My brushless E-maxx (Video)
 

Guys and Gals,
I just about have my e-maxx that way I want it now, Just a few tweaks left. Need to find a better way of mounting the Ant. The tube keeps coming loose, Any ideas? Next I need to do a better job at the wiring, and mounting the ESC.

Here is a video of My brushless E-maxx. It is not much compared to the other E-maxx's I have seen on this site but I am starting to like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37lnEZ7i_yM

Sorry about the quality, It looked real nice before the upload :( Any way to improve quality on Youtube? Is there a better upload site?

Right now the Diffs and Tranny are stock, I tried to keep it light by just using a 6s1p A123 pack. It seems to have just enough power. I get limited wheel spin in 2nd gear and often flips in Low gear. My yard is a little small for high gear anyways.

Oh notice the dirt flying up all the time, Moss has overtaken my backyard grass and it was totally out of control. The truck is doing a great job of ripping up the moss. I think in the spring I will Run truck for many packs, Throw some grass seed down, Run the truck some more then water... Maybe I will get a yard out of this toy. :)


Highflier

PS. I really like the E-maxx trucks they take a beating, My wife has a stock one and we were playing tag today. There was no noticed damage at the end of the day. However she is now starting to think that she needs something a little faster. I might give her my powertrain and get a slighty better setup for myself. On this setup the ESC and batteries are cold but the Motor does get quite hot, I am worried about this as right now it was 45 degrees today, Might be real bad when summer hits.

If it gets hot, gear up and it should solve the problem.

What setup are you using? Seems like it's not getting the low end grunt it needs. Maybe I'm just running a different setup intended for acceleration, but it looks like either the wheels are spinning all the way through 1st, or it's just lacking some power.

A lot of the run was in 2nd gear. It still spins the wheels in second gear even from a stop. However in first it just rips the wheels loose.

I thought it might be geared to low, So I felt motor with my hand after 5 min of run in low gear, then switched to high gear and run about 5 more min and the motor felt much warmer. But this was just by touch and no timer or anything involved.

I guess I should get out the old IR temp gun and a stop watch and run some more control tests.

But just to be clear, Cold Batteries, Cold ESC means under geared?

Highflier

Generally, hot motor=undergeared (from to little of a load); hot esc=overgeared (to many amps)

I see a new place to build a track :lol:. My daughter's great grandparents are in Reading. You are lucky to have that nice space to run.

Been a little while since I posted, I was in Vegas at the CES show :)

So I decided to havea little fun today and get more facts. So here is what I learned.

1) I am geared 16/66, I have a 18 pinion, should I be putting that on?
2) In 1st gear 45 degrees outside bash type running Motor came in at 160 degrees, Batteries 95, and esc was 55

Changed to a fresh pack, shifted to 2nd gear and ran for 5 min. This is the result :( See attached pic



3) Motor temp was 130 degrees, But to be honest I don't think it was up to full temp yet since I had not been running that hard. Acceleration was not near as good.



So what should I do now.
I am thinking for back yard bash maybe I should use 18/66 and stick to 1st and see what happens.

How much more gearing does 2nd gear give another 20% or so?


What should I do about slipper, It almost looks like the pegs wore down then things over heated melting the center hub, then do to being out of round the spur teeth got shreded. Does that sound like the norm?

Highflier

Nasty. Looks like you had too much slip set (any slip is too much with the stock slipper & a powerful motor), so the pegs melted due to a hot slipper plate, which then melted the center out of the spur. Best fix for that is an aftermarket slipper (RR, Strobe), or modifiy your tranny input shaft to accept a revo or jato slipper (requires drilling a hole in the put shaft). Quick fix is to fill all the slipper peg holes with the pegs, then crank the slipper all the down.

Or you could get a Strobe sprong. I believe they work with E trannies. Check out www.unlimitedengineering.com and post a wanted ad in the B/S/T section. I saw one go earlier this week for $20.

Well I don't want to bail on a slipper, Since I have not done up the Diff's or the outdrives to Revo or CVD's, I feel the slipper is saving them, So I looked and the RR did not look bad but...... Can you get spur gears if you kill it or you need the whole kit again.. if so No thanks looks like a way to waste money.

Next I looked at the Revo Slipper, Is it just a matter of drilling a hole for the pin to go into? That seems easy enough, However it looked like the spurs were all real low tooth count like 40ish or so. Thus I would need a tiny Pinion which does not sound good.

So confused! arg.... Sometimes I wish the hobby was just one click. Click here and the right stuff shows up.

By the way it was nice and fast before it broke down. The wife was using her stock E-maxx and said "no fair" That was right after asking me did hers get slower. Of course the answer was NO mine was fasters She was not used to seeing me in 2nd gear :)

Now I think she wants a hopup. Now that I am this far into the e-maxx I think that a 9s1p A123 would be the perfect setup.

Something like a 11XL. Maybe I will give her my powertrain and get something new for me. Only issue is what ESC is good for 9s A123. It's not that I need that much more power I just want slighty longer run time. I don't want the weight of 6s2P and. And I don't dare get away from a cell count that is divisible by 3.


Highflier

The Revo slipper isn't the best way to go. It won't fit perfect, and from what I've heard it can wobble. Anywho, your only options are the Strobe, RRP, or a Kippster. The RRP just plain sucks, the Strobe is hard to find, and the Kippster is even harder. I have a Kippster around somewhere if your interested. It uses pads and a center section almost identical to a Strobe, but uses the RRP spurs for the Maxx slipper which are easily available.

Squee.

Thats a nice offer, Since I have not heard of the Kippster I am not aware of the low points. Can the pads still be had?

