Timbuk2

[rocketron]

Is anyone running one of these systems? I picked one up from lhs, and am wondering should return it for something different. Rtr wraith with usual upgrades. Looking for more of a basher/trail machine that can still crawl. I run 2c lipos with no plans for 3c. Just wanting some more speed and power. One thing I found odd about this is it had a traxxas battery plug (poorly installed, had to fix it as the bars were not seated all the way), thought they came with a tamia plug?

 

[d-ass]

I bougt it and it literally went up in flames that night! my lhs told me out of every 5 he sells 3 come back buggerd!

 

[fknfastintegra]

Wow I have one on my wraith and haven't really powered it up yet. Makes me scared about running it.

 

[rcdriver199]

ive been running the 13.5 system for 2 weeks now and i have no problems at all! it has a lot of torque and well i dont know how fast the rtr wraith is but this was pretty quick it goes 10 mph at least! its worth it!

 

[rcdriver199]

and you have to use the bec if you bought the wraith edition timbuk2

 

[Unforgiving]

3 out of 5 buggered eh hmmm good to know , i was thinking of getting this esc combo for my new wraith kit but i dont know (

i wish holmes hobbies would get more stock in !!! it shows out of stock on almost all motors

 

[Natedog]

Is anyone running one of these systems? I picked one up from lhs, and am wondering should return it for something different. Rtr wraith with usual upgrades. Looking for more of a basher/trail machine that can still crawl. I run 2c lipos with no plans for 3c. Just wanting some more speed and power. One thing I found odd about this is it had a traxxas battery plug (poorly installed, had to fix it as the bars were not seated all the way), thought they came with a tamia plug?

I wouldn't run Novak if you paid me...they're warranty is almost useless and they don't understand or care what is really needed in a crawler esc. When my Rooster died, the replacement they offered me was same price as I could buy a new one anywhere online....wtf? Gee thanks Novak...I passed on thier offer and have another dead esc in my junk drawer.

Weak BEC doesn't help it any either.

Do yourself a favor and buy something else....Castle Creations, Holmes Hobbies, Tekin....

 

[ClassicGMJunkie]

I have a Timbuk 2 13.5 system in my sportsman. lots of wheelspeed at just 2s power. can't complain about it at all. lots of power and no cogging.

 

[OntarioCrawler]

i have a 2s 18.5 system, been running it for 3 months now, in everything from rocks to drifting on hardwood. only trouble ive had is i needed to install a capacitor to keep it from glitching. I love novak systems, and even though i hear plenty of bad news, you have to remember that theres millions of ppl, and you will find a handful of complaints. people dont come on here to say its doing great, they are too busy out on the trails! Ill continue to use their products, i love the goat 2s, and i was considering getting a second before i sold my crawler.

 

[corbith]

I finally got mine setup this afternoon and running great so far, not much faster than stock but seems to have a lot more torque. I did encounter one issue though after I ground down the flange on the short shaft and got the bevel gears and lockers in the proper direction to stop the problem of the truck being faster in reverse (based on research here this is an intermittent issue depending on if your Wraith came with the new shafts). When I followed the directions of the Timbuk2 Wraith edition one touch setup, the truck ran in reverse with the throttle switch on the transmitter set to Normal. When set to Reverse, it would move in the proper direction but the drag break did not work when going in forward. To correct this, with the transmitter throttle set to normal, I reversed the Novak directions for one touch setup; pulled trigger to full reverse until light was blue then pulled to full forward until blue light was blinking. Now the truck is running properly and faster in forward. Anyone else have this issue?

 

[briang]

i put the timbuk2 in my scx10 and i love it...works well so well that i picked up the wraith edition one and will throw that in over the weekend .. i hope.. but yes its not supposed to some with a traxxas plug...

 

[jrkilburn]

I have the Wraith edition and it does NOT come with Traxxas plugs. Maybe you bought a returned product that they put back on the shelf??? I like mine just fine and have had no issues thus far.

I swapped to Tekin and Brushed stock motor for the upcoming weekend to compare since I never ran the stock electronics :ror:

 

[summervillecrawler]

You can get either from novak for the timbuk 2, tamiya or trax plugs. My timbuk2 went timbukBOOM! A waste of money, warranty wont do skwat, all the sensors are shot and esc almost caught fire... good luck with it...

 

[briang]

I don't understand how people can have issues with the warranty. I had a issue with a havoc sc esc...emailed them and they sent off a new part. Swapped in the new part and everything was fine...they did not even ask for a bill of sale or even ask when I bought it..


I just don't get it...I run Novak in pretty much everything.

