quark or mamba maxx for e-revo
 

i read all the posts on how great the mamba max but is it a better choice over the quark monster pro for an e revo on 4s or 6s? i'm planning on getting one of the neu 1515 motors as everyone raves about them... although i'm a big fan of pletty's from my experience with the extrem/mtronics pro combo in touring cars and offroad 1/10 4wd electrics... i've always wanted to get a big maxximum but it seems like everyone has moved the neu motors... why?

i guess i'm really asking two questions quark/mamba, neu/pletty maybe lehnr

Welcome to the forum Abiye, the mamba is only good to 4s, not 6s. People have had sucess with running it with the Neu motor you mentioned. There are others here who can give you more insight on the combos you're looking at, just wanted to say welcome and be patient, they will be on sooner or later

I still am not suggesting everyone use a Mamba even though it's been working well. The Quark is working very well also and is intended for such use.

There's nothing wrong with the Pletty motors... I still think they are the coolest motors. What I like about the Neu is that there are more winds to choose from. And they are more available and priced better than Lehner and Pletty ....for us in the states anyway.

I really like my MMax/8XL, but as stated, its only been shown to work upto 4s/14 cells, and that's still running it above spec, so that will void your warranty. Using it as we are is not really for beginners (not suggesting you are, just the caveat.)

The Q125 is the safe bet, and will work upto 5s under warr. There seems to be an issue many are having running the Q125 on 6s, so... thats' a bit of a crap shoot. Else you are looking at another ESC if you really def want to run 6s. Possibly a MGM (seems to have been forgotten)? I don't know for those as I've not used a 4-pole motor or 6s lipos, so someone else may answer that ? better.

A little off-topic, but why would 4s void the warranty on the MMax? The manual specifically offers a cutoff value for 4s. And, 4s has the same voltage as 12 cells (give or take depending on load of course).

Actually you might be right about the 4s, but 14 cell is def out w/ warr. What is not clear is if some n00b breaks it (say on 4S) and sends it back for repair saying he was using an XL sized mtor on a MT. They do not limit the ESC to just CC motors, so they have to allow some room for other motors but how far that is IDK.

Its more a warning to other users. Its looks like the MMaxes are starting to get pretty popular for such an app, but I'd hate to see a n00b buy it, abuse it (like not run a ubec) and break it just b/c they saw someone else do it on the internet and not really understand what they are gettnig in to.

4S and 14 cells won't actually void the warranty on the Mamba Max as long as a UBEC is used....By the way, what does an XL motor have to do with anything? The majority, if not all, of the XL motors will draw less amps than the 7700 they offer...

Shawn had posted in a CC thread back in early Aug when I was first looking at using a MMax in my ERevo, that the MMax could run 14 cells but you would have to disable the BEC. This was in response to someone that wanted to run 14 on the 4600 IIRC. Shawn had posted that was ok, but that exceeded the specs (rated upto 12) and wouldn't be necc covered. (Actually it was this post and the 7700 specs (~700W on 6 cells => 100A ) that got me thinking it would work..)

If this has changed since that is news to me. Now the ? is, if you did it, blew it up, but didn't tell them, would they know?:032: :P Prolly not..



As far as the XL goes, you're right it doesn't really matter. However I could imagine somebody saying to a company's CS "you know that Mamba ESC you designed to go into 3lb T4's and sedans? Well I hooked it upto a 1500W 540XL motor, put it in a 12lb MT, ran 14+ cells on it, and blew it up. Will you replace it?" I could see that company saying "you exceeded the specs and recc's and it won't be covered." I've heard CC's CS is really great and generally they seem good guys, but I have not had the misfortune to have to test it, so take it for what its worth.

Edit: The original post:

But will 4s void the warranty? 4s is the same as 12 cells voltage-wise, and they even have a voltage cutoff for 4s listed in the manual. 14 cells is more like 4.5s. I know it can run 4s, but just curious about the warranty. If so, then I think I'll be using the MM in my 1/8 buggy instead of using the Quark or waiting until just under eternity for the Monster Max. I think as long as the user doesn't go higher than 4s and keeps the amperage at or under 100A, the warranty should hold.

4S WON'T void the warranty if you use a UBEC.

Some time in the future I plan on trying the Mamba Max with 5s A-123 cells from a Dewalt power tool battery pack. The nominal voltage is 16.5v, 0.3v less than 14 cells.

What would you use for a cell balancer on 5S a123 cells?

I have both the MM and the Quark. For 1/8 I like the Quark 125b just slightly more. It is hard to put my finger on exactly why. They both perform pretty well. I think it is because a couple of times when I have gone from a complete standstill to full throttle with the MM it has yielded just some clicking (no forward movement) from the motor as if some one was holding the car in place. Like when a phase wire comes off. If you blip the throttle again the problem is gone and your flying down the track. This is a rare once in a while thing, the rest of the time though the MM has performed very well. I like everything else about it. I hate even saying anything negative about it, because I really do like it. The programmability is so much better and easier. Maybe it's me, maybe I have found the right setting yet. I will continue to use both controllers, but my vote is for the Quark, for now.

