What is this BS Castle is feeding this customer?

I agree with everyone who thinks this reeks of bull. And how the hell would using maxamps packs kill the MMM? And furthermore, why would maxamps shoot themselves in the foot by stating their batteries do not work with one of the most anticipated ESCs of the past few years? That's business suicide for higher voltage packs IMO. It's like saying "Well...our products really are THAT crappy, so we don't suggest you use them for certain things. You can get buy with a bare minimum setup, but if you want to go big, go with someone else please!"

Yup....something is amiss! This info also comes from RCtech...so I'm not suprised that it's odd (there seems to be a need for "hip waders" as jfruge said over at RCtech anyway).

[FG101C]

Will a 4s1p 20C Polyquest (Enerland) pack be ok with the MMM, Neu 1515 1/Y/F in a Losi 8-T? Do we HAVE to run a 25C pack?

[glassdoctor]

Just to add here:

One of Monsters was killed with a Neu (Enerland god-like cells, lol) pack, so how do we link that to the "blame it on maxamps" answer?

Thing is... the ones that died have simply shut off. No smoke, no heat, no cogging, nothing. And it's happening too quickly imo, to be a blown caps. And it's not a blown FET either. (no cogging, no smoke, no burnt smell)

These are dead in the brain, not the power board. Maybe there is some weird battery-induced thing going on here... but right now it's ALL wild speculation.

[jhautz]

I posted this over there, but it adds to this conversation just as well.

Something else I dont get while reading the Mamba Monster page at the CC site.

How can they rate this for 18 cel NiMH or 6 cell lipo? I dont know of any NiMH cell that can deliver bursts over 125A and maitain 75A continuous.



Here are the specs copied and pasted from the CC site.

Retail Price: Mamba Monster ESC: $199.00

Cells: 18 NiCad/NiMH 6s LiPo
Continuous: More than you can handle!
Resistance: 0.0003 ohms per phase
Brake: Proportional with adjustable curve
Reversible: Yes - with lockout
Low Voltage Cutoff: Programmable
Size: ESC: 2.2" x 1.9" x 1.4"

Weight w/wires: ESC: TBD
Connector Type: 6.5mm bullet


If it was the batteries killing these things they certainly couldnt rate it for NiMH and NiCD cells then. There is no way they can hold the voltage of even crappy lipos.

[DRIFT_BUGGY]

Good point

[luvsrc]

You guys dont need to worry on what other websites are saying, Castle creations and Maxamps are two businesses that are really flourishing and expanding and the more they get popular, the MORE INTRIGUES they are going to get in many other forms for other people wants to pull them down it is called "CRAB MENTALITY"

[sikeston34m]

This is BS.

The Quality of the Battery affects how much power the ESC is able to feed the motor. That's all.

The firmware of the ESC knows what to do with voltage drops. That's the job of the LVC function.

I aggree with the NIMH use statement.

Let's say the Lipo packs are only capable of giving up 40 amps Max. Let's say these are Generic and way over rated.

But let's put this and the MMM with a very big motor and gear the setup for 100mph.

A setup like this would overload the amp capability of the batteries.

The ESC would not run the motor the way it should perform because it would be on the lvc all the time.

Heat is a tattle tale sign of what component is being pushed too hard.

The Packs would quickly get hot and probably puff some cells, if not all the cells.

The ESC doesn't care what batteries are used, as long as the voltage is within specs. The ESC is going to deliver whatever amperage is available for it to work with.

[lutach]

Could that be why I got an e-mail from MaxAmps about a free 3yr/300 warranty?

Hi Guys,

Austin here with MaxAmps. The speed control does not determine the amp draw, the motor does. If the motor is pulling more than 120 amps constant, go with an 8000 pack. Most people are going to want more than 3 minutes of runtime anyways.

For the record, MaxAmps packs can be used with the MMM speed control. Depending on what MaxAmps pack you are using and the amp draw of the motor, you may need a different pack. I think that is what castle is trying to say. If you try and run any 4000mah pack with a 200 amp constant motor, you are going to have trouble. It has nothing to do with a MaxAmps pack vs another manufacturer.

