Quark durability test
 

will say that the Quark is my favorite controller so far. It has many features, including a built in LVC for the Lipos. This controller is also smooth as butter, and works with 4 pole motors(unlike BK). The Quark monster pro is a step above Shulze for smoothness as well(Shulze is similar in smoothness to the BKs in my experiance - perhaps slightly better, while the Quark is superior to both). Another benefit to the Quark so far has been their prompt, attentive service. I have seen 2 failures, which were replaced with no questions asked(within days - not weeks or months).
The only disadvantages to the Quark in my opinion are the lack of reverse braking(engages forward immediately if running in reverse and changing directions) - this doesn't bother me a whole lot, as I prefer to drive forward anyways and only use revers occasionally to back out of trouble. The Quark could also use a larger heatsink built into the case.

I did some pretty serious testing yesterday at the track with the Quark. I did take some preventative measures regarding heat - I milled my own custom rear g-maxx upper extension plate that incorporates a 3/8" heatsink built into the bottom of it, with a 40mm fan blowing across the controller and heatsink.
I ran a total of nearly 2 hours - almost non stop in the 90 degree NY sun, without a thermal - I actually was trying to thermal it near the end of the day, but was unsuccessful! A simple heatsink and fan makes a huge impact, as many already know. My setup was a Neu 15151.5y motor(4 pole, 2200Kv) mated to my -soon to available- "slipperential" setup on the extended g-maxx truck. Testing was done with the body on, on a race track. The truck is a little over 10 pounds RTR and was geared for low-mid 30s(plenty fast - almost too fast for the track). The motor and controller never exceeded 145F through it all. The Maxamps 8000mah 2s packs(2 wired in series) provided excellent punch and about 25 minutes of race runtime. I also ran some A123 Lion packs for testing in between the 8k mah 4s packs. These will likely be a product available soon from RC-Monster, along with the Neu motors(these motors are top notch - after nearly 2 hours, my motor never exceeded 145F on a hot day - a testament to their efficiency).
Joe (Batfish)was with me and assisted in the testing, along with piloting my race rig for 30 or so minutes.

In conclusion, the Quark deserves some serious reognition for their outstanding product and customer service. I would not hesitate to recommend the monster Pro controller from Quark. With proper cooling measures and setup, it is AWESOME. :)

Glad to hear their service is top-notch! I pretty much agree with everything you said about the advantages and disadvantages.

The lack of reverse braking is a minor annoyance, but I found that if you have your reverse EPA set to like 60-70%, there seems to be a little reverse braking if applied slowly.

The lack of cogging is great! The only time I can get it to cog is if I am going a minimal speed (just enough Tx throttle to get the truck to move) and there is a lot of resistance - like going over a curb.

As you said, heat is cured by the use of a heatsink and/or fan. I personally prefer not to use fans, which means a bigger heatsink is needed. I kinda like it that way because it lets the end-user decide how/where/how big of a heatsink to use.

Very cool information, thanks!

Sounds like a sweet setup. How do you think it would run with a motor swap to a "normal" 2 pole hacker style? ...overall performance, heat, runtime?

I totally agree.
I am able to run for an hour without falling in thermal problems.
And I have a great setup: lehner 1950/8, 2 parallel flightpower evo 20 5S
3700 mAh packs.
My truck is about 5.3 kg and I am pretty sure I can go up with the pinion
without problems.
I saw over 1880 watts and 97Ampere. Never gone over 56C° and now here
is very hot (ambient about 30C°).
I have to say my quark is very well refreshed. I used alloy and silicon paste,
with 2 fans.

Driving it is really comfortable. Really smooth.

Just my 2 cents,
Daniele

Wait a minute...Three super cool products in one test run! I need to hear more about the motor and especially the A123 packs. Read lots but it's all hype till someone actually races with one of them...What were you using? Did you have a Magic Turbo box thing in there as well and how did they perform relative to other cells currently out on the market? Please advise!

