MMM V2 out of the box
 

I have 2 MMM V2s and I have no plans on doing any modifications to either of them.I trust Castle Creations knows how to design there product.Both of mine have been worjing great.I have 1 of them in a Matrix Buggy on 3s 6000 and a Neu 1512/1.5d/F.This Matrix is off the hook fast.The other is in a Losi
8ight T 4s 6000 and Tekno Neu 15151.5D/F and it is equaly as fast.The fan comes on and off like it should.I shouldnt have to worry about these Monster Mamba Max V2s failing.Please post any non modified MMM V2s that are working properly.:smile::whip:

The only mod I did on mine was to make a little more room for the fan wires & put some shoe goo on the wires to keep them from moving around & getting the insolation rubbed off. I ran it at the track yesterday & put a total of 1 hour of run time on it. It ran fine but I'm not sure if the fan is working or not. For the first couple of packs when I brought the car in the fan was running, after that I did not see it run again. With the fan control how do you know the fan is working???

I figured I would just run mine as is; if it dies, castle will have to repair or replace it. I also have MGM for back up.

I beleive the fan is supposed to come on during startup so that you know it works, not possitive but I beleive I read that in another thread on here

I have a V1 that is still working great. I did clearance the bottom case for the fan plug and add some very high density foam to support the pcb. I may add some shoe goo around the wires coming out of the case, and some around the fan wires. Or maybe use some heatshrink...

Linc, are you using the internal BEC or an external one? Just wondering...

Internal. I just bought another MMM which I have sent in for upgrade to v2. It was used quite a bit, and the various small wires are quite worn. I would say that adding some heatshrink to the small wires would be a great idea. I also think that the high desity foam support for the pcb is a necessary addition.

I think I have some spare CPU pads from back in the day where the Athlon XP processor was around. I might stick those on the corners. :smile:

That is about what I did. I put the foam under each of the solder points for the large gauge wires.

how much clearencing is needed?

the fan has a thermal switch and its set at 140 degrees f. os just run it pretty hard and if you hit 150 and its not on you got a problem. mine kicks on at like 143 because ive seen it go to 140 and its not on i go out real quick come in and its at 143 and the fans on

I took out about 1/8 inch, so about half the thickness of the bottom case.

Like this.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...z/CIMG3209.jpg


BTW... I wouldnt just run it as it ships IMO. I know of at least a few of the white plugs breaking off the board on the V2 already. Also the fan still catches the grill and kills the fan. It just waits untill its hot to do it now instead of right away. I cut the grill out and just left a big round hole where the fan grill was. And the spot where the wires exit the case is still tight on the wires. Open it up just a little and wrap a few layers of electrical tape around the wire where it would rub.

why not just get rid of the bulky plug and hard wire it to the 2 solder terminals .
also just a quick question , what voltage is the fan running on ?

All I have done with mine is Ext. BEC. Nothing else and is running great :party:

Ye , is there a problem with hardwiring it to pcb board . Don't say because of warranty because all the other mods would void warranty anyway .

patrick said we could solder WITHOUT ruining the warranty... gotta do a search for that one.

Does that also mean we can open the case and do the fan plug clearance mod and add protection for the wires also without voiding the warranty? That would be nice to know, but also may be a little embarassing for CC to have a bunch of their customers having to further modify their product to keep them from failing.
If we can do what linc has done without voiding the warranty, though, I am all over these mods. :smile:

I think popping the hood voids warranty....I might be wrong

how do you replace fans when they mail you out another? fans were busting like ther was no tomorrow on those who managed to keep it going long enough. so i dont see how its possible to access the fan... i wonder why i cant see... because i dont have one yet whoops. :lol:

I still have a stock v2 in my truggy. The one in my buggy quit last week. :tongue:

The only mods I have done are: clearance for the fan plug like above, a notch and shrinkwrap for the fan leads and holes drilled in the case for the caps to get some air. I also removed the stickers except for the one showing pos/neg.

It's still mostly stock I guess. :neutral:

I see no reason not to do the mods. I will add some heatshrink to the small wires. If I have to send it back to CC I will mention the mods, but expect that they cover any repairs.

They covered my V1 with all the mods. If they have a crappy design they should be glad that people are making the necessary changes to make the product last and cutting down their warrany claims.

