Spiitz' Bully 2 build a.k.a. "Hammond"

[Master Basher]

I am using the Airtronics MT-4 with the RX-371W.

What kind of Tx/Rx were you using?

spektrum on both accounts. It didn't seem like it was a shortcoming of the tx or rx though, as I couldn't provide power to one of the esc's independently without the other one showing power and trying to calibrate. There was no way of powering one without power bleeding through the circuit to the other esc. I ended up getting my radio set up first and then calibrating them both simultaneously while each esc plugged into its' own channel.

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

Thanks guys, I setup my MT-4 with the aux 1 in MOA mix mode for the 2nd ESC.

I will try to setup both ESC's in their respective channels at the same time. If that does not work I will try each ESC plugged into the Rx at a time.

I setup the dial and lever for proportional and the Trim 4 switch for 100% dig.

The Rx I am using supports FH2 so I set that as well.

I will make a post when I try to calibrate the ESC's for the first time to give my feedback. Just waiting on my HH motors, battery, and final wiring.

Crossing my fingers on a smooth setup.

 

[Tomy]

The simple way to wire everything up would be to plug the BEC directly into the Rx, but I don't see many people doing it this way. Even though CC suggests this is the correct setup.

Does anyone think my wiring diagram in post #38, showing the BEC plugged into the battery port on the Rx, is not a good setup?

A few years back not many reveivers could handle more than 6V input. As high voltage servos started to hit the market these servos had to be powered directly from the BEC at 7.4V. Looking at the specs of the 461 rx, your Airtronics receiver is able to handle up to 7.4V so in theory plugging the BEC to the receiver and removing the power wires from the ESC's should work. I use this setup on my Futaba 4PL which has a receiver rated to up to 8.4V if I recall correctly. I have not had any issues with this setup. In the past I powered my servo directly from the BEC and that always worked well too.

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

Tomy, your bag of goodies arrived today! I can't believe a mail shipment from Finland to North Carolina could arrive in just two days.

Thank you so much for the precision parts! They all fit on my rig perfectly. The servo plate gave me just a tiny bit of extra clearance with the front shocks so they don't rub anymore at full compression. :mrgreen:

It was a joy to deal with you! I will post up good pics of the parts and installation tomorrow. Going to bed tonight happy...

 

[Tomy]

I am glad to hear you like the parts. Thanks for your kind words.

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

Sorry for the bad lighting but here are all the NCD parts laid out with their specific hardware. Everything seems well thought out and finely crafted.

Electronics tray is a good fit for my not so tiny waterproof receiver

I don't see any possible clearance issues around the links or shocks

In fact the servo mount is offset towards the gear case which gives my shock cup just enough room not to rub anymore!

Front Ti steering link has just enough bend for full clearance

After a little adjustment the link does not rub the case or battery tray at full turn

Very tight tolerances, looks clean to me

I don't see any clearance issues for the motors either

Which is a good thing because they arrived. Thanks Ken for the quick turn around!

The can looks perfect with a matte gray finish

Glad to see tapped holes

Looks like I have some wiring to do!

 

[MountainStorm]

That finish on the cans looks primo.

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

That finish on the cans looks primo.

HH rocks, won't be painting these Candy Red just yet.

Ken was nice enough to swap in some Red endbell hoods to match my color theme though. I figured since they were getting worked on why not pimp them out a little.

I hope Iron Man doesn't sue me...

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

I got down to business last night. I had everything ready to go around 12pm so I stayed up all night wiring the motors and shortening all the Rx wires.

I started by making a quick jig for the bullet connectors

Sheathing everything is tedious but I find the protection is worth the trouble if you are not a weight fanatic

In the end it is a clean look and will resist wear on the wires

The sheathing makes the wires much stiffer

Stiff wires are easier to route without tangling

I think the motors want to jump in the truck...

After binding the new Rx, I had no issues calibrating the dual ESC's simultaneously with their Rx power wires removed and the BEC wired into the Rx directly.

Thanx for the vid link Tomi, I followed those steps and it worked for both channels on the first try!

Both the motors and the servo worked with the stock BEC and ESC settings, but I will be programming them today.

Any starting point recommendations on the ESC settings like the Holmes Hold, drag brake, or power settings for my HH 35T Puller 500's?

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

After mounting the motors to Hammond I realized that Forward throttle is making the wheels spin in reverse while Reverse throttle makes them all spin forward.

The Holmes motors came labeled front and rear so I know I mounted them correctly. The only thing I can think of is that the motors were mis-labeled or that the positive and ground colored spring posts are not indicative of the positive and negative leads?

Here is the front motor installed: (As you can see in the picture below I had to connect the motor's negative wire bullet connector to the positive ESC bullet connector for forward wheel spin)

Here is the rear motor installed: (Same thing here, the motor's bullet connectors are reversed at the ESC bullet connection for forward wheel spin)

I tried many times to Reverse the throttle channels using my Airtronics MT-4 Tx without success. This works on my other RC trucks, but would not work on this MOA setup.

