Quark 80b

So picked 1 up off ebay,as a last second impulse,saw it with 20 seconds left.So is it worth using in an emaxx with a 36-60-2000 medusa?(i've found mixed opinions on this)I know the cooling and cap mods would have to be done,but is it worth it?I also was looking for 1 for a smaller vehicle, do I use this for that and keep looking for a better mt controller?Or because of there bad support lately do I just resale it?I only paid 120 for it,so I'm not to afraid of a loss.Any input would be appreciated,thanks .

[Arct1k]

Given a MMM is 145 and has support I would say overpaid and flip it if you can...

[sikeston34m]

Hi Asheck,

It is true, there are alot of mixed opinions about the Quark Controllers especially with 6S operation.

I have owned several Quarks. I have 3 of them right now. 2 - 125 Amp Monster Pro's and also a Quark 80 amp.

The Quark controllers have always performed very well for me. In the beginning, they were the only controller that I could find that worked well with multipole motors.

I started out with a 80 amp Quark in an E maxx. It served duty there on 4S, 5S, and sometimes even 6S. It performed flawlessly in the E maxx for about a year.

Then I did a Revo conversion. It was at this time, I did the Cap mod to the controller. I never did the heat sink mod, even though, I knew by this time, the power board had came separated from the case inside.

With the Revo on 6S, I seen speeds of 60mph or so. It was mean.

Doing the high speed runs, I thermally shut it down a few times. Then I decided to go with a Monster Pro for this setup. So I put the 80b back into the E maxx on 4S on a different Motor combination. It seemed easier to thermal by this time.

One day It thermally shut down and would not power back up. I opened it up and everything looked perfect, but still no go. I believe the thermistor became faulty.

Quark sent me a brand new replacement, no questions asked. That's been awhile go. From what I hear, the quality of their service has changed.

Overall in my opinion, the Quark 80 and the Quark 125 are excellant choices for Monster Truck use. Just keep in mind the amp draw limitations and gear your truck accordingly. Do the Cap mod and use a CC BEC even if you are using 4S. You might be surprised how cool it runs.

[rcjmaxx]

I bought a Quark 80 a few months ago that I ran on 4 cells and its been thermal city from day one.Could someone please post the link with the mods needed to make this ESC bareable. Thanks

[lincpimp]

The quark esc are good, but you have to run a bec on anything over 2s lipo. I say this because the esc has marginal cooling at best. The internal bec will produce heat on 3s lipo and up. So the external bec will help it out. Using some thermal epoxy to stick a heatsink on the bottom is a good ideal. I usually ziptie mine tightly to the al chassis, but I plan to glue an al plate to the bottom, so I can mount it to the chassis with bolts. I have had great succes with my quark escs. I have 2 125b, 1 65, 1 80 air, and 1 125 air. I did fry a 65 a few months back, and have no idea what I did, but it was running 6s in an 1/8 buggy!

[jhautz]

Id say run it.

I had a bone stock 80B push my 1/8 buggy over 60 mph (verified with gps) on 5s. No problems. I ran the 80B for a long time in a 1/8 buggy and never had a problem with it. It seems every bit as capable as the MM to me. If not more so with the added capability of 5s and 6s, mine never argued at all on 5 or 6s. Like some have mentioned, As they get banged around in use the thermal tape they use to mount the fet board to the inside of the case starts to loosen up and then it tends to start overheating. Once this happened I did the thermal mod to it and I never had another problem. I don't run it anymore, it just sits in the spares box waiting for a project to come along. The other downside is, Quarks service in the USA has for sure gone down the tubes. I don't even know if anyone has figured out how to get anything serviced at all.

I have been eyeballing the new SSB-mk3 controller that is out in Asia and other parts of the world, and soon to be released in the US. It looks like the 125B, but with the thermal issue addressed with the addition of a heatsink and a smaller more manageable footprint. I'm just hesitant to try it without knowing that there will be any service backing.

Thank you for all the good info.Sounds like I'll go ahead and run it .I'll add the caps, put heatsinks top and bottom,run the bec,and keep my fingers crossed.If I start having heat issues I'll tear it down and do the heat mod.I really do plan on the MMM once it seems stable,though if I could find 1 for the 145 mentioned I'd be on it.