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Hey everyone! New to the hobby and everything (to get that out of the way...)
Got a Rustler VXL, took it down to the beach yesterday and fried my ESC, so I have 2 questions:
1) Would you recommend I replace it with the stock VXL-3s? Or should I get something different? (Unfortunately I'm well outside the 30 day warranty)
and 2) What is a recommended gearing for the beach? I didn't think stock would be an issue, but apparently I was wrong...
I would get something more capable and stronger like Castle MMP or similar. Also if you want to fix your damaged Esc traxxas has a flat rate out of warranty repair service, I believe is around 60.00
If you're going to have to replace the esc anyway, then as RC-Fan said, You may want to go with something by Castle Creations simply because overall, their products are a bit better than the Stock VXL system. A Sidewinder 3 ESC by castle is waterproof and is probably Castle's comparable ESC to the VXL, both the price and performance. It actually is a bit cheaper but performs great. I personally have a Sidewinder 3 ESC and a Neu-Castle 1410 Series 3800kv motor also from Castle in my Rusty and it flies. Some people would prefer the Sidewinder SCT, but if your gonna be at the beach, you may want to stick away from that and go with the waterproof option.
If you have a higher budget, than it might be worth upgrading to the Momba Max Pro or Mamba Max Monster. These ESCs will make your rusty go 60-70+ mph at least with the right motor, and I believe there is a waterproof version of the MMP. Maybe for now you should upgrade to a higher level ESC and then in the future you could upgrade your motor also.
I made a mistake: Castle makes a waterproof Mamba Monster 2. Just be warned, if you are going to upgrade to an MMP or MMM then you will have to upgrade other parts (if you get a better motor) because the stock VXL parts might not be able to handle the speed and power.
I was looking at the Castles, but wasn't sure....what I decided to do was just send mine in to Traxxas so I can save the money for some other investments. I'm sure I'll end up upgrading it later though. And RC-Fan, it was $55 even unless "it's determined to have been abused" and could cost more....
How or why did you fry your ESC? I run both my rustler and stampede VXL's on the beach all the time (even run paddles on the stampede) Never have a prob. What exactly did you do? It should handle the sand.
Didn't think I did anything...used the ruts from Beach & Surf patrol for some jumps, chased some seagulls.....
When I was gonna call it quits for the beach (too much sand in my eyes) it literally stopped in it's tracks. I figured it was just a thermal protection so brought it home. Next day (plenty of time to cool off...) plugged a fresh battery in and the wheels started slowly spinning, I didn't even turn it on, and then smoke boiled out of the ESC. So what's your opinion on what I did?
[QUOTE=zxbigmikexz;5429725]Didn't think I did anything...used the ruts from Beach & Surf patrol for some jumps, chased some seagulls.....
When I was gonna call it quits for the beach (too much sand in my eyes) it literally stopped in it's tracks. I figured it was just a thermal protection so brought it home. Next day (plenty of time to cool off...) plugged a fresh battery in and the wheels started slowly spinning, I didn't even turn it on, and then smoke boiled out of the ESC. So what's your opinion on what I did?[/QUOTE]
My limited opinion is that smoke coming from the ESC is the nail in the coffin. It's done! Don't know why but its toast.
I swear man, I run both my pede and rusty on the beach the majority of the time with our issue. I smoked a few brushed motors motors on the pede before I put the VXL system in but never had problem one with either VXL system since.
You fix the problem yet?
Seems like with the increased resistance of the sand, you would want to gear down a little. However, that should not have burned up your esc like that.
What is your size and battery kind? I would gear it down to 18/86 to run on beach sand.
Have you tried uninstalling the motor to see if it was actually the culprit? It should spin somewhat easily.
My issue with your issue is that if you paid no attention to your motor temps you may have fried it and locked it up. Wanna know what happens to an esc when you send throttle inputs to an esc trying to push a locked motor? Lol, they go poof also. You may need to get both replaced. Definitely worth the double check and good luck.
Sorry haven't been on in a while, slammed at work....
-Yes, I got it fixed, went through Traxxas, stock replacement.
-The motor was warm, but not overly hot...still runs fine...
-The battery was a Traxxas NiMh 4200 part # 2951
And I did gear it down, 23/86 for now, got a few pinion and spur gears so I can try some different combos
How about buying a MMP and run the Velineon motor with it? That would save you a little money and the MMP/3500kv velineon isn't a bad combo.
I hear ya on being swamped at work...
Glad to hear it was just the esc also, the situation didn't sound so bad to cook the motor.
But yeah, the mmp is a great esc and new vxl's can fetch a fair price to offset the cost