TRX4 not moving? what could be wrong?

[TRX4]

The steering and servos work, but i got no throttle forward or reverse. What could be wrong here?The truck sat for a year or so, batteries are charged and it briefly worked intermittently but quickly changed to nothing at all. I tried turning it off anc back on several times. 100% stock.

[Greatscott]

What batteries are you using?

What color is the ESC's LED when you turn the truck on? What does it do when you apply throttle?

Does the drive train move freely when rolled by hand?

Is there any noise heard from the motor when you apply throttle?

Are the motor leads connected?

Have you tried a different motor?

[TRX4]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

What batteries are you using?

What color is the ESC's LED when you turn the truck on? What does it do when you apply throttle?

Does the drive train move freely when rolled by hand?

Is there any noise heard from the motor when you apply throttle?

Are the motor leads connected?

Have you tried a different motor?

The esc has a solid green light until I apply throttle and then it blinks 2 year old battery I think that's good, motor leads are connected I checked all the wires. The wheels roll freely when pushed by hand. I hear nothing when I apply throttle. I don't have another motor to try yet, I have a crawl master 8t on the way though because I want more speed for my dog lol

[smog]

The connection between the esc and the reciever is good?

I would try a re-bind and then a different motor. From there you would have to deduce whether it's a reciever or esc issue

[Greatscott]

Originally Posted by smog

The connection between the esc and the reciever is good?

I would try a re-bind and then a different motor. From there you would have to deduce whether it's a reciever or esc issue

He has servo control, so connectivity and binding should be fine.

What color is the LED when it is blinking, and is it blinking fast or slow?

Fast Green: Your throttle is not in the nuetral position when the system is turned on.... Adjust your throttle trim; or you have it in 70/30 mode.

Slow Red: It is in lipo low voltage cutoff (LVC). Are you running a lipo or NiMH pack?

[amigaman]

The XL5 doesn't like water and dirt between the coolers, it may think it's moving when there's a bit of a connection or corrosion.
You would get LEDs like Greatscott said although everything is a-ok.
And binding seems to be ok, because the steering works, but maybe you just set the MuFu button to throttle trim or dual rate, and so the XL5 will not arm when throttle is not centered on startup or will just not get any signal because you dual rated it down to almost zero. You could check the throttle signal pretty easy:
- unplug the motor wires (DO NOT FORGET THIS!)
- switch servo and ESC wires at the Receiver, e.g. ESC in Ch1 and Servo in Ch2.
- power the system up
- now throttle lever should get you full steering action
- if it doesn't you either have a bad Ch2 (plugged in the ESC wire reversed and boom goes the servo signal on this channel, btdt...) or a bad setting on the Transmitter.
- if it moves correctly you have a problem @ the ESC end, like ESC and/or motor are done, wiring is bad, or maybe even lipo cutoff or overtemp cutoff, and these can come up false positive by water or dirt.


Also, an 8T motor is waaaay too fast for the TRX4, and waaay to hungry for the XL5, so no, that's nothing to drive, would be just good enough to test the ESC with a loose hand held motor if you had it lying around.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by amigaman

Also, an 8T motor is waaaay too fast for the TRX4, and waaay to hungry for the XL5, so no, that's nothing to drive, would be just good enough to test the ESC with a loose hand held motor if you had it lying around.

An 8T Crawlmaster may be a little fast in 2nd gear, but nothing not driveable. With some gearing it'll be happily slow in 1st and some top end in 2nd. My personal favorite motor is a 10T crawlmaster in regular 3 gear transmissions.

[amigaman]

Just googled it, you're right, the crawlmaster is a 5 slot armature and does only a little bit faster than the 21T TRX stock motor, sorry.

That's why the turns info is useless: it does not say anything about torque or RPMs.

[TRX4]

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

An 8T Crawlmaster may be a little fast in 2nd gear, but nothing not driveable. With some gearing it'll be happily slow in 1st and some top end in 2nd. My personal favorite motor is a 10T crawlmaster in regular 3 gear transmissions.

I was considering the 10t but figured why not go for the 8t if it has the same or better crawl capabilty but fast speed with my 3s lipo (i have a 2s and 3s depending on the day) i love having a truck that can crawl but still whip around in the yard when i want. More versatile machine if you ask me!

[OnTheTrail]

Do you have another battery to try? A year doesn't sound like a lot but if it wasn't storage charged before sitting that long who knows? I have some batteries go bad in under a year, some that are 10 years old and still okay.

[TRX4]

Originally Posted by OnTheTrail

Do you have another battery to try? A year doesn't sound like a lot but if it wasn't storage charged before sitting that long who knows? I have some batteries go bad in under a year, some that are 10 years old and still okay.

I tried both my 2s and 3s Lipo, ill continue trouble shooting!

[Greatscott]

When flashing, what color is the ESC's LED and is it flashing fast or slow?

[TRX4]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

When flashing, what color is the ESC's LED and is it flashing fast or slow?

Now when i try it, the green light just disappears when i give it input. Is that normal?

[Inspector86]

Do you have LiPo batteries or NiMh? Do you have a way to test the actual battery voltage? It just sounds like a low voltage cut off to me. I would test the batteries and confirm their state. If you don't have a tester take the batteries to your LHS and have them tested.

[OnTheTrail]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

Do you have LiPo batteries or NiMh? Do you have a way to test the actual battery voltage? It just sounds like a low voltage cut off to me. I would test the batteries and confirm their state. If you don't have a tester take the batteries to your LHS and have them tested.

Even checking the voltage with a volt meter may not point to a potential battery issue (although it might). I've had packs charge okay on the charger, show 99% rating but once connect to the plane, the ESC said, nah.....ain't happening.....

This is usually related to an internal issue within one cell.

I agree with your advise. Take it to a LHS and have them try a different battery.

[TRX4]

Thank you all for the help guys! I got my 8T 550 Homes and hobbies motor and sure enough, it works! My stock 21T traxxas motor was bad after just 2 and a half years at the most. Btw This 8T motor really rips, top speed is increased significantly without sacrificing low end torque and control.

[OnTheTrail]

Glad you got it figured out! Happy wheeling!