Electronics problem?

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Went out to take my truck for a test drive today after I replaced the motor and it started messing up on me. I would plug the battery in turn on my esc and hit the throttle and it would run for maybe 5-10 seconds and then just stop. It seemed like after those 5-10 seconds the power just got cut off. That's not the case though cause I can turn off my radio for 30 seconds or so and the
Turn it back on and it does the same thing. I had a similar problem before but that time only the motor cut out. Now everything cuts out. The motor and steering servo. I tried unplugging everything and then turning it back on but it still persisted. I also tried switching the receiver crystals out with the one in the radio. This seemed help a little because after I did it it would run for maybe a minute and then cut out. Anyone have any ideas what's going on here?

[JohnRobHolmes]

Try charging the battery again?

[Trubble]

Is your LVC turned on and you're running NiMhs/NiCads?

Also sounds like what happened when the BEC inside my stock speed control started to burn out. It would run 'til the BEC overheated, then shut off. Let it sit for 30 sec- a min., and it would turn itself back on.

Could be there's a serious bind in your drivetrain, and your amp draw is skyrocketing to try and overcome it.

Could be you're running a motor with well below the minimum number of turns that your ESC can handle, and you've started burning out your ESC.

Unlikely, but not unheard of, could be you've ignored motor maintenance, and now amps that were going to running your radio (receiver), are now trying to get through a dirty comm. (or causing a hefty voltage drop, at the very least)

Have your 'Tamiya' connectors finally carbon tracked, and/or started to melt?

And as silly as the "recharge your battery" might sound, there's been many, many, many times where someone has hit a false peak and thought their battery was fully charged when it wasn't. (And/or had dead batteries in the transmitter)

Let us know what you find out.

[Charlie-III]

So it dies even if it's just sitting there not running the motor (but the rig is powered up)?

Did you try a different battery?

I would try to get a meter on the ESC input leads. Watch the voltage when you turn the rig on and wait for the LED's to go out. It could be the internal BEC is dieing, you are losing battery connection, or hitting LVC.

Lots of good ideas in this thread already, just waiting for you to get back to us.

BTW, you really shouldn't swap crystals, the one with the "TX" on it should go into the "TX", not the "RX".

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Originally Posted by Trubble

Is your LVC turned on and you're running NiMhs/NiCads?

Also sounds like what happened when the BEC inside my stock speed control started to burn out. It would run 'til the BEC overheated, then shut off. Let it sit for 30 sec- a min., and it would turn itself back on.

Could be there's a serious bind in your drivetrain, and your amp draw is skyrocketing to try and overcome it.

Could be you're running a motor with well below the minimum number of turns that your ESC can handle, and you've started burning out your ESC.

Unlikely, but not unheard of, could be you've ignored motor maintenance, and now amps that were going to running your radio (receiver), are now trying to get through a dirty comm. (or causing a hefty voltage drop, at the very least)

Have your 'Tamiya' connectors finally carbon tracked, and/or started to melt?

And as silly as the "recharge your battery" might sound, there's been many, many, many times where someone has hit a false peak and thought their battery was fully charged when it wasn't. (And/or had dead batteries in the transmitter)

Let us know what you find out.

I'm running an nimh 8 cell. With traxxas plugs. It could be engine maintenance it's an old motor but when I took it out there was nothing wrong with it and it ran fine. I try not to mess with my motors I much cause I don't know much about them and I've heard out can very easily damage them if you do something wrong. Even if it was the motor how would that affect the steering. Like I said it will run fine for about 30 seconds and the. The motor will cut out and the steering will cut out. I'm pretty sure the battery is not the problem. It was at full charge. I could tell just by how fast it would go during those 30 seconds.

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

So it dies even if it's just sitting there not running the motor (but the rig is powered up)?

Did you try a different battery?

I would try to get a meter on the ESC input leads. Watch the voltage when you turn the rig on and wait for the LED's to go out. It could be the internal BEC is dieing, you are losing battery connection, or hitting LVC.

Lots of good ideas in this thread already, just waiting for you to get back to us.

BTW, you really shouldn't swap crystals, the one with the "TX" on it should go into the "TX", not the "RX".

