Learn me- r/c car tech?

Short story long-

Been into R/C for a number of years. Currently own an rc10t4 with a 19t double modified, an rc18mt with a mamba pro, a Rustler converted to VXL, and just built a Tamiya TT-01D (yes, a drift car. It looks fun). Now when I first moved past toy into hobby grade a number of years ago, both brushless motors and LiPo battery tech were new on the market. I didn't do my first brushless conversion til about 6 months ago when I built the 18mt. I didn't actually do the brushless conversion on the VXL, bought it that way for a song from a guy who wanted to buy a new front lip for his Miata. Now I've got some other friends that are moving into the hobby, and it's forcing me to revisit the tech I dismissed because it was more than a car payment. Lipo batteries and chargers have gotten SILLY cheap (seriously, I've found 3s 8000mah lipos for 40$ online) and as a result, i'm thinking of converting my entire fleet over to lipo. Any of you gurus know what i'd need? I know the Rustler is ready to go, and i'm fairly certain the 18mt is.... But do I just need a new ESC for the other two? Can I run lipos on a brushed motor? Any help is appreciated.

Good lord...RC's... haha over 13 years here ever since I was 7. Yeah you can run LiPo's on both brushed and brushless, the brushless is a better setup for them though since it requires the extra power. The brushless ESC's are different but the batteries, yeah you don't need to change your ESC's. Just make sure you STORE, CHARGE, and DISCHARGE the batteries EVERY time at the right rate and time.

Not sure if any of that helped haha I just got back into it...NOOO lol I got a Yokomo drifter, got some Dori Dori and RC Drift stuff for it, maybe convert it to countersteer setup. I need to figure out why my car goes 4 inches then stops, it gets no reception from that point on and the esc stop and go's???

No need for a new ESC if you use one of these http://www.teamnovak.com/products/lipo_cutoff_module/index.html to prevent discharging the LiPos below their recommended levels. There may be other similar products out there, but I've always had good luck with Novak.

Yes, your lipos will work fine with a brushed motor.

My experience with the cheaper lipos is that they should to be balance charged regularly to help them live longer. Don't store them fully charged, half full or less, but not below 3.0v/cell and recharge them when you're getting ready to run.

Holy cow - 8000 mah. My batteries were pretty decent when I last had a battery powered one - 1400. I barely made it through a 4 min heat. That's why I switched to nitro. Well, that and 43,000 RPM and 1.25 HP.

haha I love Nitro but such a hassle and finicky lol

I remember when 1500-000 was huge lol

NickF40 wrote: haha I love Nitro but such a hassle and finicky lol I remember when 1500-000 was huge lol

True, but 43,000 RPM! That's 716 rotations PER SECOND! It was a whistle!

hahaha

8000 mAh? My last battery pack was those black SCR's which had just hit the market and were, IIRC, 1800 mAh. They had the run time of the SC pack with the power delivery of the SCR and were best with a modified motor. Like tuna says, it was a bitch getting the car to make 4 minutes, particularly with a really strong mod motor. SC's would taper off, at the end the car could literally be crawling. Man, when SCR's quit they just QUIT. Like somebody flipped a switch.

haha yeah and I think I had one of those batteries with me RC10T4, it wouldn't last me 3.5 minutes I think. I really didn't get into all that matched and rated cells and all the pro racer stuff haha I had plenty of fun with the packs you get from hobby shops

My neighbor has a T-Max, and that thing is broken more than it's running. We just put a new motor in it last night and he was working on getting it broken in. He must have tripled his investment by now in terms of replacement parts. If you look at that thing wrong, it breaks.

I'll stick to real cars. I think they are a little more robust.

1988RedT2 wrote: My neighbor has a T-Max, and that thing is broken more than it's running. We just put a new motor in it last night and he was working on getting it broken in. He must have tripled his investment by now in terms of replacement parts. If you look at that thing wrong, it breaks.

Oh how what you just wrote hits home...all 100% of that statement there LOL I had a T-Maxx too. And is to why I went back to electric! Love the smell and love the sound but that's it, besides, electrics now are able to go AS fast or even faster than nitro and cheaper.

Nitro these days is a waste of money. Unless you've got some finicky bastard with a REALLY modified .33 nitro runnin wide open, my Rustler will take one of those down, and it's not even that fast. now the 7700kv 18mt? I'm scared of it. A little truck smaller than my shoe that'll do 80 (assuming the diffs don't melt first, which they will). Brushless and lipo tech have gotten so serious that a lot of the nitro guys are ditching and going electric. Nitro used to be the go to for wicked fast, not as much anymore.

hahaha exactly man!

And here I am bashing around with my old Blackfoot with 1400mah packs and a stock motor thinking I'm cool.

I played with a new Rustler at a hobby shop last Fall. I'm glad I didn't have the cash with me because I'd have a new RC car.

It's why I bought mine. The first time I cracked the throttle of the rustler and she stood up on me and ran prolly 200 feet with the front wheels in the air, dragging the wheelie bar, I was hooked.

mmmm Blackfoot

I started to get into the trail rigs for offroad, but I still like to get out a stadium truck. I'm into the drifting though as of the last year

Derick Freese wrote: And here I am bashing around with my old Blackfoot with 1400mah packs and a stock motor thinking I'm cool. I played with a new Rustler at a hobby shop last Fall. I'm glad I didn't have the cash with me because I'd have a new RC car.

Hell yeah! I still have the Monster Beetle I got as a kid, in pieces in my closet.

16vCorey wrote:

Derick Freese wrote: And here I am bashing around with my old Blackfoot with 1400mah packs and a stock motor thinking I'm cool. I played with a new Rustler at a hobby shop last Fall. I'm glad I didn't have the cash with me because I'd have a new RC car.

Hell yeah! I still have the Monster Beetle I got as a kid, in pieces in my closet.

I think my stepbrother had a blackfoot. Nice.

mndsm wrote: Brushless and lipo tech have gotten so serious that a lot of the nitro guys are ditching and going electric.

What's a solid, current tech electric RTR kit going for these days? Have any buggy recommendations?

Depends. a rock solid balls out fast RTR will set you back 200-300$. If you're looking for a basher/fun toy, look at the Traxxas line. The Rustler is about the best budget 10th scale truck on the market, and most of them are already brushless swapped, and will be faster than you need. Buggy wise, that depends. I'm a big fan of the Team Associated B4 buggies...

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXYYE2EW&P=FR. Like that right there. That thing should be a screamer right out of the box. That's reciever, brushless, ready to go. If I was to buy a 2wd buggy right now, it'd be that one.

Holay carp that stuff got cheap. Why do they use 3 channel radios these days?

I haven't quite figured that part out. I think it has to do with telemetry stuff.

In reply to tuna55:

Traxxas has gone to 3 channel for their gas trucks with reverse, cheaper to do the same across the board I bet

Strizzo wrote: In reply to tuna55: Traxxas has gone to 3 channel for their gas trucks with reverse, cheaper to do the same across the board I bet

I can sort of understand a reverse servo on nitro, but do they not sell radios with 2 channels anymore? Weird.

Radios with 2 channels are out there, friend of mine actually just got a Spektrum DX2S for his TB-03 build.