Switching to Electric - Any helpful advice?

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fortknox71

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RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
Hey everyone,

Looking to switch to electric and have really been eyeing the Emaxx since I have 3 Tmaxx's with my son. All Nitro. It's a bit of a pain worrying about the fuel and engine maintenance especially since my son is only 11. Is the electric that much easier? If I go brushless what does that mean and does the Lipo batteries require knowledge of it's use?

Just feeling things out right and appreciate any helpful advice or input.
 
If you can afford brushless that would be your best option. Brushless is far less maintenance, runs cooler and better run times. Emaxx or 4x4 stampede would be good choices. They are both waterproof. I switched from nitro tmaxx and i will never look back!! Even brushed is way easier imho.


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The Brushless E-Maxx is NOT waterproof!! Maybe after Castle releases the waterproof MM, Traxxas will put it in the Maxx/Revo. Knowing Traxxas, this would would probably add $500 to the price tag.
 
The emaxx is also one of the most fragile trucks straight out of the box. It can be upgraded to be tough but out of the box expect to be breaking a lot of skidplates and bulkheads among other things.
 
^^but they are cheap to fix,i hit a tree at full noise in my embe and it cost less than $20 to fix
i still have stock bulks the only thing i have upgraded is the front skid to aluminium
 
The cost to fix doesn't really matter when all you want to do is go out and bash with some buddies but your truck is broke in the first 5 minutes of running.

A brushless rig will be much easier than a nitro rig simply due to the lack of tuning and any kind of afterrun maintenance. They are also much cleaner and if you live in a city they are not going to annoy the neighbors as much as a nitro rig.

As for lipo they really arent as scary as everyone makes them out to be as long as you know how to properly handle them and use a good quality charger. As for brand I personally prefer the turnigy nano-tech lipos over any other brand I have tried. You can get good 3s packs for about $40 and they will run with packs 3x their cost.
 
I'm gonna x2 against the emaxx being durable. Revo, slash, 4x4 slash, mini revo are Traxxas's most durable rigs imo. If you can't afford a full size revo, check into a rtr 1/16 Revo, them on 3s, are very fast and really durable. Awesome little rigs.
 
The Brushless E-Maxx is NOT waterproof!! Maybe after Castle releases the waterproof MM, Traxxas will put it in the Maxx/Revo. Knowing Traxxas, this would would probably add $500 to the price tag.

Oops!! Your right i forgot the emaxx is not waterproof.


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If you got the money go for Savage Flux! If you want to go with the EMAXX just plan on doing some upgrades to it straight away. Although if you are buying for your 11 year old you dont want to buy anything with the Castle 2200kv motor in it. Its way to fast for him IMO. Maybe go with the Stampede 4X4 or something brushed. I guess if you wanted to you could let your 11 year old use 3S lipos on a Castle 2200kv and then you could use 6S for mega power! lol

If you want to expand your knowledge of Electrics I have a multi part video series you can watch that covers just about all of the basics and even gets into some intermediate areas too. They are long and sometimes a little dry but if you dont know much about electrics theres a lot of good info in there IMO. Heres a link. Feel free to check out any of my other videos on my channel also.
https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100513
 
Guys thanks for the awesome replies!
So do the brushed versions require maintenance? And when I say maintenance i mean more of tuning or afterrun.
The EMaxx 3908L is Tmaxx's brushless that also says it comes with chargers that take out the guesswork with Lipo batteries. That's why I was considering that. it would be very helpful.
I know my son is 11 but he's been running his Tmaxx Nitro's at about 45+ in open fields etc....That's why I'm not too concerned about the speed because he has pretty good skills now and I won't let him run a $800+ truck in bashing mode. At least not until he pays for it himself! Hoping to sell up and get enough money from my 3 TMaxx's to get one good, low maintenance Electric.
 
Havnt had to do maintenance on my stampede xl-5 in the year or so that i have owned it yet but eventually it will need to have the brushes replaced and you do have to spray cleaner into it every so often.

Honestly for what little extra that you will pay (probably an extra $150-$200) for the brushless system you should just go that route. Overall that will be a better first time electric experience imho.

As far as tuning goes there isnt any! Maybe a bit more tinkering when it comes to the lipo batteries. My son is 5 and that is the very reason i went to an electric stampede....ease of use, no tuning etc.

Whether you go brushed or brushless you will find it much more simple than nitro.


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Ok so now I'm very interested in the Savage Flux HP! That thing looks awesome. What is the talk about 4s and 6s etcetera? I see people talk about running on 4s vs. 6s. As i said, new to Electric.
 
6s is more voltage. More voltage=more speed and power to wheels.
 
6s is more voltage. More voltage=more speed and power to wheels.

So when I see "running on 4s" how does that work? Is that a tuning option on these?
 
s = cell count of the batteries

So 4s is a 4 cell lipo or 14.8v and a 6s is 6 cell lipo or 22.2v.

A savage flus on 6s is insane and will require some upgrades to handle that kind of power without breaking. On 4s the flux is still plenty fast and tons of fun to drive but will be super strong straight out of the box.
 
4s is he ammount of lipo battery cells. 4s = 4 cells (the s = series)
6s = 6 cells.
more cells = more speed and also emptier wallet. plastic breaks, metal bends in a 10lb truck doing 50mph
 
I would stick with a 2s battery. It will be pretty fast with a good 2s battery. A 4s battery is $$$$ and you would need to buy a good charger that could charge the 4s battery, which is more $$$$$$$. I would stick with the 2s then work up to the 3s.

You could convert one of your T-Maxx's to a Brushless setup. The new Castle MMP is fast and Waterproof. It would be a fun and neat project for you and your son.
 
Unfortunately, none of the ESCs on the market are truly waterproof. They are water resistant. They are meant to survive having a bit of water splashed on them not to be submerged.
 
Got it! Thanks guys
 
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