New to E-revo: Will my ESC and Motor let me down?

[rc_fusion]

Hey guys, I've bought an E-revo about 2 months ago and now I finally have the time to go out and run it. My tires are now balanced and ready. I will be running the stock 8.4v NIMH batteries that came with it. Now, I've read on this forum and other forums too that people are having problems with their ESC and Motor frying. I will be running mine on the parking lot behind the local church and will be doing high speed runs. I have bought a Castle CC blower fan for the motor and I've also cut a hole in the body to allow air flow. Please please please tell me that my ESC and motor will not let me down. I've dropped $850 on the E-revo and is the most expensive truck I've ever bought. I will be very angry if that happens. I am not a rich guy

What are the extra precautions that I need to take to not upset the ESC and motor? I would also like to know the maximum temperatures for the ESC and motor (using stock 8.4v NIMH batteries) so that I can monitor the temps. I'll have my Duratrax temperature gauge handy. Please advise. Thank you all.

[humayrayakongkinaon]

ppl that frying their ESC are running it with lipo batts 6s and they run it hard to a point to were the ESC cant take it anymore.
your nihm batts are no harm to your ESC/Motor and Castle are very good quality so have fun with it.
i use to run mine with nimh batts 4500mah 7cell and it last me about 15 mins max but it start to show slowing down after 10mins. temperature on mine are above 100 degrees ESC/Motor but my batteries are the hottest 160.

[revomikey]

It sounds like you have it covered. I wouldn't expect much from those nimh packs though, they are slow.

It's not always over heating that ruins these escs, sometimes they just pop for no reason. Just run it and enjoy it.

[humayrayakongkinaon]

It sounds like you have it covered. I wouldn't expect much from those nimh packs though, they are slow.

not to mention, nimh batts are heavy compare to lipo,

[mike-susieq1]

nimh's make good practice for some, did for me for about 1 week then went lipo and got use to that now i want 3s lol. enjoy truck and just dont over load it let it cool after running a set of batteries then go again. it might not need it but cool downs can be good for either electric or nitro. i have always let me rc's cool before running a new set of batteries thats just me.

[Imprez]

I ran NiMh batteries for a few months in my E Revo and had absolutely no problems.

The NiMh batteries that gave me the best performance / run time were Duratrax' 8.4v 5000mAh...
Had a ton of fun with these packs in the car !!!

But I switched to LiPo a few months ago and needless to say, I'll never go back to NiMh ...
The ESC runs smoother, less "stutter" and it accelerates harder on 4S than it did on 2 x 8.4V packs but the top speed is approximately the same.

[pavmentsurfer]

Just to give more confidence. Ive been running my ERBE on 4S for months now, day in and day out with NO issues at all. Runs great. Like has been said, if you push the ESC with 6S and tall gearing it may give you trouble and you may overheat the motor. But just on 7cell nimh or 2S lipos you'll be fine. The MMM is a great ESC for lower voltage use.

[87 GN]

The only MMM I had die was when I let a friend drive it. He has been in RC for years but in gas. He keep nailing the breaks then the throttle, heated up the ESC & the ripple current killled it.... So nobody drives my BL trucks any more...

some denewboobafacation for you..

AOD's links......


Erevo 101:
EREVO FAQ

Lipo, LVC, Brushless & Battery charger/charging guides & purchasing links:
TUTORIALS

Refer to this to setup the Mamba Monster ( MMM ) esc for maximum performance:
CASTLE LINK GUIDE


Refer to this to find parts, upgrades, batts & chargers etc:
USEFUL LINKS


Direct from Castle Creations ( the esc manufacturers ):
MMM FAQ

Driver's ED Manual

LED warning light meanings


kind of important

MY BATTS:
2S 9000 x 28C = 252,000 didide 1000 = 252 amps
2S 8000 x 28C = 224,000 divide 1000 = 224 amps
3S 5200 x 40C = 208,000 divide 1000 = 208 amps
2S 4700 x 25C = 117,500 divide 1000 = 117.5 amps
^ I use in my Summit..... or Requires proper gearing^

( mah x c rating / 1000 = amps),

The more amps the better / minimun of 120 amps.

The ESC will only draw the amount of amps it needs.

Higher the mAh the longer the runtime.
For brushless systems 8000 mAh about 45 min & a 5000 mAh about 30 min.
Times are longer for brushed systems.

Batts in series double the voltage:
2x 2s 20c 5000mah = 4s 20c 5000mah

Batts in parallel double the mah capacity:
2x 2s 20c 5000mah = 2s 20c 10,000mah.

Hot motor + cool esc = under geared.
Cool motor + hot esc = over geared
Everything warm just right..

Motor ~ 180/190*F maximum, ideally 140/160*F, temps can be 10* higher inside the motor
ESC ~ pretty much same temps / Fan comes on @ 150*F
Lipo's ~ 140*F max, ideally 100/120*F

[gordongekko]

if one day you switch to lipo (to get the best out of your beast), you can run it with 5 cell lipo ( one 2cell on one side and one 3 cell on the other)... i feel it's the sweet spot between having something that give you good speed and good tork but it's still reliable and don't break ( have no problem with my motor/esc... never change my diffs in more than 2 years... just have to change the driveshaft every 20-25 packs). make sure your slipper clutch is well adjusted, don't try to do standing backflip or 50 foot jumps, and control your finger on acceleration... and enjoy your erbe ( very good and solid truck).

[LaTuFu]

Take everything you read in online forums with a grain of salt. You need some perspective when trying to decide what to do next.

The perspective to maintain:
People run to the Internet forum world to solve a problem. Very few run to the Internet to post up how great their truck, dishwasher, lawnmower, laptop, home theater system is, how it is working exactly as expected and the directions were spot on perfect.

For every "I fried my esc" thread you see, there are hundreds, possibly thousands of people who are having no trouble at all.

Forum members represent a very small fraction of the product population, and they are hardly a representative sample.

/statistical enlightenment

[ksb51rl]

In the beginning of September I'll have had my ERBE three years. I've replaced the ESC fan ($12) and the on/off switch no longer works - it is always on, which I prefer anyway. The vast majority of its runs have been on 4S. I'd have to say that my MMM v3 and 1515 motor have been very good to me.

Edit: a friend runs three MMM ESCs, two with 1515 motors and one with a 1512 (1800Kv) motor. None have had any issues.

[randy0050]

just make sure your low voltage is set correctly for the nihm's

[ksb51rl]

just make sure your low voltage is set correctly for the nihm's

Meaning LVC is turned off. More importantly, stay at stock gearing or gear even lower in order to not overstress the NiMH packs.

[TennesseeRevo]

Just be careful with it and you'll be fine.

[traxxasandme]

So its bad to go and slam the brakes and go again because I have a small track and im always slamming it then hitting the brakes. Will that damage my esc or motor.

[traxxasandme]

Im really having an esc heat problem iv tried gearing it up to cool it down and that made my motor run a little cooler but my esc keeps hitting thermal shutoff that is before I broke my fan I dont run it now that my fan is broke because it would overheat even faster. I dont know if its that on my small track Im constantly working the throttle then brakes if that would heat up the esc faster?

[bazookamaxx]

try to roll into the turns instead of braking, do you have a castle link to adjust your esc ? Put the punch control up a few notches

[traxxasandme]

No I dont have castle link.... Yet

[randy0050]

there ya go.. under voltage and esc not set correctly

[traxxasandme]

What do ya mean under voltage? and what would I need to change?