Brushless Revo Conversion (Not 56k friendly...)

[Mallanaga]

so... i'm going electric. a handful of you helped me out with my decisions, but most of my gratitude goes to sweetdeisel... you are the goto guy for brushless stuff... kudos, man.

anyway... the goods! i'll be using:

Motor - Nemesis Blue XLT-1
ESC - MambaMax
BEC - Ultimate
Batteries - MaxAmps 4s LiPo - 8000mah 14.8V: 2 4000s in parallel, based on SD's advice.

so, first things first, i had to get my transmission to single speed, and locked. i took out first gear, and got rid of the shifter on second gear. i tried superglue to lock them together... then shoe goo... but settled on some good 'ol hex screws. they're not coming apart. ohhhh no... lol. it has the FOC output shaft for now... i will be putting the center diff in it eventually.

the engine mount had me confused for a bit. in my other thread, in the electric section, i had some far out monstrosity of a motor mount. since, i have seen the light. i thought about using this adapter, but i just can't see spending $60 for that. plus, i have some machinist friends... :thumbup: . so, i started thinking, and saw some other peoples ideas, and i think i can come up with something quite significant. i'll keep you posted... i'm working on something in autocad.

where to put the batteries is tricky too. i got that figured out though. one where the original throttle servo goes, and one above the front shocks. again, i'll keep you posted,

i screwed my integy gastank guard onto the chassis to mount the ESC on. the UBEC i'm going to try to cram into the battery box under my RX box. i think that's about everything. now for some pics, and i'll be posting stuff as i go along, of course.

faintly, you can hear queen playing in the background
OW!! another nub bites the dust!!

i have a custom mount i'm working on putting there... i'll be J-B welding it to the chassis.

this pic below shows how i'm going about the mount mockup. i used one of those clear CDs (got the idea from another person here using one for a camera mount), and cut it to shape. it's far from pretty, but i'm just using it to get my measurements for ACAD.

here's how and where i mounted that guard. i think it makes a nice little tray for my ESC

that's all. i'll show some pics when i get done in ACAD

 

[godale03]

Looks Complicated! LOL Good luck my friend. It looks like a lot fun albeit challenging.

Tom

 

[jon2]

Are you going to try and fab a center diff from 1/8 buggy rather than use the 2 speed tranny?

Man its looking good man!

 

[Mallanaga]

jon2. i will be using traxxas' center diff made just for the revo:

definitely single speed... i'm using the close ratio, second gear full time.

question, though... i think i'll post it in the revo section too... whats the spacing for the screw holes on the engine mount? i have 11mm x 31mm... with 3.5mm holes. i need these dimensions perfect, so... how the hell could i get the specs on that?

 

[Mallanaga]

engine mount... version 1

and... upon sweet deisels advice given in another thread... this will probably get mounted in the back somewhere on a slider of sorts. i'll have to lengthen the bottom part, but it can be done.

that's all for now. i have to work on the two battery mounts now, and i'll be ready to get these things fabbed up.

 

[Mallanaga]

OK... a little update here. i traded my 2.5R package for a Nemesis blue XLT-1 motor. it's my understanding that these puppies are just modded and remarked feigaos (sp... how the hell do you pronounce that?!)

it'll pump out 2.5hp @60000RPM... mama!! i'm wondering though... how many kv is it? i can't help buy wonder what kind of battery life i'm gonna get out of this thing... time will tell.

also... looks like i'm going to be getting a shweet deal on a quark 125B ESC. i'll keep you posted.

my motor mount is being fabbed up. i'm not exactly sure when it'll be done, but it's close. as for the brace behind the motor, i thought of a better way than to have a block of aluminum. i'm going to use bent heavy gauge steel, similar to the stock pipe holder. should work nicely. i'll post pics... just posting now to say that some action should be showing up in this thread in the coming weeks!!

this revo is going to be insane...



