Losi 2.0 Conversion

[Shark413]

Hi, regarding the Tekin motor. I am running them in my buggy and truggy. The buggy separated a magnet on the first pack, Tekin customer support got me a replacement within the week and it has about 6 packs thru it with no issues. The truggy motor has been going strong since day one (about 12 packs). Both motors perform well, are very strong, and temps are good. The 3mm/4mm mounting holes are a great feature (I use the Losi mount with 4mm screws). I have been running them with a MMM ESC and this combo works fine.


Separated magnet


New replacement rotor

[Shark413]

Update:

It was really hot out here in Socal at the end of June, but the track is going to be closed for a few weeks so I wanted to get one last weekend of practice to stress test the Tekin motor (and new rotor). It may not get as hot as some places but the the air temp was 106 degrees and the track surface was 135 degrees, so this was a good test on how the battery, ESC and motor would handle the heat. I put three 4s Neuenergy packs thru, I dropped down a tooth on the pinion because of the heat (47/14T). Max temps on the motor were in the low 180's and the Battery hit 110. Performance was great the weather was not.

[Shark413]

Been a while so I thought I would pass on some updated info. Still super hot at the local track recently, air temps 106+ and ground temps 140 degrees. So I got some extended run time in during the day to see how the electronics would hold up. The Tekin T8 and MMM motors held up great and temps were decent (never got hotter than 175 degrees). My MMM ESC handled the heat fine, but I did have a problem with the fan, it was working intermittently. I always check to see if it is working when I first turn on the ESC and the fan was not moving. I removed the fan and tested it and it was indeed dead. I have several MMM ESC's and this is about the 3rd fan failure. It is a pain to remove the ESC, take the case apart and remove the fan, so I decided to make it a little easier. I don't recommend you do this because it could void your warranty, but I bascially attached the fan to the outside of the case and ran the wires directly to my rx so the fan was on all the time. This setup allows quick replacement of a broken fan, you can tell right away if the fan is dead and it runs all the time, which keeps the ESC cooler. Just drilled two holes and used two 3mm screws to hold the fan down.

[emaxxnitro]

Originally Posted by Shark413

Been a while so I thought I would pass on some updated info. Still super hot at the local track recently, air temps 106+ and ground temps 140 degrees. So I got some extended run time in during the day to see how the electronics would hold up. The Tekin T8 and MMM motors held up great and temps were decent (never got hotter than 175 degrees). My MMM ESC handled the heat fine, but I did have a problem with the fan, it was working intermittently. I always check to see if it is working when I first turn on the ESC and the fan was not moving. I removed the fan and tested it and it was indeed dead. I have several MMM ESC's and this is about the 3rd fan failure. It is a pain to remove the ESC, take the case apart and remove the fan, so I decided to make it a little easier. I don't recommend you do this because it could void your warranty, but I bascially attached the fan to the outside of the case and ran the wires directly to my rx so the fan was on all the time. This setup allows quick replacement of a broken fan, you can tell right away if the fan is dead and it runs all the time, which keeps the ESC cooler. Just drilled two holes and used two 3mm screws to hold the fan down.

warranty void lol!

[SpEEdyBL]

I just decided to remove the fan from my MMM completely. All the jumps on the tracks that I run on cause the blades to break off and get caught, causing the fan to stall, which is the worst as it is draining current and not cooling the esc. Now that I run the tekin T8 1900 motor on the MMM, the fan rarely turns on anyway, at least with 4s. But I have found that 4s is all you need for this motor most tracks as you can easily gear to 40+ mph and still have cool temps. I've tried 16/46 in my 8ight on a large out door track and the highest motor temps i have seen in 80 degree heat was in the 130s. Actually the only time I've gotten this motor up to 140 was when I was running that gearing with 5s in front of my house for a full run, which was pretty sick. I would easily get my CC2650 up to 165 geared for the same speed.

[ptt81]

Shark...got a question for you, is there a reason you choose the Losi conversion kit over the Tekno? Im going to convert mine when my new kit gets here but i can't decide between the two and I don't know which one is better in term of durability, it seems to me I get more space on the tekno and better motor mount and overall better CG since they have moved the stuff a bit up front. But i can't use plastic spur.

[stum]

you know another often unmentioned fact about the losi kit is the ESC sits in the rear and it makes it pretty impossible to clean easliy between races/sessions. It is soo tight to the rear you have to worry about it getting wet etc... it's not impossible to clean but not nearly as easy as it is w/ the tekno setup.

I have no idea which is better in the end, I mean I'm pretty fast w/ my tekno but there are plenty of great drivers who can beat me that use the losi as well.. I was tempted to try the losi kit because my brother has brand new 8ight-e 2.0 and it drives very nice, but after I tried to help him clean up his buggy quick I found I enjoyed my tekno layout much better.

[Shark413]

Originally Posted by ptt81

Shark...got a question for you, is there a reason you choose the Losi conversion kit over the Tekno? Im going to convert mine when my new kit gets here but i can't decide between the two and I don't know which one is better in term of durability, it seems to me I get more space on the tekno and better motor mount and overall better CG since they have moved the stuff a bit up front. But i can't use plastic spur.