I bought a replacement stock setup which gets me running for now, I put all 12 pegs in maybe that will help it last a little longer, But I am sure I will need a long term solution.

Also Did not notice that my 18 tooth pinion was a 3.17 bore, But a little searching and I found a 20 tooth Pinion, So I will try that and stick to first until I figure things out.

Feel free to PM a price for the Kippster. :)

In the meanwhile I will look for a strobe slipper.
Any chance the new E-maxx has a upgraded compatible slipper?

Highflier

I don't think the new slipper will work either. Its a Revo slipper with a larger spur I believe.

Maybe you should get a new 16.8 E-Maxx tranny. Has the Revo slipper, great new gears and components, and even has the option parts for a single motor plate. Check out ebay, there's a few on there. After you sell your tranny (or swap it into your wife's and sell hers), you wouldn't be spending too much more than you would if you bought a new slipper setup. You could also keep the tranny for your wife's spare if money isn't an issue.

I missed out on this, I was gonna bid on it and forgot. Man that would've been sweet!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=006
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-16-8-E-MAXX-...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Traxxas-16-8...QQcmdZViewItem

By looking at that movie i don't think gearing up will solve your problems; the amount of needed power on the 1P a123 cells is compensated by a high current. since the voltage of a 2P a123 pack drops significant on 2P, 1P will be even worse.

It will lead to a hotter setup than with stable voltage.

I am already running a 1p pack. That is part of the issue, I am actually happy with the launch power, However I would like a little longer run time and a little cooler motor. I don't want to add another LB of batteries. Thus I thought I could go 9S and only add 3 more cells thus 1/2 LB of batteries. With the higher voltage I would not require as many amps (Motor and gearing adjusted of course) To get same power levels. Thus less Voltage sage and cooler running.

Here are a few more vids I made today. Batteries were about 50% run down when I got the wife to started recording.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc5slDotYBo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJTrbSAPEcc

Keep in mind that it is a FLM chassis so the extra length does help keep the wheelie's down.

Highflier

PS. Squee still thinking about it, what does it use for the slipper pads, can they still be purchased?

Unfortunately they would be hard to acquire. If setup right, you shouldn't have to replace the pads. I've had my Strobe for quite some time and it never needed new pads. I'm not sure what there made of, but I know its the same material as the Strobe pads.

This guy is selling a strobe slipper for $15 -

http://www.unlimitedengineering.com/...ad.php?t=20472

I told him you were looking for one. Snatch it up before it's gone....

I'd take it but I did not have a account on UE. thus I can not post or send PM. Looks like it is spoken for already..... :(

I hate this restricted access prior to approval which takes time.

Arg.

Highflier

Awww....it JUST got bought! I'll keep an eye out for you. Heck, I'll even make a thread for you since you're restricted. Just say the word and I'll post up a wanted ad :)

Damn thats cheap. I've seen em go for $50 used on Ebay...

Thanks for the efforts. I am sad that I was watching the Dallas game on DVR, I recorded it so that I could speed a little time outside while the sun was still up.

I should be able to post soon as I created an account.. Had to just to see the thread. However if you see one let me know, That seemed like a cheap fix for enevitable failure.

I forgot to mention that I think gearing up to the 20 tooth helped. I ran most of a pack, and motor temp came out at 130 degrees.

I am now running 20/66 gearing.

If I get a strobe with 51 tooth spur, I could run my 16 tooth pinion which would be real close to the 20/66 gearing I have now.

I really don't like the way the 20 tooth fits in. I have to put the motor on mount first which prevents me from getting the teeth aligned front to back 100% correctly. Right now the pinion only hits about 70% of the spur. With the 16 tooth I could mount pinion then assemble allowing me to get it aligned perfectly.

Highflier

If you get the Stobe slipper, you will have to get mod1 pinions from Mike. Thats the main difference between the Strobe and Kippster.

Ahh... Add that to the cost, I am going to end up getting some Mod1 pinions any way. I am starting to convert a Nitro MT2. I'll be putting a MM 5700 and 3s1p A123 into it.

Rumor has it that it requires a Mod1 pinion. looks like a pretty basic conversion, Only part that is a challenge is making a motor mount and figuring out what gearing I will need.

If I still could get the spar parts for the Kippster, I would serious think about it, The concern I have is that I mess up on the clutch once and then I have a upgrade that is unussable.

Highflier

GTXRACER,

I still can not post on UE site? How long does it take to get verified?

Oh well I guess if you have spare time you could post on my behalf.
To be honest I was not 100% sure the guy did not save the slipper for me after your post... but given the time and no feedback I assume that was not the case.

Oh well. Weather is turning bad so I will have a little time to search for a strobe.
And get gears of course. maybe I should do a search for the slipper pads on the Kippster... Then I could haggle with squee a little :)

Highflier

I'm not sure how long it is, I think it's 30 days.

I can post for you. PM me with exactly what you want and your price range and such. Can you at least view the Buy/Sell/Trade forum?

Well I am not sure what price I should offer.. I just saw it sell for 15.00 but I hear that was a deal!, I guess offer 30.00 would be a good start, I am still learning about this MT stuff so I hope that is not a insult or waste of money.

Highflier

Yes I can view forum, but can not post or even PM. Thus My contact info is Here

Highflier on Rc-monster.com

I hear ya, the Sprong is a good investment from what I hear. When I ran Maxx trucks, I had a SM 10mm FOC and ran the stock Maxx slipper without many problems. So, while I haven't owned a Sprong, I think I would if I was still into Maxx trucks. Let me know what you want to do.