RC batts. Lipo?

[Poke]

How long do the lipo 5000 batteries last? Got my daughter a traxxas rustler and two batteries for her bday. What’s the run time on a charge?

 

[Gots_a_sol]

My brushless E revo goes about 45 mins on a pair of them (in series for 4s) It usually breaks before I can run them down from fully charged

Just make sure to physically disconnect the battery when done. I killed a pair of mine by leaving them plugged in but the truck switched off.

 

[Motorcharge]

Ask Lance what not to use in those.

 

[90supra]

My Arma Tallion (1/8 scale truggygtruggy)45 minutes to an hour dicking around at the track. My buddies pretty built out team associated 1/8 scale buggy lasts a little longer. Both on 6500mAh 4s.

 

[Donk]

Depends on current draw and running surface. Grass can easily cut run time in half.
Charging should be about an hour if you've got a proper charger that can hit the 1C rate. Always balance charge, it takes slightly longer but will stop you blowing up the Lipo

 

[87manche]

Depends on current draw and running surface. Grass can easily cut run time in half.
Charging should be about an hour if you've got a proper charger that can hit the 1C rate. Always balance charge, it takes slightly longer but will stop you blowing up the Lipo

this.
run time is usage against capacity.

balance charging is not needed all the time if you keep your batteries in decent shape and use them often.

most batteries will take more than 1c charge rates these days without issue.
consult your battery manufacturer.

 

[rocketron]

My son's gets about 45 mins per battery. Mixture of pavement, dirt and grass. His is running the brushless system.

 

[Byro]

Another thing to add, make sure your ESC is LiPo capable and in LiPo mode. If you completely discharge them they are usually junk afterwards.

 

[Poke]

Another thing to add, make sure your ESC is LiPo capable and in LiPo mode. If you completely discharge them they are usually junk afterwards.

What is an ESC?

 

[Byro]

What is an ESC?

Electronic Speed Controller. What the battery plugs into. I’d imagine now with 2.4 radios it’s not an issue. When I was into it it’s when Lipos and 2.4 was coming out and some speed controllers weren’t LiPo compatible.

 

[Donk]

Electronic Speed Controller. What the battery plugs into. I’d imagine now with 2.4 radios it’s not an issue. When I was into it it’s when Lipos and 2.4 was coming out and some speed controllers weren’t LiPo compatible.

Most are still switchable between NiMH and Lipo, some use a physical jumper on the ESC others it's a software setting.

 

[Poke]

Electronic Speed Controller. What the battery plugs into. I’d imagine now with 2.4 radios it’s not an issue. When I was into it it’s when Lipos and 2.4 was coming out and some speed controllers weren’t LiPo compatible.

https://traxxas.com/products/models/electric/rustler-standard

This is what I got with 2 Traxxas Lipo 5000 and the traxxas smart charger that will charge both kinds of batteries. I did put it on the balanced charge.

 

[Byro]

Most are still switchable between NiMH and Lipo, some use a physical jumper on the ESC others it's a software setting.

I had some early Novak that was switchable and some early Futaba that was NiMH only. I’ve been out of the RC scene for a few years, wasn’t sure if everyone has made the switch, figure with some of the RTR kits it would be a way for companies to save a little money on their products.

Maybe I’ll have to dust off the Losi’s.

 

[DWT]

Any newer Traxxas sec will be look capable but look in the manual and it'll tell you how to switch it if needed. Traxxas is a solid beginner brand to learn on for sure. Everything is user friendly for newbs.

 

[Donk]

https://traxxas.com/products/models/...stler-standard

This is what I got with 2 Traxxas Lipo 5000 and the traxxas smart charger that will charge both kinds of batteries. I did put it on the balanced charge.

This is how to check and set the Lipo/NiMH mode on the XL-5 ESC

Verify that Low-Voltage Detection is DISABLED: 1. Turn on the transmitter (with the throttle at neutral). 2. Connect a fully charged battery pack to the XL-5. 3. Press and release the EZ-Set button to turn the XL-5 on. If the LED is solid red, then the Low-Voltage Detection is DISABLED (not safe to use LiPo batteries). If the LED is solid green, then Low-Voltage Detection is ACTIVATED.

To activate Low-Voltage Detection (LiPo setting): 1. Make sure the LED on the XL-5 is on and RED. 2. Press and hold the EZ-Set button (the LED will turn off). After ten seconds, the motor will beep twice and the LED will shine GREEN. Release the button. 3. Low-Voltage Detection is now ACTIVATED.

To disable Low-Voltage Detection (NiMH setting): 1. Make sure the LED on the XL-5 is on and GREEN. 2. Press and hold the EZ-Set button (the LED will turn off). After ten seconds, the motor will beep three times and the LED will shine RED. Release the button. 3. Low-Voltage Detection is now DISABLED.

Full car manual here: https://traxxas.com/sites/default/fi...-OM-EN-R04.pdf

 

[Poke]

Thanks. I’m hoping she gets into this and upgrades it.

 

[DWT]

Thanks. I’m hoping she gets into this and upgrades it.

