Trackpro Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 ⅕%Hi all. Newbie Alert!! Just bought an FTX Outlaw from RC Geeks. Brushed model with I think the Hobbyking blue top 45A esc. Problem is it ran for about 5 minutes then started to get a bit jerky. Then stopped altogether! Transmitter is ok. It sends and receives then signal cos you can see the led on the esc flashing fast on full throttle on slow on neutral. Battery is good. 7 plus volts on the stock 1800 nimh. I put a voltmeter across the motor wires and even on full throttle, forward or reverse, I'm getting zero volts. Tried it in crawler mode as well. Same thing. Pretty frustrating when its brand new out of the box....... Can you programme this esc with a card? Or just on the button. Voltage and temp protection is on. But I turned them off and it made no difference. Receiver failsafe is on. Last thing. I checked the esc and motor temp with an infrared gauge and both were about 35 to 40 degrees c. Any ideas? TIA for you help. I don't think it's a newbie issue but will be happy to be proved wrong. Cheers. Simon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormbringer Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 is the esc set up for nihms ? sounds like the esc could be set to lipo and the low voltage cut off is kicking in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackpro Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Thanks for the reply. It is set up straight out of the box. There is no programme card, just a button on the esc. The manual doesn't mention any specific way to set it up for lipos, just a low voltage cut off which should be enabled for lipo use. I tried with this on and off and the issue was the same. The esc is operating, just not outputting any volts to the motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoea Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 I think you may need to return the ESC for replacement or perhaps the whole lot if they ask you. Seems you got a faulty ESC at least the fault appeared quickly. Have you contacted the retailer for support? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackpro Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 8 minutes ago, Zoea said: I think you may need to return the ESC for replacement or perhaps the whole lot if they ask you. Seems you got a faulty ESC at least the fault appeared quickly. Have you contacted the retailer for support? I emailed RC Geeks as soon as it happened, and have tried calling them today a couple times. But haven't had a reply yet. Having read and watched a couple of reviews I'm sorta considering upgrading to brushless anyway. Any recommendations for a good starter level brushless combo??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoea Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 I had a quick look on ebay for you but nothing really struck me as good sorry. Be careful of the motors with fins cut into them they are often smaller motors put in a bigger can to make them cheaper and they are worth avoiding. the problem is often the ESC in these combos - ideally you want an ESC that can handle a nice fast motor or 3s in future and most combos are just 45A or 60 amps. If you don't mind buying second hand there are bargains to be had. You might want to try a wanted ad here if you don't mind second hand. As long as it's working it's unlikely to break unless you are unlucky or get it wet (or get the gearing badly wrong). Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackpro Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 Hi All, Just a quick update and a couple more newb queries. Stormbringer was right on the money! The low voltage cut out on the ESC was kicking in, due to the new NIMH battery voltage dropping REAL fast! Do they do that when they're new? Fresh battery and it was back to normal. However when I was working on the car I noticed that the motor wires were crossed over- red to black and black to red. I swapped them round but it didn't make the difference I assumed it would. If it was a straight DC motor it should now run backwards when the throttle is forward, but it didn't. I am missing something? I am missing something? I read up on ESC’s but it was difficult to find any real info on brushed set ups. It’s all about brushless now it seems… This leads me to my second question. The steering and throttle switches on the Transmitter both have to be reversed for the truck to run "normally"- ie clockwise steer right and backwards trigger to forward motor. Is this normal with the Etronix Pulse setup? The problem being that set up this way the brake function only works of the reverse. Lastly, how long should the car run on a fresh charged (8.2v) 5000mah battery? And when the charge starts to drop, will it affect the transmitter range. Low volt cut off is disabled. I'm getting about 5- 8 minutes before I start getting jerky throttle and poor steering response. And this is just in my back garden so maximum 15m range. TIA in advance. Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormbringer Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 when your battery is getting tired the motor makes the voltage drop below the operating voltage of the radio gear/esc so it cuts out , motor stops voltage pops back up esc/radio get power motor starts volts drop etc etc so thats how it gets jerky in the past before esc's we used mechanical speed controllers and when batt ran low you couldn't control it so it would roll or sail off into the distance lol as for range dont know but it seems 5-8 mins is whats going to be your runtime on that battery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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