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UPDATES:
Losi 8T front shocks, with purple (heaviest) rear springs. Home made single motor mount- didnt want to pay ~$40 for the GorillaMaxx one. Re-wired esc for single battery pack use. External BEC- we will see how well it performs very soon. LVC- has a little LED that lights up when voltage dips below 3.0v, very cool. http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/89.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/90.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/91.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/92.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/93.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/94.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/95.jpg I like how the shocks are setup, they arent as stiff as the old setup with 8 MRS4s & Trinity XXX springs, but it 'feels' better, like it would actually handle well if i threw it around a track or something. The weather is ment to be good tomorrow, so Im peaking my Nimhs and hoping I will be able to go bash with my new setup, and see if I can blow up my cheapo ebay lipos.... |
looking good Neil!! be sure to let us know how those buggy shocks work out. Can't wait to see that beast running with some A123's and a 'serious' brushless system :wink: Is that the LVC on the antenna?
jordan |
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...x/BECtoast.jpg
Anyone for toast? Well, today I went to the park with the truck, and had a real rollercoaster ride. I plugged in my 7cell Nimhs using my series adaptor, turned on the radio, then went to 'arm' the system by pluging in the BEC (leaving the esc turned off as per the instructions for running a single large battery pack), and the truck took off at full throttle! I slammed on the brakes, and the truck came to a halt, but a thick cloud of white smoke rose up from the truck, and it tried to take off again, but then on hitting the brakes for a second time the truck stopped dead and the smoke cleared- all this whilst I ran over to the truck. Seems my little BEC didnt like 16.8v going through it and let out the magic smoke before dying- as you can see in the photo, the posistive lead melted clean off the board. I then spent the next half hour trying to get the truck running again without the external BEC; in the end it seems that as I yanked out all the plugs from the radio to kill the smoking BEc, I plugged the throttle back into the wrong slot and had my steering mixed with the throttle.... Well, I figured it out in the end, and managed to get some nice video of truck running with my cheapo lipos; wow.... Video to come shortly, just need to edit it up. The LVC (that is it on the antenna, correct) worked like a charm. it would glow red under hard acceleration, but would quickly go out once the truck was moving. I got roughly double the run time of my Nimhs when using the Lipos, and Im amazed how much punch they have, and continued to have all through the run. Even towards the last few minutes when the LVC light was staying on to indictate 3.0v per cell, I could still wheelie the truck fro a standstill, or from anything upto about 10-15mph, as the video will show. Not bad at all for $20 lipos.... On the shock front, Im going to say that rears would be better than fronts, and that you may well need 4 on the rear of the truck, and two on the front. The truck did handle really well when flung it into corners, but the rear would squat a fair bit under acceleration, so I think Im gonna pick up another pair of shocks & another pair of the purple rear springs, just to stiffen it up abit. On the damage front, I killed the BEc, and at one point lost a shock- the screw holding it to the A-arm came loose, so I just need to add some loctite in a fair areas. I also dislodged the rear body posts from the tower after a violent wheelie; truck slammed back onto its lid, then back down onto all four wheels- did that a few times during the run, lol. I also recorded some temps during the runs, makes for interesting reading: NIMHS: Motor = 109 Esc = 90 Batts = 150 Lipos: Motor = 130 Esc = 110 Batts = 110 during run, 120 at very end of run. In the old days the esc would rarely get much above ambient, as was the case today with the Nimhs, but when I switched to the Lipos it seems have made the motor really come alive, so amp draw has increased, and the esc was alot warmer than usual, same to with the motor. The batts stayed quite cool during the run, but towards the end I did about of a torture test and ran full throttle for a good minute or so back & forth, then brought the truck in to end the run and check temps. I think Im also gonna pick up one of those nifty little voltage checkers that you plug into the balance taps on lipos, just to be doubly safe- they only cost about $5 or so and its a worthy investment. |
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Video! 5minutes, 10mb. The audio isnt very good for some reason, but its not that bad I suppose. Unlike the actual video, which is horrendous, lol. |
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How do you like your new shocks?? they look like a better choice then the MSR?. Have a great on Neil. |
nice song neil! i can picture you dancing to it!, looks like it was a nice day out
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I do like to boogie a little when I play music like that....
I am liking the buggy/truggy shocks alot- they would be better on a lighter truck though, I may need to pickup another few pairs for this 13lb lump. :lol: |
lol neil "boogie" those lipos working good for you huh>?
