What about your HW80A setup? How much current is it drawing? I've checked for binding but there seems to be none. While checking for binding, one thing I've come to realised is that tyres with firmer/harder foam inserts take less effort to rotate. It kind of makes sense seeing why tyres of real cars are all inflated to a certain pressure for max fuel efficiency.

I don't have a datalogger so I can't tell what current is being drawn on my 80A. I know it doesn't get above 85F (29.5C) and runs really cool. I'm hitting about 40mph, but really fast. I think I need taller gearing. My motor only gets to 105F doing lots of speed runs. It would run cooler on a track probably.
Firmer tires are easier to rotate as the contact patch is reduced. There's always a compromise. I'm more familiar with supsension and tire tuning on real cars. While most of those concepts apply in the scale world, I'm not sure if all do.

I see. For sure my setup is drawing too much current. I really wish for a longer run time on my 4500mah batts.

Guys When testing the HW80A with a different timing, it failed.

Prior to failure, I was getting a peak of 93.43A at 4S at 7.5 degree timing vs 127A peak at 3.75 degree timing.

I was running the truck without any problem at 3.75 degree. And upon changing the timing, I could feel that the acceleration was significantly reduced, top speed reduced and motor/esc temp reduced. The ESC failed after several speed passes. While doing the last speed run, the truck slowed down to a crawl for no reason. It still moves but very slow. I had no accident with the truck. I was simply doing speed runs. The ESC did not overheat. Temp should be around 50 C. I've measured the esc at 53degrees before but this time, it feels cooler and so I estimate it to be around 50C at the time of failure. I didn't know what happened to my truck. The motor seems to be alrite and so I opened the esc to take a look.

Several of the mosfets are cracked or exploded as seen in the pictures. Broken particles from the mosfets can be seen on the PCB. Now I need to get a replacement. Damn. This is only the 2nd week of owning the ESC. Now I am afraid to get these HW escs. To the ppl here, don't play around with the timing.

dun play with the punch n timing for now till the bug is solved, btw I hv not gotten back my replacement 150amp esc from china yet. It's so troublesome

So will u be getting a one to one replacement?

just an open question to anyone that has had a failure:
how many of you have had the esc`s firmware upgraded to the latest version before it fried?

[we need to see if the last two firmware updates fixed the issue].

I don't know which version my esc was on. But I had it for only 2 weeks.

I've got two questions for you: 1. How can I tell which firmware my HW 80A ESC is running? 2. How do I upgrade the firmware on the ESC when there is a new version? Thanks

BTW: My HW 80A is still running strong in my Rustler. A little too strong, it keeps killing driveline parts. :yes: Thats the type of failure that still puts a smile for some reason. lol

-Brian

the hw link is pretty much like castle link [for the time being, only the throttle/brake curves are missing].
to use it, you will need hobbywing`s 'program box', which serves as a portable programming card/box and a usb link to your computer [for firmware upgrades,etc].
http://www.hobbywing.com/english/Art...?ArticleID=446

the program [hw link] will tell you what version of firmware you have, and will also automatically check for any updates online.

Just I'm sure, is this the same program box:

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail.php?prod=hwprocard

It looks differnt. If it's the advanced box that I need, where would I pick one up? Ebay?

-Brian

-Brian

yes it is different.
this is what you will need:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hobbywing-2-IN-1...3A1%7C294%3A50

Thanks for the help. Right now I'm still running everything in default mode and everything is happy. The 4 pole medusa runs cool and smooth on the 15 degrees of timing.

-Brian

yeah, no need to alter the timing for the medusa. 15 is perfect...

should be lor, the esc was burnt n melted unless they can repair it. But the wait is killing me, dunno I shld buy another hw or another brand as replacement:(

Yeah me2 untill I changed the punch to zero. Do not set ur punch to zero

Thanks for the tip. I have been reading these failure threads, and it seems that the failures are comming when the users are trying to runa setting at the bottom of the curve. As of right now everything is at default and I have no intentions of chaning anything. I would like the ability to upload new firmware if and when thats an option too though.

-Brian

I've run my EZRuns from 3.75 - 15* timing and from Level 3 to 7 punch without problems. But I didn't go to the extremes. That's a bit scary.

It sounds like the punch settings might be reversed from what it says in the manual. Per the manual, the higher the stting, the more punch (less punch control). But it seems that the lower the setting, the more current it draws which means more punch...contrary to what the manual says. This is the way MMs and MMMs work so it wouldn't be a complete surprise if it does actually work the same as CC ESCs but just written wrong in the literature.

ok good news. I've contacted the vendor and he told me to send the damaged esc back to him. he will get it repaired free of charge and return postage will be paid by him.

But it takes 5 days for the esc to reach him, 10 to 15 days and probably a week for it to go back to me. So I am going to have to wait for a month for my esc to be returned to me. That's a long wait. I will probably get a Hw150A and not play with the timing in the mean time.

Sounds great who is ur vendor? Mayb I will buy from him

Bad news....I broken my hw 150 and I do not know why....
Well I'm testing my new drift tires for 1/8 buggy, My hw was on 6s start mode 2 and tming 22 deg, I used it many times with this setting, at the end of the first battery I waited the motor to cool down esc was cold all the time, I connected the second battery, switched on the esc, I heard first bip from motor, second bip from motor, insted of the third bip I heard a puff from esc, like a burst, and then I saw white smoke, finish, end of the story, esc is gone, well now I start to get a little upset..this was completely unexpected and all the parameters were fine, I was not even using the throttle, jst put on the switch...anyone has a feedback of repaired esc directly from hw?
thx

The sad news is after I burnt d esc n sent it to china agent I hv not heard from them since. As written in d earlier post I may not buy their 1/8 car esc anymore if their service remains so lousy.

