LRP SPX 8 & Vector 8

[Pinky@MVW]

Well had an LRP combo for review purposes and offcourse to make an comparison with the Tekin system if you like the long story read below for the short story readers: If you have Tekin or MMM stick to it!

The long story .......:

Well first of all the SPX8 is supposed to be small and oh yes it is small but they forget to mention the Capacitor and external BEC you might need. Especially the BEC is an must have one on this esc as it has no real internal BEC and connecting to just one cell over the balancer plug is an verry bad idea! So if you look at the total picture the size would be the same as allmost any other esc but it will have more external connections / devices.

The motor was the 2500Kv and i noticed that it had an default timing of -5 degrees anyway first stock testing then fiddle arround. The motor also has fitted an 45mm fan and yes thats needed!.

The car used was en Hotbodies D8 with Tekno conversion and this car is normally fitted with the Tekin 2250Kv combo so there was an good comparison possible and also we had an MBX6E on the track with the 2050Kv Tekin combo. The pinion used 16T on 48T spur on calculation with the 2500Kv this should be 50Mph but that was not archievable seems more to be at 40Mph so due the -5 timing the motor drops an bit down and gets more bottom power.

Anyway this motor can only be mounted on right side setups as it is not possible to reverse the motor in the Esc. Why this is done no idea seems something that came from the 1:10 Buggy's and on-road's.

Offcourse we have done some speedruns in comparison with the Tekin 2050Kv system and it seems the Tekin has more torque and on the top speed we did not notice any difference untill the battery;s (Same packs in both cars with same charge and life time) are going down seems that the LRP system is getting slower as it draw's more amps from the packs. Also total drive time was lower with the Tekin we archieved 3 minutes more drive time. As we drive in the Netherlands mostly on Astroturf the motor's are getting more resistance and therefor getting hotter. An Tekin motor without additional cooling will be arround 60 Celcius the LRP motor was with an fan mounted 70+ Celcius(!). So seems the 2500Kv needs to pull harder anyway we have changed the timing from the LRP to 0 degrees (This is done by changing an insert on the hall sensor) and lowered for safety the pinion to 14T. Well .... after 1 run we had an boiling motor! it was 100 Celcius so bad idea and verry fast back to -5 degrees. Due there was no real bec (The LRP is able to lower 7.4 > 6 V internally) i had connected the switch to the balancer output where i had 7,4 volts and this is really bad as it unbalance your packs verry nasty and the automatic voltage drop off doesnt watch for it so 2 cells might be < 3 volt! Also charging is an more nightmare as it takes longer to balance these cells. So if you are running 4S use an BEC!

So yeah what to say offcourse we had to test the unit and it has some nice features like the adaptive brake that works verry good. The esc stayed all the time at an perfect temperature but the small fan mounted on top did loose some blades but he even with 2 blades less it cools and works .
But overal my opinion is stick with the Tekin or MMM if you have one if you dont mind all the external thingy's like the capacitor and BEC it is an verry good system and it would be nice if LRP implemented reverse for the mounting of the motor and that they come with lower Kv's. And keep in mind (but thats with every system) watch the temperatures.

Thanx to Rc-Connect for supplying the LRP combo for testing purpose.

[Cain]

got any pics of the ESC mounted?

[marksp]

Originally Posted by Pinky@MVW

Well had an LRP combo for review purposes and offcourse to make an comparison with the Tekin system if you like the long story read below for the short story readers: If you have Tekin or MMM stick to it!

Thanks for sharing!

[Pinky@MVW]

Well got some blurry pics still have to shoot better ones for an review.

Anyway here they are:

[timaneli]

for 3s or 2s do you have to connect wire to balancer either?
can you show a more detail photo of that area or connection please?

regards

[Pinky@MVW]

Originally Posted by timaneli

for 3s or 2s do you have to connect wire to balancer either?
can you show a more detail photo of that area or connection please?

regards

The unit is capable of 7.4 > 6V so only 2S can be used the wire is from the switch and need to be plugged in to an 7.4V source like the balancer plug.
With this you will have huge un-balance in your 4S pack like i had so better is to use an seperate bec.

Anyway will try to make some detail pics of that this week.

[OWTKAST cpt]

Makes me want to go out and guy one.....

reviews appreciated...

[NitroViper6]

you have a few options for "Connections"
if say just run a "Single" 2cell pack (7.4) then you would connect to the "Positive" battery lead
if running a 3cell then yes would have to run off the "Balance Plug" and would need to find which "Lead" is the "7.4" lead, easy with a Volt meter, if say 2 seporate packs say 2-2cell lipos (14.8)
then you would make a connection "Across the Bridge" of the 2 batteries....then the total "Voltage Drop" will be even, they did there homework on this.....now if running a single 4cell lipo again would need to tap into the Balance Plug to hook to the 7.4 voltage source.
"OR"
if one wanted to? some might think a Hassle? but then you could have your "Voltage" drop even no matter what cell you would use
this would be by using a BEC now there pretty "Small" nowdays...
i tried the Castle one and it's pretty good!
i used it on one of my systems...the others i just use the "Bridge" and works fine no Hassles
if using a BEC say like the Castle you would follow the diagram and then "Tap" onto the "Positive Out" from the BEC to the range you selected or leave at the default....the BEC itself could be placed pretty much anywhere? cause there all pretty small nowdays.