Don't fall for the eBay/Amazon chinesium alloy parts trick! RPM makes the best plastic a arms and rod ends by far, Traxxas knuckles are surprisingly good too. Those rigs are rather tough straight out of the box but when things break always do an upgraded replacement part.

 

[Donk]

Don't fall for the eBay/Amazon chinesium alloy parts trick! RPM makes the best plastic a arms and rod ends by far, Traxxas knuckles are surprisingly good too. Those rigs are rather tough straight out of the box but when things break always do an upgraded replacement part.

Top notch advice 👌
Tough but flexible plastics like the RPM ones help soak up the knocks without breaking. Ally bits just transfer the shock elsewhere and break other inevitably more expensive shit that would otherwise be fine.

Upgrading a car from brushed to brushless often needs drive train upgrades to handle the increased torque.

 

[Donk]

Maybe I’ll have to dust off the Losi’s.

You know you want to

I've been having a bit of a tidy up on a couple of my projects lately

 

[Byro]

You know you want to

I've been having a bit of a tidy up on a couple of my projects lately

Mid motor Associated?

I did a mid motor conversion to my XXX-CR it was amazing how much better the car handled. Now of course the new 22s are mid motor.

 

[Donk]

Mid motor Associated?

I did a mid motor conversion to my XXX-CR it was amazing how much better the car handled. Now of course the new 22s are mid motor.

The buggy is a Schumacher KF2 and the touring car is a 1998 Schumacher SST.
I bought the buggy with the motor as is and don't have a local track to race it so I've got nothing to compare it to. It's certainly bloody sharp and with the 5.5t motor it's got fitted and the fact it's 2WD it's waaaaay to savage for me. I'm thinking of dropping it to a 13.5t and going to the local BMX track to run it there to get a feel before making a trip to an actual track.

 

[Byro]

The buggy is a Schumacher KF2 and the touring car is a 1998 Schumacher SST.
I bought the buggy with the motor as is and don't have a local track to race it so I've got nothing to compare it to. It's certainly bloody sharp and with the 5.5t motor it's got fitted and the fact it's 2WD it's waaaaay to savage for me. I'm thinking of dropping it to a 13.5t and going to the local BMX track to run it there to get a feel before making a trip to an actual track.

Open 2WD buggy was the biggest class at the old track. That and stock Short Course Truck, could only run a 17.5 brushless, that was a fun one, everyone was evenly matched so it was the drivers class. Until the 1/8th scale 4WD buggy guys started running stock SCT, those guys were surgeons.

Track closed and all my stuff has been collecting dust since.

 

[Donk]

Open 2WD buggy was the biggest class at the old track. That and stock Short Course Truck, could only run a 17.5 brushless, that was a fun one, everyone was evenly matched so it was the drivers class. Until the 1/8th scale 4WD buggy guys started running stock SCT, those guys were surgeons.

Track closed and all my stuff has been collecting dust since.

Sucks to hear you guys lost the track 😞. Without having one close I've had to content myself with bashing. I can honestly say that my 1/8 buggies have spoilt me, those things are incredibly easy to drive fast, so easy in fact it's almost like they've got a gyro fitted. Point and squirt no need for rapid corrections, just gently guide it and no matter how squirrelly it gets it always seems to sort itself out.

 

[Poke]

And its broke! Lol. New rpm a arms already ordered. It’s much faster and responsive than I expected. The wheelies are fun. It made it 25min before it hit the wrong rock.

 

[87manche]

And its broke! Lol. New rpm a arms already ordered. It’s much faster and responsive than I expected. The wheelies are fun. It made it 25min before it hit the wrong rock.

I'm sure that t bone makes a basher bumper for it.

get one. wide enough to protect the arms from impacts, which is usually what breaks the a arm.

 

[Donk]

And its broke! Lol. New rpm a arms already ordered. It’s much faster and responsive than I expected. The wheelies are fun. It made it 25min before it hit the wrong rock.

No different to wheeling really, beat it like it owes you money, break, fix and repeat

 

[92 Green YJ]

My brushless E revo goes about 45 mins on a pair of them (in series for 4s) It usually breaks before I can run them down from fully charged

Just make sure to physically disconnect the battery when done. I killed a pair of mine by leaving them plugged in but the truck switched off.

This. My eRevo 2.0 gets about 45 minutes of run time on a pair of 3S wired for 6S. My TRX4 sport will go well over an hour on a single 3S 5000 battery.

 

[92 Green YJ]

And its broke! Lol. New rpm a arms already ordered. It’s much faster and responsive than I expected. The wheelies are fun. It made it 25min before it hit the wrong rock.

How old is your kid? When I got my 4 year old her 1/16th Traxxas Summit for Christmas I put the ESC into training mode for a while so she could get the hang of it. All Traxxas ESCs should have this capability. Let’s you limit it to half throttle so they can get the hang of it before unlocking the full speed potential.

 

[woods]

Keep in mind, this shit gets expensive, FAST. Mine were always broken after a few runs. Had to keep replacing parts. meh