How many amps does the VXL-6 pull?

[jlanders001]

My Spartan ESC was totally torched this weekend so I'm looking for a replacement ESC.

So does anyone know how many amps the stock VXL-6 can pull? Might get something other than stock.

What are most people going with these days when upgrading the ESC?

Does anyone have a CC VXL-6 they want to sell cheap?

I'll see if I can post some pics soon. Its quite a sight to behold.

Thanks,

JTL

[hog]

The stock ESC is rated 80 amps continuous, 300 burst. It is unusual to find an ESC with a burst rate that much higher than the continuous amp rating.

The most common ESC upgrade Spartan owners are doing is the Seaking 180 amp ESC. Some are opting to go to Castle Hydra 240 amp.

hog

[jlanders001]

I found another Castle VXL-6 for pretty cheap so I’m going with that for now. This was the newer Castle version too. I've been into RC quite a while but I've never totally toasted an ESC like this. It gave no warning - ran fine then STOP! I may upgrade later down the road.

Here are some pics of the disaster. It was an outright FIRE! It stinks sooooooooooooooo bad! I've doused it with Ozium about 3 times but it still stinks to high heaven. Might have to get a new hull it is so bad.

It was during my third set of 65C 6S lipos. But temps seemed fine after the second set. Guess I needed to take a break and let it cool down. That was my downfall. Live and learn!

[hog]

Unfortunately this is a tale told many times before.

hog

[Salama]

Hi there,
Time unfortunate that this has happened This put to think about how
you drive yourself boat! Fortunately, just at the moment myself, one set of LiPos.

Greetings, Flash

[Salama]

I meant myself to running the boat..

Greetings, Flash

[jlanders001]

I'm just suprised it happened to the newer Castle version. Lesson learned. Let 'em cool down!

[Troy711]

I know what you mean about the smell. I'm still trying to get it out of one of my Rustlers after an afternoon ESC BBQ.

[Erland]

Auch - and the new version as well... Good thing Norway is cold....

Had you done any cooling upgrades?

[Jersey Crewmax]

Doesn't the esc have some sort of temperature cutoff to prevent this from happening?

[jlanders001]

Yep. There sure was supposed to be thermal shutdown protection if things got too hot. Sure did not work in my case.

Anyone else have this happen to a newer version Castle ESC?

Erland, I even had the dual outlet water pickup rudder so both the motor and ESC had separate cooling lines.

[hog]

Failed ESC's are less common on the new version electrics, but unfortunately they still happen. A quick web search will reveal several incidents of this happening. They are far less common with the new electrics than with version 1.

Additional cooling is helpful, but if the electrics are over loaded, they will still fail. Also keep in mind that when you mass produce thousands of electronic components of any kind, a certain percentage are going to fail.

The good news is that Traxxas/Castle have been very solid on their warranty support for the Spartan.

It is my opinion, and one shared by some other Spartan owners, that the Electrics used in the Spartan are marginally sized for the size of the hull, and the expectation of 50 mph+ on 6S.

If you are pushing any electronic or mechanical piece of equipment close to to it's maximum design capacity, the chance of failure is higher than if you run somewhere in the mid range of it's capacity.

hog

PS My experience is that it is pretty much impossible to completely remove the burnt electrics smell from the hull.

[orca44]

The smell stays there as a reminder of what can happen

It has been 10 months since I had the ESC experience and the reminder is still very slightly there

[breeze400]

Man I feel for you! I hope you still have some warranty left!

[Salama]

Hi there,

I wonder what the thermal limit, Considered a safe-driving multiple batteries at once?

Greetings, Flash

[orca44]

If your boat is stock, I would suggest not going more than 5s, 3s on left side and 2s on right side. Or you can run 5s in parallel. Temps can still get up there, (130 degrees) on long wide open runs.

Heat will be the biggest enemy and speed controls do not like excessive heat and motors that get too hot to touch will demagnetize loosing torque/horsepower. Just keep it and your electronics will be .

[Salama]

I've been driving 2 x 3S LiPos without any problems. However, since the origin of
parts. Now I upgraded to a new rudder, propeller, cable, ostrich, etc.

Greetings, Flash

[CeilidhKeith]

If its under warranty it is no problem Castle Electrics do a great job of replacing burnt out Esc's. Mine was a month old when it blew up just three weeks ago i am sailing again now thanks to them.

[jlanders001]

Bought mine from tower in August of 2011.

How long is the warranty on these ESCs?

How much do you have to pay for non-warranty replacement if the warranty period is up?

Its $70 for a Mamba Monster ESC so I'd guess these spartan ESCs would be close to that.

[orca44]

If you have proof of purchase (sales reciept) Castle will warranty the product for 1 year. It just takes a while to get product if they are out of stock.
None the less I have been very pleased with Traxxas and Castles customer service

[jlanders001]

Yep. Castle has a 1 year warranty on these. You send it into castle instead of Traxxas.

[Erland]

It's actually horrible for us outside the US...... (castle I mean)...

Reported a problem to Traxxas 15.03
Answer 18.03 (good) - the answer was "contact Castle Support" (not good...)

Contacted Castle (mail - phone isn't that simple from Norway) 20.03...
Asked for response 04.04 as no reply was registered
Got answer 16.04 - send to US for repair (doohh)
Sent to US 23.04
Received at Castle 02.05
Asked for status 15.05 - answer "another 2 weeks"
Asked for status again 04.06 - same answer "another 2 weeks"
Replacement item sent from Castle 06.06... 12.06 - still waiting...

2,5 months +++ in total and almost half of the season is over...

Nice...

[jlanders001]

My replacement just came in Yesterday. It took so long that I bought a 180 Amp Seaking ESC and its so much better than the Spartan unit. 3 times as powerful! About $100 on Ebay.

I'm selling this brand new castle ESC I just recieved if anyone is interested in buying it.

email - jlanders001@sc.rr.com

[breeze400]

You should just keep it for a spare!