BL Revo or BL E-Maxx?

Hi all

I'm new here, and I have a question for you.

I am tired of nitro, so I want to go brushless.
I have a Revo and a E-maxx. But I can't decide which truck to "convert". I like the Revo suspension and the way it "feels" when bashing, but i think it's easier to go brushless with the E-Maxx, since of course its already electric. Also the Revo is a little heavier, right? I read in here that people use E-maxx trannys in Revos, that involves a bit of engineering skills, right? (which I don't have):024: ...

So which truck should I use?
I never race, I want the speed of nitro, and I want more rutime than I have with my stock E-Maxx running NiMH 3000s (after 2-3 minutes the truck starts to slow down:025: ). I read thar Lipos keeps the voltage (=speed?) until they die, that sounds good. What esc/motor shold I use? I'm thinking about the MMM, if it ever gets out...

A lot of questions from a complete rookie. Help me out guys. Sorry for the spelling, I'm from out of town...

[Finnster]

Well, its easier to run BL in a maxx, as you don't have to "convert" it, make batt trays, etc, but the Revo is much better suited to handling the BL power. The maxx needs signifigant investment in driveline upgrades, while a stock Revo is pretty much good to go. If you get the RCM motor mount for Revo, its really easy to convert. You just need to make some batt trays and lock tranny in 2nd (to get motor brakes and reverse.)

Those batts are junk. If you get decent lipo packs, it will be a world of differnce better. i usually bashed ~45min-1hr on my 4S 6400 packs, with no real loss of power.

[zeropointbug]

Yes, a maxx truck can be had for a very decent price if you buy the right parts, and put the money where it needs to be. The differentials, and tranny is where the money needs to go first.

Then you most likely have a good radio I take it?

An entry level BL setup (but no slouch!) is a Mamba Max, paired with a 8 or 9XL Feigao.

For batteries, LiPo's are a good choice, but you MUST have careful attention not to abuse them, over-charge, over-discharge, stay within specified voltage limits, even then they can burst into flames for no reason (this is important). LiPo's have great power (decent pack), and have pretty consistent power throughout run, and looong runtimes.

The other choice for batts is A123 Lithium (Lithium Nano-Phosphate), they are a brand new chemistry stirred up by A123 Systems. Main aspects:
-Safe, intrinsically safe (peace of mind)
-super fast recharge of 15 mins, although 5 min charges are possible as well
-lot's of power, ~equal to equivalent mAh rating as lipo, but they can handle currents much better than lipo, again safe.
-Very consistent power throughout run, 100% power right up to a few seconds when they dump, it's very sudden loss of power.
-tough, the cells are made into alum. shells and can take physical abuse. Tough as nails as far as running them, you can over charge, over discharge, etc, with very minor performance impact (unnoticeable)
-Cheap, being half the cost of equivalent LiPo (capacity), as well as having many times the cycle life of lipo, expect at least 1000+ cycles (100%DOD), I have seen roughly 200 cycles come from lipo, that is, if they don't blow up before then...

I'm not trying to bash at lipo here, I'm just giving you a good comparison.

[jhautz]

The "easiest" conversion IMO is to get a Gmaxx G3R chassis for your revo. Its bolt on and lets you run an emaxx tranny with steel lidlers, no other mods needed. Downside is its almost $300.

The cheapest is to custom make some battery mounts and motor mounts for your stock chassis revo and run the stock revo tranny. But this does take some engineering/custom work skills.

The simplest bolt on brushless setup would be the emaxx, but like was metioned above. you will spend a significant amount of money trying to get th drivetrain strong enough to handel the brushless power.

I personally prefer the revo. but others will argue the maxx. Properly set up it can be one mean machine. But it takes picking the right parts and in the end winds up just as expensive (if not more) than the revo.

I highly encourage you to do this. Once you do no nitro will ever due again. A Mamba Maxx and an 8xl on 4s lipo will make you smile for sure!:027:

BTW: Welcome to the forum.

[jhautz]

Another option is to just sell your revo and watch ebay for a decent revo that is already converted. They pop up more often than you would think. This would probably be the cheapest route if you dont want to do the work yourself.

[BrianG]

I personally prefer the Revo even though it does need modifications. Some of it is just the challenge (albeit relatively minor), and some because I liked the suspension setup.

[luvsrc]

Go with Revo if for racing, Emaxx for bashing but more expensive to convert, if performance is a priority go with Revo.You can't go wrong with either truck.I have them both they are all great.

[suicideneil]

E-revo, simply because its a better truck performance & durability wise. To fit an E-maxx tranny is no harder than drilling a couple holes and filling a little clearance for the centre drive shafts. Fitting the battery trays is simple too- a hacksaw, ruler, and dremel is all that is required really. And a little patience (measure twice, cut/drill once).

Thanks alot! This is really good info. I've had computer problems, so I couldn't reply sooner, sorry...

Finnster you got up to an hour runtime? that sound perfect!!! But what about power compared to nitro? (I have the trx 3.3 engine). Less top speed but better torque?

Zeropointbug, do I need a better radio? all I have is the TQ that came with the trucks. Yeah I've read about those A123 batteries. They sound good, but why does most people use Lipo's then? Sure I don't wan't to have 200$ of batteries blow up on me... When I bought the E-Maxx I picked up 12 3000 mah (that was expensive, with international shipping and taxes) They are now paperweights because I didn't treat them very good...

I was leaning towards the Revo too, because I love the truck. So thank you guys for confirming that. I don't need the E-maxx tranny if I lock the stock one in 2nd gear? Is the E-maxx tranny stronger?

Is there any rumors about that Mamba Monster Max combo I've read about?

[Serum]

Hi Buggi; let me be the first to publicly welcome you to the forum! (guys! :) )

The mmm might take a while before it's launched. Don't hold your breath, and a 4S setup is all you need to be as fast as the current 3.3 engine. acceleration will be better, torque will increase as well. The revo transmission is proven tough (this surprised me to be honest) it seems to hold up fine for the users here. Locked in 2nd is the way to go, you can keep the 2speed transmission and use the mechanical brake as well. Finnster is using a centerdiff in his revo, this is easier on the drivetrain than a solid centershaft.

Lipo big advantage is that the energy per gram is better. A123's are rather heavy and have a large voltage drop compared to good lipo's.

Thanks Serum!
I suppose I could try the MM, and updrade when the MMM comes out.

I'm confused. a123, a123 Lithium Nano-Phosphate, and a123 Lithium Ion is the same? Or is this Nano-Phosphate something so new, it can't be purchased yet?

[Serum]

Yeah, they are available for quite a while, these A123 cells are basically the same. A friend of mine who emigrated to China to develop handheld powertools told me they need to wait for 2 months before the A123 cells are available again. You can buy a Dewalt 36V pack and build a 5S2P pack from the cells. these packs retail for about 120 bucks in the US, in europe they are about twice as expensive.

Okay. I'll consider that. Or lipo. At Maxamp.com the best a123 cell is only 2300 mah. Thats not much compared to 10000 mah lipo cells. I'm looking for long runtimes. The E-maxx on NiMh was driving me insane.

By the way, where do you pro guys buy batteries?

[Serum]

I guess you are using poor cells on your maxx; normal NIMH packs also have got about 100 percent performance 10 seconds before they run empty.

If one cell in the pack is bad, (empty sooner than the others) it will lead to problems though.

You can get the maxamps packs from rc-monster.com. Mike also carries the flightpower packs.