AX10 RTC - Crap Electronics or just low power output?

[mxracer33x]

Ive been messing around with this thing for a few days now and have a few questions.

Here is where it is at now.
Stock AX10 RTC
6oz in each front tire, 3 in each rear, chamfered foam all around
1600 saddle packs mounted over the front axle or
3000 sub C stick in the stock location
Trimmed body
Aluminum servo arm


My main concern is the electronics. I have always had very nice tekin stuff on all my offroad cars, so I could dial it in and when something wasnt right I knew it. Now Im back at first base with this thing. Slow is wierd to me.

When crawling over the top of a peak, and say the front and rear are both barely grabbing traction, I turn the wheels (sometimes to lock) so it can pull itself over, but it binds up and wont move. Take some pressure off the steering and the tires rotate again but no traction. Is this a problem with the ESC not able to put out enough power to the motor and servo simutaneously, or a lack of motor (torque) and/or gearing?

Occasionally it will just stop responding and I have to turn off the radio or car. Usually the radio will do it, but sometimes I have to turn it all off, disconnect the battery and start everything again. When it freaks out and wont respond at all the ESC blinks green.

IS the ESC so poor that it functions randomly? Poor reciever quality?

[NorCalScaleCrawlers]

it sounds like it is drawing to much power a bunch of people have had these problems it seems it needs a regulator to the esc a "bec" i think thats what it might need

[TattooKenny]

A BEC is almost a must yes, but the stock Axial servo is crap. Even at 6v it will barely have the power needed to turn your wheels when needed. My advise would be a good ESC, Servo. Get the new Holmes Hobbies ESC and you won't need a BEC;) Get a servo with 200oz+ torque. All of my comp servos are 400oz+.

If your servo has a servo saver on it you can tighen that as well to help for now. If you do get a Castle BEC you will need to get the Castle Link for it as well to program it. You will spend some $ for good electronics bet you will be happy that you did

[fuyutime2]

SO TRUE! my RTC that my friend lended me cuz he had no room, had SH*T elecs. the servo crapped on me in 2 days and the esc died in 5. i made my friend pay for repairs, but i still ended up givin him $30 cuz i was using it and felt guilty. now i know better.

[NorCalScaleCrawlers]

my friend put on a different servo horn and that helped with the steering that was included in the big parts bag its not the greatest but it does work pretty good for a stock servo so if you could switch it out and see if that works a little but it still wont change the crappy electronics quaility

[mudman1]

The bec is a must have. I've replaced the esc with a Sidewinder and the servo saver with a horn and and had problems with everything shutting down when the car got into a tight spot. The bec solved the problem plus gave the stock servo some much needed power.

[mxracer33x]

It definitly looks to ned a BEC. the holmes looks like a great addition, but it doesnt look to be released yet? and I dont really want to buy a BEC then buy an ESC wit ha BEC in it a month later.

Im trying to do this reasonably, and even after what I thought was pretty thorough research on the RTC, Im definitly beginning to think I should have just got the ARTR and bought all the electronics I really wanted anyhow, and got some aluminum links included.

Also, what servo is recomended over 200oz? Ive searched a bit in the vendors section, but it seems the budget ones suck too. And how much more power doe s a digital really eat?

I was doing this to get something for my daughter and I to do on short visits between my 2 jobs and lunch breaks, to help keep her spirits up while Im working so much, but its looking like Ill have to get a 3rd job to make it wheelable for her.

[NorCalScaleCrawlers]

no if i was to pick any axial it would be the kit or rtc dont be disapointed with it try out the bec first

[vonclod]

when your looking for a servo look at the ace 1015,s..just over 200.oz..i swear by them, and you can find em for around a hundred..and go for the holmes esc

[mxracer33x]

I tried to get a Holmes ESC but they are backordered, probably 5 -6 weeks out. Ill get one when I can order it again. I got a CC BEC for use in the mean time. It finally works like it should. I was pretty frustrated with the purchase until I got it installed. Ive always sworn off RTR type kits, and for good reason. I think Ill still get a new 3 channel radio and a holmes, then sell my stock stuff with the BEC to a buddy to put into a ARTR kit.

I looked at the ace stuff yesterday, and it looks pretty damn nice, aluminum case and all. Now I can finally wheel this for a while and tweak the suspension to suit my needs and not fight the electronics. thanks for all your advice.

[mxracer33x]

I got about another hour of crawling in today. Went out ot a place I used to ride my mountain bike by on the way to bidwell park. The ground was not at all what it looked like from a distance. Its basically compressed sand and gravel. Pretty fun but can be frustrating as well, especially trying to learn anything about setup. the stuff can crumble and most all climbs have very soft sand atteh base, so your front has to do most of the work.

I still am having trouble with the electronics. The BEC took care of the shutdown due to torque on the servo, now the esc will blink green and nothing will respond, flip the steering reverse switch on the radio a couple times and its good to go again. WTF? My Stock servo has the signal wire in the receiver and the BEC is wired directly to the servo power leads.

So receiver problem or is it interference with the BEC, or ESC still fawking me over?

[mxracer33x]

its about 5 minutes from my office so ill prolly be eating alot of sandwiches and playing at lunch till i get this thing dialed in more.

Heres a couple pics, the light was bright so i didnt get any real landscape pics, not enough contrast to get much of the terrain in detail. It looks like rough concrete but it crumbles pretty easy, a little wheelspin and your looking for a whole new line.

[Bigpopa]

I am runnin a Rooster crawler in mine with the stock servo still and have not had this problem YET but this is good info here servo is the next buy.

[billm67]

You can't expect top shelf electronics in a rtc.

[mxracer33x]

Originally Posted by billm67

You can't expect top shelf electronics in a rtc.

Never said I was, and I stated above that I had typically avoided the RTR kits like the plague. But I also expect the parts to work reasonably well out of the box. No sense in selling a product that cannot function as intended.

Here I am simply trying to diagnose a problem and correct it without throwing parts at it. If it is the ESC that is fine, Ill have to deal with it until I can get a holmes, or possibly a Tekin FXR and keep the CC BEC. Until then I will try to relocate the BEC and reciever to eliminate the possibility of interference.

[Pointman]

i have stock elec, and never had that problem. could you be getting interference from something? the only time mine will not turn the tires is just as the battery is dying.

[mxracer33x]

that is very posible. Whe ni redo my upper links this week I am going to seperate my electronics, namely the BEC and reciever and see what I end up with. I ran 3 batteries on sunday without a glitch, then today i ran 1 pack and after about 20 minutes it started up. Sundays runs had very low impact rollovers, today had some pretty big tumbles off ledges. There may be something loose.

[Fordx4Ranger]

put a stronger servo on and a tekin fxr and cc bec and youl never look back

[NorCalScaleCrawlers]

that crawling place is near my house hopefully you dont stumble upon my secret spot......