New Castle Mamba X (sucessor of Mamba Max Pro)

[Rjohn929]

Fair enough.

[robert@castle]

Originally Posted by Col_Sanders

I got my Mamba X today. Excellent looking ESC! I really like the finish. The aluminum case does add a bit of weight but it should help dissipate some heat. It does come with the X harness, which I think is a good move on Castle's part. Having to buy that pointless little harness separately was stupid.

Now for the problem....I CAN NOT get this thing to work with my brushed motor. It will go through the calibration just fine with my Futaba 4PLS OR with my stock Tactic TX/RX. It will arm (steady yellow LED) and return to neutral, but when I give any throttle, it will do nothing. No green or red flashy light. I have calibrated it numerous times to both radio setups and I have played with trim, end points, and expo. I have zeroed out the programming on the radio and reflashed the ESC to default and it still does the same thing.

If I change the motor programming to brushless (and dont hook up a motor), it will accept throttle inputs and will flash red or green. Then I can put it back to brushed mode and it will no longer indicate that it is getting throttle with or without a motor.

Everything is hooked up right. It is plugged into CH2 with the plug in the proper orientation. Battery is fully charged (I tried 2 different batteries). Both radio setups are bound properly and were in use before trying on this ESC so I know they are good, and they both show the same symptoms. I'm going to call Castle in the morning, but was hoping to see if anyone else had any experience with something similar.

We have released a new version of castle link that has a new firmware to fix this issue along with improvements to sensored operation. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[Col_Sanders]

Thanks Robert! Kate sent me a link to the new firmware last night. I got it downloaded and the ESC is now working properly. Today I am going out to get a thorough test on the setup.

I ran it in the comp last weekend with my Roc 412 and it did great. I never even heard the fan come on and it had no problem pushing my Hitec 7950 at 7.5 volts.

[SCREAMER]

I'm so close to ordering one of these and building a truck around it.

[bilinvic]

The only thing that I don't like is that Castle suggests using a 5000mAh battery minimum....I usually use 3300mAh batts for 2.2 rigs and 2200mAh batts for my 1.9 trucks, 5000's are just too big and heavy.

[84yoda]

I think that's only mentioned for racing. Crawling and bashing like what we do is totally fine.

[robert@castle]

Originally Posted by bilinvic

The only thing that I don't like is that Castle suggests using a 5000mAh battery minimum....I usually use 3300mAh batts for 2.2 rigs and 2200mAh batts for my 1.9 trucks, 5000's are just too big and heavy.

Honestly for crawling it should be fine. We have to cater our recommendations to the new basher that doesn't really know what they are doing yet to keep them from blowing up the ESC. Watch the input capacitor temperatures, and check the data log from the first few runs and make sure ripple voltage stays below 10% of pack voltage.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Originally Posted by robert@castle

Honestly for crawling it should be fine. We have to cater our recommendations to the new basher that doesn't really know what they are doing yet to keep them from blowing up the ESC. Watch the input capacitor temperatures, and check the data log from the first few runs and make sure ripple voltage stays below 10% of pack voltage.

Indeed. A 2200mah 35c pack will be just fine for crawling and trail duty. Only if you are rock racing, hill climbing, pulling, or mudding would something larger be needed.

[SCREAMER]

Finally got mine on order. RPP has 15% off so I got the Mamba X, the VP top shaft I needed, and a couple other things to score free shipping. Can't wait to run this thing in my new build.

[bilinvic]

robert@castle, is the MMP going to be discontinued anytime soon?

[SCREAMER]

They're selling for super cheap right now, ~$100. That's usually what I see when something's about to get discontinued but I've been seeing the sidewinders and Mamba Monsters continue to get cheaper for over a year or so with no end in sight. The MMP sure is a good not-so-expensive option now. My 1 year old MMP is still running as strong as it did out of the box. Even the original fan hasn't died yet.

[bilinvic]

I have 6 MMP's in use and they have all been perfect since day one (knock on wood!!!).

[SCREAMER]

6, wow. I have just one and it's been awesome. 2 MMXs, both have been great. 1 ultra trusty Sidewinder 3. I have really high hopes for this new Mamba X.

[mikemcE]

Only bitch is the sensor connector pulls off the board.....


Hang up and Drive

[fr8cture]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

Only bitch is the sensor connector pulls off the board.....


Hang up and Drive

What do you mean?

[84yoda]

Pretty sure he's talking about mmp. Not mamba X.

[whitrzac]

Originally Posted by fr8cture

What do you mean?

Some people are abusive and rip the senor connector off the MMP. 100% operator error.

I think I have 10 MMps in various RCs, I had one of first ones off the boat from china, bought directly from castle. I have never had this issue and have only seen it happen once.

[calcagno45]

Originally Posted by bilinvic

I have 6 MMP's in use and they have all been perfect since day one (knock on wood!!!).

Hard to complain with that success rate.

[WHITE-TRASH]

My mmp lost its drag brake a while back. I was running sensored brushless at the time. It worked one battery and not the next. Checked the settings on my link and they're good. Swapped it over to running brushed but no luck, must have popped the fets. Still a functional esc though. Not sure it's worth sending in for repair or if they do a trade in/up program for a new version like they used to.

I mave like 5 castle esc's I could send in for exchange.

[mikemcE]

Originally Posted by whitrzac

Some people are abusive and rip the senor connector off the MMP. 100% operator error.

I think I have 10 MMps in various RCs, I had one of first ones off the boat from china, bought directly from castle. I have never had this issue and have only seen it happen once.

And your a dork.........
Please explain your nonsensical statement .......

Looks like 2 cold solder joints, happens now and then, The esc still works perfect, just not sensored anymore

Hang up and Drive