Need advice on lipo and brushless swap.
 

Ive been in this hobby for over 15 years and have had a few of em. My last purchase was a AX10 KIT. I also bought a LRP AI super digital ESC and an Integrity 55t motor. Battery is 1300mah stick pack. I've had this setup for 2 years now and Would like to swap to lipo's and a brushless system but dont know alot about what im gettin into. I;ve searched and searched and have learned alot about how to care for the lipos but not so much on what a brushless sys will do.

I have a scale crawler 2.2 that is pretty beffy on weight. All the ax10 drivetrain in a custom cage with metal body. I have the stock gearing that the kit supplied. I want longer run times and a lil more wheel speed. I know changin the motor and pinion could fix this but its more me just want to update everything :mrgreen:

heres what im thinkin...
http://www.ckrccrawlers.com/images/3...8_5_1500px.jpg
Novak Goat 3s with 18.5 motor

http://www.ckrccrawlers.com/images/ck7028h.jpg
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CKRC 7.4v, 1300mah, 35C/3C Lipo Pack

http://www.ckrccrawlers.com/images/lmrcp0992.jpg
^this charger

Will that battery work with that esc?
what kinda runtime will i get with it?
Will it be any faster on top end with brushless using the gearing i have?
How long does it take to get that pack charged up?

Thanks for takin the time to read/help me out

heres what its goin it....
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...j/IMG_1147.jpg

I can't really comment on the motor/ESC combo but here are my thoughts on the charger and batteries. The Thunder AC6 charger from hobbypartz.com would be a much better option and is actually cheaper:

Thunder AC6 Smart LiPo Balance Charger/Discharger w/ AC Adapter for 1-6 Lipo/ 1-15 Nimh + USB to PC Software

As far as batteries go I haven't heard too many good things about the punch packs from CKRC they may have changed things but IMO there are better options out there. Such as the Geforce batteries froim valuehobby:

GForce 30C 2650mAh 4S 14.8V Lipo

Also Gens Ace from Hobbypartz:

GENS ACE 1300mAh 25C 11.1V LiPo Battery for 64MM EDF Jet

X2 on the Gens ace, I have that exact one and another on the way I love em and they give me about 45 min run time in my samurai.

Like the looks of those and the prices. Thanks for the info.

Im guessing the goat 3s can handle the 11.1v pack above??? the 2s,3s and other numbers is where i get lost on the lipos. 2s is 7.4v and 3s is 11.1??

CKRC batts suck, you can usually pick up quality like Hyperion for the same price. Goat's suck also, get a Mamba Max Pro (one cell works great too since you need a BEC anyways) with any sensored brushless motor of your choosing. A 18.5 (12.3mm rotor) is about the same speed and more torque on 2s as a 45t on 3s if that helps your questions. 14mm rotors take a huge speed drop.

2s is 7.4 and 3s is 11.1, 4s is 14.8. Another note, torque is insane, esp. with higher voltages, might wanna make sure there are no stock parts left in the drivetrian. That includes tranny and axle gears, lockers and axle shafts. 300's are pricey, but a must at this power level. Dogbones hold up for a bit, but will twist like a twizzler if ya power out of a bind.

all the parts are stock. its the ax10 scropion kit w/ upgraded kit. Dont know what all was upgraded but when i put it together i remember the lockers were green anodized aluminum. Ive ran it alot and beat it some but not all out abuse it b/c it took too long to make that metal body. So far ive never broke anything. Guess it will be one of those deals where i get to upgrade parts as they break lol. wife aint gonna like that.

Why does everyone say Goat esc sux? Whats the deal with them? Gotta be better than what i got now. Im not lookin to comp with my crawler just go and have fun. Still not worth the money?

The goat just doesn't stack up. Cost more than MMP. Forces use of Novak crawler motors (that there is nothing special about but a resistor that tells the ESC it's a Novhack crawler), MMP uses any motor. Goat is limited to 3s vs 6s. Goat has very little adjustability, MMP has tons of adjustment. Goat is a bitch to program watching light flash vs simple castle link on your PC. I honestly can't think of a single reason to buy a Goat over a MMP and I have both. Tekin RS is a solid option and has a very small footprint.

I looked at the MMP on various sites while ago, have no idea what combo to get. I dont understand the motor ratings. Im a total newbie to this brushless stuff. Post up a link to one that would be good all around. I like the slow crawlin but part of me wants to hauls azz lol.

I wouldn't run anything you put pics up of

ESC- Tekin or castle
Motor- Tekin
Battery- 3s Gens Ace
Charger- Hyperion if you have the money, or the thunder AC6 posted earlier

Forget the word system unless your thinking Tekin, MMP is gonna require separate ESC and motor purchase as all castle motors are non-sensored.

Also just to clarify, you will lose run time by upgrading to a more powerful motor/esc combo. It takes more energy to produce more power, no way around that.