CC will cover it with the basic mods. If you start soldering extra stuff on the boards or removing huge parts of the case they may question it, but these simple clearance adjustments to prevent failure shouldn't be a problem.

I killed the stock V2 fan in 1 race day. So I am am now running an aftermarket fan that plugs into the Rx rather than the bottom of the MMM board. I find the Integy 7.2v fans running on 5.5v to be really durable compared to the stock MMM fan. Still creates good airflow, just take a little longer for the fan to spool up. I ran through 4 of the stock fans on the V1 then never had to change another fan once I put in the integy fan. Now I have the same fan in the v2 after the stock fan failed.

Glad I found this thread... I'll be modding my V2's when I get them in the next few days.

Hey Jeff, does the integy fan fit inside the case? Or did you attach it to the top? Any chance of a pic or two...

Got any ideas why the fans die? Is it a case clearance issues?

does anyone have any pictures of the modded MMM with the fan mod? i'd like to see what it looks like without the top bit of the casing incase i wanted to do it myself

i hear the novak fans are very good and they fit perfectly inside the mmm casing. and its muuch more durable and reliable and spins faster. i believe its the 20mm one.

30mm fans are what fit int eh case of the MMM. Fan thickness cant be more tha 7mm.

hmm can anyone pop the case of one of the v2's and see if the issue has been adressed?

which issue?

I have already popped the case. The only thing I can see different inside is the padding added under the board that apparently is supposed to stop the white fan plug from breaking off of the board. The pad doesnt work. The plugs still break off.

The fans still catch on the case and fry in no time. Now they just wait untill the esc reaches 150 degrees to do it.

The slot in the case where the Rx and switch wires is still too tight and will wear away the insulation. This should be opened up a little and some extrax electrical tape or shrink tube installed.
The only thing that appears to be fixed is the BEC failures. :yipi: However... That was the big one.:yes: The rest of the problems can be fixxed with a dremel.:mdr:

Yes the integy fan fits right where the stock fan fits. I'll see if I can get some pictures for you tonight when I get home.

It looks like the blades catch the grill of the fan and the motors burn out to me. Once I removed the top fan grill all together on my V1 MMMs I havent had a single fan fail... not one. I've got 3 of them running.

someone needs to make a How-To for MMM durability mods, full pics and instructions.... id vote it to be a sticky too :whistle:

and a how to mod it within warranty. :)

Is this the fan you are using? : http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXTYA2&P=7

jhautz - What kind of plug does that fan come with? Does it come with one to plug right into the battery slot in the receiver?

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXNPH1&P=7

This one. It comes with a JST style plug, but I just use a short servo extender cable and the plug on the extender cable flexes just enought when I push the JST into it that is works without having to bother with changing the JST plug on the fan.

Extender like this.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXL287&P=ML

Looks like this with the jst fan plug in the extender cable plug.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...M/CIMG3409.jpg


This is what it looks like when I cut the top fan grill out and with the Integy fan installed. Earlier in the thread I posted a picture of the mod on the inside of the case to keep the white fan plug from being broken off the bottom of the circut board. The mod for the wire clearance is easy. Just take a hobby knife and shave a little off the case to make the wire slot a little bigger and then wrap the wires with electricle tape right where they would be touching the case.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...M/CIMG3404.jpg

Just to make sure, so the fan plug will go right into the extension and the extension will plug right into the receiver?

Thanks for the help. :yes:

thanks for the pics. so since your using the integy fan, it stays on constantly correct?
another mod would be to place panty hose over your mmm or just over the top grill and maybe the side openings so no debris or grass will touch the fan blade. ive had several occasions where there was some grass in my chassis and even on the grill. it almost snuck inside.
do they make an extension for airtronics recievers?

Yes. Fan plug into extension, extension into reciever.

The fan goes on as soon as the reciever gets power and stays on all of the time. I'm sure they do make airtronics extenders. I think the airtronics will plug into the Futaba or JR extenders. One of them just has a little platic rib on the side to prevent plugging it in the wrong way, but I think Airtronics just plug into any of them cuz it doent have any ribs to line up.

I know JR , Hitec and i think Airtronics use the same servo extension leads , don't know about Futaba though.