Hope that makes sense,

Austin
CEO MaxAmps.com

[Sower]

Originally Posted by austinelse

Hi Guys,

Austin here with MaxAmps. The speed control does not determine the amp draw, the motor does. If the motor is pulling more than 120 amps constant, go with an 8000 pack. Most people are going to want more than 3 minutes of runtime anyways.

For the record, MaxAmps packs can be used with the MMM speed control. Depending on what MaxAmps pack you are using and the amp draw of the motor, you may need a different pack. I think that is what castle is trying to say. If you try and run any 4000mah pack with a 200 amp constant motor, you are going to have trouble. It has nothing to do with a MaxAmps pack vs another manufacturer.

Hope that makes sense,

Austin
CEO MaxAmps.com

Ask and ye shall receive!! Nice Austin, thanks for stopping in!

[skellyo]

Originally Posted by austinelse

Hi Guys,

Austin here with MaxAmps. The speed control does not determine the amp draw, the motor does. If the motor is pulling more than 120 amps constant, go with an 8000 pack. Most people are going to want more than 3 minutes of runtime anyways.

For the record, MaxAmps packs can be used with the MMM speed control. Depending on what MaxAmps pack you are using and the amp draw of the motor, you may need a different pack. I think that is what castle is trying to say. If you try and run any 4000mah pack with a 200 amp constant motor, you are going to have trouble. It has nothing to do with a MaxAmps pack vs another manufacturer.

Hope that makes sense,

Austin
CEO MaxAmps.com

I appreciate you stepping in here to dispell this rumor. I couldn't honestly believe that anyone at Castle or Maxamps would tell a customer such things.

[George16]

Originally Posted by austinelse

Hi Guys,

Austin here with MaxAmps. The speed control does not determine the amp draw, the motor does. If the motor is pulling more than 120 amps constant, go with an 8000 pack. Most people are going to want more than 3 minutes of runtime anyways.

For the record, MaxAmps packs can be used with the MMM speed control. Depending on what MaxAmps pack you are using and the amp draw of the motor, you may need a different pack. I think that is what castle is trying to say. If you try and run any 4000mah pack with a 200 amp constant motor, you are going to have trouble. It has nothing to do with a MaxAmps pack vs another manufacturer.

Hope that makes sense,

Austin
CEO MaxAmps.com

Help me understand better how the MaH of a battery make a difference in the amp draw? I thought the discharge rate such as 25C and 30C makes the most difference in amp draw and that the MaH affects mainly the runtime.

[BrianG]

So, MA packs are killing MMMs. Hmmm, sounds a bit odd. Like someone said, they don't seem to popping caps or FETs, just something on the controller board.

I agree with others: What works on the MM should work on the MMM, electrically speaking. If the appropriate cells for the application are selected, things should be fine. Yeah, excessive current draw should trip the LVC and/or overheat/puff the cells quicker.

Could it be something related to the AC ripple on the power line not being filtered enough for the BEC's liking?

Could it be something slightly wrong with the FET switching where both legs of the H-bridge are switched on at the same time for like a micro second? That would short out the pack for a VERY brief time, yet not damage the FETs because of the short time. True, this is unlikely, but this whole thing sounds odd.

Even if this is true; with any new release, there's bound to be issues to iron out. Even in extended testing, it's very difficult to test every possible scenario and setup out there. Before people start pointing fingers, we should hear direct for MA or CC to see what exactly is going on with the failures.

[lincpimp]

Good point Brain,

I have a feeling that CC will wait to test/inspect the faulty units before posting any info. It would just be specualtion anyway, so it really does not help anything.

[skellyo]

I'd like them to address why they are telling folks that MA batteries are suddenly inadequate to use when they were fine in the same setups with a MM. Granted, the first post I made was second hand information from the poster on rctech, we really deserve an explanation either way. With the information posted on public forums, inaccurate news/information travels fast so I'm hoping Patrick will peek in this thread and put it to rest.