The A123 packs worked great. We tested 4s 4600s(2 each 2s2p packs wired in series) - these were slower than the 4s Lipo pack, but yielded almost 15 minutes of runtime and smooth, powerful performance. We also pushed a set of 2300 packs(2 3s packs in series). This was a touch faster than the 4s Lipo setup(same gearing on all driving) with slightly less punch(2300mah packs were working hard in this setup) and yielded around 6 minutes on the track(only 2300 mah batteries). The 6s setup came off the truck at almost 160F(hottest anything got all day). All in all, I would say the A123 packs were great - they are a nice product and we hope to do more testing and possibly power the RC-Monster race trucks with these(more on these later - I have some ideas and further testing to do). We did not have a turbo box(A12 didn't have one available for us this weekend), but will certainly put it through its paces when the opportunity presents itself.
The Neu motor is slightly shorter than a 1950 lehner motor, but slightly larger in diameter(similar overall size or total mass). These are less expensive than the Lehner motors, offer a little more screw in the mount(Lehner motors require VERY short screws - these aren't as bad) and are equally as efficient, if not slightly more efficient. I pushed the motor hard on a hot day and it never got over 140F, which is extremely impressive. Being a 4 pole motor, the BK controllers don't like them much. The MGM and Quark controllers handle them well, though. The motors are pretty open, though(you can see through the motor), which isn't ideal for running in the dirt. I simply cut a piece of scrap lexan and placed it between the motor and motor mount to keep the insides clean - this seemed to work quite well and took about a minute to make. I recently signed on as a dealer for these motors, and will begin stocking them in the very near future.
The "slipperential" held up all day as well - in fact it worked perfectly - you will see it in my truck at the bash next weekend. :)

I've been really watching those A123Systems batteries at various places and they seem to be really nice with their high discharge and charge C rating, and safe! I just wish they had single ~4Ah cells. And then you need a charger/balancer that is specifically designed for a 3.3v nominal cell, which requires you to get their specific charger.

By the way: what is a "slipperential"? Is it a center diff with a slipper directly on it?

Will those Neu motors be available in different (smaller) sizes - like the equivalent of LMT 1940/1930,1920?

The slipperential is a work of art. I have seen the design plan of this and think it is freaking fantastic. The neu motors have a website but not sure what it is.

It is truely an awesome thing - It will be at the RC-Monster Bash this upcoming weekend. ( And it works awesome as well :cool: ) :005:

I would love to see the proto for the slipperential. One question, will it work or a G2R? I would assume it will since its made for a G2.

OK, a slipperential is a "work of art" and an "awesome thing", but that doesn't say much! I know it will be unveiled at the bash next weekend, so does that mean those who can't go are being punished? :)

And the site for Neu motors...

Here are some pics from yesterday's fun at the track:

First - Here is a shot with the chassis extension/heatsink that Mike created for his Quark
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ofCIMG7612.jpg

Second - Here's an overhead view of the beautiful G-Maxx :003:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ofCIMG7614.jpg

Third - Here is a shot of the truck taking off at the beginning of the straight with the 4S2P 8000 MaxAmps lipo packs.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ofCIMG7704.jpg

Lastly - Airborn and flying nice and level!
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ofCIMG7752.jpg


Those A123Racing packs are impressive for the cost and performance.
I plan on running them, exclusively, in my vehicles at The RC-Monster Bash this coming weekend :003:

Looks great,looks to be a slipper shaft driving the diff with reduction to allow a small enough spur to fit between the rails,perfect solution to the restriction of the g-maxx rails.Great thinking.When can i get mine!

It would be nice to see a better shot of that heat sink!!! LOL, nice truck Mike! What size of tire is that?

NewEuser, those appear to be Bowtie MT's. I would like to see more of that slipperential.

I know they are bowties, they just seemed reall skinny though. That must be where he cut the rim on the outside type trick...LOL And the heat sink? Can we get more shots of that???? thanks! I too am interested in the slipperential, but just a few more days and i'll see it on the track i'm sure!

There they new BowTie MT's. There different than the the regular Bowties. They work great on truggy's were as a 40 series would slide around on a track thats hasn't been watered.

Very nice! I like them a lot. I have that problem with my 40 series crimes. they do great on damp dirt, but when it gets dry, they slide a lot! I could use more weight per square inch to elminate that, which those new bowties would be perfect!

I like to know a release date or about how long before releasing the slipperential.

slipperential
 

The slipperential is still in prototype form at the moment. It works fantastic, but I need to work on the motor mount some more to stiffen it, as well as change a few things on the input shaft(uses a Revo input shaft and slipper at the moment, but it isn't a perfect fit and is "cheated" in there somewhat - it has held up great, but I want it to be a drop in). The current design shown will drop into a G2r, but the motor mount won't work(motor is lower and closer to the center - G2R shocks are in the way). I intend to make a G2R version, as well as a drop in version for truggy conversions at some point, but I need to fine tune this design first.