EDIT!! i had a revelation!! my apologies for the atrocious picture... need a new camera really badly

i took off the tekno RX box, and i'll be mounting it in front of the transmission, above the shocks. the ESC will be behind the transmission, above the shocks. this way, i can have a battery on each side of the chassis, which will really keep the truck balanced and keep a nice low CoG. i can't believe i didn't think of this sooner... considering i knew the tekno battery tray was going to be empty. i'm just hoping that i can fit my BEC in with the RX pack, inside the tekno RX box.

i have a question though. do i solder the batteries together to get them in parallel, or do i create two leads off the ESC? both accomplish the same thing, by putting the batteries in parallel, but i don't know how this works. if i solder the batteries 'together' will i be able to charge it as a unit? would it be wiser to keep the batteries separate, and charge them with a parallel lead off the charger??

what are my options here?

 

[Rolex]

it'll pump out 2.5hp @60000RPM...

Not to derail you, but I'm working on a similar project with a boat. Where did you get that motor, and what was it's cost? I'll be following this thread to see how it all works out for you, and it's looking pretty good so far. Good luck.

 

[Mallanaga]

no, no! you're not derailing me at all. all questions, comments, and concerns are appreciated!!

fine design makes the motor. http://www.finedesignrc.com/cars-trucks-motors.asp

i'm getting it as part of a trade, so it didn't cost me a dime. the site has them listed at $110 though.

there's a very good possibility that this motor is going to be waaaay too big for this truck... and i love that!! if it is entirely way too powerful though, i'll let you know and maybe i'll send it your way... alright, rolex?



in other news... i just bought a brand new quark 125B ESC for $200. the joy welling up inside me is quite difficult to contain at this point. hopefully i can find some batteries that i fall in love with pretty shortly, because this project is about to get a whole lot more interesting!!

the battery trays are going to be made out of the same gauge aluminum as the revo chassis (3mm), and JB Welded directly onto the chassis. on the bottom... one side will say "BRUSHLESS"... the other saying "REVO". both fonts will be in the 'revo' font, whatever that may be (if you know, please do tell to save me some searching). i'll probably have those words custom paited, and then the chassis polished and lacquered. it's going to be SWEET!

pics to come, in the coming days / weeks.

 

[Rolex]

there's a very good possibility that this motor is going to be waaaay too big for this truck... and i love that!! if it is entirely way too powerful though, i'll let you know and maybe i'll send it your way... alright, rolex?

You sound as twisted about your project as I am about mine. lol
I'll check out the link for that motor. 60,000 RPM is twice what I thought I could get, and the price sure seems good from what I've seen. If it doesn't work out for you, keep me in mind.
I have a lot more options open in the boat. No space restraints, various transmissions for one or two props, and no battery size limitations.

By the way, Mallanaga, nice CAD work on your motor mounts.

 

[Mallanaga]

thanks, rolex! i'm a big fan of CAD... i hadn't used it in like 3 years though when going in to do that work. wow. it took me so long to cope with the program. it was like i was brand new again. it came back, slowly, but i could have done that in like 30 minutes back in my prime, lol.

those logos i was talking about... i finished my design. (the 'REVO' is a very quick chop job. the 'BRUSHLESS' is my own personal adaptation of the revo font.)

one on one side... the other, adjacent to it. both words will have their bottoms facing the inside of the truck. any good painters around??

 

[Rolex]

You can have custom stickers made, or get a program that allows you to make your own decals.
For MAGICAL paint jobs, NCNitro is THE man.

I haven't used my CAD program in several years. I think it would now take me a week to shade a 3-D cube.

 

[sweetdiesel]

Nice job on the mount. And very nice choice of ESC. I run the same in my truggy. Pick up the rc-monster heatsink and a couple 30mm fans. The ESC will benefit greatly from the additional cooling, you're going to be drawing some serious current.

