Adventure on the Logs

[tom tom]

Originally Posted by 860Crawler

I noticed the mailman left a treat on my doorstep when I got home from work this afternoon.

Can't wait to see how it does on the rocks

Tell me how the motor is. How is wheel speed? Accuracy of wheel speed? Battery consumption?

I have many delema with motors and finding ones that work well. (I don't belive/can't afford brushless)

[860Crawler]

I gave it a no load break in for about 5 minutes. On the living room floor I can already tell its slower than the stock silvercan and it practically clawed through one of my couch pillows climbing up it Maybe that just my wishful thinking! I've still got a 20 tooth pinion on it which I still want to knock down a few teeth. Even still it creeps along pretty slow on the floor, no jerky starts.

The silvercan is going into the re-re Grasshopper for now.

I'll give a real review with battery runtime this weekend after I take it out on some real terrain. Gonna have to hit up my parking garage spot since all my other favorite spots are covered with snow and ice.

[Bok]

Originally Posted by 860Crawler

Easy Off oven cleaner in a glass jar with the links. A good soaking for an hour or two then I had to buff them clean... Hey wait, did I just answer this question for you in another forum or was that someone else from the Phillipines?

Yep that was me over at the RCU forum. Thanks for the tip!

[860Crawler]

Originally Posted by tom tom

Tell me how the motor is. How is wheel speed? Accuracy of wheel speed? Battery consumption?

I have many delema with motors and finding ones that work well. (I don't belive/can't afford brushless)

OK, I've run through 4 packs. This is my first experience with a crawler specific type motor. I'm still using the stock 20T pinion. The motor is super smooth when going slow. Its definitely lost the silvercan top speed which wasn't much to begin with. I rarely have it pegged full throttle anyways. Its still got enough speed to go on a trail hike with it and its still got enough wheel speed to get it out of a jam on the rocks, but slow seems to be where it shines.
The torque is a night and day difference after using the silvercan for 6 months. It requires barely a pull on the throttle to creep slow and just go up and over rocks. And it goes slow, creeps slower and smoother than the silvercan. I can't even hear a strain on the motor going up and over obstacles like you could with the stocker.
The drag brake on the Rooster Crawler is rediculously strong now. Feel like I need weight for the rear wheels now since it wants to come up sometimes on decents.
Battery life seems about the same, an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes on a 3000mAh NiMh pack. Got an hour and a half on one pack, never using full throttle.

Overall, I'm satisfied with it. It was inexpensive and it exceeded my expectations. We'll see how it does long term.

[Titus]

Excellent little right up there. I know exactly what you mean the stock motor has the jerkiness when just touching the trigger and trying to get the truck to creep. defiantly gonna get myself one of these motors.

Oh, nice craw spot you got there. im still trying to find myself a place to crawl.. bugger.. all my crawling lately has been round the garden, no rocks or hills to climb. so haven’t really started crawling with mine. but the stuff i have done so far is pretty fun, so can imagine how much good fun it would be to crawl at a spot like yours.

Keep the pics rolling and great writes up coming. .

Cheers
T

[IDnewcrwlr]

860Crawler, do you got any body off shots? i am looking at getting that same motor and esc, and was just kind of wondering wat kind of ends you got on your motor leads coming from the esc? thanx in advance great looking rig by the way!!!!

[860Crawler]

This is from a few months ago, different shock set up.



Old shot from when it was first built. I have moved the ESC to the center tray and the receiver to the rear tray. I still have bullet connectors for the motor to ESC. The CR_Tuned motor came with the standard bullet type connectors as well. I actually bought a bunch of Deans to change out all my connections. The Tamiya connector that bridges the battery/light kit/ESC has a weak connection and every now and then the rig will just stop and I can see the fan on the ESC turn off. I just touch the connector and everything starts back up. So this weekend the wiring is getting an overhaul.

.

[IDnewcrwlr]

would you think there is any need for a cooling fan for the rooster? i was just browsing ebay and saw a cooling fan on there for the rooster esc......

