Spriggan Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Hi Guys, Is anyone out there running a Vader XB, just interested in how you are finding them, and if you have found anything needs changing, apart from the stock steering servo. Sprig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Just thought I would note down any problems and Improvements I find with the Vader XB. 1st Problem I found was that there are no spacers between the bearing in the hubs. That means if the wheel nuts are pulled up tight, the wheel squares slide back into the outer baring and with no spacer to stop the bearing pulling together, they get pinched together which adds resistance to the wheels and wears the bearings quicker. I need to find or make some 3.5mm thick spacers with a 10mm bore. The first thing to change on the Vader is the stock Mavrick steering servo for a decent quality one. The new HiTec HS-5765MH is the new replacement for the good old Rino Digi4, and is roughly the same size as the stock Mavrick servo, although the ends are squared rather than rounded. As the mounts are made to fit the rounded ends of the Mavrick servo, they need to be trimmed out to take the square ends of the upgrade servo. The mounting holes are also closer together on the HiTec servo, so one of the mounting holes have to be repositioned, I went for the lower hole, as this keeps the servo clear of the deck so it doesn't rub or vibrate on the chassis. The HiTec Alloy servo arm is a bit shorter that the stock arm, but the HiTec servo has more throw which more than compensates for the shorter arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 I have been testing the Vader on a pair of 7.4V 2s Lipo's that were on lone from the shop while the 11.1v 3s Lipo's were on order, and was to say the least, rather worried that the Vader was not going to be a quick as the write up would lead you to belive. Picked up my 11.1v lipo's today, fitted the Deans sockets, charged them up and fitted them to bench test the motor. Well, cant say what speed its going to do on the ground, but on the bench it sounds a bit more like a race car rather than a Black & Decker. I'm now looking forward to giving it a blast tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jony nitro Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 cant wait to see it, keeping the petrol? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) cant wait to see it, keeping the petrol? Yeah, you know how hard it is to get rid of stuff when you just cant find the resion to sell it. Mind you some of the old FG stuff has to go! Edited January 15, 2012 by Spriggan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 The Vader had its first run with the new 11.1v 5000 S3 35C Lipo's, First off it was better than it had been with 7.4v but I was thinking that it would need something more if it was to compete with the petrol's. Then relised the throttle gain was set at 75%, wacked it up to 100% and Wow, what a deference. The vader skipped around the field like a ballerina on sterriods. Its always hard to tell how its going to perform against MCDs and alike, until it goes head to head with them out on the track, but it feels like the Vader is going to be able to hold its own and with the help of the brushless rapid acceleration it should be good on the bends. On the first charging of the new lipo's, going flat out running from one end of the field to the other, the Vader ran for 6 minutes before the battery's died, so it will do a 5 minute heat, but are going to need the batteries to be double banked to give me enough power to run a 10 minute final. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) Finally took a few pics of the Vader. Still pretty standard with mud guards on the rear arms and a Baja 5T bumper & LED lighting kit. Inside I have knocked up a couple of Polypropylene battery holder to give the double banked 11.1v lipos a bit of extra protection. Just waiting for the Y leads to feed the 4 batteries into the 2 connectors. The additional Hump pack is there to run the lighting and personal transponder so it doesn't effect the main electrics at all. Edited January 17, 2012 by Spriggan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 The Vader had its first proper run on the Cornwallmrc track today. Started running with the Four 5000 Lipo packs fitted to see how the car handled the weight. Put in 4 or 5 laps then accidently caught the sloped end of the pit lane entrance barrier sending the Vader skyward, coming to rest with a heavy landing on the timber barrier breaking the offside front lower arm After a quick repair with a few cable ties, put it out again with a single pair of cells to give it a time trial. Starting off which the Lipos showing around 75%, ran the Vader at race speeds around the off road track, putting in a 6 minute run, then tested the cells again, they still had about 15% left in them. So in theory, a pair of fully charged 5000 cells, so long as they are not pushed too hard, might just last out a 10 minute final. I would have tested that, except in the next test when it was holding its own against a V4 MCD with a tuned 29 engine, I clipped the barrier and snapped the other front lower arm! so gave it up for the day as I couldn't be bothered to take it apart again! So, running on Base settings, the Vader seems to be pretty well on par with the petrol's on the track, over a short period. It seems to gain due to its lighter weight and low center of gravity giving it good handling, but will lose out at at the moment on top end and run time duration. The plastic arms do seems rather weak. While this is not too surprising, the car will need something stronger to be a reliable racer. So some Good quality upgrades would be very welcome as soon as possible, Please. Here's to the next run! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 It seemed to jump quite well as well, although I dont remember it clearing the jump completely, the camera never lies! See the rest of the pics here: https://www.facebook...69842197&type=3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forbs Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Good write up mate... Looks quite impressive on 6s Any chance of a video... Can't find any in YouTube Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Good write up mate... Looks quite impressive on 6s Any chance of a video... Can't find any in YouTube Dave I think one of the guys got some video, but I never took my cam out of its bag, I was busy all day fixing so many broken and non starting cars there today. It was only a break in day as we have had a long Christmas break, so was a chance to let first times and future members to have a Free go at track driving. Hopefully we will be getting some more filming done when the 2012 session started in Two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 The Redcat is the same car, There are some vids on their site. http://www.redcatracing.com/RC-Cars/1-5-Scale/Rampage-XB-E-Electric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 HUB SPACERS Problem. The Vader come without any spacers between the bearing in the wheel hubs, so when you tighten the wheel nuts up tight they pinch the bearing in the hubs making the wheels tight to turn and wearing the bearing far quicker than they should. Solution. Fit HPI converters which hold on the threaded section of the axle and fit the HPI type wheels.... Only prob is they don't seem to be available in the UK yet, and there seems to be a $30 shipping fee from the US plus all the import fees. Solution 