post.

[Jonathan S.]

[...] How many Recon LTs are actually out there? I check beacons at one of my jobs and I've seen maybe one this entire season? And as far as I can tell BD has learned their lesson and is offering full refunds and along with the firmware update.

Outside of skimo racers, probably none.
Although many people have used their phones to post their outrage on Facebook about how all those unknown-to-them Recon LT owners have had to use their phones to update the Recon LT firmware.

Agreed on the generosity of the recall terms.
The sequence of my reaction to the recall went something like:

• Oh no, my beacon is being recalled?
• Oh, okay, I updated the firmware via my app in a trivially short amount of time.
• Uh, BD is willing to update it for me, even though placing it in a shipping box would take me far more time than clicking on the app.
• Huh, BD is offering to buy it back from me to save me the inconvenience of clicking on the app?

[::: :::]

I will echo that I’ve had (still have) great apparel from BD

[Eluder]

I am not trying to defend Black Diamond/Pieps, but they are certainly not the only ones with beacon firmware issues. BCA Trackers had issues, and so has Ortovox. The stupid plastic clip solution deserves some bitching though, especially considering a lot of us got free new beacons.

[Buke]

A friend of mine was sitting on a chair lift and all of a sudden his beacon started beeping. It was picking up the signal from the guy sitting next to him. He hadn't touched the beacon since he put it on that morning. He looked at it and the switch was still in transmit.

He emailed BD that night and when we toured the next day he used his son's beacon. A week later or so, he heard back from BD. They asked him to send the beacon in for inspection and offered to replace it with any beacon they sell. A couple weeks later this firmware update/recall was issued. I suspect that his wasn't the only beacon with the problem and I'm sure it was not very common or else it would have been addressed a long time ago. It's a little unsettling but at the end of the day products are going to fail unexpectedly, especially ones that rely on software.

I've been happy with my Pieps Pro BT. I've not had any issues and I'm not opposed to updating the firmware at the beginning of each season. Setting aside BD's switch fiasco (which coincidentally I got a new beacon out of), I can tolerate the occasional recall that affects a very small number of users and is solved with a simple firmware fix.