It does suck when an ESC burns up and is difficult to get service, but really, the old adage "you get what you pay for" applies here I think. It's a risk analysis: do I go cheap and hope everything lasts ok, or do I spend the extra cash to get better CS and not worry about it? Sorry if it seems I am victimizing the victim, but bad things happen to even the best of ESCs, so it's not unlikely these types of situations are going to occur.

I like cc service but their mmmv3 is also unpredictable. I wonder is tekin any better.

Yeah, but any high power ESC is gonna have more risk of blowing. Higher voltage and higher current can easily damage things if one little thing goes wrong. Just sit down and and really think about the levels of power these tiny devices are channeling! It's quite mid-blowing to me that they can do it, let alone do it without failures. At least CC has gone above and beyond to straighten things out witht eh V1/2 fiasco. Try that will someone like Schulze and they tell you it's your fault. Now that the MMM V3 has been out for a while, there are a LOT less failures - sure they're gonna happen, but a lot less often.

when I buy a product, I expect that it works. I pay a certain amount for it, and if it's cheaper then some other products, may not mean that it's ok to fail.
for ex. I buy a small suzuki car, which would be chaper then a comparable small BMW. would that mean that it's just ok that the engine doesn't work after a week?

I think it can happen that new products fail, no matter what the price tag is. but when it fails, you have to get an replacement at least. it is not my problem that they didn't finish their work...

I payed for a working product, not for a not-working one.

and as hobbywing is NOT a small company but manufacturer for some known brands, I expect professional behaviour.

on the other hand, I have this bloody cheapo 200A ESC, and except the stupid breaks it just works flawlessly. It was real cheap, but - it works!!??

sorry guys, but it really pi..es me off when I see how they are rippin off people.:diablo:

How are they ripping people off? Many/most do work, and work just fine. Yeah, their support leaves much to be desired, but a company is in business to make money and to offer such a cheap ESC for the capabilities, they must have to cut corners somewhere.

Look at Feigao; they are cheap motors that do the job. But, they are not as good as a high priced motor and have issues. On the same token, Neus are high priced, but have occasional issues as well.

Any high performance system, whether it be cars, audio, r/c, etc, is running closer to "the rail". So, it is understandable that there will be malfunctions.

The only point I'll grant you is that they should readily honor a warranty for defects. But to expect high-end ESC performance/support without paying the high-end price is not reasonable IMO.

Not trying to single anyone out or diminish the fact that these components failed, just trying to put things into perspective.

I've a 80A burnt and have sent it directly to HW after-sales address,this was 15 days ago and since then I have no news.
I dont thing they rip us off,HW is not a small company and have a name to honour. I hope :lol:
I will update when I have news from my Asia travelling esc.

I have a 80A that is still working flawlessly, but I fully expect it to fail. Maybe it won't, but thats the atitude that I have about it. I bought a $75 esc to try out and so far it's working fine for me. If it does fail I can't see sending it back to hobby wing being an option. It would have to be a free or very cheap replacement fee to make it worth while.

And for those of you that think you deserve the over the top customer service that castle and some other provide stick with the R/C's. If I pay an engine builder to build me a stroker motor for my mustang and it blows up first time out, who do you think is going to take the hit? I'll give you a clue, it's not going to be anyone but me.

As other have said you get what you pay for.


-Brian

Anyone had the same problem with the 80amps?

I was just aboute to order one but now i dont know, the pricing is great on those!

EDIT: woops, missed the last four pages lol

//Gustav

CC makes a nice product indeed,no doubt.But since I live in Europe.I have to send it overseas anyway,in case it fails.not sure how they handle costumer service outside USA and/or if waranty is valid for international costumers.

btw anyone knows which is standard value for punch on HW 80/150 ESCs?

Standard punch is set at level 5 of 9 at both the 80amp and 150amp units.
Timing is 15degrees (lvl. 5)

//Gustav

im sold for castle esc....on 7 units(v3) only one died after 6 month and i thing that my issue was caused by the crap medusa motor... and so many guy's have good result with hobbywing unit.....for me 3 150 amps died in les than 1 month....

Thanks xyllian.
I will setup my 150A with those values then and a new 8.5 SP silverarrow.

medusa is crap?

i race with medusa no problem i have a 1600 & 2000kv, 70mm

I think it was just that one medusa motor that was crap. So has anyone actually gotton an ESC from Hobbywing back from service? You guys could be sending them to nowhere and we prob wont find out for another couple months. Good luck though. I just learned a long time ago that when I try to save a buck I usually spend 2.

two,my 2300 70mm is not dead but got 170f easily!

FWIW, I have had zero problems with any of my three Medusas (36-50 in Slash and CRT.5, 36-80 in XT8), and ordered a 4th for my 4tec. Like anything manufactured, there is bound to be a small percentage of failures - can't have 0% failure rate after all. It does suck when one of those failures takes out other components it is hooked to though...but that's par for the course I'm afraid...

would you post your setup please ?