Johnny Wishbone

iTrader: (6)

The brake re-gen problem was fixed at least 18 months ago, if you're running a older model then you could still have a problem so send in your units or get a hold of Charlie with your unit serial number and he can tell you if its updated or not.

The main Brainboard problem was rectified at least 8 months ago, and Novak even requested if you suspect a issue to contact them and they would send you a replacement for that. Since then there may have been a occasional lemon in the line, but there are few speed controls in this forum that haven't had a problem of one sort or another.

Melted cap was a installation issue and quickly fixed, again, Novak posted a memo on what to check for and gave you the option to fix yourself or get a replacement.

The rest have all been looked at and can be rectified with the reset.

If anything Novak have been upfront and have offered above and beyond fixes for any of the past issues.

The Havoc Pro SC is a very good controller and your concerns about timing limits should not be a problem. The unit actually gives you more adjustments then the majority of the units out there. You are correct there is no boost, but if you get your gearing correctly this should not be a problem either.

bertrandsv87

iTrader: (2)

Boost is not really necessary, just a little timing on the top end will do !!! Boost has been dead for over a year now...

dvaid852456

The brake gen problem was not fixed 8 months ago. The firmware update simply set the default to 80% rather than 100%. It may have altered other factors as well but the fact remains mine only refrained from bursting into flames because I never ran more than 60% brakes. The moment I set it back to 80 - boom, melted cap.

None of my melted caps were to do with the incorrect installation fault I checked them all before fitting.

Novak sent me a total of 2 new brain boards and as long as you don't try to update any settings via novalink they are better. However in Charlie's own words the brain board is in a "confused" state after it would not accept the timing RPM change. Now Turbo kicks in the moment full throttle is reached with no delay no matter what it is set to. In my mind that's not a fixed brainboard.

I have been in direct 1-1 contact with Charlie and he has been really helpful through out. Even now he is swapping my kinetic and Novalink for a Havoc and a motor. HOWEVER I want a flagship ESC to be just that, top of the line, as near to flawless as possible and worth every penny of the £250 price tag. I do not want a product that is and has been fundamentaly flawed since day 1.

I will hold judgement until the Havoc arrives but it simply does not have the amount of tuning as say the Speed Passion I have recently purchased has. When you say it has more tuning options than most products out there that simply isn't true. Tekin RS Pro, Speed Passion GT, Castle, Hobby Wing all have infinitely tunable settings via the PC. The Havoc, before the Kinetic disaster was not in the same league. Why now is it being pitched as the best thing since sliced bread? Oh yeah because Novaks Flag ship ESC is a lemon. Sorry it is just not on.

It may be the muts nuts but it is not what I want. If I bought a Porcshe GT3and it constantly kept braking down but the dealership were great and kept repairing it and replacing parts for over a year. I wouldn't be happy if they turned round and said you know what that car was always terrible and were are writing it off but here have this Porsche Boxter and a free metalic paint job to make up for it. I would want the car I paid for.

29TC

iTrader: (2)

May be in your part of the woods....boost is history.

But where i run, boost is the ticket.

And if its true that the kinetic is no longer supported by Novak, I guess that's the last Novak product i bought.

Cheers guys and good luck.

macdude

iTrader: (6)

You only got 2 brain boards..... I was on number 5 before the ESC went back for an exchange to the Havoc. It is clear that there was something really wrong with their error checking in the Novalink software/Usb link. I know other manufacturers that have had similar issues but seem to have better computer engineers that were able to fix the problems rather rapidly. What really put me off is that Novak was the only ESC that could be damaged when updating with the battery plugged in. Every other ESC I own didn't matter, these include, KO, Tekin, Castle, and HW. I was so mad at the first event I took the ESC to, change the drive frequency and drag brake settings to get a better feel..... forgot to unplug battery, brain board corrupted so the brakes stopped working. It also affected the punch of the ESC. I would love to see them get it right. Maybe partner with say castle to get the computer link thing right. Anyway, I have a Cyclone TC from 1997, works great, has a program box, I am curious what happened to the Novak from back then. Although it should be pointed out too that, when others closed / went bankrupt "tekin", Novak was able to fill the gap.
As for the Havoc, it is quite nice. couple of things that are a pain, calibrating it to your radio resets it to the default settings. Counting the lights while easy is a little tedious when you are pressed for time.

bertrandsv87

iTrader: (2)

The best way to run the kinetic seems to be without updates, no novalink, just one touch timing profiles and motor up !!! I have not heard any complaints when racers stuck to the one touch only setup... I think if you add another capacitor(#5679), switch to 10AWG wires, and stick to the one touch setup while running a 3.5t with 15° added timing at 19500rpm(start), you will be uncatchable in a shaft car like the Awesomatix... Of course you would have play with gearing a little bit, the drive frequency, the minimum drive, and your radio settings to get bottom end power... I also think the kinetic can handle it eventhough Novak does not recommend adding timing with 3.5t to 5.5t motors...

