Shudson

As far as fuel is concerned, any 10% or 15/16% nitro will be fine. Pretty sure I will have a manual for it that I can scan and forward, if you can't find one on internet.

Cen - probably Fun Factor. Good little "starter" cars. I still have 10 of them. Nothing wrong with crystals, as long as you are not running with lots of others also using crystal sets, and remember to pull the aerial out! Be careful if buying parts, because there are variations. There were four versions - Buggy, Rally Car, Stadium truck and Monster Truck - and the idea was you could convert one to another, by changing various parts. There were also single speed and 2 speed together with 2WD and 4WD. At £35, if it is all there, you have done OK.

If it is a decent charger, it will stop when the battery is fully charged, when the pre-set time has elapsed or when the pre-set power input (in MaH) has been reached, whichever comes sooner.

Glad you're sorted.

The Sanwa src-2322rs receiver is 27mhz AM, using matched crystals, so binding, as with 2.4ghz, is not appropriate. If the red or black wires on the throttle cable were broken, then you would be getting no power to the receiver and repairing that, or your "new" ESC should resolve your problem as you have cleaned battery terminals on transmitter and LED is lighting up. May be prudent to remove and replace (as in put back, not renew) the crystals in transmitter and receiver to ensure good contact.

Assuming the battery has been fully charged (14hours if you have the slow charger option), I would expect all readings to be in excess of 6.0v.

The second option as far as servo travel is concerned, otherwise it can try push beyond any physical limits, causing it to stall, draw excess current and potentially damage itself, particularly if it has plastic/nylon gears. At the moment, hump packs seem in short supply and, if you need a charger, the modelsport deal seems to be the best going. Change your existing switch for the one supplied. battery plugs into socket, one plug goes to receiver and second is led out of receiver/battery box for easy access to charger. This means that the battery can only be charged when the receiver is off, avoiding the risk of damage to the receiver. There are cheaper failsafes on Ebay from about a fiver. I think they will all use the same i.c. and what you pay will depend on which label you think is prettiest! If you do go for a new radio, whilst I'm not knocking the Absima, there are alternatives. I don't like the wheel/trigger configuration and use sticks, so have very limited first hand experience of the former, but from what I have seen others using, for similar spec to the Absima, there is https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flysky-FS-GT2E-AFHDS-2A-2-4G-2CH-Radio-System-Transmitter-w-FS-A3-Receiver-UK/223101107936?epid=24022340206&hash=item33f1dcbee0:g:6BsAAOSwH1pcCh5f or https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flysky-FS-GT2-2CH-2-4-GHz-Radio-Model-RC-Nitro-Electric-Transmitter-Receiver/123821847391?hash=item1cd45b735f:g:gqQAAOSwzqdcrcbk. However, for very similar money to the Absima, you could get a 3 channel set, in case you ever wanted a third channel for, say, reverse or lights, etc. The following are more sophisticated and have more settings available and also the ability to store settings for several different models. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FS-GT3B-2-4G-3CH-Radio-Model-LCD-Transmitter-Receiver-For-RC-Car-Boat-I2C7/283494907339?hash=item42019cfdcb:g:F4QAAOSwvCJc57hV or https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Best-Flysky-FS-GT3C-2-4Ghz-3CH-AFHDS-Transmitter-Receiver-for-RC-Boat-Car-UK/113760805606?epid=19031932863&hash=item1a7cac22e6:g:qIwAAOSwq9tc11vZ is similar but includes rechargeable battery for transmitter. I'm not saying buy from those particular sellers, just giving them as examples. Check feedback and make sure they are in UK, otherwise you might have up to 6 weeks for it to come from China. If you wanted extra receivers, either for additional models or because of damage, Absima, you will see are £23.70. FlySky for any of the above are about £7 !

Just a further thought; we are assuming that the problem is with the receiver end. I might be worth leaving your transmitter on for 10 or 15 mins and, whilst still on, checking the voltage of your transmitter batteries.

