advantage of more expensive escs
 

I recently fried my 9918 and I wanted to get a new esc. Is there a big advantage to having the more expensive escs? I am running a 9L.

Which one are you looking at in practicular. If you choose right, generally quality is what you get for more money.

What was the cause behind the distruction of your ESC? such questions should be answered first. If your -missing around- with the controller is the cause then you should be more gentle with electronics since they are very sensitive and you might fry even the most technologically advanced controllers in the markets if you do not be extra careful. The 9920 and the 9L are perfectly matched and there should be no problem in running them except that if you have over geared your machine , added more cells than what the 9L cane handle with the same gear ratio , you did not make the air flow reach the controller appropiatly or you might have reversed the connections between the controller and the batteries. Believe me the 9920 is great specially when it comes to monster trucks and off road machines you wont go wrong with this system.

I agree with captain harlock, the 9918/9920 is more than enough to handle the 9L. You must have been doing something wrong to fry it...

As for more 'expensive' ESC's, the micro series are very expensive and can only handle 42,000rpm (a huge problem is my mind). You would be better off looking at the castle creations pheonix HV 110 or one of the new MGM compro's coming out....but as I said the 9918 should be more than enough for the 9L.

If you are not in a hurry though, you can wait for a little while and Castle Creations will be releasing their answer to all other car brushless/brushed controllers which is the MAMBA MAXX( I'm waiting for it on fire). Best of luck Super Flip.

I actually didn't do anything to fry it. I had a post earlier about putting 16 cells on it. The servos started to twitch, then I smelled smoke. I didn't even get to take the truck off my workbench. The esc still works though, but it just twitches really badly and I can't really control it.

Sounds like something the warantee should cover. 16 cells on the 9L is gonna be drawing some serious current, that might have caused the problem. I would speak to Mike if I were you

I didn't get to run any current through it. It just started to smoke before I even got to hit the throttle.

That could be a battery wiring issue. Got any pictures? I am very curious for sure. As others have mentioned, the 9920/9918 controllers are pretty tough. 16 cells is a bit much for a 9L, but the controller and motor could likely handle it.

I never ever heard about a controller going up in smoke on less cells than it could handle, only from plugging it in.

If there was nothing wrong with the rest of the setup you can call yourself the official first who had this problem with his 9918. I think you can buy another blind and never suffer this problem again.

You can email with bk about this issue, and perhaps you can sent in your controller to them for research. (you bought your truck with this setup 2nd hand, perhaps you can contact the former owner )

do you have an email address that I can contact them with?

To tell you the truth. I hate waiting for stuff. I would rather buy another esc than to wait. I'm not a millionaire, but I am well off enough to just trash the esc and buy another one. Maybe the more expensive ones if it is worth the extra money.

I do not recommend this at all. What if your expensive controller-God forbids- gets fried as well? I have destroyed one Kontronik 40-6-18, one Futaba MC800c and another futaba controller. My past with ESCs are pretty depressing, but I am the Captain who does not give up that easy. I think your BEC unit has suffered some damage. How about using a seperate receiver pack and see what happens. Also check the way you have connected the receiver jumper too, it might has a role in driving your ESC berserkly.

I think that the erratic behavior may be from the whole frying thing, but I will try installing the UBEC that I got.

Here are some pics of the layout on my truck.