Cool. All this is turning out to be so much easier than I thought. I am hoping to get this thing running by the weekend. :027:

yeah it is simple really.

have fun! good luck againm make SHURE theres pics

Just finished the conversion tonight, and had time to try it for 10 minutes as it was getting dark. It runs so incredibly well, and is powerful. I think I'll stick to larger scale conversions. This thing is just so much fun. I only ran into a few small problems:

1) There is not enough oil in the center differential, and have no idea how to go about buying a certain weight. Any recommendations? I don't race, and I don't want to be pulling wheelies.

2) When I turn the MM on, it beeps once, but doesn't do the "double beep" for another minute or two, so I have to wait before it will actually go... is this normal?

3) I also realized that the battery came charged which really surprised me. I thought that they are supposed to come half charged (about 3.8 volts) and the way they should be stored.

4) One last question, Since I just ran about 10 minutes, what should I do with the battery? Is it all right to just let it sit or do I have to discharge it, charge it, etc.?

Sorry for all the questions. I will get pictures as soon as possible. Thanks for all the help so far. :)

Here are the pictures. It weighs in at just over 8.6lbs. Yes, th wiring is quite sloppy, but I was driving it just to make sure everything was working. I'll clean it up when I get a chance.

as i said

looks GR8! get a vid!

Thanks E-MAXX.

Anyone know the answers to the questions? I would really like to have an extensive test today of it.

hows it run?

np

Runs absolutely awesome!! ...besides for the few problems on page 4. Mainly, it doesn't roll freely, but thats because there isn't enough oil in the center diff. Anyone have suggestions for a certain weight?

I also got some video clips today. :027:

try 20-30k wieght in the center diff and start from there. i am not sure about the lipo, but i have always heard to store a lipo charged(so if your charger can top it off that might work)but not sure, but if i am not mistaken as long as the battery is not pluged in to anything it can sit saftely but dont take my word for it. sorry for not knowing the other questions.

Depends. If you don't plan to run it for a few weeks, I'd leave it the way it is since it's probably at about 3.8v. If you plan to run it sooner, I say top it off. Just make sure that whatever charger you are using auto-detects the right number of cells if it has that feature.

Would it be all right to have it is completely empty? Like about 12 volts?

What will the differences be between the 20k and 30k?

Thanks guys.

The higher the number the thicker the oil, meaning more resistance to the front and rear outputs spinning at different speeds (less slip).
Does the manual have a recommended weight written some where. The manual for my 1/8th truggy recommended 5000, 10 000, 1000.

No, this buggy is about 5 years old. It is the previous model of the XT2. I also am running a Hot Bodies center diff if that helps. This is only for bashing, so I don't want to be rebuilding the diff all the time and trying new oil. I am leaning towards 20k right now... but still not sure.

why not thick stuff? lock it lol..... thats me:018:

Now I am really confused. Its either 20k or 30k weight oil... any opinions?

lock it!

id do 30... 50k i duno

There's no right or wrong weight to get. It's just what works best for you, and that can change depending on what sort of surfaces you drive on and what sort of driving you do. People often use between 10k to 100k+, but 20k or 30k is a good range for off road racing.

I personally wuold not leave it sit @ 3.0V/cell. It will still self-discharge some, and if it drops below you'll frag your batt. Leave it charged somewhat at the very least. Looks great other tho.:)

Although, even a dumped pack should not read 3.0v/cell after sitting for a while. They usually drift back up to 3.4-3.7v/cell after sitting for 20 minutes. If they stay at 3.0v, then they are probably being discharged too deep and you should increase the LVC a bit.

Ok, I'll do that... thanks guys.

Well, I just spent a lot more money on this thing then I was hoping to. I just sold the EOS1210i, and bought a Superbrain 989. Mainly because it comes with a power supply. But not only that, I saw a sweet deal for a brand new DX3.0 for $160 including shipping on ebay, and since I didn't even have a radio system, I couldn't pass up the deal. So hopefully I'll get all this stuff this week, so I can officially finish Project XT1 :cool:.

Just one question, I was looking at the charts for different chargers on BrianG's website, I noticed that I won't be able to charge at 8 amps for my 4s2p pack... should I just charge it at the highest amps thats possible which is 7.1 amps? Does this effect the the lifetime of the battery or anything else? I heard that driving on one pack that ti will last long when you charge at less amps, and when you charge at more amps, the pack has more punch... is this true?

Charging at less amps than 1C will be fine it'll just take longer to charge. It is not true that you will get more punch charging at higher amps... that may be true for Nimh's but does not apply to lipos. Charging at a higher rate than 1C is becoming more acceptable as lipos get improved but from what I've read it generally shortens the life of the pack and all you get is a quicker charge. Generally at 1C it takes a little over an hour to charge a pack but the first part of the charge up to 4.2 per cell doesn't take near that long. The last bit of filling up the cells takes quite awhile but once you hit 4.2 per cell it is close to done anyway.

Just to follow up with what others have said DO NOT leave the pack at near 3.0V per cell... that's too close for comfort IMO. Longer term storage at 3.8V per cell otherwise for short term storage just make sure it has some juice in it. Full is fine for short term also.

