It feels good to write about positive performance indicators like new features, beating the competition, a growing userbase, and so on. On the other hand negative metrics aren’t discussed much in public, things like product failures and customer support. (Spoiler: also positive.)
In the past four years there have been four WA-1 controller failures. Two failures concerned the internal memory card, which is a 30s repair. With experience from the first failure, the second was diagnosed remotely and resolved by dispatching a new memory card — meaning it wasn’t necessary to return the tool at all. The third tool was returned in bad shape with evidence of electrical overload however it was repairable with chip replacement. The last failure remains undiagnosed because the user declined to return it (having received an express replacement).
In the same period there have been two FP-2 pedal failures. Early pedals used imported cables, which felt expensive in the hand, but after several batches the supplier changed manufacturers. The first two recipients reported cable failures in the first week. The remaining unshipped pedals were inspected and their cables were found in a state of disintegration just sitting on the shelf. The supplier was dropped and since then pedals have been produced without issue using onshore branded cables.
A few accessories have failed. USB cables in particular have a finite lifespan and two are known to have failed in the field. This can be confusing because a bad USB cable makes a WA-1 controller inoperable. If a controller fails to start, check the USB cable. WA-1 controllers are not only tested after manufacture, they are re-tested before shipment. The included USB cable is used for the re-test to eliminate the chance of a bad USB cable on delivery. So far this has prevented one DOA cable from shipping, which is enough validation to continue the practice.
One Mitutoyo indicator has been warrantied. In that case the user attempted to improve a sticky probe with lubrication, which is the wrong approach. Sliding indicator parts are precision machined and polished — any stiction should be addressed by cleaning with isopropyl alcohol rather than lubrication. Lubrication will further gum up sliding parts.
Software failures are another matter. In a strict sense there have been no software failures. No tool has ever been bricked by a software bug nor has a tool been harmed by bad settings (it’s possible to boot in self-rescue mode in the event of misconfiguration). That said every support interaction is viewed as a software failure — innumerable improvements have been driven by user questions making the software what it is today. Because of this customer support load in 2024 is light or, if onboarding new users is factored out, nearly nil.
Published December 14, 2024