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Maxx issues going the distance.

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daSNAK3

daSNAK3

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My step son’s Maxx was having issues stopping at a short distance from where he was controlling it. I seen his antenna tube and cap was missing so I ordered a new one and put them on, it was going further before stopping but not much at all. The antenna wire didn’t seem damaged. My sons Maxx goes much further away, so I know there is an issue somewhere, and now he’s starting to get frustrated while driving it, so I’d like to try and figure it out for him.

Any advice on the best way to go about figuring this out would be greatly appreciated. Not sure if I should just buy a new receiver or what.
 
Doesn’t take much to damage an antenna wire on an 2.4ghz system and from the sounds of it, it sounds like it’s damaged.

May be able to find another Traxxas reciever from Jenny’sRC for cheap ish if you want to use the stock radio. If not, a DumboRC radio/reciever combo on Amazon is pretty cheap and not overly complicated if you got younger kids.
 
jojobeans said:
Doesn’t take much to damage an antenna wire on an 2.4ghz system and from the sounds of it, it sounds like it’s damaged.

May be able to find another Traxxas reciever from Jenny’sRC for cheap ish if you want to use the stock radio. If not, a DumboRC radio/reciever combo on Amazon is pretty cheap and not overly complicated if you got younger kids.
Click to expand...

Is there anything to be gained from going with the aftermarket receiver?
 
daSNAK3 said:
Is there anything to be gained from going with the aftermarket receiver?
Click to expand...
Assuming you have a TQI and the standard TQ radio, not that big of an improvement aside from cheaper receivers if you ever want to have one radio for multiple cars. DumboRC x4/x6 is known to have VERY good range and while it has the same features, with the exception of the Dumbo having servo mixing for 4 wheel steer, they're way easier to access. If you spring the $5 extra for the DumboRC x6, you'll have access to 6 channels which will allow you to add more things like lights without buying extra accessories.

The other thing to keep in mind is the DumboRC 6 channel radio AND receiver is $10 cheaper than ONE traxxas reciever.
 
jojobeans said:
DumboRC x4/x6 is known to have VERY good range
Click to expand...
? That's surprising


Flysky GT3 or GT5 for aftermarket would be my choice if on a budget.

Dumbo's and radiolinks could be good budget ones if you don't get a bricked one from the factory and don't run with issues down the road using them. Chance of getting a faulty one from a factory is very high. Some people don't even believe it. But you pay what you get for.
 
DavidB1126 said:
? That's surprising


Flysky GT3 or GT5 for aftermarket would be my choice if on a budget.

Dumbo's and radiolinks could be good budget ones if you don't get a bricked one from the factory and don't run with issues down the road using them. Chance of getting a faulty one from a factory is very high. Some people don't even believe it. But you pay what you get for.
Click to expand...
Dumbo runs on radio link protocol, but they seem to not have the issues that actual RadioLink radio's have. I've met a few guys at the skatepark who are very happy with their DumboRC, it seems to be the go to radio for my local Facebook RC group and there's whole hosts of Youtube videos showing the range on the Dumbo beating out a lot of very expensive radio's. It's not the BEST... but for a cheap and surprisingly reliable no frills way to get OP's kid back up, it does the job and those two particular radio's have a good reputation.

I'm a FlySky fanboy myself... The GT3 is not a great choice in 2025 and aside from the LCD display, the Dumbo offers more for the money in features and build quality. GT5 is a much better option, but is more than twice the cost of the Dumbo x4. If it wasn't just for his kids RC car and he wanted a higher end budget radio to pair up to multiple cars, I'd rather push him towards an FS-G7P or a FS-GT5. I just don't see the need to push him towards a more expensive radio in this instance, unless he wants to spend the money and his post didn't read like that.
 
Just an update.. I thought I was going the slightly easier route so I bought a new Traxxas receiver via Hobby town.. I could not get it to bind to the controller, even after I ordered the Traxxas link.. and trying everything I could find online.. the new receiver I’m pretty sure was trash right out of the box, I couldn’t get it to do anything.

Frustrated, I ordered the DumboRC pair from Amazon and just got it about an hour ago, tossed it in and the car is working again. It’s storming bad out right now so I cannot test how far out it will go yet, but I will this weekend.
 
I’m at a loss with this truck now. Not sure if there’s a servo issue or an issue with this new Dumbo setup.. it worked fine. I let it sit, took it out since it stopped raining.. wouldn’t steer. I unplugged the servo connection to the receiver and plugged it back in.. steering was working fine. Turned it off, ran to the store. He went out to drive it again and no steering again. Only works if we unplug the servo connection at the receiver and replug back in.. we cannot do that every time.

Car had no issue prior to me wanting to try a new receiver just because it was not going out as far as it should. This is pissing me off now… ugh.
 