 

[Maddog Madigan]

I'm using it and had only two issues. The 5amp bec they give you lasted about a day and poof!! Threw in a cc bec no problems since until stripped internal idle gear. Upgraded to steel. For the most part, it's an awesome crawling setup but not a basher setup at all. Top speed is only acquired is when at full throttle for about a 1.5 sec and then it feels like a powerband kicks in. You really only gain about 2 mph faster than the 20t stock setup. But gain so much in the crawling aspect. I've got a video on it in use.

 

[rocketron]

Well found out about the traxxas plug, it was actually already sold and the guy didn't know how to set it up so was bringing his truck in for them to install and set up. So anyways they let me keep that one as the original owner decided for something else.

Fast forward a couple days. After one of the most chalanging installs in history, (the manual was, in a nice word, unhelpful, and couldn't you have eliminated some wire?) I get this thing wired up and ready to program. At this point I hear that voice saying "you should take the tires off or remove the pinion just in case", oh it will be fine. I quote from manual "motor will NOT run during programing even if connected". Following the instructions, start to program radio, all settings zeroed, switches off, conect freshly charged bat., push one touch progam button, turn on switch. Then things go downhill fast, it enters progam mode, pull throttle to full, nothing happens for a second or two, then it decides it is not happy in program mode. Well I can say they are pretty quick as it launched off work table and tire grabs my shirt as it is spinning wildly (yes i was screaming like a little girl at this point) wraps my shirt around it and then pops an axel. Get it shut down, remove tires and try again, success. How did it perform? Less than spectacular. I'm sure that I have wasted $280 in a dumber way but, i cant think of it right now!

Moral of my story, stay away from this pos!

 

[briang]

funny story...

 

[fknfastintegra]

Wow, thats one heck of unfortunate events.

 

[4WheelRC]

I finally got mine setup this afternoon and running great so far, not much faster than stock but seems to have a lot more torque. I did encounter one issue though after I ground down the flange on the short shaft and got the bevel gears and lockers in the proper direction to stop the problem of the truck being faster in reverse (based on research here this is an intermittent issue depending on if your Wraith came with the new shafts). When I followed the directions of the Timbuk2 Wraith edition one touch setup, the truck ran in reverse with the throttle switch on the transmitter set to Normal. When set to Reverse, it would move in the proper direction but the drag break did not work when going in forward. To correct this, with the transmitter throttle set to normal, I reversed the Novak directions for one touch setup; pulled trigger to full reverse until light was blue then pulled to full forward until blue light was blinking. Now the truck is running properly and faster in forward. Anyone else have this issue?

The above was really helpful for me and I am posting this in the hope it may help SCX10 owners in the future...

I have just fitted a "Novak Timbuk2/Ballistic Crawling Brushless System – 13.5T - w/5A BEC" (Timbuk2 Crawling Brushless ESC) to my SCX10 2012 Rubicon and the first time I connected all the electrics (no ESC set-up done), I found that forwards on the transmitter was turning the wheels backwards... So initially I simply reversed the throttle channel on the transmitter, thinking that this would solve the problem - It did & didn't: The wheels rotated in the correct direction, but top speed forwards was much slower than reverse (you could see the ESC doing the high top speed 'rock boost' in reverse, but not forwards).

So I found this thread and tried the suggestion by corbith of putting the throttle channel to normal on the transmitter (not reversed), then doing the ESC's 'one-touch programming' deliberately wrong (doing reverse on the transmitter when you are programming forwards etc.): This resulted in correct wheel rotation, but still slow forwards & faster reverse.

I researched a little and realised that my Timbuk2 ESC has the Wraith firmware, which defaults to the motor rotation being clockwise ref. Page 2, "#9 MOTOR ROTATION SELECTION " here:

http://teamnovak.com/download/instructions/pdfs/55-1832p-1.b_timbuk2_field_guide.pdf


SOLUTION: Using the "esc software flow chart" on Page 2 of the above Novak instructions, I changed the motor rotation to be counter-clockwise ('CCW'), then (with the throttle channel on the transmitter back to normal i.e. NOT reversed) I went through the ESC's 'one-touch programming' the correct way (doing full forwards on the transmitter first, then full reverse second) and now the wheels rotate in the correct direction and it is faster forwards than backwards (I can now see the ESC doing the high top speed 'rock boost' going full forwards, but not in reverse).

With stock gearing and the 13.5T brushless motor the SCX10 is much faster than I was expecting from a trail/crawling kit., but it can crawl along sooo slowly. It does 'cog' very slightly at super slow speed, but I am talking wheel turning about once every 4 seconds - I think most of the cogging is actually from the gears, not the motor/ESC.

So far all I can say is I am pleased with the Novak ESC & motor. I hope it stays this way once I hit the trails & mud :twisted:

 

[Cmarcan167]

I love mine! Works great...I run a Savox servo and a crappy radio system with a capacitor plugged into the RX and I have had zero issues.