Wanting to go Brushless... Questions

[zinkerone]

Today I put my old rustler back together. It has been sitting for a year, because of my nitros and this video...

I want to put a brushless set up in it and was wondering if that is even a good idea with this old truck....
I've seen the vxl motors on EBay for like $35. And i've heard that the Mamba ESC is nice (don't know which model # is best) Then I gather that I need a 3 cell LIPO? and of coarse a charger.....
Any tips for me on this electric stuff?

 

[alpinehyperlite]

You dont NEED a 3S lipo, but with the right brushless system, you could use a 3s, and have some uncontrolable speeds. The mamba and Castle brushless setups are some amazing systems. You might want to upgrade your tranny and diff stuff if going brushless.

 

[mach1basher]

To tell you the truth I like the vxl esc better than my old MM. I am not a guys to be going 4s so the 3s limit is fine with me. It can handle sensored motors and I don't see any flaws(which haven't been fixed). The vxl motor is top dog without going into the Medusa price range.

 

[zinkerone]

To tell you the truth I like the vxl esc better than my old MM. I am not a guys to be going 4s so the 3s limit is fine with me. It can handle sensored motors and I don't see any flaws(which haven't been fixed). The vxl motor is top dog without going into the Medusa price range.

Yeah I kinda don't want to go as far as 4s (for now) cuz I would probably need foam tires. I saw a vxl motor and ESC together for about $130. Any idea about the battery and charger price?

 

[mach1basher]

I have a set up i'm parting with that has a losi lipo converter and a prophet plus charger. I'll let that go for $30 and after that you'll just need a balancer which is $30 range. PM me if you want it.

 

[MrClean]

I decent lipo charger/balance is about $150. I've been looking into the Lipo stuff so I've been checking around and reading up on them here. You want a decent charger to maintain the battery pack, lipo is not cheap and a cheap charger will cost you more in long run than you'll save up front. I good charger will do NiMH and Lipo, which can be handy if you have other packs. Some of the more expensive chargers can do more than one pack at a time.
I haven't researched any batteries yet.

There are a few guys on here that are very knowledgeable about Lipos.

 

[zinkerone]

I decent lipo charger/balance is about $150. I've been looking into the Lipo stuff so I've been checking around and reading up on them here. You want a decent charger to maintain the battery pack, lipo is not cheap and a cheap charger will cost you more in long run than you'll save up front. I good charger will do NiMH and Lipo, which can be handy if you have other packs. Some of the more expensive chargers can do more than one pack at a time.
I haven't researched any batteries yet.

There are a few guys on here that are very knowledgeable about Lipos.

Thanks CLEAN... when I've looked up LIPO's on Ebay I start getting confused. They got everything from 800 to 8000 mah (bigger is longer lasting)
and 3s 12c???:\ 7.2v to 18v??? what should I be looking for

 

[MrClean]

Thanks CLEAN... when I've looked up LIPO's on Ebay I start getting confused. They got everything from 800 to 8000 mah (bigger is longer lasting)
and 3s 12c???:\ 7.2v to 18v??? what should I be looking for

I hear ya, me too. I know about regular batteries...NiMH, the lipo stuff is new to me.
You'll need one of the battery experts to answer that. Charliestheman, sweetdiesel, robmob are good with that stuff, there are more, those are just off the top of my head.

 

[zinkerone]

I hear ya, me too. I know about regular batteries...NiMH, the lipo stuff is new to me.
You'll need one of the battery experts to answer that. Charliestheman, sweetdiesel, robmob are good with that stuff, there are more, those are just off the top of my head.

Thanks ... that's why I started this thread

 

[Brushlessboy]

Velineon motor and VXL speedie is good gear for the price. The motor is sensorless and the speedie is a genuine 200amp, and the simplest ever to use. They are limited to 3s lipo, (11.1v)
Lipo batteries run 3.7v per cell, so the size is easy to work out, but when you see 15c, 20c, 25c thats when it gets a little confusing. For a 1/10 Rustler you wouldn't go below 20c because the current draw will just get everything too hot.
I think sweetdiesel is the man for WHY? I can just tell you it DOES.
As for the Rustler, you WILL need the steel tranny, the rest you can get away with. To be honest if you want to go brushless you can usually pick up a cheap VXL chassis on ebay.

 

[sweetdiesel]

The C rating on a pack denotes how much amperage the pack can output. There is normally a continuous and a burst (few seconds) rating. The continuous rating is more important than the burst. To calculate how many amps a battery can output, take the C rating of the pack and multiply times the milliamp hour rating. For example, a 6000mah pack that is 12C cont. rated can theoretically output 72 amps continuously. Your vehicle weight, motor, gearing, voltage, and tire size will determine how many amps your motor will draw.

When selecting the appropriate lipo pack for your vehicle, leave 25-30% headroom for the pack. For example, if you determine that your vehicle has a cont. amp draw of 60 amps, choose a pack that can do a minimum 75-78 amps cont. to allow flexibility for gearing and tire changes. Also, running your lipo pack at its maximum cont. rating will reduce its number of effective charge/discharge cycles.

In general, purchase a pack with the highest C rating you can afford, and the highest capacity that will fit in your vehicle. Higher capacity and C rating will give your vehicle more "punch" and top speed since the theoretical maximum output of the pack is increased.

