Mamba Max on 4s A123 cells?

[Unsullied_Spy]

It should run it just fine, but disable the BEC (either unplug the red wire from the Rx wire or get a short servo wire extender and remove the wire from that so you don't have to mod the MM). Once you do this you'll need an external BEC such as the CC BEC, Mike sells a few different BECs.

The internal BEC should would on 4s A123 as the voltage isn't much higher than 12 cells NiMH but the farther over 5 volts (at least, I think it's a 5v BEC) you get, the hotter the BEC will get and on 4s A123 you could possibly burn up the internal BEC.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by Unsullied_Spy

It should run it just fine, but disable the BEC (either unplug the red wire from the Rx wire or get a short servo wire extender and remove the wire from that so you don't have to mod the MM). Once you do this you'll need an external BEC such as the CC BEC, Mike sells a few different BECs.

The internal BEC should would on 4s A123 as the voltage isn't much higher than 12 cells NiMH but the farther over 5 volts (at least, I think it's a 5v BEC) you get, the hotter the BEC will get and on 4s A123 you could possibly burn up the internal BEC.

Really, the internal BEC should be disabled for anything over 2s lipo or 7-8 NiMH cells. I did a test with just 3s a while back and a small 250mA load (1.5w of wasted power) caused the MM BEC to heat up a lot and quickly. Servos can pull quite a bit more than 250mA depending on application.

That said, by the time you buy a MM and a decent external BEC, you are right about at the price point of a MMM. Unless space is a premium, you might be better off with the MMM, especially since CC said the MM is technically only designed for 3s or 12 NiMH cells and running any higher may void the warranty.

[Unsullied_Spy]

Originally Posted by BrianG

That said, by the time you buy a MM and a decent external BEC, you are right about at the price point of a MMM. Unless space is a premium, you might be better off with the MMM, especially since CC said the MM is technically only designed for 3s or 12 NiMH cells and running any higher may void the warranty.

That's true, and if you buy a MMM you can run more voltage with a lower KV motor (more efficient setup) and still have a warranty. I don't think the MMM is too big though, considering what it can do.