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Only one run on them, but I was rather impressed I must admit. When I tapped the throttle from a standstill after putting them in, the damn truck flipped on its lid instantly- so much punch, and it lasted all through the run too, even when the speed started dropping off. Temps were very good, especially concidering how hot the Nimhs got with the same setup. When I charged them last night, all the cells were within about 0.05v of eachother too- ideal lipos for a cheap and not too powerful setup. I need to put alot more cycles on them to see how they hold up, but they didnt puff on the first run, so its all good so far. :mdr:
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Just picking your brain.
Good morning Neil,
A few quick questions for you, hope you don’t mind.. What is your gearing at this point? (spur and pinion) and are still running that bad boy with 3905 diffs, drive shafts and drive lines? If so how are they holding up? What is your average run times with your new lipos vs. your nihm ?? you using (2) 2s 4000mAH?? What do you think your next major upgrade will be?? Thanks for your time and have a great one. Shaun. |
yea time will tell, i got one of those zippy-r 4500's they look well built, and thick gauge wire(like 8 awg!) we will see how they hold up
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The Nimhs (4300mah cheapies) were giving me about 10-15 minutes of bash time; I did stop every so often to check temps, so wasnt on the throttle 100% all the time- too many little kids to hit... :whistle: The lipos (4s 4000mah x2 for a total of 8000mah 4s 10c) gave me nearly double that, though I didnt time the run- will do next time though to get some more definitive info). Next major upgrade will definately be the MMM esc and 6s2p of A123 cells. That little lot should be on its way quite soon courtesy of Kulangflow, real life safer that man is. Not settled 100% on a motor to go with it though, since the Medusas are harder to get than a girlfriend :eyes:, so I may go down the Neu or Castle Neu route, no great rush at this point- the Hvmaxx is so much more fun with even cheapo lipos I will just enjoy that setup for the time being, might even pickup another cheap pair of lipos (~$20 each) and selloff my Nimhs. I am picking up a couple more pairs of the truggy shocks too, I think the truck will benefit from the extra dampening since its so heavy, but I wouldnt have it any other way, lol. |
Excellant.. Thanks for the information Sir..
You're next video is what, a week away?? Have a great Day Neil.. |
Good morning Neil,
How is your Bad boy coming?? Do have any new Video?, any new mods to share with the team?? (IE) did you get your MMM yet?. any more Truggy shocks (got pics)?? Just thought I would ask.. Don’t mean to bug!.. Have a great one.. Shaun. |
yea im with shaun.... i want to see updates also!
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Impatient bastards...
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/96.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/97.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/98.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...llaMaxx/99.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/100.jpg Well, I got the other 4 shocks in, but unfortunately RCWaffle, that well known chop shop and general git from ebay wasnt very specific with his auction details. As you can probably see, the front 2 shocks have metal caps, which is a good thing in theory, but in reality it looks a little 'off' since the other 6 have standard black plastic shock caps, but never mind. The really annoying thing is that they werent in excellent condition like he always says things are, but infact they were filthy and had grit trapped in the threaded shock bodies, which is almost impossible to remove, and one of the shock caps is scratched, which whilst only superficial, still doesnt look nice. Anyway, with 8 rear purple springs fitted the suspension feels much stiffer, but the shocks are so much smoother and more adjustable than the Integies that I can actualy make alterations that have an effect, unlike with the uber stiff Trinity springs that just turned the Gmaxx into a solid axle truck almost, if you get my meaning. Just waiting on Kulangflow to ship my MMM & A123 cells, then I'll see about a motor- still having fun with the Hvmaxx and cheapo lipos, or at least I will be if the weather stays nice (it rained on my last dayoff, but has been beautiful other days...). |
Looking Good Neil!!.. :yes:
BUT I could have swear that somewhere you wrote, purple will never touch my truck?? Or something like that?? :whistle: I’ve got research to do now .. :lol: Hope you have some nice driving weather this weekend, thanks for the update!.. Have a great one.. Shaun. |
you must baby that thing huh neil? it looks just as clean as when you built it
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Sup Neil, looks great! the only thing that really seems to bother me is that those massive wheels have to be a pain to haul arround on the ground for even an Electric truck. Not that more torque isnt available now adays but the point of moving them means with more torque comes less run time. As cool as they may seem to be, you may be better going for a thinner walled tire with a solid dish to keep some of the crap out of the wheel rims as well.
