Searching for Motor, ESC, and Servo overview to help with first purchase

[ajmRC]

I've just bought the Axial SCX10 with the intent to use a New Bright Jeep Unlimited body if I can find one in Australia (actually, does anyone have any body's for sale to ship to Aus ?).

Anyway, Im sure these answers are all through this forum but I just cannot find what exactly what Im searching for:

I'm trying to find some decent overviews on Motors and ESC's, and maybe servo's too to help with my first purchase of these items and my intro to Rock Crawling. I like purchasing the right equipment to start with to minimise on any need to upgrade later on.

Maybe someone can point me to where I can find these answers:
- Whats the difference and benefits between brushless and standard motors ?
- Am I better off to use a motor with more or less turns ? If so, can I fit a different size motor to the SCX10. I believe they talk about a 55T motor. Whats the difference between the turns ?
- Are there any differences and benefits between the different brands?
- I presume I would match the ESC to the motor, but is there anything I need to consider ?
- I guess with a servo I just need something that is strong, but again, is there anything I need to consider to purchase the most ideal ?

- Another question I have after viewing some video of RC's struggling up some grades, is it better to put in wheel weights to help with grip; and would different types of tyres really make a difference to help with climbs ?

Thanks heaps for any info ....

[the3kid]

Just a quick reply because I am pressed for time right now....

1) Brushed will be smoother and cheaper and have more of a variety of windings...brushless have more torque, generally more wheelspeed, more drag brake is usable, cost is much higher, and no comms or brushes to wear out. virtually no maintenance.

2) 55t motor will give you great crawling torque but will leave your rig to run at about a walking pace....great for crawling only. I run a 35t hand wound by myself and I have enough torque tho less than the 55t but my wheelspeed is almost doubled. You might have to experiment, but start off with 55t for crawling only and 35t for more of a fast paced rock trail rig.

3) Brands are mostly all good. I would stay away from axial motors or traxxas motors because they are closed endbells and cannot be modified. Integy are good and cheaper. Handwound motors are generally more expensive but offer better torque and wheelspeed compared to a normal machine wound motor. Novak is good if you are going to get a rooster system. What i run.
You can run a sidewinder or mamba max to get more parameters to alter and set up to fine tune the esc control. Tekin makes a great product. Basically all are good for starter crawling. The esc should have a drag brake tho.

4) Esc should definitely have a drag brake included...like the rooster crawler. You might want to look at what batteries you are planning on running. The rooster can only take up to 7 cell nimh or 2s lipo. Sidewinder and max can take 3s. better wheelspeed...more control with pc programming.

5) Servo price is going to be the killer....for around $30 or so you can get a hitec 645mg with ~135 oz of torque enough for bashing grade. Most people look at a 300 oz or higher servo but they run around $100 or so. Hitec 7955tg is great, hobbico T-170 i think or something like that. JR makes one but I don't know the numbers off the top of my head.

6) most of the time, stock wheels suck. I would look into upgrading them first, and drill a hole in the rim if not already for air compensation. Great tires are all over...everyone has a preference, but I know my losi claws are great, I'm switching to rovers to try them out. I have run badlands and the flatirons and for my rig setup the claws have worked the best so far. Only reason for rover change is to gain some axle clearance 5.5" compared to 5" or so. and they seem to be most popular right now with great sales almost everywhere. Wheel weight are almost a must for most if not all. I run 6 oz in each tire up front and about 3 oz each in the rear. No batteries on the front axles but I might have to add more weight because my last test with less front weight left my tires spinning. With 6 oz and 3 2/3a cells on each side really held my rig down nice. It's all preference and you won't know what you like until you try it out.

I hope that helped any. Any other questions just hit me up with a pm and I can help best I can.

