New RS10 XT Owner

[Eric76]

I purchased my first crawler yesterday, will be receiving it in the mail Thursday. Not sure if i should have started a new tread as there is SO much information in these forums on this Redcat RS10 XT and I am very sure I missed the answer to this question in reading a few of the threads. But I was wondering if standard 6 cell 7.4v stick batteries fit the battery tray just fine? Also it was difficult to find specs on the ESC online and i was wondering it the ESC has lipo cutoff, or if it would even handle 2s Lipos. sorry for the redundancy I'm sure these are answered in other treads, but I also wanted to say Hello and I hope this was a good choice for my first Crawler.

[lemonhead]

the stock ESC does not have a lipo cut off. you can run a 2s lipo no problem but you need an external cut off. some have run a 3s lipo with success others haven't, if you do run a 3s you might fry the ESC.

[Eric76]

Thank you, also the battery tray looks like it is small and square from the pictures. Will I need to mod this in order to use my other RC's stick batteries? Once again thank you for your help.

[Eric76]

Sorry I will figure it out when I get the truck, looks as though many mount them above the front axle to add weight I assume. I'm sure that is just a part of the hobby finding the right weight distribution.

[riskyjedi]

It should be able to hold a standard pack just fine. I put a 7cell nimh pack in mine. It just depends on what battery tray it has. There's one that has a cube battery and that tray is limited. You could also use a low voltage alarm. I have seen them on eBay for around $15.

[IQLogic]

If you want to use LiPo battery try this low voltage alarm Small, simple, low power consuption and very loud

[Eric76]

It appears I have some work to do when I get the crawler according to this:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/redca...%2A%2A%2A.html

Will probably just use my 5000mAh Nimh batteries for now. Go ahead and see how long those servos will last and just how bad those shoes are. It appears those are the first areas of concern. Good but fair priced servos? was looking at these any thoughts?

Crawford Performance Engineering : CPE-SER4: CYS Hi-Torque Metal Gear Servo - $21.99

[Jakethesnake-rs10]

Hey Eric welcome to rccrawlers! Im suggesting this servo as its the one im using in my build... Savox SC0251MG Digital Servo

222oz at 6v! You will need a BEC of some sort when upgrading servos fyi

Also i will be using a 5300mah 2s lipo in my rs10 with no LVC...
What i did first time out was charge and balance the pack at 4.2v per cell (8.4v total)
Then stick it in And crawl it thru its paces for about 10-15 minutes then stop and check the packs voltage and go and crawl some more and so on and so fourth.

Once i got to where the voltage had dropped to say around 3.8-3.7v per cell i stoped and now had a estimated safe crawling time per charge. For me i found out i can safley crawl for 35minutes sometimes 45minutes between charging cycles.

[Eric76]

Thanks for the link to the low voltage cutoff very cheap and if the other batteries turn out to be to heavy may look at some smaller lipo's to maybe balance the truck better. for now I have so many batteries laying around I don't want to buy any more. And I am not sure how much of a difference 2s 7.4v lipo vs. 7.4v nimh would make on a crawler (I know nimh tend to have a discharge dropoff and lipo holds it's discharge rate to the end, but is it that noticeable in a Crawler?) . with the stock 390 can motors. Guess I can plug up one of my 2s Lipos with a higher C rating and see.

[Eric76]

Jake, BEC only if the new servo takes more power than the stock? forgive me I am not very familiar with BEC's. I know they are for proper power distribution, but in the rs10 xt's stock form does it not have a BEC? Also do we know th operating voltage of the stock servos? I am assuming these are run from the ESC with a standard operating voltage of 5-7.4v? sorry for all the questions. And thank you good to be here, I hope I enjoy crawling as much as racing and bashing.

[Jakethesnake-rs10]

Eric i think the BEC in the stock esc is something like 4.5v??? Somebody please correct me if im wrong. When upgrading the steering servo in a crawler your going to want something with a huge amount of torque, 200oz is a good starting point. 300oz+ is even better! To achieve those huge torque numbers you have got to supply the servo with around 6 volts, something a aftermarket BEC will take care of. For example the castle 10amp BEC is reasonable on price and the output voltage is fully adjustable with castle link.

[Eric76]

I will have to read a lot more about BECs for now hopefully I can find more specs on the components that come stock with the rs10xt. It appears to use this ESC, E401 and the manual says it has low voltage cut-off? Very difficult to find all the specs for the different components on redcats website. Also says the power output is: Output: 6V(Min.), 7.2V(Normal), 8.4V(Max.) but I am sure that is to the motors, can't find how much is going to the receiver, because i would assume it has an internal BEC? This requires some research...

[IQLogic]

Stock ESC has 5V @ 5A BEC. But it is linear BEC so efficiency is just something about 50% - real current from BEC is cca 2,5A only - very low for hi-power servo

[Eric76]

On a budget, because my wife says i have tooooo many hobbies so thought this looked like a good deal Crawford Performance Engineering : CPE-SER4: CYS Hi-Torque Metal Gear Servo - $21.99 208oz. @ 5v and 224oz. @ 7.2v with metal gears @ half the price of the savox.... Now I love savox servos and trust them, but was hoping possibly someone here had some experience with these servos (see above link).

[Jakethesnake-rs10]

Just pick your self up a metal geared HT servo or two and a BEC and possibly some new tires and foams and you will be MUCH happier with the performance! Then crawl it like you stole it untill the stock esc smokes then upgrade the esc. Thats my $.02 anyways

[Eric76]

Thank you IQ! So for decent servos I am looking at either a better ESC with higher voltage internal BEC or an external BEC. If you don't mind me asking where did you find the specs on that E401?

[Eric76]

Thanks Jake have to keep this RC on the cheap side so i am going to try one of the servos I posted a link to, and I guess a BEC? or just go ahead and upgrade the ESC? Any suggestions? 1: ESC with quality internal BEC. 2:Good external BEC.

[Jakethesnake-rs10]

Do your research on your servo options, check out some other threads man research is your friend! I just think 224oz at 7.2 isnt that impressive considering the savox pushes 222oz at only 6v and is backed by legit customer service and a warranty...

[IQLogic]

Originally Posted by Eric76

Thank you IQ! So for decent servos I am looking at either a better ESC with higher voltage internal BEC or an external BEC. If you don't mind me asking where did you find the specs on that E401?

My stock Lansu ESC is gone so I disassembled it and found out that BEC was linear
Lansu E401 is not stock ESC E401 has 5V @ 6A BEC but I don't know if linear or switching, it's programmable and looking bit different

EDIT: Here is Lansu E401 on eBay

[Jakethesnake-rs10]

As for a BEC i was told a castle creations 10amp is the way to go. Thats what i went ahead and ordered...here's a link Castle Creations CC BEC 10A Switching Regulator (CSE010-0004-00) | RC Planet