Anyways, RCwaffle isnt the best! True, but you can get what you need from him and even though it isnt the greatest gear by his standards, it is never the less working product. And I because of this build, I decided to try out the new HV Pro 4.5 when it hits shelves before anyother ESC unit. I figure it cant hurt to give it a shot since Novak is swearing it will be worth every penny. If its not that great, its not like I couldnt sell it off for close to what I have in it anyways. Novak seems to sell pretty well, ya know! But maybe I might even look at that VENOM Pro system that will be out too. Though I am a pretty clean Mamba lover, I havent been hearing that many good things about the new Monster. or rather I have been hearing too many problems with the Monster. To many for me to try something that isnt tried and true! I can say i never have had one prob with Novaks gear. Anyways. But yeah nice truck and it looks truely killer! just may be hard to push with all the unnessesary wieght |
I agree, the stupidly large & heavy tires are not the best choice for offroading, even though they do look cool. I think the thing is though, if I wanted to build a lighweight racer or basher, I would have! lol. I like to think of this as more a show truck that gets driven, so performance isnt at the top of the list; that said, I do have some roadrages and velocity rims, and I will be picking up some bowties at some point, just to see what difference it makes. RCwaffle doesnt have a good reputation for a few reasons, one of which is because he bought a members truck a while back (to part it out and sell on like he does), but when he received it he parted it out and put the stuff up for sale in seperate auctions, and then claimed he got a 'defective truck'. Thankfully he got busted for that and hasnt tried any more crap since that I know of- he does have stuff that people need, so thats the only reason I would buy from him, if I had no other choice.
Nothing wrong with the HvMaxx, only the underpowered motors, but they do their job well. The new Venom system looks interesting, there are a few similar ones coming out soon so it shoyuld be interesting to have some other 4s esc choices besides the HvMaxx and MambaMax. Anyway, fun-time: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Maxx/A123a.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Maxx/A123b.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Maxx/A123c.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...aMaxx/MMMa.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...aMaxx/MMMb.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...aMaxx/MMMc.jpg First MMM in the UK (probably), tested by Kulangflow so I know it works. 6s A123 pack, homemade, complete with balancing taps. I will assemble the other in the coming day or two, then start thinking seriously about a motor. The soldering looks aweful, I will admit, but it is infact completely sound and solid. I need to move a few connections to streamline the shape for shrink-wrapping, and I may beef up connections I made on the ends of the pack (use another piece of wire). The balance tabs only had 4" wires on them, so unless I extend them, I think I'll be sticking the tab out the side of the pack (through a slit in the shrinkwrap when its applied). That will be fine I reckon, and a little diffeent looking to having it stuck out of one end like normal... |
Hay Neil... You got your MMM!! Outstanding.... I cant wait to see it installed and running.. Maybe you'll grace us "inpatient bastards" with a VID?? :yes:
I'm looking forward to your motor selection, after all of the knowledge you have it will be extremely interesting to see what you’re going to get! Are you also updating your Trans too?? Will those bad boys fit under your body??, they look rather stout shall we say.. Thanks for the update.. Have a great one.. |
Hopefully one of the weather babes will give me some good news, but it looks like rain for a few days Im sorry to say. Anyway- me? knowledge? Na, I just make it up as I go along, basically looking at other peoples setups and then basing my advice on that; paractical knowledge always beats educated guessing. The tranny will be updated soon, but at the moment my 13/72 gearing has to stay put for the hvmaxx to work- my new motor will probably be either a Neu 1515 1Y, or castle neu (freaky fun on 6s of A123 Im betting). They will fit under the body no problem, I just need to get them shrink wrapped in the next couple of days since there are some very exposed connections at the moment, and the gmaxx chassis is nice bare metal, not a good mix.
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Just a little teaser for you:
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ture1001-3.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ture1002-3.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ture1003-4.jpg Perfect fit. The nicely curved upward edges of the battery plate hold the cells in perfectly, and length wise its a near perfect fit for the existing straps, though I may see about some more heavy-duty items if need be. I also finished the 2nd pack tonight, and re-jigged the 1st pack to tidy it up- hopefully the shrink wrap will come tomorrow so I can get them wrapped up and completely finished, ready for some high speed action when the weather dries up. Think I might put some bullet connectors on my Hvmaxx I so can swap it between the existing system and the MMM esc- 6s2p A123 should be interesting on a 3100kv motor..... |
Looking GOOD.:yes:.. I hope the weather holds up for you, Here in So-Cal we have nothing but sunny weather ahead.. (oooo) sorry about the one Neil, I didn’t mean to hit you below the belt.. LOLOLOLOLOL..