Probably one of the normal LiPo balancers I'm using now (LBA6 or Apache SM-505). From what I've read the A123 cells rarely go out of balance.

Thanks Metal,
I just found that my man Pete is selling m1 cells in his solderless power tubes. It looks like I will be going back to the good ol days of the SPT's. If these cells don't go out of balance much, I guess I won't worry about balancing them then.

I also see the LiPoDapter+ will charge the M1 cells from a standard NiCad/NiMh charger (up to 10 cells at once).

if the quark is having broblems with 6s then i'll probably stick with 4s as i'm planning to use two batteries connected in series in the revo so that i can use the same batteries one at a time in my xray fk05 and kyosho zx5... i'm still undecided about the motor though...

I've been pondering whether or not I could get away with using 6s A123 cells on a MM. I know that's a lot of voltage (19.8v nominal), but I haven't heard of anyone frying a MM due to overvoltage yet :036: , so I wonder how much is too much? Didn't rtsbasic say that he was going to try 16 cells (19.2v)?

Haha, this is what I've been planning to do for a while, but I've been keeping it under wraps. :) Problem is my Triton v1 charger only charges lipos @ 2A, so I'd have to get another charger (for wait forever), and the SPT are ~$20ea for the A123 cells. Plus I'd have to redo my batt trays as the M1s are so wide. so plans have been on hold.

However, I've been doing some more testing with the MMax, and I successfully ran it with 16 cells last night. I had been using 15 for a little while with no issues, so decided to go for it. Nice. Two critical factors I am looking at; peak and discharge voltage. W/ the NIMH I am saying a high 1.45V/ cell, so 16 cells=~23.2V Very high, but obviously this drops very quickly after a little discharge. From graphs I've seen, I'd put loaded V @ ~1.1V/cell (depending on batts), so ~17.6V.

The M1 cells peak @ 3.7V/cell, and look like they drop to ~2.7v/cell under a 40A load. => ~16.2V for 6s, but only peak @ 22.2V.

The numbers are very loose, so don't get to hung up on them for exactness, but I do think the MMax would easily run 5S M1, and even 6S M1 with care. I am also thinking it would run 5s lipo (if peak =4.2V/cell, ~3.3v/cell loaded.) This actually looks the best situation as peak voltage is only ~21V, but under load the voltage should be about the highest. This is the plan I've been leaning towards lately (getting a 2S and 3S and saddling them) vs the M1 cells for ease of fit and charging.

I have some more testing to do, it was only a few speed runs and some bashing, but nothing blew up. If it does nuke, its only $50 to fix for any reason. Temps stayed very low, ~100F Esc, but it was only 59F outside. Don't know how it would fare 90+F in summer.

@BrianG, checked the manual, and it does talk about 4s so that would be ok IMO. I was thinking about my Mtroniks or some other esc I believe that had some wierd spec of 12cells/ 3s lipo.

@Cartwheels: I've never seen that w/ mine after ~2mos of use... Maybe something w/ yours in particular or your setup? What motor?

Cool! Congrats with the successfull 16 cell test! You are using a fan on the MM, right? Let me know if you run into any problems. I've already got 6s M1 packs ready to go, I just need to spring for the MM if I decide to go that route. I'm waffling between keeping the quark or selling it to get the cheaper MM. Most of the time I'll just use 4s, but I want the capability to do 6s M1 if I want more power.

Btw, the resting voltage of the M1 cells is 3.3~3.4v, so the 6s peak would be less than the 22.2v you mentioned, more like 20v.

You mean that the MM is only 50 bucks to have replaced by CC when you burn it due to your own fault? the mamba (1/18th) was 25 to replace.

That's what I read in the back of the manual last night when I went to double check the 4s thing. There is a 1yr warr, else $50 repair fee as I read it.

http://www.castlecreations.com/support/documents/Mamba%20Max%20User%20Guide.pdf


@ Cart213: G/L, but if you blow it up, don't blame me! All above spec use is at you own risk! :)

I am using a fan, a small 5v 25mm fan I bolted to the HS. I calc'd the voltages off of the M! spec sheets IIRC. I took the worst case senario, such as pulling it right off the charger and plugging it in. Same w/ the NIMH. As long as it doen't nuke right when you plug it in.. I guess the worst worst case would be if you chilled the M1's and charged, at they say they charge to 4.2V/cell @ 0*C. Use a voltmeter before you plug in anything to be safe.

Of course. Everything with brushless conversions seems to be: proceed at your own risk! :037: Especially when you're pushing the limits.

i just came back from speaking with to the crew from castle creations today at the iHobbyExpo 2006 in Chicago and they told me some some of the specs about the mamba monster maxx prototypes their testing now and OMG!!!! i'm definately waithing for it and getting the mamba maxx for now so that i can use it in the smaller stuff later... they say its about 2.5 months out

Well, are you under some type of NDA, or do you just enjoy keeping us hanging? Tell us about the prototypes man! Even though the beta versions aren't set in stone, the specs they are using should give us an idea of what to expect.

6s or 5s and pretty much double the current rating...

I am really hoping for 6s...

Its no good for the drivetrain, but it sure is fun.:D

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