have had all 4 of mine for quite some time, they never got "Hot-Hot" but did get pretty warm !! hotest was at 168 on Asphalt and 171 on astro turff, "Carpet" but had it geared at 15/50 and 16/50



or

[timaneli]

i was expecting more of this lrp combos since i have a locar dealer near me that sell and give 25 years warantee...
but with these bec issues and connections i think lrp should have done more and better....
my hobywing 80amps esc is simple, cheap and continue to rock..........

funny isn´t??

regards

[Pinky@MVW]

Originally Posted by timaneli

i was expecting more of this lrp combos since i have a locar dealer near me that sell and give 25 years warantee...
but with these bec issues and connections i think lrp should have done more and better....
my hobywing 80amps esc is simple, cheap and continue to rock..........

funny isn´t??

regards

Well the LRP performs ok but also i had an higher expectation from it. Somehow it doesnt do that and yeah it's an small esc but with all the extra thingy's it's quite huge. Also limited to only righty mount cars is ecluding some brads/conversions. The 2500KV does not perform like an 2500KV due the -5 timing and performs more like an 2000KV raising the timing is creating an verry hot motor (boiling!). But ... with the -5 we did not notice huge difference compared to 2050KV tekin combo the only real disadvantage was 3 minutes less driving time (same packs compared).

So yes generally it's not an bad choice this combo but it's nothing special new.

[timaneli]

Originally Posted by Pinky@MVW

Well the LRP performs ok but also i had an higher expectation from it. Somehow it doesnt do that and yeah it's an small esc but with all the extra thingy's it's quite huge. Also limited to only righty mount cars is ecluding some brads/conversions. The 2500KV does not perform like an 2500KV due the -5 timing and performs more like an 2000KV raising the timing is creating an verry hot motor (boiling!). But ... with the -5 we did not notice huge difference compared to 2050KV tekin combo the only real disadvantage was 3 minutes less driving time (same packs compared).

So yes generally it's not an bad choice this combo but it's nothing special new.

that is the problem. all we were expecting more from this big and well named brand, not less....

[NitroViper6]

been reading the posts, and some excelent points on the ECS/Motor combo
though have had no issues with mine, i admit that in "General" as most would have preffered something more "Simple" without any added wiring or something special to be done.
to be able to just "Plug" in and "Turn on the Switch" is the reason for the whole thing.
and i think something as this comming from "LRP" this would be something less complicated than making it "More Complicated"
true in the Manual it just says:
attach BEC input to CORRECT Pin of Balancing connector of your 3S or 4S lipo pack

now though i am aware of this many may or may not? this could be a difficult thing? then what if you are not sure how to check the pin for looking for "What" someone just starting out would not be aware of this? and could Launch a 300+ combo! and saddly true you can not run anything higher than a 4S
if you had a bunch of 5S packs or 6S you couldnt use them.

as for the Sensored thing true many systems when using a "Sensor" your limited for "Rotation" this should be pointed out more as some may just go:
"COOL, new system! I'll go to the Hobby store and get one!"
only to find out they cant take it back! most stores will not return any electronics! and they happen to have a car that has the motor in a different configuration?
or think of using a Non-Sensored motor? cant do it...it wont work "Without the Sensor Wire"
sad as well as i like them but to be honest, for the General Racer
this is not the best of combos

[NitroViper6]

well some sad news on the LRP systems, i now know how the General hobbist feels....for a little while been running the Vector 8 motors with the LRP SPX8 combos
all been "Good" now today i figured ok, lets install the "Production Model" motors...same batteries same everything..
as from posted in an earlier post thought did not "Feel" like a 2500Kv motor..and it "Doesn't" not close....one tooth in either direction? and it will get "Too Hot" !!!!
saddly in one run after letting it cool for about an hour geared
at 13/50
went to
14/50 there recommendations for the AE RC8Tetook it out did not even start to press it for any preformance? at 3 minutes 15 seconds the motor "literally" MELTED........yes you read correctly! "MELTED"
all of it's plastic componets and internal wiring.
so i did the same for the other truck thinking "Maybe" is the ESC???
Nope, 2 "Production" Vector 8 motors back to back in seporate car did a "Melt Down" so now i have 2 very expensive paper weights??
just before the second one Died i temped it...380 deg !!!!!!!
that one lasted 3:28 seconds......
now maybe it was a Fluke? maybe just i Happen to get the only 2??
but even still 2500Kv may be a little high in this particular situation?
couldnt imagine going to the only other option for the production combo? 2800Kv !!!! i am assuming this would be for 2S operation???
i'll post some pics
if one has a Tekin or thinking of getting the Tekin's or the Mamba's a better deal....as there all close to the same price....
now as well have the Hobby wing ESC only down side? kinda big? but it is VERY GOOD !! 186.00 cant beat it......that comes with a Motor too...i do hope i had only got the only 2 bad motors, they are good but hopefully they can get the bugs out! and "Loose" the added BEC thing kinda is a Pain??

[Pinky@MVW]

Yupp had the same experiance forced cooling 70 Celcius is quite hot (When the fan fails it goes to 90-100!) and when you change the timing from -5 to 0 you have an fracking toaster running. Would be better to see an real 2000kv version to run at 4S and not an downtimed 2500kv that performs like an 2000kv.

For the esc itself if you have external bec and dont mind the loose thingy's ist not an bad esc. Its quite foolproof as LRP dont let you play with to much settings and allmost everything you need is possible (only you cant run the motor on lefty mounted cars)

Anyway i had these units for an review it will be in dutch and i will change the car verry fast back again to its original setup .

[Mikey Hudson]

Need a little help on the bec wire. I have a 4s LiPo (one big brick, haha) and it says to check to see which pin it needs to connect to on the balancing connector. Anyone know what pin that is? thanks in advance.