The A123 packs are pretty killer. The 2300mah value is misleading as well. We managed 6 solid minutes with a 6s 2300 pack - and we were overgeared for this a bit - the packs came off at almost 160F, but didn't falter once or hint that they were overworked. The 2s2p setup yielded around 15 minutes of track time - quite impressive for race conditions and 4600mah(10 minutes would be my expectation from a similar cell of the same "rated" capacity based on past experience). I am working on getting some more cells and chargers from A123 for the weekend or possibly next weekend at the RCCA Monster Madness event. They are a nice cell to consider - fast charge, high discharge capacity, very durable and safe, and a long life span make these cells a value IMO.

Here is a better picture of the slipperential by itself, for those that MUST see the prototype. :)

Very cool!!!! It was driving me nuts last night trying to figure out how it was set up. would it work sort of like a gear reduction unit?

Mike, is that simply a Mod1 pinion for the gear reduction on the input shaft??

It is indeed a mod1 pinion on the input shaft, though it is a custom size and cut on it (not quite just one of the regular pinions - there are size and shape details that can't be seen when it is assembled.)

So its basically a caseless gearbox with a diff in it. Sounds cool! Any idea when you'll be selling those mike?

The Quark review was great Mike. I Need to buy (Another) one :) .

That's really nice Mike! Great idea!

Mike, can you say what kind of diff that is in there?
Does the motor mount on the top or the side and is it switchable between the two?

Darren, I believe its a HB Lightning center diff. The motor mount is machined aluminum thats set off to one side. I would imagine it can be one either side. For the G2R, it will probably have to be directly ontop.

Its a HB diff - i think mine is a front diff - This thing works awesome as well...

Will it fit the UE Lightning chassis? I think Leroy asked but if you could find out that would be great! I really want one of these... currently don't have a transmission and was going to go with singlespeed until I saw this.

If it fits the Lightning, put me down for one. :)

I have a seperate unit in the works for buggies and truggies - trying to make it a drop in design with an integrated motor mount - it is a much trickier design, but should work excellent and provide exceptional performance and a low Cg, while leaving plenty of room for batteries. The g-maxx design is simple and effective, and will be the first "available" option.

Nick, I'm pretty sure it will not work.

I find it difficult trying to imagine how it would fit or can't.

Is it the motor mount that would restrict it from fitting? Looks to me the unit will fit fine, just mounting the motor. Is the mount built into the actual unit?

Th rear motor moun is one piece, but it mounts to a certain spot on the Gorillamaxx chassis that is intended for the Gorillamaxx motor mount. So I'm almost positive it won't fit.

Is the green circle in the picture below where the mount screws into the X-Brace?

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/2750/image2ik6.jpg



Also, I've drawn 2 red lines, would it not be possible to have the mount part of the actual unit frame? So the motor could go directly in the centre of the chassis (flip motor).... not sure about strength or if it could reach though? Might be an idea for the Truggy design (or for my Lightning :D).

I thought some thing about like that to. The only thing I would see is if the motor hit the top shaft and gear.

The design in the picture could easily mount to a truggy with some standoffs or "lifts" to attach it to the chassis. The motor mount is the real problem. There simply isn't enough room to clear the motor if you mount it on top(same reason it won't work in the G2R), particularly with the larger diameter motors like the Neu. By the time the input gears are changed around to accomodate the motor mounted above, the pur gear will drag the diff out drive or you are stuck with a huge pinion - it simply won't work without an idler gear. To mount it to the rear like in my g-maxx, you would need a third piece, as well as a place to mount it on the truck and it starts to become a cluster****, if you know what I mean(yes, the green circle is where the motor mount attaches). The truggy version is a completely different design, but is the identical concept(slipper and a differential). This concept was a relatively quick and easy way to test the concept, with a side benefit of taking the g-maxx to the next track performance level. Now that I know the concept works(quite well, I might add), I can expand it to other vehicles and conversions, etc. to make these vehicles more reliable and track worthy.

I looked at my UE Lightning chassis, no holes for the Gorilla mount... loads of horizontal holes though for weight reduction.

The other problem with the lightning the top plate is like a "V" shape, so you can't slot a mount down anyway. :(

Really look forward to you developing one to handle different chassises.

I wonder about the BEC related specs.
The only information I found was this:
BEC Voltage: 5V/5A (Input 8.4V, Peak 8A)

Hope this doesn't mean that the internal BEC can only be used at 8,4V battery voltage?

You use a UBEC with it when running high voltage so the internal would be "disconnected".