issues attempting to revive a 35+yr old RC10 Team Associated build

[jalwrence]

Hi everyone - I'm new here. I just pulled out my 35+ year old RC10 Team Associated car I built in the late 80's. I haven't replaced anything but just attempted to see if it would run. I just charged the Ni-Cad Sanyo batteries with my Hobbico 900 charger for 15mins. As soon as I unplugged the charger and plugged the battery back in, the wheels go full power right away even though the power switch is in the off position. The Futaba Attack Sport remote does nothing (I put in new batteries). It's been forever but I think it had this same problem before I stored it way back when...is this due to a faulty servo? I'm pretty clueless and just revisiting this- any help would be appreciated. I'd like to get this running again if possible without a ton of rework- I know the batteries should be replaced but curious what may be causing this issue. Attached is a pic. Thanks!

 

[332_RC]

Awesome! An RC10 Gold pan!

I wanted one back in the day after I got into RCs. Nice!!
Welcome to RCT!

 

[WickedFog]

Welcome to RCT.

It's likely the speed controller is just in the forward position because your radio isn't working. Does your radio and receiver have the crystals in them?

The first thing I would suggest is grab a new radio. A FlySky GT3B is around $35-$40 on Amazon, and is a great budget radio.

From there, I would ditch the speed control and grab a Hobbywing 60A-80A brushed ESC. Or you could go brushless, but you'll need a lipo battery and charger.

 

[Weezel]

I would say it's your radio isn't working. You can unplug the motor while testing or when trying to get the radio to work. Being a mechanical speed control the motor will get power as soon as the battery is plugged in as the On/Off switch doesn't cut power between batt and speed control.

If I remember correctly you need to turn the switch on to get power to the radio. So I would make sure the switch is actually working. They had a habit of going bad.

 

[Ramp addict]

Did you check your ESC calibration? Sorry, that just came out.
It's been 35 years since I've seen one of those. Disconnect the "ESC" linkage and see if you can manually find off. After 35 years the switch is probably shorting out from dirt.

Your ESC might be full of dirt too. I would recommend giving everything a good cleaning first.

 

[zxb466]

Welcome to RCT!

Wow, that thing is like a classic barn find! Haven't seen any of those. Show us videos when you get it running!

I too think it might be the radio or speed controller.

 

[9x19]

Just unplug the motor until you can get the radio to talk to the servo. Once you have the servo moving make sure the wiper on the speed resistor is resting on the dead spot (wide band on resistor) use the servo trim on your radio to position it.

Good luck, and welcome.

 

[bill_delong]

That's a "Manual Speed Control" with a servo being used to slide the brass terminal along the green resistor. I would disconnect the motor connector and verify the throttle servo is working properly with the radio and once you get that servo functioning, then you can reconnect the motor

*** UPDATE ***
all electronics fail over time, if the goal is to get this car running again, I would replace all the electronics, new radio, battery, steering servo, upgrade to ESC and mild brushless motor in the 21.5T range

 

[CertifiedMike]

Welcome to RCTalk! Great old car you've got there!
The upgrades are prob the way to go if you're planning to make her run again.
Did you get anywhere based on these comments so far? My money is on the speed control is just held open from faulty radio gear too.

 

[jalwrence]

thanks to you all for the great feedback - I really appreciate it