WPL b1 help [emoji722]

[2xDeadbolt]

Help I bought my son a WPL b1 for Christmas. It arrive a month later and does not work. just to have something different from the deadbolt. He love the truck but it arrived damaged. They are supposed to refund my money this week.

any advice on what to check. The lights and truck seems to lose connection and stutter. I can share a video if I can figure out how to on here.

I was thinking... can I replace electronics so he can drive the truck around?

[Undead Jeeper]

You can convert it to real R/C with hobby grade components. Should be videos on how to do it on that famous site...

Get one of the 10-20-30A 'Cheap Chinese ESCs' and a cheap radio, servo and receiver.

[Voodoobrew]

Flickering lights, like a bad conection? I it wasnt for being able to return it i would say try hitting some spots with a soldering iron maybe its a bad solder on the board. But returning it seems better.

Many of the little ones have the esc/reciever combo in them which raises to price of replacing parts.

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Handy gearing spreadsheet

[Voodoobrew]

Easiest to post it on YouTube then share the link for video.

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Handy gearing spreadsheet

[Undead Jeeper]

Sounds like they are refunding his money but letting him keep the truck?

If it's from China and not a US seller, the hassle that a return entails is...irksome.

[2xDeadbolt]

Originally Posted by Undead Jeeper

You can convert it to real R/C with hobby grade components. Should be videos on how to do it on that famous site...

Get one of the 10-20-30A 'Cheap Chinese ESCs' and a cheap radio, servo and receiver.

Which famous site do you mean? I am a noob how do I know what to buy I don't want to replace with same crap that is in there.

[2xDeadbolt]

Originally Posted by Undead Jeeper

Sounds like they are refunding his money but letting him keep the truck?

If it's from China and not a US seller, the hassle that a return entails is...irksome.

Correct I am supposed to get a refund and I get to keep the truck was hoping to learn something and teach my son about it in the process.

From banggood and never again.

[2xDeadbolt]

First video upload

https://youtu.be/zA4UHsXp5wQ

[nightcrawler48]

Do you have a volt meter or ohm meter you can check the battery voltage with? I don't use NiMH batteries but I have friends who use them and that is pretty much what happens when the battery has discharged to a level where it needs to be charged.

Voodoobrew could also be on to something. With the battery plugged in to the ESC, try "wiggling" the wires where they come out of the connectors on both sides and see if the same thing happens. Could be a bad/cold solder on one of the wires. Check the wires where they are soldered to the motor as well.

Try disconnecting the servo from the ESC and see what happens. Just use the throttle and watch the lights to see if they flicker on and off. A bad servo causes weird things to happen, from what you are seeing to flat out shutting everything completely down.

By the way, pretty cool looking body on that truck. If you're in to military WPL has some interesting bodies on their product.

Good luck . . . . . .

[2xDeadbolt]

@nightcrawler48 thanks for the tips. I do have multimeter but what setting should is use to test battery?


I guess I need to take the truck apart some to get to the electronics

[nightcrawler48]

You need to set your multimeter to "DC". Usually there will be a range of numbers to chose from. Anything close to 20 will do. I'm hoping your multimeter is digital as an old analog unit is harder to use if you're not familiar with the scales on it.

The online info I can find says the battery is 6V NiMH. Generally a NiMH battery will be something over 6V when fully charged, maybe as high as 7V or higher. If 6V or less that could be the problem. Put the battery on the charger and let it get a full charge. Check the voltage after charging and if it is about 7V or higher, give it another try in the RC and see if there is any improvement. I would have thought the battery would have been a 6 cell which would be identified as 7.2V and fully charged somewhere between 8-8.6V. Maybe they're using a battery with less than 6 cells.

[Greatscott]

Originally Posted by 2xDeadbolt

I was thinking... can I replace electronics so he can drive the truck around?

Unfortunately, the price really depicts the quality here, and just a quick skim of reviews shows that your issues are not unique. But, all is not lost, as long as you understand its limitations and shortcomings, trucks like this can be really fun.

What I would do...
• Gut it like a fish... The stock electronics are the worst part of this truck. Pull all of the electronics and replace them with your own. I know that sounds daunting, but it really isn't. If you go with a HW1060 ESC and a Flysky remote, you'll be in it for another $60-70 or so.
• Buy another one. If this is a project you want to keep around for a while, then you'll need spare parts. At the unit price for this rig, it is cost effective to just buy another one and use it for spare parts.

[Undead Jeeper]

Originally Posted by 2xDeadbolt

Which famous site do you mean? I am a noob how do I know what to buy I don't want to replace with same crap that is in there.

I meant YouTube. Sorry.

RunThatRC is a pretty good channel. Must be countless others, and no doubt people have converted the less-than-stellar RTR trucks to “hobby grade”.

Like this, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-of82sNvGM

Better yet, this (with the cheap chinese ESC I mentioned oreviously):::
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRFDIMveihY


The only thing wrong with banggood is their lackluster packaging. They wrap the thin WPL box in a bag and call it good when they should package it in a corrugated brown cardboard box like everyone else. The end result is that the box usually arrives rather abused if not destroyed.

[2xDeadbolt]

Originally Posted by nightcrawler48

You need to set your multimeter to "DC". Usually there will be a range of numbers to chose from. Anything close to 20 will do. I'm hoping your multimeter is digital as an old analog unit is harder to use if you're not familiar with the scales on it.



The online info I can find says the battery is 6V NiMH. Generally a NiMH battery will be something over 6V when fully charged, maybe as high as 7V or higher. If 6V or less that could be the problem. Put the battery on the charger and let it get a full charge. Check the voltage after charging and if it is about 7V or higher, give it another try in the RC and see if there is any improvement. I would have thought the battery would have been a 6 cell which would be identified as 7.2V and fully charged somewhere between 8-8.6V. Maybe they're using a battery with less than 6 cells.

Tested with the digital multimeter and got 6.9v to 7.v

I watched a video about replacing stuff from ampro engineering. I think I could do this if I could get the right parts for the truck. I don't expect hobby grade crawler. We have 1/24 Deadbolts. I just want him to be able to run it around the yard/ trail.

[Undead Jeeper]

Originally Posted by 2xDeadbolt

Tested with the digital multimeter and got 6.9v to 7.v

I watched a video about replacing stuff from ampro engineering. I think I could do this if I could get the right parts for the truck. I don't expect hobby grade crawler. We have 1/24 Deadbolts. I just want him to be able to run it around the yard/ trail.

Any updates?

At this point in time, *I* am a bit more knowledgeable about the hobby too, thankfully,
but anyone here can advise you on what to buy or what to do or follow the Ampro videos, etc.

I'm not giving up on Banggood--out of all the Direct-from-China sellers, that one is one
of the best with customer service. As far as them letting you keep the truck, that's awesome
but also part of an ongoing trend with a lot of vendors, because return shipping is a hassle and expensive.