Copperhead cutting out

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by Cenzo

Had the same issue with a fresh out the box Limited Edition Copperhead this weekend at Motorama. Hooked it up with a 2400kv Revolver, set up according to Holmes' video, and mid-comp it locked up on us. Just a solid red LED and the motor humming away(and getting quite hot). Happened a few more times as well, and was totally reproducible. Going from forward to reverse trying to rock over a high center, or hitting the drag brake too fast after letting off the throttle and it locked up. We tried lowering startup power and changing drag brake ramp, updated the firmware, and reset the ESC. We even pulled the trans out and were able to reproduce the issue with no load. Tried it with another Limited Edition Copperhead we bought, and same issue. Finally, after replacing it with a Mamba Max, it worked perfectly fine without issue. My bet it something is up with the Copperhead firmware.

One of use was coming from a Hobbwing Fusion, and the other from an RX4 with a 16t 5 slot... we're likely selling the copperheads and staying away from Castle. The only motivation for buying them was to have an ESC to run with the Revolver.

Yep, After the experience with their Customer service and the lack there of I am done with Castle. I will hold on to my older SW4s and MambaXs. I sold my Copperhead to some who was fully aware of the problem. I think he had less issues with a Slate but constant issues with a Revolver.

I have had constant issues with the Revolver and less frequent with a puller pro but still had problems and couldn't trust the two I got. One was a warranty replacement that had no box, no manual, just in a plastic bag dropped in a padded envelope and it looked like it hand been mounted before because of some scuffs. I bet they just dropped somebody else problem Copperhead in an envelope and sent it to me.

[Cenzo]

Originally Posted by MOguy

Yep, After the experience with their Customer service and the lack there of I am done with Castle. I will hold on to my older SW4s and MambaXs. I sold my Copperhead to some who was fully aware of the problem. I think he had less issues with a Slate but constant issues with a Revolver.

So far, just from calling them up, their warranty support seems pretty nice. The guy was very helpful, mentioned it sounds like a bad FET, and said to send it in so they can take a look. I guess we'll see what they say. I'll update here once I hear back from them.

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by Cenzo

So far, just from calling them up, their warranty support seems pretty nice. The guy was very helpful, mentioned it sounds like a bad FET, and said to send it in so they can take a look. I guess we'll see what they say. I'll update here once I hear back from them.

Good luck, you probably talked to Joe. I sent mine in and they tried to charge me $75 to fix mine. It was only a couple months old. I bit6ched and they said warranty would cover it. Once I got it back I called Joe back and Castle and he said all they did was reset it, there was nothing wrong with it. Apparently somebody at Castle lied. Joe told me it was because my batteries were too small. I need to run at least 5K mah.

[SteveB1]

Out on the trail yesterday and my Copperhead 10 also shut down. Had steering but no throttle. Unplugged / plugged in the battery and it was all fine. !5 min later it did it again. Then the rest of the crawl no issues.



My friend's also did the same thing a few times last month.



s

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by SteveB1

Out on the trail yesterday and my Copperhead 10 also shut down. Had steering but no throttle. Unplugged / plugged in the battery and it was all fine. !5 min later it did it again. Then the rest of the crawl no issues.



My friend's also did the same thing a few times last month.



s

That is how mine behaved but it would just keep cutting out.

[OutLore]

Originally Posted by MOguy

Good luck, you probably talked to Joe. I sent mine in and they tried to charge me $75 to fix mine. It was only a couple months old. I bit6ched and they said warranty would cover it. Once I got it back I called Joe back and Castle and he said all they did was reset it, there was nothing wrong with it. Apparently somebody at Castle lied. Joe told me it was because my batteries were too small. I need to run at least 5K mah.

I'm no expert but that doesn't make sense to me... If he'd have said they need a higher C rating sure, but it sounds like what he's basically telling you is that when you had the issue you were having, it was because your battery was run down?

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by OutLore

I'm no expert but that doesn't make sense to me... If he'd have said they need a higher C rating sure, but it sounds like what he's basically telling you is that when you had the issue you were having, it was because your battery was run down?

I don't really care what he was saying. Every other ESC I have works using it the same way. I just heard somebody trying to feed me a line of crap.

[guido_owl]

Has anyone tried the new 2.16 firmware to observe if the problem is solved? Castle said "Corrected low speed cutout when throttle engaged", so it could be possible...

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by guido_owl

Has anyone tried the new 2.16 firmware to observe if the problem is solved? Castle said "Corrected low speed cutout when throttle engaged", so it could be possible...

My problem had nothing to do with throttle cut out on my Copperhead. I just would not go after sitting. There was a beta fix a while back but it caused chugging at low speed. Castle ended up giving me a MambaX and MicroX for free because of my problems. My MicroX2 does have throttle cut out (even with the punch at 40%) issues it if hit it hard right after turning it on or it you go back and force like you would if turtled and were trying to flip yourself back over.

[guido_owl]

Originally Posted by MOguy

My problem had nothing to do with throttle cut out on my Copperhead. I just would not go after sitting. There was a beta fix a while back but it caused chugging at low speed. Castle ended up giving me a MambaX and MicroX for free because of my problems. My MicroX2 does have throttle cut out (even with the punch at 40%) issues it if hit it hard right after turning it on or it you go back and force like you would if turtled and were trying to flip yourself back over.

