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Revo RX charger - HELP

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marknz

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Hi all,

I just got a Revo and either I'm an idiot and doing something wrong or theres something wrong with the RX charger.

I'm using a 12V DC adapter.

My understanding is that the light on the charger should flash while charging and then go solid green once charged. What none of the documentation mentions is what it means when the charger stops blinking after about 45 sec and goes a solid green/red colour!? From what I can tell it isnt charging - I left it for an hour like that and when I turn the truck on I get the red flashing light on the optidrive unit almost right away.

Any help would be appreciated, Thanks.
 
Did you upgrade the radio? I know when you upgrade the radio you have to rewire so that the opti thingy will get full power instead of flashing.
 
MyJeep said:
Did you upgrade the radio? I know when you upgrade the radio you have to rewire so that the opti thingy will get full power instead of flashing.
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Can you elaborate on this? I will be getting my Revo today in the mail hopefully, and I have a JR XR3i waiting to be put in it, what should I have to do to make this radio work?

As for the charger, I read RCCA that it will work better if you plug the Rx pack in, and then plug in the charger it should work better.
 
I'm using a 12V car adapter. To use the AC adapter that comes with, I have to shell out for a voltage converter and a US->NZ plug converter :( If I dont have any luck it'll be far easier to find an aftermarket 6v battery charger I think.

I've tried taking the battery out of the truck and plugging directly to the charger...same thing happens though!
 
Have you tried AC's tip on plugging everything in and then plugging then hooking the charger up to the power source? My cell phone does that sometimes.

AC48 said:
Can you elaborate on this? I will be getting my Revo today in the mail hopefully, and I have a JR XR3i waiting to be put in it, what should I have to do to make this radio work?
Click to expand...
I think he is referring to the optidrive, not the charger. Using a different rx has nothing to do with charging batteries. If you use different radio equipment there's instructions on how to set-up your optidrive if you still have reverse (if you do you should consider FOC). Until I did FOC I was using a Futaba TX/RX, the optidrive always flashed but it worked, however it would never program as instructed. I now use a JR XR3i without problems either, but I also eliminated reverse.
 
Yeah, I'm going to try that when I get home from work, I'll try anything at this point!

Sooo... the radio gear upgrade it definitly worthwhile is it? How big are the gains from doing the forward only conversion?
 
jetmechG550 said:
Have you tried AC's tip on plugging everything in and then plugging then hooking the charger up to the power source? My cell phone does that sometimes.


I think he is referring to the optidrive, not the charger. Using a different rx has nothing to do with charging batteries. If you use different radio equipment there's instructions on how to set-up your optidrive if you still have reverse (if you do you should consider FOC). Until I did FOC I was using a Futaba TX/RX, the optidrive always flashed but it worked, however it would never program as instructed. I now use a JR XR3i without problems either, but I also eliminated reverse.
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Ok, cool. I knew he was talking about opti-drive. I got my Revo about an hour ago and haven't done the FOC yet. Gunna test out the reverse and see how often I use it. I will be useing the XR3i aswell. I'll check out hte manual and see what they say.
 
Well I have been getting my Revo ready for break in and am having a few minor problems. First, I have charged the battery three tiems, it starts to blink for a while and then stops, indicating that its done charging, but the red light on the opti-drive still flashes which means my battery is low, could this just that the battery is new so its not getting max voltage yet, or is my charger messed up?


Sorry if I'm taking over the thread marknz, but it still has to do with the charger! :)
 
Ha! Thread thief! :)

I'm am a little relieved that its not just me though! I just went out and got a futuba charger which seems to be doing the trick. I had asked traxxas what the story was and they suggested it was either what you said AC - new battery not enough voltage or a faulty charger....
 
AC: I have the Revo and put my XR3i system in it. You should have an addendum sheet on installing an after-market radio in there and then programming the OptiDrive. What I discovered is that, after numerous attempts at programming it to get to a solid green, I never could, but the radio works just fine.

As for the charging problems, just a couple questions to help clarify for me. When you refer to the red light on the OptiDrive, are you referring to the "function" light or the "sensor" light? Also, are you charging the RX pack through the built-in jack or are you taking the pack out of the box and plugging it directly into the charger? Marknz, being you're using a car adapter, I'm wondering if you're getting enough voltage to put a charge on it. My manual specifies a minimum of 10.6 volts from a power source for the charger to work. I don't know, but maybe your power source isn't throwing 12 volts out.

Hopefully I'm helping! Good luck and if I think of anything else, I'll throw it out there!

Wrench!
 
Its the function light that flashes from green to red to green...So what that means is that I can shift, but it says my batts are low. What you said is relieving haha, so yours is alwasy flashing to with the XR3i? I am charging through the built in jack, should I not be? I have charged if 4 times and now the charger only flashes for a min or two then says the battery is fully charged, but I still get a red flashing like on the function light of the opti-drive. Thanks for your help man.

*The blue sensor light one the opti-drive functions fine for me* - incase that could help.
 
Yeah, its the function light that flashes red on mine too indicating low batt. I had tried using the charge jack on the truck and directly connecting to the battery, both the same.

As for the voltage supply in the car - thats something I can't rule out!
 
Hmmm....if the function light is flashing green/red, green/red then try reprogramming the OptiDrive. If the batts truly were low, you wouldn't get the green at all, just a flashing red light.

As for the XR3i, I may have just found my reason for not getting the steady green. Seems I overlooked the whole reverse-servo-setup step on page 2 (jeez, can't they just squeeze that crap on one page for those of us that lack patience!) Anyhow, it'll have to wait because I ran head-on into my brother's T-Maxx last Sunday and need to do some repairs (although not nearly as much as he does!)

Anyhow, hope that helps!
 
In the manual it tells me to go to their site for info on aftermarket radios. Do you know who to do for the XR3i or should I go to the site?
 

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