By running a higher voltage pack, this allows you to run a lower capacity pack, and a lower C rating since

Watts(power) = volts x amps

Higher voltage increases the motor rpm and motor heat. The overall electrical efficiency of the system is also increased. The drawback to this is once you surpass the ESC's BEC voltage rating, you will have to run an external BEC. Also, if voltage (rpms) is too high the motor will get damaged from heat.

 

[zinkerone]

The C rating on a pack denotes how much amperage the pack can output. There is normally a continuous and a burst (few seconds) rating. The continuous rating is more important than the burst. To calculate how many amps a battery can output, take the C rating of the pack and multiply times the milliamp hour rating. For example, a 6000mah pack that is 12C cont. rated can theoretically output 72 amps continuously. Your vehicle weight, motor, gearing, voltage, and tire size will determine how many amps your motor will draw.

When selecting the appropriate lipo pack for your vehicle, leave 25-30% headroom for the pack. For example, if you determine that your vehicle has a cont. amp draw of 60 amps, choose a pack that can do a minimum 75-78 amps cont. to allow flexibility for gearing and tire changes. Also, running your lipo pack at its maximum cont. rating will reduce its number of effective charge/discharge cycles.

In general, purchase a pack with the highest C rating you can afford, and the highest capacity that will fit in your vehicle. Higher capacity and C rating will give your vehicle more "punch" and top speed since the theoretical maximum output of the pack is increased.

By running a higher voltage pack, this allows you to run a lower capacity pack, and a lower C rating since

Watts(power) = volts x amps

Higher voltage increases the motor rpm and motor heat. The overall electrical efficiency of the system is also increased. The drawback to this is once you surpass the ESC's BEC voltage rating, you will have to run an external BEC. Also, if voltage (rpms) is too high the motor will get damaged from heat.

Thanks... that's alot of info:whhooo:... I will have to print that out and read over it again when looking at batteries:\. But from the traxxas website They call for 3S 20C LiPo 11.1V 4000+ mAh....
to tell you the truth I was kinda hoping to convert this truck for less than $300... So mabey for now I can buy the VXL motor with the speed control and a 7 cell nimh pack... and I could swithch over to LIPO later... huh

 

[sweetdiesel]

But from the traxxas website They call for 3S 20C LiPo 11.1V 4000+ mAh....
to tell you the truth I was kinda hoping to convert this truck for less than $300... So mabey for now I can buy the VXL motor with the speed control and a 7 cell nimh pack... and I could swithch over to LIPO later... huh

They call out those specs if you wish to attain their claimed 70+ mph top speed. Now, considering that the rustler will be very hard to control at those speeds, IMO I would run a high quality, high capacity 2S pack and experiment with gearing.

There is nothing that says you MUST run lipos with a brushless set-up. But, the cost of a good 7 cell nimh pack is close to the cost of a 2S lipo,and the lipo will outperform the 7 cell (if they have the same capacity rating). The initial investment cost of the lipo charger and balancer is also a concern but after that it's all packs.

It's your money, you can do what you want with it. My suggestion is wait and save for what you really want. Buy well and buy once.

 

[mach1basher]

The traxxas site site says it has to be 8000 MaH to do 70+ but a 500 MaH will get you flying and in a hurry. as far as controling it i've been in rc for quite a few years now and its a challenge trying to keep your eye in it and keep the other ahead to see what infront of it since it moves so fast. A 7 cell will cover your speed thirst until you save up. But just remember the higher the cell count(NiMh and NiCd)the lower the run time.

 

[Hyster]

The C rating on a pack denotes how much amperage the pack can output. There is normally a continuous and a burst (few seconds) rating. The continuous rating is more important than the burst. To calculate how many amps a battery can output, take the C rating of the pack and multiply times the milliamp hour rating. For example, a 6000mah pack that is 12C cont. rated can theoretically output 72 amps continuously. Your vehicle weight, motor, gearing, voltage, and tire size will determine how many amps your motor will draw.

When selecting the appropriate lipo pack for your vehicle, leave 25-30% headroom for the pack. For example, if you determine that your vehicle has a cont. amp draw of 60 amps, choose a pack that can do a minimum 75-78 amps cont. to allow flexibility for gearing and tire changes. Also, running your lipo pack at its maximum cont. rating will reduce its number of effective charge/discharge cycles.

In general, purchase a pack with the highest C rating you can afford, and the highest capacity that will fit in your vehicle. Higher capacity and C rating will give your vehicle more "punch" and top speed since the theoretical maximum output of the pack is increased.

By running a higher voltage pack, this allows you to run a lower capacity pack, and a lower C rating since

Watts(power) = volts x amps

Higher voltage increases the motor rpm and motor heat. The overall electrical efficiency of the system is also increased. The drawback to this is once you surpass the ESC's BEC voltage rating, you will have to run an external BEC. Also, if voltage (rpms) is too high the motor will get damaged from heat.

You know, unless there is something already put up about this on the site, I vote that we sticky this at the top for reference or Sweetdiesel makes one. I deffenetly want to look back at this for future reference. :thumbup:

 

[zinkerone]

Thanks all... I think I am going with what Diesel said "buy well, buy once" To tell the truth my current rig is going to fall apart if I put that set up in it.... I'll just wait and get a brand new set up so that I'm not buying new parts twice a day.