Also my one has started to have the problem that you have correctly explained: I actually have 2.13 firmware (that has other problems, such as incorrect recognition from Castle Link on iOS), but I'll try 2.16 version... if nothing will be solved, I'll contact Castle to see what they have to say...

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by Cenzo

So far, just from calling them up, their warranty support seems pretty nice. The guy was very helpful, mentioned it sounds like a bad FET, and said to send it in so they can take a look. I guess we'll see what they say. I'll update here once I hear back from them.

They were helpful at first for me.

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by guido_owl

Also my one has started to have the problem that you have correctly explained: I actually have 2.13 firmware (that has other problems, such as incorrect recognition from Castle Link on iOS), but I'll try 2.16 version... if nothing will be solved, I'll contact Castle to see what they have to say...

I did an update when I got my MicroX2 a couple weeks ago and updates my Castle soft and now the soft won't work.

[guido_owl]

Originally Posted by MOguy

I did an update when I got my MicroX2 a couple weeks ago and updates my Castle soft and now the soft won't work.

I have updated Castle link to version 3.85 and the software is ok: anyway, the Copperhead has the same problem also with new 2.16 firmware... I will contact the Castle support on Monday!

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by OutLore

I'm no expert but that doesn't make sense to me... If he'd have said they need a higher C rating sure, but it sounds like what he's basically telling you is that when you had the issue you were having, it was because your battery was run down?

Nobody ever said they need a higher C rating. They were saying that you have to run a 5,000 mah battery with them. But even when I ran a large battery like that it still cut out

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by guido_owl

I have updated Castle link to version 3.85 and the software is ok: anyway, the Copperhead has the same problem also with new 2.16 firmware... I will contact the Castle support on Monday!

I installed the new holms hobby ESC on Friday and have running for a bit now. I like it much better than the castle ESCs. It is smaller and not sure if it would be ideal for trail but I just do comp.

If I were running trail or less than ideal conditions I think the Mamba X would be my go-to at this point. Maybe the sw4 but it does not have 4s capabilities. I doubt I'll ever buy another Castle ESC but I'll keep imamba x's and sw4s I have. They have been very good ESCs for me.

[Druxus]

Originally Posted by MOguy

I installed the new holms hobby ESC on Friday and have running for a bit now. I like it much better than the castle ESCs. It is smaller and not sure if it would be ideal for trail but I just do comp.

If I were running trail or less than ideal conditions I think the Mamba X would be my go-to at this point. Maybe the sw4 but it does not have 4s capabilities. I doubt I'll ever buy another Castle ESC but I'll keep imamba x's and sw4s I have. They have been very good ESCs for me.

I installed one of the new Holmes hobbies Crawlmaster V2 with a 1400kv revolver. I only do trail and no comps, and it's been doing good for trails. 3 mile runs are common and it just barely warm. I did conformal coat it before I put the shrink tubing on, I don't go for water but I figured I should at it safe. One thing I didn't like was the low voltage is set to 3.0 volts and you need a serial programmer to change it and it's not as easy as the others (castle/tekin/hobbywing) to change it. Customer service guy at Holmes hobbies said 3.0 volts is fine and he runs his lipos down that far. No thanks, I like to not discharge my batteries that far.

[Danger Close]

This is a bummer as there are not many sensored ESCs in that price range of the Copperhead 10. Do I buy one and take my chances?

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by MOguy

Send it back to them:

This is what I got from Castle:
>>>>> In this rig it's pulling too much and your battery voltage is hitting cutoff (see below). 650 and 850mah is very low, even for a crawler. Try a 2000mah pack or similar and I suspect your issue will be resolved. We really recommend 5000mah as the minimum, but if you're trying to keep the rig light I understand. There is a limit though. C ratings are very inflated, have been since ~2005.

Joe Ford | Product Specialist

Phone | (913) 390-6939
>>>>>
>>>>> EMAIL | WEBSITE | LOCATION

That's a big heaping pile of BS. It's correct if we were talking about a bouncer or basher but in a crawler 450-850 mah packs are typical in competition where rigs are driven harder than on trail runs and whatnot. 🤦

I pay attention to what happens around me and what I read and I've read and seen maybe 10% of users happy with their copperhead escs. And that's a big maybe 10%, probably closer to 5% even the team drivers I know don't run them.

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by Danger Close

This is a bummer as there are not many sensored ESCs in that price range of the Copperhead 10. Do I buy one and take my chances?

Lots of people have the copperhead and have problems lots of people don't. I'm not willing to risk or give any more money to Castle so I'm done with them. It seems people are now having problems with the micro X2. I am having issues with the micro X2 Castle gave me as a replacement for the copperhead. It stalls after using full throttle on 4s. It just randomly stalls on 3s like the copperhead. I have a friend who's going to try the MicroX2 in his RC and see how it works for him.

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

I have had mine cut out, switch was eliminated before it was ever run. It hasn't cut out while moving it has just stopped after I stop for a sec and try to continue driving, always right after powering it up and only once per pack. After that happens I've been able to run until my battery hits LVC without any more cutting out.

I thought powering it down and back up solves it though last time it happened it just started working again on its own.

The ESC isn't beeping like its lost connection to the radio or motor.

Servo is powered directly off the battery so its not a brown out.

@MOguy can you describe whats happening to yours? You really havent said when it happens and what exactly happens.

The copperhead cuts out just like you describe but every 5-10 minutes.

With the micro X2 on 4S it would cut out after you use full throttle a couple times, and on 3s it would cut out just like the copperhead.