I have to say that I still have some misgivings about your second set of measurements; I wouldn't expect the voltage to drop to 5.5v with new batteries. Maybe there is one "duff" cell amongst them. However, I use non-rechargeables so infrequently for high intensity use. I will try to simulate your set-up tomorrow and see what I get, for my own satisfaction if nothing else. I the meantime, were I you, and assuming you have a "Poundland" somehere near (they seem to be everywhere) I would "spec" a pound on a pack of 5 of their Alkaline cells (Kodak branded) and repeat your measurements with them. Might not be the highest quality but should be OK to do a comparison. I would also double check that your servos aren't stalling at the end of their travel, i.e. that there is no further movement possible on your transmitter once the servos have stopped at the end of their travel.

I would say that your batteries are definitely flat. I would normally expect a single "good" alkaline cell to have an open circuit voltage of approx 1.65v, or 6.6v for a pack of four, against your reading of 5.45v. Your reading of 4.5v at the servos would obviously be with some load - at least the receiver (very modest current requirement - probably 10s of mA) and possibly one or two servos at rest (depending on how you actually checked voltage) and I'm fairly sure that this voltage drop is not due to any "loss" in the circuit, but to the battery voltage dropping further under load. When one considers that the servos were not actually doing any work at the time, one would expect further voltage drop in practical use, with load on particularly the steering servo of probably several Kg at speed, you are soon going to reach the point where the voltage is too low for any operation and you crash! A failsafe would probably have cut in before you even got the car moving. So, we are now fairly confident that your problem is flat batteries. What you ideally want to know is why? Were the batteries faulty, or is there a short or fault somewhere in the radio gear. You ideally need to check the current being drawn, which is not easy without making a special lead or breaking into a power lead. There is, however, a fairly simple "fudge". You do, however first need to ensure that your meter has a high enough current range - many small ones only have a 200mA range, which is not enough. Assuming a high enough range, slip a piece of paper between the red wire terminal on battery holder and the "pip" on the battery, effectively isolating it. You can then connect red lead of your meter to battery pip and black lead to red lead terminal and you have a reading of total current being drawn. I would expect in the order of maybe a few hundred milliamps with no load on the servos but can't be precise. Some of my high power servos could draw an amp, but yours look as though they are the basic standard ones. Significantly higher and you may have a problem. Assuming the current is OK, by all means, before spending any money, try it again with new batteries - make sure they are reading about 6.5v without load, and not much less, certainly over 6.0v with everything switched on. Assuming everything works OK, then off you go for a "hump" pack - shop around, prices vary significantly. If you don't have a suitable charger, Modelsport do a "deal" on pack, charger and a new switch which enables you to charge without opening battery/receiver compartments, for about £18/£20 depending on whether you want a faster charger. I reckon you need this regardless of whether you are keeping your 27Mhz gear or going 2.4Ghz, but if staying with 27Mhz, then get a failsafe as well.

(1) 5.45v across battery; was this with receiver/servos switched on or off? (2) Did you check the voltage with the servos actually moving? Either way, I'm inclined to think that the problem is a simple one - your batteries are flat!! If the answer to (1) is off, or disconnected and/or No to (2), then your batteries are definitely flat!!! Are you using Alkaline or Carbon Zinc (cheaper and frequently referred to as "Heavy Duty"). Are they "branded" - e.g Duracell Alkaline, or poundshop or dioscount store "multipacks"? You say you put new batteries in - were they completely new and unused and how long have you had them?

Garage under house and adjacent workshop. Nothing been used for best part of two years because of increasing mobility problems. so have come to decision that they will have to go. It will also simplify things for my wife and family if anything happens to me. They wouldn't know where to start! Not just cars, but aircraft and quite a few boats. Some of those went in the past, but still retained a few, including my 60s and 70s UK Championship winning ones.

Something else that you could try is unplugging one the servos and keep the other moving for your 10 or 15 minutes. If it doesn't stop working, then plug the servo back in, unplug the other and repeat. In fact, you can buy a servo tester that will just keep cycling the servo from end to end. Whilst I have a more sophisticated one, you can get a basic one for a quid if you can wait for it to come from China, or £2.50 supposedly in the UK.