[Beest]

Heres what I run on my rig...Works great. Tekin FXR esc, so smooooth. 45t tekin machine wound motor, enuf wheel speed to get by on 7.4 volts, bada*s on 11.1v. JR8711 steering servo. Alittle on the pricey side @ $130 but it comes with a 3 year warrenty and 400+inoz @ 6v. I figured why buy cheaper servos just to kill them. You should also consider getting a BEC. At around $20 your servo will never be under powered. Just like the3kid said, the rovers are an awesome tire, I love mine. They are also on sale at RPP hobbies. The stock axial wheels lasted a while on my rig, but the hexes will strip out if you have power and try to drive out of a nasty bind. Get your number of posts up to 30 I think, you should be able to access the for sale sec. of the forums and find all kinds of cool deals on stuff.

[S ARR T 8]

great info guys.

[THnCS]

Maybe someone can point me to where I can find these answers:
- Whats the difference and benefits between brushless and standard motors ?
The3kid summed this one up pretty well. I personally like the brushed motors for crawler, they are smoother on the low end type of crawling. Brushless motors will give you cogging when they are doing the same lowend crawling, which is when you want everything to be smooth.

- Am I better off to use a motor with more or less turns ? If so, can I fit a different size motor to the SCX10. I believe they talk about a 55T motor. Whats the difference between the turns ?

More turns = more torque and slower, Less is the opposite. 55t is generally a starter. I ran 35t's in my scaler as I like more wheel speed, they still give good torque
- Are there any differences and benefits between the different brands?
Most machine wound, like Integy, Axial and others are close in comparison. I usually run Integy's with no Problem.

Hand wound motors are the best, but you will pay for it. A nice hw 55t will probably give you the wheel speed of a 35-45t machine wound, all around better motor. Check out Holmes Hobbies or JP Customs, very nice HW motors.



- I presume I would match the ESC to the motor, but is there anything I need to consider ?

Depends if you are wanting to run lipo, and how many cells to run. Since you stated you like to get the best, I would look at the Mamba Max Pro or if you can wait for Holmes to get his next batch in, go with the TorqueMaster esc. Either one of these will handle anything a everything you want to throw at them.

- I guess with a servo I just need something that is strong, but again, is there anything I need to consider to purchase the most ideal ?

Like above, a nice servo is going to run you from $110-180 depending on brand. You will get anywhere from 333oz all the way up to 500 + with some. I personally run the JR 8711's, 403 oz' of torque and a 3 yr warranty. You can by something cheaper, but you will end up with one of these higher end servos eventually!!!

- Another question I have after viewing some video of RC's struggling up some grades, is it better to put in wheel weights to help with grip; and would different types of tyres really make a difference to help with climbs ?

Most likely you will need some weight in the front, you will want it to be more front end heavy. If you plan your build to where your battery, winch and sterring is all up front, there may not be a need for more weight. This question is left up to you, just drive it, add some weight, drive some more, add or delete weight, drive, repeat till you get it to where you would like it to be. Tires make all the difference along with the foam setup.


Majority of the things I metioned are high end items, these are items that you will not outgrow as you get more addicted into the hobby The biggest question I have for you, are you planning on taking it into water? Not sure I would want $500 of electronics to be submerged, even with the best waterproofing.

[ajmRC]

Thanks heaps to all you guys. This is the best and clearest information i was searching for. I now better understand the differences with with all those things and have a better idea what to run...

I don't suppose a "transfer case" or "manual gearing" type setup to change gears on the fly is available at all.. ?? ie: can I shift into faster gearing for flat trail use, then slip into lower gearing for the crawl ?
From what I understand, its simply the use of the throttle level for this, right, and the transfer cases i've seen will simply help to relocate the motor to the front, right ?

At this stage I don't think I will "submerge" the unit, but I will look at waterproofing it for the wet days, and I wouldn't mind a bit of mud running at times I think - maybe depending on the speed.

Thanks again for your responses... heaps appreciated..

[Beest]

RC4WD makes the r2 trans with a two speed. You would need another channel on your radio to shift it, but it would be cool. I'm not sure if you can shift it on the fly or not, you may have to stop to shift it. Check out RC4WD.com and see all of the sweet stuff they sell.

[THnCS]

You could look into a 2 speed emaxx tranny or a tamiya hilift tranny. The Hilift tranny is a 3 speed and is rather large, but it can be done. My brother in law had one in a jeep scaler and that was one of the funnest rigs to drive!!!!