The ESC's will not calibrate when the Tx channels are set to "Reverse", and with "Normal" throttle Tx settings it calibrates just fine. Switching channels to Reverse with the truck already on makes the motors non-responsive to throttle. The Tx shows the channels getting signal but the motors do nothing.

The only thing that worked was to reverse the negative and positive wires on the motors. This meant wiring the side with the black post to the positive ESC wire and the red post to the negative ESC wire.

I am worried that I don't have them setup correctly and that running them wired this way may harm the motors due to the timing. You can see the timing screws in the pictures above. The front motor has the timing screw in the left most position and the rear motor has the timing screw in the right most position.

Am I worried about nothing or is running them wired this way a problem?

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

It is worth pointing out that the motors do spin faster forward with this setup and slower in reverse. If I understand timing correctly this should be the expected behavior I should see when setup correctly.

Still seems strange that the motors would need to be wired with reverse polarity or that both motors would be colored backwards by accident. Maybe the black and red spring posts are not meant to indicate polarity?

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

I just read John's post about his brushed motors. He very clearly says that "IF YOUR MOTOR THROWS SPARKS YOU HAVE IT TIMED NEGATIVELY (retarded)".

My motor is throwing sparks so I think I was right to be worried. I think maybe the motors were mis-labeled and that I have the front motor in the rear.

I will try to switch the motors or possibly set the timing to Neutral to avoid any risks.

Please please chime in if you have any advice or insight.

 

[IvVaum]

Wow…now this is a build thread…love all the pictures…thanks for all the descriptive details too…thanks n keep up the good work…i'll be following this thread intently.

 

[stubs179]

Your motors are spinning backwards because the Bully 2 is like the XR10 in that the gear case is on the opposite side of the axle and the gear case has 4 gears instead of 3 like an old bully of Berg. If you put the front motor on the back and the rear one in the front they should spin the right way. Of you can pull the end bells off and spin them 180*.

Your front links are on upside down.

 

[TURBOFEST]

I just read John's post about his brushed motors. He very clearly says that "IF YOUR MOTOR THROWS SPARKS YOU HAVE IT TIMED NEGATIVELY (retarded)".

My motor is throwing sparks so I think I was right to be worried. I think maybe the motors were mis-labeled and that I have the front motor in the rear.

I will try to switch the motors or possibly set the timing to Neutral to avoid any risks.

Please please chime in if you have any advice or insight.

Dont mess with the timing. The motors are likely timed to match one another. Try swapping them front to rear.

 

[Master Basher]

You inspired me to get a servo connector kit and crimper tool. I just finished up my connections and the tools made it a breeze. I like it.

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

Your motors are spinning backwards because the Bully 2 is like the XR10 in that the gear case is on the opposite side of the axle and the gear case has 4 gears instead of 3 like an old bully of Berg. If you put the front motor on the back and the rear one in the front they should spin the right way. Of you can pull the end bells off and spin them 180*.

Your front links are on upside down.

Dont mess with the timing. The motors are likely timed to match one another. Try swapping them front to rear.

Your advice lines up with all my testing. Simply swapping the motors front to back has the best results.

Wheels spin in the right direction without fiddling with the channels, no motor whine noise at rest, and no excessive sparking.

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

Wow…now this is a build thread…love all the pictures…thanks for all the descriptive details too…thanks n keep up the good work…i'll be following this thread intently.

Thank you, I really appreciate the feedback. I have been working hard to document this process, which is a pain, but I really love other peoples pictures on their threads.

Just trying to do my part. Also, I am a decent technician, but have zero experience with MOA setups. I have learned a ton by carefully examining other build threads and reading the comments.

Nothing beats live advice from the community though!

 

[josh6575]

Man I need some lessons. Neat wiring is not my strong point. That is neat as can be. I still just wad up the stock wires and zip tie away.

 

[Spiitz Travsky]

Man I need some lessons. Neat wiring is not my strong point. That is neat as can be. I still just wad up the stock wires and zip tie away.

I have spent a fair amount of time making custom gaming computers and even making my own audio cables for headphones, speakers, interconnects, etc.

I can't say I learned any special skills, but I did learn to go slow and think it all through before getting started. it's important to plan everything out in advance so you don't realize too late that you should have done something during an earlier step.

I just received 4 new batteries that will need to be switched over to Dean's connectors.

Capacity 850mAh
Config(s) 3S
Discharge(c) 45-90C
Weight(g) 73g
Max Charge Rate 10C
Length 55mm
Height 31mm
Width 25mm

I start by cutting off the XT-60 Plug which is awesome but super uncommon for the US. I cut the Nylon sheathing to length, slip it on, and then drop heat shrink onto the bottom. This seals the Nylon mesh so it will not fray or open, and it makes it easy to slip up and down.

Then I pull back the sheathing and hold it in place to expose the wires. You gotta love working with live wires!

This is where you can make a simple mistake and forgot to put on another ring of heat shrink for sealing the Dean's joint. Also the negative wire is connected to the positive post on the Dean's. "thumbsup" Perfect example of not thinking it through first and going too fast.

The wiring never ends...