I agree on avoiding Novak, I have seen too many of them fry on here to use them...Castle and Tekin are great, MMP is a great value.

Tekin motors are the best in my opinion.

If you can fit a bigger battery I would, that is the only way you will get the run time you are after.

Most lipos take about an hour to balance charge regardless of voltage or size. Typical lipos are rated to charge at 1mah, or the capacity of the battery distributed over 1 hours time so they charge in an hour. Chargers do slow down the charge at the end and that will add a little time on as well as maintaining balance between the cells so expect somewhere in the 75min range to charge a typical lipo on any decent charger.


Also dont feel like you need to go brushless, while they are popular with "go fast" vehicles you cant beat the low speed control of a brushed motor. Although sensored motors are smooth down low they still dont have quite the feel of a brushed motor.

Ok you guys have helped out alot. right now im thinking maybe this is what ill do. If you guys see something that may not work let me know....im tryin to get my wife a xmas list ready.

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-6219634..._2182_56077819
GENS ACE 4000mah 2S1P 7.4V 25C Lipo battery pack

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-6219634...5_2182_3716527
Thunder AC6 Smart LiPo Balance Charger/Discharger w/ AC Adapter for 1-6 Lipo/ 1-15 Nimh + USB to PC Software

http://www.hobbypeople.net/media/cat...1/712061_6.jpg
Castle Mamba Max Pro 25V Extreme Car ESC


http://pics.towerhobbies.com/image/t/tekc2251.jpg
TowerHobbies.com | TT2251 Tekin Redline Sensored Brushless Motor 17.5 Turn


I know the lipo is only 7.4v dont want to get too much power and break stuff to easy. I can go 11.1v later on since theres room to grow with that esc.
I dont want to have to solder any wires to anything, i suck at it. Thats why i was lookin at a brushless system instead of the above.

thanks again for all the help.

Sorry if this bursts your bubble....
The link for that battery doesn't show what connector is on the end, but at the bottom of the page it looks like many of them come with that EC3 (?) connector. Traxxas and Dean's are MUCH more popular and readily available.
The pic for that charger doesn't show a Dean's, Traxxas, Sermos PowerPole, or any other 'high current' harness, though those can be bought.
My Castle MMM didn't come with a battery connector on it at all, and the wires were ginormous! Thought I was pretty good at soldering 'til I ran up against that thing. So I wouldn't count on the MM Pro coming with a battery connector on it. (A-main hobbies' picture of it shows no connector at all)
And the two sites I checked for that motor, neither one shows any power wires at all, much less installed. Check Novak, I think you can buy motor wires from them with bullets already on, not sure if they'd be the 4mm you'd need to go with that ESC. Still hafta solder them onto the motor, anyway.

You seem to have assembled a nice collection of goodies, but for someone who says they don't want to solder you sure got your work cut out for ya.

Yeah I've studied all the pics i can find of the above list and I have noticed the same thing. If the wires are supplied thats a plus. I wish there was a local shop around here to get the help i need but internet sites have put out 3 that have tried to make it.

Now is the time to practice your soldering. You dont need anything fancy to get started, get a decent iron and some 60/40 rosin core solder (i like mine 1/32" or 1/16" for rc stuff). Make sure your iron is 40w or higher to handle larger wire.

The MMP doesnt come with a battery connector although the motor wires do have 4mm bullets on them. The motor will come with no wires attached, you are on the hook for soldering the wire on to the motor and the matching bullets onto the end of the wires. You could order some matching connectors like the ones that come on the battery for simplicity sake, I personally hate Deans and just dont understand why most everyone uses them. I am using XT-60 connectors on everything except my SCT, on that I am just using 5mm bullets.

i think most of my trouble with soldering is im using a gun thats almost 20yrs old that i got from my step bro when we was younger. I've tried to put wires on motors and never seem to get it to melt good enough. Actually had wires come off when it got hot. I havent tried to do much with it in years either. I got some pencil torches. would that be a no no?

I have a ~30 year old Weller gun, still works great. Spin off the 2 nuts that hold the "tip" on, make sure the tip ends and the "tubes" are clean & shiney. Over time, they carbon up which drops the heat to the tip.
Once clean, spin the nuts back down and "tighten" them up, DON'T crank down real hard.
Try the gun again."thumbsup"

Even if you bought the Goat you'd have to solder. The white Tamiya battery connectors are junk and will melt in no time, plus the batt and charger if you don't get those matched up.

I just went out to shop and tried this. Sanded the ends till shiny. wasnt really too dirty but i think that made all the difference in the world. Thanx for the tip man.....and its a weller gun to. "thumbsup"

I may just be able to handle the soldering now.

What kinda plugs would be a good idea? I know deans are the popular ones or at least when i was into the hobby a good bit. I've always had the cheap tamiya.