New RC18MT... Thinking of going Lipo

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cobra198

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Hey guys,

So I just bought an RC18MT and this little thing is a blast (along with my first electric rc car)! I gotta say I'm having a lot of fun with it, but of course its time to start upgrading. Was going to wait a bit, but heard about a sale that Castle Creations was having on the 4200kv motor. With a price tag of 20 bucks, I just couldnt pass it up.
Did a bit more research and just purchased a Tekmodel 18A ESC with programming card.
I am still running the stock battery but am thinking of venturing to lipo right off the bat. I'm thinking of doiung this because I am currently building up a 1/8 buggy that is going to be my first lipo rig. Because of this I am about to buy a lipo charger anyways and figured I may as well slap a lip in the RC18.

Now I have two questions:

Since the motor is only 4200kv, I was thinking of going with 3s to give me plenty of punch. I was wondering if anyone has recommendations. I was looking at the zippy packs on hobbycity (looks like that is what I'm going with for my 1/8th buggy) but was havin trouble telling which packs would fit in the 18mt without modification. Anyone using a zippy pack in there rc18 or should I go with something else?

Second question is about chargers. Since I will be running a 4s lipo in my 1/8th scale, I need a charger that will work well with that larger battery as well as with the rc18 battery. I was doing some research and it seems like the ICE and MRC Superbrains 989 were very popular and easy to use (since I am a lipo newb thats important). The only thing is that they are a bit pricey for my budget. If the charger is that superb maybe ill splurge for it, but was wondering if there are any alternatives that may be a but less expensive (say 80 dollar range).

Anyways, I would really appreciate your input! Let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Cobra198
 
Well I'm sorry to say that after my 3rd run the RC18 started acting up. Lost reverse, then lost forward, then both came back, then the ESC started to smoke like crazy. wasn't wet, wasn't running it real hard, battery was charged to a perfect 7.2v so I musta just have gotten a bad esc. Have a claim into team asociated so lets see what they say. Good thing I have a tekmodel esc comin in the mail i guess (but comin from china so who knows how long that will take).

Anyways, so I got my charger situation figured out today, but I still need a suggestion on a lipo battery!
 
Are you using the stock esc with the brushless motor? The motor might be too powerfull for the esc blowing it up. I have the 6800kv setup on mine with the Castle Creations micro esc and have never had a problem.
 
Are you using the stock esc with the brushless motor? The motor might be too powerfull for the esc blowing it up. I have the 6800kv setup on mine with the Castle Creations micro esc and have never had a problem.

I actually was running a completely stock setup when the esc fried. I have yet to put the brushless motor on and have a tekmodel 18A ESC on the way to run with the brushless castle motor. I'm waiting to get the esc before i install the motor as I knew the stock esc probably couldnt handle the motor. wasn't expecting the stock esc to fry when everything was stock tho, especially on the third run! Oh well!
 
i recently built a RC18B and stuck one of those $20 brushless specials in there with a sidewinder ESC. i was going to use lipo but decided agenst it after i stuck a 9.6V NiMH pack in there from my tek18 conversion. i needed to mod the chassis a little bit to get the pack to fit. but it was just enough power to make it really fast, but still controllable.

if i was to use anything it would be a 7.4V lipo. anything more would be totally uncontrollable

the only lipo i know made specifically for the RC18 series off the top of my head it Maxamps. but there lipos are a little on the expensive side... Hope that helps
 
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I use a 3s 11.1 on mine. LOVE IT.
 
Cool cool. Thanks for the feedback. I was thinkin of goin with the Zippy lipo mainly cause I'm about to order another one that way I can save on the shipping. Plus the price is great. I guess ill just go through all the batteries and compare the sizes to the stock battery size and figure it out that way. Thx!

I use a 3s 11.1 on mine. LOVE IT.

Are u able to control it, or is it just too crazy? My esc is programmable so I figure i can just turn down the punch if its too intense.
 
I have no problems with mine. It should be easier with yours as well due to the greater width of the rig.
 
I have no problems with mine. It should be easier with yours as well due to the greater width of the rig.

Nice! Thats what i like to hear.


I gotta say that I'm extremely impressed with Team Associated's customer service! I sent that fax earlier in the week about a replacement ESC and yesterday morning I had a brand new one waiting for me, no questions asked, no hassle! They just went up a couple notches in my book for sure...
 
Throw a Sidewinder ESC and 4700 kv BL setup from castle into that thing. If you screw that up, call castle, THEN you will see customer service. They are amazing. I called them when i burned up my 1:10 bl motor, and told them it was my fault, they said screw it, and the next day i had a brand new BL motor.
 
Throw a Sidewinder ESC and 4700 kv BL setup from castle into that thing. If you screw that up, call castle, THEN you will see customer service. They are amazing. I called them when i burned up my 1:10 bl motor, and told them it was my fault, they said screw it, and the next day i had a brand new BL motor.

Wow, thats pretty awesome. Yeah I allready have a Castle 4200kv brushless motor sittin here. Just waiting for my esc to slap them both in! Glad they have good customer service, as I just went with the MMM combo for my 1/8 buggy electric conversion project.
 
my bl RC18TR

Onroad
IMG_0126-1.jpg


Offroad
IMG_0119-1.jpg

IMG_0120.jpg
 
Very nice setup! I like how you situated your battery as its pretty tricky to find one that fits in the stock location. When you have a sec would you mind measuring that battery for me in mm? I would really appreciate it!
 
thats a really great idea with putting the battery that way, i might use that for my 9.6V nimh pack.

is that the same as a RC18T or is a TR different?

i have aRC18B and between the T, MT, and B i really like the B the best.

Thanks again for that battery set up, i will definetly use that in the future.
 
It started life as an RC18B, then i put on the proline larger tires, and modified a mini-t body (which i think came out really well,) and RC18t shock tower in front. So now it is my truggy. I Love the look of it, and that lil thing FLIES around the parking lot, and i can actually tell a strong difference with the wing.

And i could get you one of these lipos for pretty cheap if your interested. I get about 35-40 minute runtimes out of it.
 
i seen alpines runs and man it fly awesome little truck
 
i gotta say i have had my rc18t for about a year and this thing will take a beating and keep going i have been letting my 9year old son learn on it it is like a timex takes a licking and keeps on ticking lol
 
what do you guys think of Thunder Power 3c lipos?

who makes the one is your truck, alpinehyperlite?
 
So I got the 3 sell zippy installed in my rig much like alpine did (standing on its side with some velcro to hold it it). I am extremely pleased with it! Really livened up the little truck. With the low rpm castle engine I'm running, it is still controllable but really fun. Ill have to post a pic when I get some time.
 
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