I'd like to know more about the fine designs nemesis motors. If they truly are rebadged and reworked feigaos, what did they do to rework them? The only mod I have heard of is installing ceramic bearings to up the max rpm #. I'm also a bit skeptical of a brushless motor without any Kv or efficiency ratings. I think the hottest XL can is rated at 2700Kv, to spin 60,000 rpm you would need well over 22 volts (at least a quality 6S lipo).

 

[Rolex]

That was a great link to the motor, Mallanaga. There's some really good boat hardware on that site. I'm sure I'll be getting the dual aluminum rudder assembly from them.
Stay with me on this project, sweetdiesel, It's looking more and more like I'll be going brushless.

 

[Mallanaga]

so... did some upgrades to get ready for the brushless powah.

• full aluminum shocks, mounts, and rockers (had the rockers but switched to a full golden horizons setup).
• hardcore racing skidplate
• THS CVD's all around (thanks, talonone!)
• aluminum steering parts
• HBZ Roll cage (no pics until it's finished... oh yes)

this thing is going to be a tank... for sure.

i got some cool ideas on how i'm going to mount the plates over the shocks. i'll get some pics in when i get the pieces fabbed up. might be a while, /sigh. i'm going to have to make sure this thing is waterproof so i can run it during winter!!

 

[Mallanaga]

so... i spent some time with my ECP (engineering computation paper), and i have some nice stuff down. these are the final drafts of what i'm going to have fabbed for my electronics and batteries. enjoy. if anyone wants either of them made (probably the electronics trays), just let me know. i'll see what i can do.



i front tray is for the RX box. i designed it to use the RPM box. other's would work, but it would need some modifying if you wanted it to look 'stock'. =)

i'm getting closer... and closer... the anticipation is killing me!!

i called golden horizons. they say on their website:

We also specialize in custom parts orders. For more information, please contact us via phone at 604-331-2526 or through our feedback form on our contact page.

i sent them an email... didn't work. i called them... got their voicemail. hopefully they get back in touch with me. they seem to really be good with aluminum.

 

[Rolex]

Great project. Keep the info coming, you're getting close.

 

[sweetdiesel]

Functionally, is the "hump shape" specified on the underside of section A required or can a simple chamfered edge work? Are you having the plates CNC'd?

 

[Mallanaga]

a chamfered edge would do... but when making these things with CNC (yes, that's the way...), you can use any bit. that being said, it would be just as easy to get the 1mm radius on the inner and outer radii, as it would be to chamfer them. functionally... forces tend to travel more efficiently through rounded things so i think, optimally, they should be rounded. the reason for any "shape" at all there (as far as the edges go), is due to the shocks being right there. if these do flex (i don't think they will, but you have to plan for the worst), and they come in contact with the springs, i want it to be a smooth interaction, with no jaggies.

the same thing is going on in section B. the outside edge is square though, to add that extra bit of support.

i was able to contact golden horizons. the guy i talked to was really helpful, and if they like the idea, might actually make something out of it. i'll keep you posted, as i still have to hear from him after they analyze my designs.

 

[sweetdiesel]

The reason why I ask is because a 1mm radius is a lot to ask for. In order to achieve this your shop would have to use a 1/16" ball end mill. When machining with a tool with that small of a diameter there is a high chance of tool breakage and the time to machine the radius is longer due to the high number of passes required to create the radius. You are not going to be able to take off a lot of material with each pass with a tool that small. That is why I suggested the chamfered edge because it will cost you less $$ to get the piece done.

 

[Mallanaga]

i'm not sure what's going on with those parts, but i'll keep you posted. i sent them to golden horizons... i'm going to make some out of Plexiglas in the meantime, i think.


new info though... got a pair of 5000mah 4S maxamps coming in the mail. $260 for the both of them. not too shabby. having 10,000mah on tap is going to be niiiice!

i got some pinions and some gorilla straps too. almost done!

i have to mock some stuff up... i'll get some pics soon.