Why brushless?

[bowtieuser]

I'm new to crawlers and need to know why brushless. I have 2 ax10's one brushed and one brushless. The brushed one is faster brushless seams to have a more constant power ( theyre geared the same) and seams to have same run time. I have some money to spend and can't decide if I should go brushless on other truck or leave alone? Also I want to buy lipo charger and batteries I have 7 1500 mah nicad batteries and two good chargers ( from10 years ago or longer) Not sure why but it seems to be what everybody's going lipo and brushless. Any suggestions I'm just trying to catch up to all this technology?

[Trubble]

My AX-10 is still brushed because the Velineon (unsensored) in my truggy and the MMM (also unsensored) in my eRavager are a bit notchy at startup/low RPM. My brushed Axial 55 turn can spin some pretty low RPMs and be really smooth at it. I've not had any experience with a sensored brushless yet, so I can't say how smooth they are on startup. Unsensored brushlesses are nice, in that there's no brushes to hang/burn up on ya, no comm to clean or cut, just take 'em apart, clean 'em, and reassemble. Once you get into a sensored brushless you're looking at having to take care of a sensor board (and not all of those are waterproof), which means much like timing an endbell, you'd need to watch how you put it back together. Sensor cables are made up of pretty small wires, and with a modest amount of flex and/or improper sizing/mounting, can break and wreak havok in trying to chase down the problem. But even with all the work brushed motors take in keeping them in top shape, that low RPM smoothness is something crawlers just can't ever get too much of.

As far as LiPo....... just like above, if you're willing to learn how to use/take care of them, there's no reason not to. I've been tearing some of my NiMh/NiCad packs apart (dead/shorted cells), and building my own crawler packs. I've been doing so, mainly because that's what I have to work with, thus that's my preference. But as these packs continue to go belly up, and I can't salvage enough cells to be useful, I'll start in on the 3S LiPos. I'd really like to try LiFe batts, but to get to the voltage levels I want to be at, I'd need a 4S LiFe, and I don't think my Onyx 230 will do 4S (I know my balancer won't).

So if you've got some money to spare, and you're fishing for suggestions, I don't think I'd push that brushless idea on ya too hard. I'm not saying not to, just think you'll get more milage from better batts than you will from brushless. I'd say leave the trucks as they are, and buy a CC BEC (if you don't already have one), a decent LiPo charger (rec. Onyx 235 or Hyperion EOS0720iNET3 AC/DC), some good LiPos that'll fit your rig (in my case, 3S 1300mAh Elite batts from cheapbatterypacks.com), and a LiPo charging sack/sacks (Tower Hobbies has the Venom small sacks for $13.99).
Or you can continue along on the batteries you currently have, and you'll probably be happy enough for some time to come.

[Mud Puppy]

the gains for the cost of sensored brushless is simply not worth it for a crawler.
Far better to invest in a good quality brushed motor and lipo packs. A 3s lipo is small, light, and really wakes a truck up.

[TedBull]

Brushless sucks in crawlers. Bulky wires and drag brake is not as good. The low end resolution is better and nothing realy to maintain except bearings but its not worth it. Brushed works better.

Brushless is great for a go fast car onroad and off, not so good for crawlers.

[ghtpdm5]

the only crawler i would run a brushless motor in is a losi. for about anything else, the pros far outweigh the cons for brushed. that being said, i run brushless in my truck since, well, i have a losi. but if i didn't know how much more maintenance i'd be facing with a brushed motor, i'd probably be running one still. can't beat a nice handwound for smoothness.

[Meatwad]

If you do go brushless in a crawler, it must be sensored to have any type of enjoyment at low speeds. In a go fast not so much an issue.

The cost is another factor, I concur. But a pro4 3300/mmp combo is axle snapping goodness that not many,if any, brushed combo's can come close to

[bowtieuser]

Ok thanks for the info. Now to find some lipo's and a charger. And I guess a balancer?

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by bowtieuser

Ok thanks for the info. Now to find some lipo's and a charger. And I guess a balancer?

Yes, I would look at www.CheapBatteryPacks.com for all of them.

For comps, look for a 3S 850-1300mah pack, I like the Elite packs from CBP.
CBP can also install almost any battery plugs or balance plugs you want.
If you are running Tamiya plugs, now is the time to change.

A decent charger will have a balancer built in.
Make sure the packs you get have a balance plug that matches your charger.

[munsterman]

HobbyKing R/C Hobby Store : LiPo, LiFe, NiMH Battery>Li-Poly (All brands)
heres some good cheap lipos and I got a little 5 dollar charger until I get more money