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Whats the weight of a 6s A123 compared to a 6 cell nimh? They'd be pretty similar wouldn't they?
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that things gonna be wicked, are you gonna run two of those packs in parrallel? it will be nuts on 6s!
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6s A123 does weigh about the same, if not a little less than 7 sub-c cells- my scales arent terribly accurate.
It will be ran in 6s2p configuration about the same as 5s lipo in voltage terms. I have been doing some bench testing as my heatshrink finally showed up, so I soldered on all my bullets, and added the bullets to the hvmaxx motor leads so I could use it with the MMM. I must say, I did have sone issues: Castle link instructions could do with being a little clearer- I couldnt get the PC to recognize the esc until I started the software first, then connected up the esc to the castle (instruction booklet is a little vague there). Calibrating the esc to the radio was a serious pain, as I have the throttle endpoints tuned for the hvmaxx esc, so it took alot of tweaking until the esc cold see full throttle correctly. The esc sounds abit... dunno- its like some demented fairground ride or fruit machine chirping away. Brakes- I have them set to 30%, and it still locks up solid.. and then goes into reverse without me releasing the throttle stick first. That worries me, as endos will not do this giant lump of metal any favours! I think I may be able to fix it by playing with low-throttle epa setting, and lowering the brake strength even further; dare I say it, but the hvmaxx esc actually is better in this department, even though the brakes arent adjustable per say. Bench testing was cut short as the transmitter batteries went flat on me, but there will be plenty of time for more testing later- I dont think the hvmaxx motor likes 19.8v much, but it will have to make do until the Medusa 70mm motors are done. |
Hay Neil,
You're going to like the 6s2p / 5s setup.. Even those big tires wont be able to slow it down from that point.. Best of luck and hope the weather holds out for you!.. P.S. Gas in S0-cal is $4.85 a gallon for supper, what the cost in England for a gallon of petrol?. |
Weather is being kind at the moment, hopefully it will still be nice on thursday (day off) so I can take the truck to the park again, and see how the MMM really performs.
The price of petrol varies from place to place, but the average price is $10 a gallon. The world economy really is going nuts at the moment- food prices are rising sharply, house prices are dropping rapidly (good job I only rent), and fuel bills (gas, electric, petrol & diesel) are steadily climbing.... Think I might go live in a tent down the woods, shooting pigions and squirrels for dinner :yes: :whistle: EDIT: Fixed the brake issue- I had the esc in 'forward-brake-reverse' mode instead of 'forward-brake-reverse/lockout' mode. It works beautifully now with 50% brake power, and I can still fine tune it with my low-throttle epa settings if I like for a little brake power. Gotta say Castle, you did a good number on this esc- just gotta get the bugs fixed with the escs that went to silicon heaven, and it'll be the best thing since naked ladies on the internet... :whistle: |
Good GOD MAN... $10.00 a gallon! :surprised: and it going UP?? woowoo..
I'm glad to hear that at least you like your MMM,:party: lots of Negativity at the moment, people are starting to lose the faith!.. :neutral: Brakes are always a good thing to have, but then I've seen you hit that kid in the park :yes:, so I cant imagine that you use yours that much anyway..:lol::lol: Have a great day / cheers!.. |
I was aiming at the kid though.... :whistle:
I decided to have some fun and built my own battery tray using 6083 T6 2mm thick aluminum: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/101.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/102.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/103.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/104.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/105.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/106.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/107.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/108.jpg Suprisingly simple really, since the existing battery tray makes a perfect template for all the holes required, then you just design the chassis around that to get the desired length & width etc. I was planning on visting the local blacksmith to get the edges curved upwards like the stock item, but I couldnt be arsed and just added some 3/8" x 3/8" x 1/16" L channel to the egdes. I will add some extra foam padding along the inside edges to cover the exposed nuts. That sounds rude.... |
:gasp: Wow that really is a dam good looking truck!..:yes:
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nice work with the battery tray looks real professional. :great: Can i ask how you cut those rectangular slots out? Oh and are you still going to get the Medusa?
jordan |
Yep, still gunning for a 70mm medusa, or castle neu- time frame for each is similar so I'll play it by ear, as us brits say, lol.
