Smoked my first motor

[Topher Builds]

Im not on a budget just trying to find something more plug and play that can tote this weight around. Ideally I don’t want to change gearing or esc at this time. Is axe a Holmes brushless motor? And thanks for the specifics on the timing and rotation.

The axe is a brushless system from Hobbywing. It’s good right out of the box.

I myself prefer to run Castle ESC’s and Holmes Hobbies motors because they’re more versatile, tuneable, and have more power. To take full advantage of this set up you’ll need to tune it on a pc. A mamba x and a Holmes puller Pro is an awesome set up. I love the revolver motors too, unmatched torque but some people can’t stand the noise.

If you don’t want to change the ESC then you’ll have to stick with a brushed motor and the Holmes options that you were originally considering are the best bet.

 

[HumboldtEF]

you would need a new ESC to go brushless, but you can reuse the stock ESC if you stay brushed.

 

[530crawlers]

So I installed the new motor and put it all back together and when I try to go forward nothing when I hit reverse I have power. Any idea what’s going on? Dieing to go test out this new motor tommorow

 

[530crawlers]

Few pics of my capra with new decals and body panels

 

[HumboldtEF]

Hmm, i wonder if the ESC got damaged?

So all you did was swap the motor and nothing else?

would you have another known good esc on hand or from another rig to test with?

Just to eliminate the servo as the cause try unplugging it and re-testing.

 

[530crawlers]

Ya just swapped out the motor seems odd. Is there any kind of re calibration that needs to happen or anything when you swap the motor? Steering servo works and reverse works but it’s like full speed reverse even if you just barely press it. Also notice red light on esc when trying to press throttle forward and no movement. I do have a castle mamba x here that I was going to put into another rig I’m building. Quick question is the stock esc waterproof? Or at least resistant? The Day I smoked the motor I was playing around in light rain and little bit of water but nothing crazy wasn’t ever submerged.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Heres the manual https://www.horizonhobby.com/pdf/AX31480-AE5L_ESC-Setup-EN.pdf
there is a automatic calibration step, i wonder if its just waiting on that. check to make sure the throttle trim is set to zero on the radio.

The red light flashing when trying forward means you may have the motor wired backwards, typically it will be green for forward and red for reverse. does it light up green when you reverse?
You should be able to just switch the wires to reverse the motor direction and you may need to reverse the throttle on the radio too.

It is waterproof, but this typically just means splash proof not that you can submarine it. I would think rain shouldn't have been an issue.

 

[530crawlers]

I ordered the Holmes leads on the motor so it’s white to red and black to black right? Idk why they put white instead of red

 

[530crawlers]

So I get red light when I reverse and try to go forward but no power forward

 

[HumboldtEF]

so its red in both directions?

does it do the start up beeps like normal, it should be 1 long beep as it calibrates and 2 or 3 short beeps depending on if its 2s or 3s (1 short beep for NIMH).

Yeah the white wire is likely +, you can look at the motor to confirm this, theres a red dot on one of the white plastic nubs protruding out the back, this is the positive side.

 

[Topher Builds]

I think humboldt may be right and it could be the ESC unfortunately.

Hobbywing 1080 is a good value replacement. To be sure, you can (very carefully) connect the motor leads directly to a battery, if the motor spins it’s most likely an esc issue.

 

[HumboldtEF]

To be sure, you can (very carefully) connect the motor leads directly to a battery, if the motor spins it’s most likely an esc issue.

Yeah just use a couple AA or something with lower voltage so its not spinning crazy fast. Reverse the polarity to check both directions.

 

[530crawlers]

Motor is hooked up properly. Have red light forward and reverse but only power to reverse and seems like it’s full power even if you barely press the trigger. No beeps on start up at all. I noticed my rear driveline seems like it ceized up I can’t turn it with my fingers but I can the front. It was driving great before I smoked this motor

 

[HumboldtEF]

yeah it should have the start up beeps, maybe its time to test the Mamba X ESC.

As for the rear not spinning do you have dig setup? maybe its engaged?

 

[530crawlers]

Ok figured out rear driveline it was set to dig smh noobie mistake there so no ceized drive line. Back to the issue at hand. Currently charging my battery’s. The battery I was testing everything with was apparently really low voltage because now that battery won’t charge it’s to low in power. So I’m going to test everything again on a full charged battery.

 

[HumboldtEF]

There is a jumper on this ESC for the LVC (low voltage cutoff). If you're using lipo you'll want to make sure the jumper is in the lipo position otherwise you'll be draining the battery too low and potentially damaging it. It should be set to lipo from the factory though.

Also leaving a battery plugged in will drain it even with the power switch set to off. You always want to unplug batteries.

This is a proceed at your own risk deal but if you're battery is too low to charge you can set your charger to NIMH and charge it for a few minutes just to get the charge back up to where the charger can again charge it when set to lipo.

 

[530crawlers]

I don’t know where the jumper is or how to change it. But I haven’t changed any stock settings. Always ran a 3s lipo. So now my other battery is fully charged and I plugged it in and it only had power forward not reverse for like 3 seconds and now no power forward or reverse. Dig works steering works no power. Starting to feel like it must be the esc it’s acting really weird. Only flashing red light. So if I hook up this a mamba x what is required to run it with the Holmes 16t crawlmaster sport

 

[530crawlers]

Some visual aid

 

[HumboldtEF]

With the mamba X you'll need castle link, the software, physical connector and a windows pc
Castle Link V3 USB Programming Kit
Then you'll want to set the motor type to brushed reversing, it comes set to brushless and wont work with your motor until changed. you'd plug the positive motor wire into A and the negative into C.

The ESC should have included a coupon for a free castle link

and you probably need to solder bullets to fit the ESC onto the motor wires, though since its just a test maybe you can just hold them in place.

Sheesh I forgot how many steps it would take, hopefully you have all you need for that.

 

[530crawlers]

That does sound like quite a process but I bet it works great. I also have a tekin ROC 412 brushless sensored crawler motor. Would this be easier to pair with the mamba X I was originally sold them together for another project that I haven’t finished yet.

With the mamba X you'll need castle link, the software, physical connector and a windows pc
Castle Link V3 USB Programming Kit
Then you'll want to set the motor type to brushed reversing, it comes set to brushless and wont work with your motor until changed. you'd plug the positive motor wire into A and the negative into C.

The ESC should have included a coupon for a free castle link

and you probably need to solder bullets to fit the ESC onto the motor wires, though since its just a test maybe you can just hold them in place.

Sheesh I forgot how many steps it would take, hopefully you have all you need for that.