Weird problem with Wraith

[d1ehard]

We're having a strange problem. My nephew runs a Wraith Spawn. Stock ESC, stock radio/receiver, 12T titan motor, 3S, Savox servo. It has been running flawlessly. We go out for a run today, he goes for maybe 5 minutes and then the Wraith gets extremely weak, like only 10% power. This was on a fully charged 3S 5000mah 20C Venom Battery. So we think weak battery...pop in the 2nd fully charged Venom, same specs. Exact same result. Runs 5 minutes, then extreme loss of power. So we try a 3rd battery, this time a fully charged 2S 5000mah. Same exact result. Runs strong for 5 minutes, then bam, super slow and no power.

What in the world could this be?

[d1ehard]

Would also like to add that the batteries used were bought in December, so only a couple months old, and always "balance" charged.

[SDheavymetal]

Do you have another motor to try. How hot is the motor?

[d1ehard]

Originally Posted by SDheavymetal

Do you have another motor to try. How hot is the motor?

I could pop in a 27T from my scx10. Could the motor go in and out like that?

The 12T Titan was warm, but not really hot.

[maslin]

A 12t 550 on 3s is going to be running hard. Or going really fast. Probably more than the China esc can handle.

[d1ehard]

Originally Posted by maslin

A 12t 550 on 3s is going to be running hard. Or going really fast. Probably more than the China esc can handle.

It's been working really well for several weeks now. Crawls pretty good and a tad bit faster than a stock 20t on 3S.

[mrhobby100]

Its sounds like brushes and a 12t motor is not strong enough for a wraith your gonna work the motor hard and wear out brushes quick. put the 27t in there and if it works use it for a while and see if it lasts longer than the 12t. I use a 30t tekin pro motor and on 3s it is plenty fast I would get a higher wind motor for the wraith.

[d1ehard]

Originally Posted by mrhobby100

Its sounds like brushes and a 12t motor is not strong enough for a wraith your gonna work the motor hard and wear out brushes quick. put the 27t in there and if it works use it for a while and see if it lasts longer than the 12t. I use a 30t tekin pro motor and on 3s it is plenty fast I would get a higher wind motor for the wraith.

I will. I'll take my 27t over to him this week. Sounds like that could be the problem.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[Cmarcan167]

No BEC?

[mrhobby100]

I had the exact same thing happen to me when i bought my first scx10 used it came with a novak system in it and i had it geared to high (newby wanting to go faster than i should ) it would get overworked get hot and wear out brushes fast i would run it and after 2 mins it would stuter and act up. Got a fresh motor and fresh brushes of the exact same kind and regeared so it wouldnt be working the motor so hard and never another problem.

[urecia]

i read somewhere the specs say ae-5 esc motor limit runs 12t motor on 2s and 18t motor on 3s. That could be your problem.

In saying that you probably fried the esc

[maslin]

The titan motors are 550, 550 turns don't equal 540 turns. That being said, I could only get 8 or so hours out of a 21t Titan motor, they don't last on 3s in these trucks.

[mrhobby100]

Originally Posted by urecia

i read somewhere the specs say ae-5 esc motor limit runs 12t motor on 2s and 18t motor on 3s. That could be your problem.

In saying that you probably fried the esc

Dont tell someone they fried their esc unless your sure about that. If it is still running then and no smoke than no you didnt fry your esc with to much voltage through the motor thats where the (puff) comes from. like said 550 turns are a lil different. I am telling you its brushes watch.

[Eric0424]

Originally Posted by urecia

i read somewhere the specs say ae-5 esc motor limit runs 12t motor on 2s and 18t motor on 3s. That could be your problem.

In saying that you probably fried the esc

Yep, specs say 18 turn limit 3S. No mention of 540 or 550, but running a 12 turn 550 on 3S with an ESC limited to an 18 turn 540 can toast the ESC as well.

[Nugget04]

You need a BEC if you are going to run with the stock ESC on 3s

[mrhobby100]

He is correct if no bec you need one. On 3s my tekin fxr pro acts up after a lil cause of the high power draw from the servo. Found this out ling ago when i first Got into crawling got a becb bo problem now in theblast 5 years

[d1ehard]

Thanks for the advice on the BEC. We will definitely get one in there for him. I won't be able to swap the motors for a few more days, but the ESC seemed to be functioning fine, I don't think it fried, no smoke, not real hot, no burning smell. Just a really weak motor.

The more I read and hear, it sounds like it's the motor that couldn't handle the slow crawling. He already had serveral hours on it.

Here's a quesiton, I see everyone rave about the Holmes Crawlmaster 13T motors, are they a direct swap in? As in requiring no other mods to run, other than swapping the motors?

[allanon1965]

yes, direct swap in (as long as you have HH install motor leads or install the leads yourself) from the stock ones, the stock ESC will run the HH 13T crawlmaster just fine...

[d1ehard]

Originally Posted by allanon1965

yes, direct swap in (as long as you have HH install motor leads or install the leads yourself) from the stock ones, the stock ESC will run the HH 13T crawlmaster just fine...

Ok great, thanks. What about gearing. Is stock gearing fine?

[allanon1965]

I would gear it minimum of 5.25 ratio..the recommendation is based on a 48p gear, a 32p gear would be good at 56t spur and a 10t pinion for a 5.60 ratio

this is from holmes hobbies site...

Axial Wraith
• Fun running: 27t TorqueMaster or 13t CrawlMaster
• NOTE: We recommend 16/84 or slower gearing to prevent motor overheating on 3s lipo!