2. Get out on the lath and make some spacers to fit the hubs. Working great, I can pinch up the wheel nuts as tight as I like now and the wheels turn fine. The nuts shouldn't be coming loose mid race now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Finely we had sort of a proper race day at the track, all be it only Thee 5 minute heats and a 10 minute final. But the Vader got through the day without any breakages or needing anything doing to it other than changing the Lipos, which wasn't bad considering it had a couple of rather nasty landings from being pushed a little too hard over the Tabletop and getting it wrong. Needless to say One of the Marshals thought it had stalled and was carrying it back to the pits, so I had to spin the wheels up to get him to put it down! Thinning the rear diff oil seemed to improve the cornering and using lighter shock oil took some of the Bounce out of the ride over the bumps, although found that having the spring adjustment slackened right off made it feel a little lose on the slippery bumpy surface. Over the Three heats, I managed to bring the average lap time down from 52 seconds to 42 seconds, mainly by just being a bit lighter on the throttle, and not using my normal 'Lead Finger' approach to driving. Just need to find the extra 4 seconds a lap and the Vader will be competitive to the best of the outlaw class at the track. Battery life at race speeds would probably been about 15 minutes if I had continued after the race, running Two Pairs of 3S 35C 5000mAh Lipos. Not great, but good enough for what I need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 This Weekends Update. Not sure how this happened, but it took out the knuckle as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 After changing the broken rear wing mount I thought I would check the gear mesh as it was starting to sound a bit lose. I had read somewhere that the spur gear on the Vader was plastic, so wanted to know if I needed to get a spare one in. Thankfully the spur gear is steel. . . . . The pinion had worked its way back towards the motor and was a bit of a pig to get forward as the grub screw was still quite tight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterboy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 The Vader had its first run with the new 11.1v 5000 S3 35C Lipo's, First off it was better than it had been with 7.4v but I was thinking that it would need something more if it was to compete with the petrol's. Then relised the throttle gain was set at 75%, wacked it up to 100% and Wow, what a deference. The vader skipped around the field like a ballerina on sterriods. Its always hard to tell how its going to perform against MCDs and alike, until it goes head to head with them out on the track, but it feels like the Vader is going to be able to hold its own and with the help of the brushless rapid acceleration it should be good on the bends. On the first charging of the new lipo's, going flat out running from one end of the field to the other, the Vader ran for 6 minutes before the battery's died, so it will do a 5 minute heat, but are going to need the batteries to be double banked to give me enough power to run a 10 minute final. Hi how did you change the throttle gain? i'm sure there is no programming card for the vader but i'm 99% sure the esc is a ezrun 150a so a card for this esc should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterboy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hi does anyone know a company that make a pinion with more than 11 teeth? Hi how did you change the throttle gain? i'm sure there is no programming card for the vader but i'm 99% sure the esc is a ezrun 150a so a card for this esc should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jony nitro Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 What Mod pinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 The hand set has basic throtle and steering gain controls on it for instant control, and there is a way of selecting one of the preset programs, but I have never worked that one out. I just run it on base settings, 75% punch is about right for our track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theboss1973 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hi, just purchased an electric one of these, started to run it on 7.4 4000mah lipo (x2) going to start to run it on 2 x 11.1v 25mah lipo's, ordered some shock socks!!. Been quick reading some of the above posts with interest, what other upgrades etc can I do? can I get other bodyshells etc. I note from other posts its simular to the redcat out in America but apart from that I seem to run a blank!!! Also talk of these spacers, where can I get em!!! ( not in a position to make them)!!! cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hi, Welcome to the world of the Vader. You will see a massive difference when you get the 11.1v Lipos, I was very disappointed when I first ran mine on a pair of 7.4 borrowed from the model shop. I get some Redcat parts in from the US, I found that the Redcat front arms feel softer and more springy, so seem to be taking the impacts better at about 1/3 of the price. The Vader spares are fairly expensive in the UK at the moment, although I'm fortunate to have a model shop that looks after me. You can fit various bodyshells to the chassis, although the proper shell is designed to be close fitting, which keeps the dirt out nicely. I have fitted self adhesive Velcro to the shell where it touches the chassis, this makes the shell much stronger and does away using the body clips. The hub spacers are something I knocked up for myself on the lath, I do have a spare set on the bench at home. I'm away from home for another couple of weeks, but if you fancy them let me know and I'll sort it when I return. As for upgrades, the Redcats do have a faster motor fitted, other than that the larger pinion is well worth fitting as the stock one leaves the top end just a little below the top end of the tuned petrol cars. You need some Y leads if you want to run 4 lipos linked together for longer run times, Other than that, I don't know what you can add, the doesn't seem to be many hopups for them yet. Cheers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theboss1973 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Thanks for your help, some really good info, Just one question can you help with a bigger house as the other half is not impressed with how much room it takes up in our house!!!, I went from 1/10 to this OOOOPPPPPSSS!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Interesting stuff, especially as I was interested in getting one of these before buying Jonny Nitros' BL Baja. I'm surpised you're getting such short run-times from 5000 mAh? However, as I don't race my 1/5, that probably explains how I get around 20 minutes from 5000 mAh. Looking forward to some vids of this in action, a great feature of large scale is you can attach a camera to the car for FPV and it doesn't upset the balance of the car because they're so heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spriggan Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Thanks for your help, some really good info, Just one question can you help with a bigger house as the other half is not impressed with how much room it takes up in our house!!!, I went from 1/10 to this OOOOPPPPPSSS!!!! Well as soon as I finish sorting my daughters house out!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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