My hot bodies lightning came with 5k all round, I've swaped the centre to 7k for a little more on power oversteer.

The thicker it is the more power will go to the rear wheels and less power to the fronts, leaving the fronts with more spare grip for cornering,

I think that 20-30k is taking that too far and would behave like a Rwd car and either oversteer too much, or transfer too much weight to the rear lifting the front off the ground and preventing steering totally.

Uh oh, I ordered 30k since everyone said this, I hope it turns out all right. It really is a pain in the arse for me to rebuild the center diff.

Just received the 30k diff weight. I have never had a vehicle with a center diff or one where you need to fill the diff with oil, since I have only had the rc's in my signature below which didn't require oil. Just grease.

So my question is, how much do I fill it up? I heard half way, but wanted to make sure. How do you know that it is half way also?

Thanks

I already rebuilt the center diff, but still haven't ran the car except for one pack.

I have everything set up on the charger, except for 1 part of it. I entered lipo, for type, charge for mode, 8000 for mah, 8 amps for current, 120*F for cutoff temperature, and then you have to put something in for "volt". I clicked the arrow pointing up, and nothing happens. I click the arrow pointing down, and it goes to "1C" then I click the down arrow again, and it goes to "2C", then 3C, etc. Do you know what to do at this part?

I would really like to get the charging done today to run it tomorrow.

Its asking how many cells. 2p pack is 2C, 3p pack is 3C, etc...

Oh, I see. Great, thanks a lot. Off to go charge the battery. :)

what are you charging it on.

Superbrain 989 with the LBA10 balancer.

I didn't have time to test the charger earlier. But I tried it just now, and it says that incorrect information has been entered.... "error BL." Which in the manual says that this means that the voltage is too low in the battery. But I used a volt meter, and it says just over 13 volts, so it can't be too low. Anyone with a 989 want to go over all the settings with me.

That would be very helpful. Thanks.

it does that to me when im out racing, i just push start again and its goes, mite be something wierd, but it only did that with my ib packs and i dont even use half there mah so yeah its kinda wierd

and wow c is cells, i was waay offf, see y i dont help with that kinda stuff lol? glad i didnt

I have the 989 and it has alot of failsafes built in so you dont screw up, but its not foolproof so make sure you know what you are doing here.

Tell me what packs you are trying to charge and I'll give the exact settings to use. Be as specific as possible so I can make sure to tell you correctly.

Well, tried it again and it has been charging for about 30 minutes now. I must be getting the same problems that e-maxx got while racing.

jhautz - I'll definitely let you know if I have any questions about the 989.

yeah, IDK y, i dont care really, i want some high end stuff from much more but thats 250 bucks plus all the otehr stuff i want... but this is the BEST basher charger... HIGH cell counts and lipos etc:018: :018:

So far its a great charger. I've charged 1 NiMH battery and 1 LiPo and so far so good.

I had just one question though. Is it all right if the battery stopped at about 8700mAH when I put 8000 before charging? It stopped at exactly 16.8 volts so thats good there I am pretty sure. If the leads on the balancer are still flashing, does that mean that it is still balancing? I have already unplugged it, but want to make sure for next time. What do the flashing leads mean as well?

Thanks so much guys for all the help so far.

yes thats normal with batts, well not matched and zapped batts, they have moe voltage in them then MAH

but thats normal!!

and idk on the ballancer

Anyone have answers to the above questions?

I ran the buggy today (just on a parking lot), and it runs absolutely awesome. I only stripped the whole front differential form all the power, lol, so it was pretty much rear wheel drive towards the end. And my tires are officially slicks :005:. I ran about half the battery. Should I charge the battery fully, and then discharge to 3.8 volts, or is there another way to do this?

Thanks

I filled my centre diff (the only one I've had apart) right up as far as it would go, span it to get the oil into the nooks and crannies, left it to rest a while for the bubbles to rise and burst, then topped it right up again before sealing it. When I opened it it was only half full, so I'm not 100% that it's supposed to be full but I guessed that the other half had leaked out.

It is perfectly normal to put more than than the batterys capacity into it when charging, the battery is not 100% efficient at converting the electrical energy from the charger to chemical energy for storage.

I don't know about the balancer, hopefully the manual can help you out.

The HB Lightning 2 pro has hardened diff gears, which should stop you striping them again without spending a fortune. Are you sure it's striped tho? I did predict handling similar to a rear wheel drive using 30K in the centre diff, also with that oil the front diff should have been doing a lot less work than the rear, I would expect that one to go first, though it's possible your front one was a friday night special and had a manufacturing defect.

I recommend on-road tyres for running at the car park when your new "slicks" die or you will get through a lot of tyres, I've used Medial Pro-Tarmac IIs which I like, and Proline-RoadRages which are utter [insert expletive here] stay well away.

Another way to do what? A storage charge? If so how long are you going to be storing it for? If its going to be used within a month I give it a full charge, if not, Use your chargers storage or A123 setting if it has them or if not, after driving it charge it as usual but disconnect it after half the regular charge time. Discharging a LiPo is just a waste of a cycle.