[860Crawler]

I just put a fan on mine a week and a half ago. The ESC was shutting down because of thermal overload when doing hardcore climbing. It was a little Novak fan. Since I've added the fan, it hasn't shut down at all and stays ice cold. I also changed out all the Tamiya connectors for Deans plugs for more electrical efficiency. Plus, one of my Tamiya connectors was loose and every now and then everything would shut off and if I tapped the truck it would get connection again and turn back on.

[IDnewcrwlr]

i have called every place in town that sells electronics and even gone the the lhs and cannot find the right female end that plugs the esc to the motor. :-x i just wanna keep the stock motor plugs for now instead of going with the deans, where did you find the right female end for the esc?

[860Crawler]

I got the standard bullet connectors at Radio Shack. They sell packs of female only or male only or both. If you have a local Radio Shack they should be there in the back where they have drawers full of electronic parts.

[IDnewcrwlr]

yea that was the first place i went and they showed me what they had and to no avail they didnt carry that kind of connection, so as frustrated as i was i just cut the ends off the motor wires and am going to go get the deans from the lhs and hope to god that someone can solder them up for me today since i have been waiting weeks to get this darn thing runnin!!!!! o well, only time will tell.....thanks for the info......

[860Crawler]

Man, that sucks. I have 4 Radio Shacks within 20 minutes of my house so I can always find something if one or the other doesn't have it. You should pick yourself up a cheap soldering iron or gun there and some rosin core solder. It will probably run you $7-14 and then soldering connections is really simple. You can practice on some old wires or connections and then you're golden. You'll never be stuck if you break a connection.

[IDnewcrwlr]

yea it does, its even crappier becasue the people at the lhs dont really seem to be into their job nad dont really know their stuff. i feel dumb asking them the questions so i try and ask as many people on here before even going in and asking them. anyways, i was looking into getting a litle dinky one just so i dont have to rely on anyone else to fix em up for me. where is a good place to buy a cheap one at? i saw one on tower and i think it was 60 watts for very cheap......

[860Crawler]

Cheapest place I saw around my area was Radio Shack actually. They had some as low as $6-7. I bought a soldering gun from them, its a 30-watt and it was like $8.00. Heats up in a few minutes. Takes about 45 seconds or so to really heat a tab and apply solder. A higher wattage unit will heat quicker. Its all in what you want to spend. I don't plan on soldering for a living, just stuff here and there, maybe a battery pack every now and then so I just got a little cheapy.

Find some tips online and even on youtube on how to solder connections. You don't want to just melt the solder over the tip of the gun and let it drip to whatever surface your soldering. It will create a cold connection and it more likely to break or come undone. Just make sure you get the item youre soldering hot enough to melt the solder on its own.

[IDnewcrwlr]

the wire doesnt have to be rosin core or does it? there are a lot of options and i dont want to get the wrong one....

[CruiserHead]

Hey ISnewcrwlr,

If you want to learn real fast how to solder, check this link out. Bob Finless is a Helicopter guru, but don't let that turn you away from his tutorials. He has some of the best videos on basic RC fixes!! You will be soldering like a pro after watching his video. he specifically has a Deans Connector video as well. You might have to sign up for Helifreak for free, but well worth it. He also has videos on servo repair, usage of locktite, brushless motor/ESC...etc...Check out all of the vids listed..

JB

[860Crawler]

Thats a good link, thanks!

And yes, it has to be rosin core solder unless you want to buy flux and have to put flux on all or connections before you solder.

[860Crawler]

Put some new shock oil in last night. The new oil feels smoother and slower than the stock Junfac oil. Not sure what weight Junfac uses stock, but the new oil is 45wt AE Factory Team oil. Packed a little ceramic grease under the little cap covering the o-rings on the shock body because I saw a little oil coming through there before I broke the shocks down. Maybe that will seal it a little better. I'm not sure what other people do.

When I dumped the old stuff it was green. I don't know how shock oil reacts over time, but when I put it in it was a golden brown color.

Also zip tied the rocker arms on the cants like everyone suggests. This along with new damper oil makes the whole rig feel tighter.

Rock test tonight at my test area. Then a real test at a crawler GTG next week.

[LOSIASSOCIATED]

Nice truck I like it alot I might dig out my old body back out its a little beat up But I like the roof rack .
Greg