As for the slots, I drilled two holes about 30mm apart, then used my trusty dremel with a cutting disc to join the two holes, creating a rough slot. I then used my selection of needle files to smooth out the roughness and square-out the ends, creating a perfect little rectangle about 30mm long by 5mm wide. It would be much easier with a vertical mill, or drill press even, but its still perfectly do-able with even the most basic of handtools. |
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/109.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/110.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/111.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/112.jpg More news (good or bad) tomorrow, if the weather plays nice. |
hey neil, hows it? is that one of the motors from hobby city? looks like one of the feigao imitations?
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Yep, it is one of the Hobbycity feigao knock-offs (copy of a copy...hmm)- 9XL to be precise (1900kv).
Well, the weather did play nice, so I went to the park, and hammered the absolute shite out of the truck and esc, literally; video will follow, just got to edit it up- it'll be a good one this time! Findings: Motor = cheap, cheerful, hot... hot hot hot. On 4s2p + 62/24 I was getting upto 160*f on the motor, around 110-120*f on the lipos, and esc was about 90*f or so. I then went upto 58/24, and the motor temps dropped to about 140*f, lipos stayed the same, so too with the esc roughly. On 6s2p of A123 cells, the motor temps peaked at about 183*f on 58/24, but I was having so much fun with the insane speed and power, I didnt bother to gear down or up to see what effect that would have. The esc got upto about 100*f, but the A123s barely climbed above ambient (70*f or so, nice sunny and breezy day). All in all very pleased with the power, but the motor temps need to be watched closely- cooling down breaks are advised if bashing for long periods. Mamba Monster = highly impressed with the temps, and it didnt crap out on me, neither did the fan. Only issue I have really is the case design- after landing on my lid from endos or backflips, the esc case would pop open, exposing the fragile guts. I think this needs to be addressed somehow with larger clips joining the upper & lower halfs together, or perhaps screws etc. I will be using some long zipties in the meantime, and that should suffice. For all its smoothness, I did manage to get some cogging and/or hesitation from the esc, mainly from standing starts, or when the truck was some distance from me; could put that down to glitching maybe, or lack of power in the batts when I tried to nail it, hard to say. Very good esc so far, just hoping it stays that way. Cheapo 4s lipos = performed beautifully. Temps were a little higher than I would like at about 120*f, but thats not too high really, considering what I was asking of $30 each lipos. I think if I dont pick up some swangs or zippies, I will get some more ebay lipos, maybe a pair of 5s items to run in parallel (speed was great with 4s, but with 5s its just bonkers). A123 cells = fantastic. Never got warm, and provided amazing punch all the way to the end of the run, when they suddenly dumped (and I mean DUMPED), just like I have read about for so long. I mean, there was hardly any drop in voltage/speed all during the 15-20 minute run, then after doing one nice long drag, and went to bring it back to me and it just died within a couple feet... after doing a 40-45mph sprint. Its nice to know the batts arent harmed by that kind of dumping action, and it allows you to time much more accurately how long a run had lasted, vs waiting for an LVC to trip, even if you just drop the cell voltage below 3.0v for a split second. LVC = I love that thing. I didnt use the built in one of the esc, I prefer to jusdge when the batts are really dying myself. The little red led of the LVC is great- only comes on (very bright, even on a sunny day) when you nail the throttle and the cell voltage dips for a second, then it goes out as the voltage recovers. Much better than a hard cut-off, especially if using cheaper batts that might have lower C ratings. I just have to pick up a 5s version for my new cheapo lipos, not a bad investment for about $10. TRUCK = rear body posts hanging off from flips, right-rear tire lost its glue and repeatedly came off the rim, tyres massively unbalanced, and the damn thing refused to track straight- need to poke at steering linkages I think. Scariest thing is crusing along at half throttle, then punching it, and watching the truck rear up onto one wheel, or lurching violently to one side as you try to control all that power and speed. Definately going to pick up some proper offroad tyres- Im thinking either zombiemaxxes, or.... ? Remember that Im a fickle-minded numb skull who only likes stuff that looks good, rather than performs well... Will post a few pics and video later- need food now, hungry. :yes: |
looks like that motor isnt to bad for 30 bucks huh? 140 on it with 4s, is it faster than the hvmaxx, on 4s? i bet 6s was insaine huh? lol need to get some vids there neil, esspecailly on 6s!
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Ta-da. Not as good as I had hoped, alas, alot of action happended off camera, or I simply couldnt keep the truck in shot (narrow field of view). I did get some good stuff though, should demonstrate the power, and some of the speed too; most of what you see on tape happens at 1/4 throttle.... |
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