Hi, well first off I have no experience with the Tekno conversion kits, other than I tried an Elektri-Clutch on my Revo. The Tekno kit looks to be top quality and many people seem to be very happy with their kits. The reason I went with Losi was, first I bought the 2.0 race roller and I didn't want to throw away the new 2.0 chassis, which I would have to do if I went with the Tekno kit. Second the Losi motor mount is not perfect but I do like the ability to quickly adjust the gear mesh and the fact it supports 4mm motor mount screws. I had too many issues with 3mm screws getting loose, stripping, etc. I feel the 3mm screws are leftovers from 1/10 electric. Third, the Elektri-Clutch just didn't work for me, I like the direct drive feel and the instant acceleration it gives you. I didn't want to use a long shank pinion either, it just puts too much stress on the front bearing in my opinion. Also the clutch adds more parts that need maintenance. I also like how the Losi kit mounts the battery further forward, putting more weight on the front end, many companies have gone this route lately by making their 1/8 scale chassis longer (Losi, Kyosho, Jammin, etc.) moving everything forward, it just handles/turns better to me. One cool thing about the Tekno kit is you can retain the mechanical brakes, on all my first generation conversions I kept the mechanical brakes because at the time I felt the brake bias was important and I had raced nitros for many years and was used to that setup. After trying motor brake only, I have since gone that route on all my second generation conversions the brake feeling is different but can be just as effective. Either way should work fine, good luck with your conversion.

[superlapS15]

How is the Tekin motor holding up? Particularly temps- it sounds like you've had scorching heat there which would contribute to the higher temps (180 and most recently up to 175).

I'm currently running a Losi 8ight (1512 2D, 4S, Modified MM/BEC, 12/46) and I've just started converting an 8ight 2.0. I plan on going 6S/low kv and so far a Tekin 1400/MMM combo seems the best option (I've already got two MMM, and I'm not wanting to try the RX8 yet). Other than the rotor issue, the Tekin motors seem to be performing well under race conditions.

I've enjoyed reading the write up you've posted here- I hope there are more updates to follow! Thanks for all the info so far!

[Shark413]

Originally Posted by superlapS15

How is the Tekin motor holding up? Particularly temps- it sounds like you've had scorching heat there which would contribute to the higher temps (180 and most recently up to 175).

I'm currently running a Losi 8ight (1512 2D, 4S, Modified MM/BEC, 12/46) and I've just started converting an 8ight 2.0. I plan on going 6S/low kv and so far a Tekin 1400/MMM combo seems the best option (I've already got two MMM, and I'm not wanting to try the RX8 yet). Other than the rotor issue, the Tekin motors seem to be performing well under race conditions.

I've enjoyed reading the write up you've posted here- I hope there are more updates to follow! Thanks for all the info so far!

I think may be the motor was just bad, or didn't have enough torque for my setup. I have since been running a 2200KV MMM motor (truggy size) and the temps are great. I am running a Tekin 2000kv motor in my 8ight 2.0 truggy and it has been running great and no issues with the rotor. I also just recieved some of the Castle blower fans, and it fits righ on the motor and under the body with no clearence issues. It should help keep the temps down on those super hot days here in Socal.

[superlapS15]

Originally Posted by Shark413

I think may be the motor was just bad, or didn't have enough torque for my setup. I have since been running a 2200KV MMM motor (truggy size) and the temps are great. I am running a Tekin 2000kv motor in my 8ight 2.0 truggy and it has been running great and no issues with the rotor. I also just recieved some of the Castle blower fans, and it fits righ on the motor and under the body with no clearence issues. It should help keep the temps down on those super hot days here in Socal.

I get the impression that rotor failures aside, the Tekin motor is far more reliable than the Tekin RX8 ESC.

My main interest in the Tekin motors lies in the low KV options available and the 4mm mounting holes. Neu has low KV motors, but I would be stuck with 3mm holes (I'm not going to try to tap 4mm holes) and the wires exiting out the rear of the can have caused some hassle in the past- similar to your problem with melting/splitting the wire covering, I melted all three! At the moment, my Neu 1512 2D is still holding together (despite some heat issues a few weeks back) and will remain in my 8ight, and the MMM/2200 combo I have lying around will go into the 8ight 2.0. When I try 6S/low kv, I will probably get a 1400kv Tekin motor to test and see how it performs, at least until Castle release a low KV motor (with 4mm holes, just in case someone is reading this!!! )

Temperature wise, I'm heading into summer here in Australia (South East Queensland) so any motor/esc is going to have a tough time. Generally though, it is the motor that runs hot for me, with the ESC only running slightly hotter in summer (10-15F hotter). I went to the track today to try a few ESC changes on my modified MM but a damaged wire/ripped off connector ended the day after only one lap of qualifying- I was hoping the changes I made to the braking power (decreased power, steeper braking curve with full braking from 50%) would help the 1512 2D run a little cooler. It seemed to run cooler on my track, but it really requires testing on a large track to confirm any improvement.

I did see that Castle have released their motor fan, but I'll be interested in first managing temps with my existing setups, then perhaps adding a fan for additional cooling and reliability. If I can get both my motors to stay under 150 after a 10 minute qualifier (including 2-3 mins warm up) I'll be quite happy. Adding a fan would then provide an additional measure of protection for the hotter months of the year.

You mentioned torque in your post- I'm curious to see how the 2200kv performs compared to the 2550kv Neu, the CC motor being a longer rotor/magnet/can design. I'm not really after speed, but I want to always have that 'punch' that electric provides. It may well be the case that the longer can motor provides that 'punch'/torque with less current draw, hopefully improving temps and runtime.