Last edited:
Few things to try:

Turn off the Gyro. There’s a song and dance you gotta do on the radio to toggle it on or off, but it should be in your manual. That should eliminate the possibility of the gyro not playing well with the Traxxas servo. Make sure to turn the gyro off before trying this next thing.

Swap the channel 1 & 2 on the receiver. Elevate the car and pull the tires just in case it takes off on you. Steering wheel should now control throttle and throttle trigger will control steering. Does the issue persist with the servo still or has the problem moved to the ESC? That should tell you if it’s an electronic issue separate from the receiver or if it’s a receiver problem.

I’m wondering if the servo has failed and is overloading the BEC? It’s quite possible that’s been the issue the entire time… do you have another servo laying around you could plug in and see if the issue can be duplicated?
 
CertifiedMike said:
Any shot your gear got wet?
Its a very common problem for water "resistant" parts to get water in them and freak out.
It may not be your issue but if its possible, I'd dry the stuff out before powering up again. 👍
Click to expand...

Nothing got wet, only drive in the clear and dry ground.

I took out and returned the DumboRC setup, while it was working until I turned it off and back on, it would get really old unplugging and plugging back in the servo wires every time I wanted to use the truck.

I got another Traxxas receiver to try. I hook it up and this one actually connects to controller at least. It steers kind of, the servo is freaking out, the wheels go back and forth.. but the steering on the remote will move the wheels too. Not getting any throttle though. Everything is connected right.

My ESC flashes green fast and I cannot get that to stop.. I see it says throttle trim could be off or whatever.. but no matter what I set anything to, it does not change. Just flashes green really fast.

I ordered a servo to try and swap out. Will be a few days before it gets here. I have two other working Maxx’s here but I don’t feel like tearing them down at all to test with their parts so I’ll wait for the new one to arrive. I mean if this doesn’t fix it, then what, it has to be the ESC, right?

I’ve tried all the binding methods and everything else I’ve seen on YouTube and google searches… the ESC won’t stop flashing green.
 
I can't agree more with this, I would not recommend radiolink or dumbo radios they are typical no name chinese trash. But they might work if by 50\50 get a good one from the factory or if you get a turd like what me and @DavidB1126 got with our Radiolink radio's. And you'll wind up buying another radio that actually from a reputable company like Flysky, Radiomaster, Futaba or Spektrum. Definitely a Radiomaster MT12 with the 4 in 1 module option can bind right up to a lot of popular companies receivers or as David mentioned the Flysky GT5 is also good budget option and the receivers are super cheap.
 
daSNAK3 said:
Nothing got wet, only drive in the clear and dry ground.

I took out and returned the DumboRC setup, while it was working until I turned it off and back on, it would get really old unplugging and plugging back in the servo wires every time I wanted to use the truck.

I got another Traxxas receiver to try. I hook it up and this one actually connects to controller at least. It steers kind of, the servo is freaking out, the wheels go back and forth.. but the steering on the remote will move the wheels too. Not getting any throttle though. Everything is connected right.

My ESC flashes green fast and I cannot get that to stop.. I see it says throttle trim could be off or whatever.. but no matter what I set anything to, it does not change. Just flashes green really fast.

I ordered a servo to try and swap out. Will be a few days before it gets here. I have two other working Maxx’s here but I don’t feel like tearing them down at all to test with their parts so I’ll wait for the new one to arrive. I mean if this doesn’t fix it, then what, it has to be the ESC, right?

I’ve tried all the binding methods and everything else I’ve seen on YouTube and google searches… the ESC won’t stop flashing green.
Click to expand...
Might be an issue with stock Traxxas ESC and radio. Sometimes Traxxas gear is really unreliable and known to fail early on personally the only times Traxxas electronics have had issues were the Radios and Servos but not the ESC or motor.
 
It was not the servo, plugged the new one in and it’s still going crazy. And flashing the green light on the esc.

It’s just crazy because everything worked fine before I changed the receiver out. Now it’s all fiddlesticked up.

No idea what to do now. Something’s gotta be wrong with this ESC. $140 just to see if that’s the issue is nothing to sneeze at.
 
I just fixed it. Holy smokes. It was a controller issue, I’ve watched countless videos trying to find help for the last two weeks. I JUST found one on resetting the controller, none of the other videos or google searches I came across mentioned or showed how this was done, and even though I tried resetting everything via the Traxxas Link App.. physically resetting it worked.

Once it was reset, I had my full steering back without any of the glitching and freaking out.. so I knew I was on the right track finally…

After that I tried calibrating the ESC again (like I have about 100 times already) and finally it worked, once the controller was reset and steering was solid, the ESC was finally able to calibrate properly.. so it is 100% back in action now.

Whew.. I was about to sell it off for scraps.

Guess we’ll see if she can go the distance now with the new receiver or if all this BS was for nothing. I’ll report back when I get it all back together and test it.
 

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