It doesn't actually "die". I will turn all the power on and pull the throttle and it will run fine for maybe 30 seconds and then just stop. The power will still be on but I won't get any response when I pull the throttle or try to steer it.

I'm pretty sure it's not a battery issue caue I could tell how charged it was just by how fast it goes when it ran for those 30 seconds. Also my crystals don't have markings on them. There is just the metal casing and the green band that has the frequency printed on it

[Charlie-III]

When the rig "dies", are there any lights/LED's on the ESC still lit up?
If you unplug the battery & plug it right back in, does it work?

Did you try another battery??

If you're hitting LVC, the motor will die, but steering will still work.

Does the ESC or motor get hot during those 30 seconds??

Sorry for all the questions, but, it does make a difference.

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

When the rig "dies", are there any lights/LED's on the ESC still lit up?
If you unplug the battery & plug it right back in, does it work?

Did you try another battery??

If you're hitting LVC, the motor will die, but steering will still work.

Does the ESC or motor get hot during those 30 seconds??

Sorry for all the questions, but, it does make a difference.

Yes when it dies the light on the esc is still lit.

If I unplug it and plug it back in it will do the same thing. Run for a few seconds then cut off

I don't think it's lvc(don't know what that is) because both the steering and the motor die

No. Neither the esc or motor get hot

I only have one battery so no I did not try another

[Trubble]

LVC is Low Voltage Cutoff. Interrupts throttle when your voltage goes too low, which is hazardous to LiPos.

What ESC are you running?
And are you currently running an external BEC?

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Originally Posted by Trubble

LVC is Low Voltage Cutoff. Interrupts throttle when your voltage goes too low, which is hazardous to LiPos.

What ESC are you running?
And are you currently running an external BEC?

Oh. Gotcha. I have all traxxas electronics. An Xl-5 esc and no external bec

[SwampDawg]

maybe one or more cells have failed in your batterypack (NimH)? ...so it wont hold a charge for long if any
i dont know know much about LiPo if thats what your running?

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Originally Posted by SwampDawg

maybe one or more cells have failed in your batterypack (NimH)? ...so it wont hold a charge for long if any
i dont know know much about LiPo if thats what your running?

I don't think that's what it is. Like I said it was running fine until I changed out the motor. I am running a 8 cell nimh

[Trubble]

Then being that power to your receiver (and servo) is being interrupted, I'd say 8 cells exceeded what the XL-5's internal BEC can handle and you're burning that out.

You're going to need a BEC to remedy the situation.
Pick up a CastleLink to set your output voltage while you're at it (if you go with the CC BECs).

[SwampDawg]

Originally Posted by 93 FORD BRONCO

I don't think that's what it is. Like I said it was running fine until I changed out the motor. I am running a 8 cell nimh

when you swapped out the motor, did you change the pinion? if so....could be overgeared and overload kicks the ESC off.

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Originally Posted by Trubble

Then being that power to your receiver (and servo) is being interrupted, I'd say 8 cells exceeded what the XL-5's internal BEC can handle and you're burning that out.

You're going to need a BEC to remedy the situation.
Pick up a CastleLink to set your output voltage while you're at it (if you go with the CC BECs).

Its possible. But I've been using that battery for over a year now without any problems

Originally Posted by SwampDawg

when you swapped out the motor, did you change the pinion? if so....could be overgeared and overload kicks the ESC off.

nope kept the same pinion

[SwampDawg]

well....sounds like you ruled everything out now, so id suspect whatever motor you installed is either "Too much" or is "defective"??

[JohnRobHolmes]

Its possible the ESC is defective. Runs until it warms up a bit, then has an open connection.

[SwampDawg]

before goin out and spending money.....perhaps swap out for a new motor (if you can borrow from a friend?) and see what happens, then take it from there!

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Well I finally got around to messin with it today. Took out the motor and replaced the brushed because I had broke one a couple days ago while trying to see if they were worn. Put the motor back In and reassembled the truck and it works fine. Wierd. Maybe it was just a fluke

[jkracing37]

I wonder if you had a hung brush, and when you put the new one in whatever was hanging up the brush was cleared?