hpi wheely king

[klown]

hello all, i am new to the hobby and i was originally wanting a nitro but i found a great deal on a wheely king with the crawler package already installed, and a stinger motor upgrade from the stock motor... i am very pleased with the truck so far, but i am having some difficulties with it. is it normal to have some lag after squeezing the "go" trigger and the truck actually moving? and is it normal for the truck not to move the first time you press the throttle for reverse? as i am having to press the trigger a couple times to engage reverse and forward sometimes... the guy i got the truck from said the motor was the biggest motor available, i find that hard to believe as the truck isnt really that fast, I've been playing with it some inside my house lol... i greatly appreciate any advise i can be given and i am looking forward to learning a great deal about them

 

[hamz9561]

A crawler isn't really meant for speed. The previous owner probably installed the largest motor that the ESC (Electronic Speed Controller) can handle. You can upgrade to a better ESC that can handle a brushless motor. The hesitation may be caused by the motor binding. You might want to check that the wheels turn freely and that the drive shafts aren't bent. You might also check to see that the gear mesh is correct.

 

[beason]

hamz is spot on, but one more thing. some esc's dont go strait to reverse. the first time you push the trigger, it "brakes" then you let off and push it again, you get reverse. this is to keep from smashing your driveline by going to reverse from forward at speed.

 

[klown]

when the truck is hesitant to move the motor is not acting like it is recieving any power... the esc is flashing red and green when that happens

 

[beason]

i know on some of the traxxas models, they have a esc reset procedure, that allows the esc to relearn the throttle settings. you may try to find this for your esc and run the learning feature. try moving the motor away from the pinion and see if it moves freely without being connected to the drive line. if the motor is brushed, you may need to clean the brushes, or the comm.

 

[SMaxxin]

Which esc and motor is in you wheely king, knowing this will make it a lot easier to help!

 

[klown]

the truck has the original hpi esc, it says HPI EN-1 on the esc. the truck has a 20 turn stinger motor... i am currently re meshing the gears and putting back together... have to take alot apart to get the motor and trans assembly out

 

[SMaxxin]

I had the same esc in a stock wheely king and it also had a lag when I hit the throttle, it also has the brake, then reverse so everything you are describing is normal for that set up. The 20T stinger motor is an older stock motor from the Traxxas rustler/Stampede/Bandit and it is not the biggest or best...it's about as good as the stock wheely king motor. Your current set up is good to kick around with but you will want to upgrade to get the fun factor up! As with everything your budget will dictate how much fun you have. You mentioned the crawler package, later you mentioned it was slow...What exactly do you want it to do go fast or crawl?


BTW, just remove the two pins holding the gear cover, remove the gear cover and you should be able to set the mesh without taking anything else off.

 

[klown]

i am looking for a little speed and plenty of suspension... something i can do some bashing with, but still pull wheelies and have some speed in a straight line if needed. what would you suggest for esc and motor for future upgrades?

everything put back together and is running... i am now noticing that when going forward the truck seems to studder... if the esc is going bad would that cause this problem?

 

[SMaxxin]

everything put back together and is running... i am now noticing that when going forward the truck seems to studder... if the esc is going bad would that cause this problem?

Make sure the battery is fully charged, if you have a meter you can ohm the motor, and check the output on the esc, if neither of those are the problem I would have to guess it's a receiver problem...my bet is on the esc or the motor, neither are known for being reliable. The only other way I know to check them is to replace them one by one until you find the cure.

There are a ton of choices for esc's and motors, cheap and expensive...What is your price range?

 

[klown]

at this point the cheaper the better... i am not wanting to get crazy right off the bat, just have some fun and build something omg later on after i have learned a little more.

 

[Mobilegarage]

I have the same rig but with some added weight with he integy frame rails. My stock esc set did the same thing I guess it just an hpi thing but after trying several different esc and motor set ups go with the Novak rooster crawler esc its very snappy between fwd and reverse and get a stock wheely king motor the hpi saturn 27T and get a 8.4 volt battery. Now I'm sure there are probably better motors but the saturn 27T is super cheap and my wheely king has great speed as well as some heavy duty torque. but you will probably want to get a heat sink for the motor it gets pretty hot when your crawlin

You can get all of these parts on ebay for around 120.00
I got my Rooster cawler esc for $75 shipped te 27T motor for $16 and a traxxas 7 cell 8.4v 3000mah battery with charger for $24 shipped.

I've tried bigger motors but they dont have the torque you need to crawl. And with the setup i've got I can still race around with my nephew and his rustler. I've got a picture of my wheely king on my profile

 

[klown]

thank you for the info, mobilegarage, i will look into that and see about doing those upgrades. for what i paid for the truck i am not going to complain about doing some upgrading to it. lol

 

[Mobilegarage]

No problem scale crawling is alot of fun and this set up makes for a fun all around rig. and you can probably stick with the 20T motor you have it should give you a little bit more speed

 

[klown]

ok, so the snow has finally melted away and has dried up enough for me to get the battery charged and go outside and play... outside i didnt notice the studdering as much and there was plenty of initial power, easy wheelies and plenty of power sliding in some loose gravel, but thats about when the fun ended, approx 15 mins later. i know i am new to the hobby but i would think that the battery i have would provide more than 15 minutes of run time, not to mention the excellerated degeneration of power over the amount of time was pretty dramatic. i only got prolly four to five good wheelies and maybe two speed runs of less than 20 yards down and back style. i have a tower hobbies 6 cell 7.2V 1500 mah nicd stick with standard plug. i am currently using the stock hpi esc and a 20 turn stinger motor. i have re meshed the gears and adjusted everything to what i can find on the forum. i am just looking for advise, i believe the problem is with the battery, and was looking to see what a good setup would be for someone who wants long life and plenty of umphf! till its dead. lol... i wanna be able to play for a while on one battery and have fun while i do it. what kind of battery and charger am i looking for? i am trying to keep within a budget as well, i got the truck cheap so i am trying not to spend more than if i was to buy a new one, i have a 100 bux in it right now and would like to get out for less than 100 more if possible, if not oh well... lol... any advise?

 

[beason]

you answered your own question. "1500mah nicd" well theirs your problem! 1500mah is not a lot, plus its nicd, plus its probably old and not giving out full power.

a good 3500mah or more nimh pack will help a lot. i wouldnt go lipo yet. you will need a lipo cutoff in order to run one of them.

you can easily find a good pack for around $50 and there are a few very reputable members who are selling nice chargers for a good price!