I would hold fire on the failsafe until you identify the problem. If I'm wrong, and you do have to replace the radio, most 2.4ghz have failsafe built in, and some actually react badly to an external one being added, so you would have wasted your money. Check the voltages, perhaps increasing the load slightly by holding the control horn as the servo moves and see what happens. Are the servos still as fast and smooth as they were and the same speed in both directions? Are your end points set up correctly so that the servos are not stalling at the limits of their throw? I suspect that the reason manufacturers include simple battery holders with cars is simply one of cost. If they include a rechargeable pack, then they have to include charger, and whilst the cost to them may be relatively small, they will look to save pence, never mind pounds. In fact, though, HoBao in the Hyper instructions actually recommend fitting a rechargeable pack. One could also ask why they don't include something as basic as a glow igniter, but most don't!

A half decent steering servo alone can draw over 1 amp stalled. The problem may be as simple as a faulty servo or tight linkage and would be exactly the same whatever type of radio gear was in use. His symptoms are far more consistent with low battery voltage than interferance. Actually, I have seen more interference on 2.4 ghz than the lower bands, and 2.4ghz is virtually "line of sight". Yes, I do have 2.4ghz sets (approx 40 of them) and yes, they are more convenient, technically more advanced and cheaper, but not necessarily better performance.

I don't think you will need to actually run it to check. Just switch it on and work steering a bit and watch voltage. If I'm right, it will gradually reduce to the point where the receiver stops working. The differences between the batteries is the chemistry. Zinc Carbon (the cheapest) suffer quite a significant voltage drop under load, as do Alkaline, but to a slighjtly lesser extent. NiCd or NiMh rechargeables, on the other hand, have a fairly constant output voltage, even under load, until they are flat. However, they only have a nominal voltage of 1.2v per cell, so 4 seperate cells in your battery holder only give a total of 4.8v, rather than 6v. A "hump" pack is the same physical size as 4 AAs, but has 5 differently sized cells, giving a true constant 6v. An extravagance, perhaps, but I have over 50 cars, etc., and all have "hump" packs; and I'm a Yorkshireman and we are not renown for throwing money about! As far as the 27mhz (and 40mhz) v 2,4ghz argument is concerned; certainly there are advantages to 2.4ghz in both convenience and cost, but 27mhz is more reliable than most people give it credit for, particularly now that fewer people are using it. One thing I would say, though, if you stick with 27mhz, get a failsafe (I assume you don't have one, otherwise it would have shut your car down).

When " left a little while ", is it switched off or on the whole time? If you switch everything off for a while and then it is OK again, my money would be on a battery problem. Whilst it might be corroded contacts somewhere - check the voltages with a multi-meter (can't believe people might not have one - over 60 years in R/C and I would never be without one, particularly when you can buy them for less than a tenner). I suspect that the receiver voltage will be "down" when it packs up and is under load. Could be a faulty servo, or even just a tight linkage. However, you say you have replaced all the batteries, which suggests that you are using "standard" non-rechargeable batteries. I would NEVER use these for the receiver of a nitro car, but a 6v rechargeable "hump" pack - not individual rechargeable cells in the the standard battery holder.

Normally, I would be up for it, but unfortunately, doesn't look as though I can manage this week-end.

The grass area and car park at the side of the running track.

Few familiar names coming out of the woodwork! I haven't been out for quite a while either. Mobility and stamina getting worse. Temple Newsam was always good for me, as you could just reverse up to the grass area. Great if others will be there, but 60 mile "round trip" a bit much on the "off chance" someone will be there, so haven't been since the last meet-up there. Think we also met up at back of Cinema at J27 (tarmac) and back of swimming pool at Cleckheaton (grass and skateboard park)

Could be tempted to try if it doesn't involve any walking from the car and I have the energy to get some cars ready.

It's his first car that he picked up fairly cheap to have a go with and then get something better, so should be OK for him. At least there does seem to be reasonable parts availability if anything does break.

Thanks. Thought it had a look of BSD to it, but couldn't find particular model.

Hi, Can anyone identify this? Probably being a bit optimistic, but belongs to a mate and needs a centre diff. Thanks.

See your other post. Have PM'd you.