JPI Tech Support (or Lack Thereof)

SoCal 182 Driver

SoCal 182 Driver

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SoCal 182 Driver
Friends - My recent experiences (plural) with JPI tech support have been less than satisfactory. Without naming names, one of their tech support personnel, who I seem to get every time I call, is always gruff and short, and seemingly not wanting to delve into the issues with any depth or analysis. They had a guy not too long ago who was great, but he has left the company.

Is this just my perception, or is this the norm when calling JPI for help? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!
 
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I've never called them, but the one time I walked up to their booth at Oshkosh was a very positive experience. I explained the symptoms we were seeing, and they said wait right here, went and dug around in a trunk, and came with a baggie with a small circuit board and LEDs and jumpers and printed instructions on how to use to try to isolate our problem. YMMV. (Already has, I guess)
 
When I wanted to update my firmware, they said to send it in, it would require a hardware update as well, no charge.
I had a couple of issues, none required much of their time, but they helped me.

But this was 3-5 years ago.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
When I wanted to update my firmware, they said to send it in, it would require a hardware update as well, no charge.
I had a couple of issues, none required much of their time, but they helped me.

But this was 3-5 years ago.
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You had to rip out your JPI and send it to them for a firmware update?
 
That is a shame to hear. I had some issues when installing my EDM-930, that ultimately required 3 different units before I received one that worked, but they were helpful.
 
Van Johnston said:
I've never called them, but the one time I walked up to their booth at Oshkosh was a very positive experience. I explained the symptoms we were seeing, and they said wait right here, went and dug around in a trunk, and came with a baggie with a small circuit board and LEDs and jumpers and printed instructions on how to use to try to isolate our problem. YMMV. (Already has, I guess)
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By chance was it a fuel flow issue?
 
Katamarino said:
That is a shame to hear. I had some issues when installing my EDM-930, that ultimately required 3 different units before I received one that worked, but they were helpful.
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So a person had to pull their JPI out of the panel and send it off to update the firmware, and another had to get 3 different units before it worked?

The more folks I hear from / discuss with the wider the variation of respsonses I get. The local avionics guy, a Garmin dealer, suggested I skip the GI 275 and get a JPI. Our club plane got as JPI. Then I hear stories like this.

Hard to sort out. Maybe it's similar to Stratux vs Stratus. If it works, you love the Stratux. When it doesn't, it's really bad and you can't get it to work.
 
I'm surprised. I've had good luck with them. The last run in was when I was putting my plane back together after the engine swap. I wasn't getting an RPM reading on the 830. Very helpful they say "what did you see when you took the plug out of the mag?" "A gear?" Yeah that's the wrong hole. Try the one on the opposite side.
 
I have had both good and bad experiences. At Sun & Fun, I stopped by the booth to ask about an issue with my RAD and the best way to figure out if it was the RAD itself or something in the 930. The gentleman in the booth acted like I had interrupted his lunch break and while I was finally able to pry a solution out of him, it left a very sour taste in my mouth.

Separately, I had a screen issue that required sending the unit back to JPI. In replacing the screen, they had me shift to a new housing that had slightly larger dimensions than the existing one. The work was quick and well communicated and fixed the issue. They also updated the firmware while they had it. The only challenge I had was trying to understand the different dimension. I actually marked up a line drawing in the install manual and sent it to them. What was unclear to me was whether the larger dimension was the screen (which would have meant cutting my panel, or on the "chassis" which would have required checking if I had adequate clearance behind the panel. I ultimately just sent the darn thing in, and ended up need to do some modifications behind the panel to make it fit.

Long and the short of it for me. I'm happy with the unit, but if I had it to do over again, I'd go with another company with better support. I'd contrast it with PS Engineering where the support is outstanding for a "one box" avionics supplier.
 
WDD said:
So a person had to pull their JPI out of the panel and send it off to update the firmware, and another had to get 3 different units before it worked?

The more folks I hear from / discuss with the wider the variation of respsonses I get. The local avionics guy, a Garmin dealer, suggested I skip the GI 275 and get a JPI. Our club plane got as JPI. Then I hear stories like this.

Hard to sort out. Maybe it's similar to Stratux vs Stratus. If it works, you love the Stratux. When it doesn't, it's really bad and you can't get it to work.
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I had the 730 installed over a decade ago, no problems. One nit, and it's one that the JPI tech team agrees - the analysis software hasn't been updated in a very long time, and it only works on Windows.
As for the Stratux v Stratus - you're talking a substantial difference in cost so it's really difficult to compare $125 DIY v $850 (portables only)
 
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flyingron said:
I'm surprised. I've had good luck with them. The last run in was when I was putting my plane back together after the engine swap. I wasn't getting an RPM reading on the 830. Very helpful they say "what did you see when you took the plug out of the mag?" "A gear?" Yeah that's the wrong hole. Try the one on the opposite side.
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I did the same thing. It's an easy mistake.
 
Sounds like you guys should have asked for Tom. He takes the specification from the customer and gives it to the engineers. He's got people skills.

Tom office space.gif
 
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As for customer service, with a bigger company if you get someone you don’t like, you can hang up and try again until you get someone more useful. Not sure that would work with JPI.
 
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455 Bravo Uniform said:
As for customer service, with a bigger company if you get someone you don’t like, you ca hang up and try again until you get someone more useful. Not sure that would work with JPI.
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My experience is that they only have one or two people providing tech support.
 
WDD said:
So a person had to pull their JPI out of the panel and send it off to update the firmware, and another had to get 3 different units before it worked?

The more folks I hear from / discuss with the wider the variation of respsonses I get. The local avionics guy, a Garmin dealer, suggested I skip the GI 275 and get a JPI. Our club plane got as JPI. Then I hear stories like this.

Hard to sort out. Maybe it's similar to Stratux vs Stratus. If it works, you love the Stratux. When it doesn't, it's really bad and you can't get it to work.
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Here’s a positive report: 7 years, no issues! Had a question at Oshkosh, instantly solved!

Eta-web interface isn’t great or even good
 
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I find it difficult to even walk by the jpi booth these days.

Their customer support has always felt a little like having a tooth pulled.
 
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