Johnny Wishbone

iTrader: (6)

The default setting is 80%, it also states that any high timing should be set to 100% which is where I run mine with no issues at all, if its the caps your blowing are they the big caps or the small caps? If you run the small caps you should consider going to the big ones or doubling the small ones.

The Brain board change out if confused does require a reset and then all the tunable options work. I simulated this very scenario yesterday just to check as I had a confused brain board.

I should have stated the Havoc has more options available than most of the speed controls that only use button option settings, that is with no computer or program box interface.

I have done the battery still hooked up deal as well, but knock on wood, have had no failure due to this, just lucky I guess. A warning message would have been nice like some of the other brands.

Its also best to write down your settings for reference should you do a reset with the Havoc, since it defaults back to original factory settings, I'm just wondering why you require radio re-cal so often for this to become a problem.

dvaid852456

My Kinetic seems to work as long as turbo is not switched on. I have tried flashing firmware and numerous One Touch Setups but the turbo still kicks in the moment full throttle is reached. Is there another reset I can do to "unconfuse" the brainboard?

I have used 2 small caps wired in and single large ones. Both have smoked.

Johnny Wishbone

iTrader: (6)

What transmitter are you using? Do you have the expo on the high side of the throttle set beyond 100%? Could you try a different transmitter just to see if it does the same thing? Is this on the bench free wheeling and punching the throttle or is this experienced on the track? What are you running for boost delay? Remember that these are in MS so there isn't that long a delay from 100 to 450. The more I think about this the more it sounds more like the start timing and max rpm setting are set wrong. What motor are you running with this?

If you could post your settings off the NovaLink i'd be willing to put them on my unit and see if I get the same result. If you could either shoot screen shots of the two screens or just start on the first page from left side down then right side on both pages that would work too. Also if you could shoot a video of the delay issue so we could see what its doing that could help too, if you can.

dvaid852456

I'm using the Futaba 3GR 2.4 GHz.
The Throttel EPO is set to 100% on both sides.
I tried a 40MHz futaba Tx and the same problem occurs.
The turbo kicks in at full throttle on the track and on the bench and it doesn't matter if the delay is 300ms or 2500ms. I'd notice a 2.5 second delay.
The start timing is at 6000 and the end timing is 18000

This doesn't have anything to do with the settings as they were working fine before the ESC refused to take a setting. I tried lowering the start RPM but it would not update. I reset everything and tried again - no luck. no matter what I did the start RPM would not change. Other settings could be updated but the start and end RPM would not change. I managed to get it to change by altering the timing curve by 1 RPM. Straight after this the turbo problem started. After I set the the timing curev back to default.

I coppied the profile to the PC and loaded it onto my second Kinetic. Bad idea as now that does the same thing. I think there was a corruption in the profile.

Charlie was aware of this problem and said I would probably need a new brainboard but as it's discontinued there are no more brainboards.

Thanks for the offer of help and my settings are attached anyway but I really don't think anything can be done. The brainboard is corrupt.

cyljock

I'd like to see that video. Correct me lf im wrong but, isn't 500ms like a half second?

nicov

I fully agree !!!
Forget Novalink, take a couple of minutes for one touch configuration, and run

dvaid852456

I don't see the point in posting a video???

It revs up smoothly and the moment full throttle is reached and the green light comes on turbo engages and the Revs shoot through the roof.

There is no delay before it comes on.

I'm not sure why you need a video of an rc car on blocks reving up?

Yes 500ms is half a second, the max delay can be set to 2500ms which is 2.5 seconds. Even though Novalink shows that what it is set to it kicks in straight away.

Johnny Wishbone

iTrader: (6)

I'll throw those settings on my sc, but in the mean time a couple of things. First off the timing delay can only be set from 100 to 450 so how and why you got 2500 into it, besides not working and why you wouldn't get a out of parameter warning is interesting, I'll give that a try too, but this could be what is corrupting your profile.

I would like you to try the following and tell me what leds you get on the speed control. Try to do the esc reset, that is the power up, hold button, full throttle, full brake, neutral deal, and that all, don't hook the NovaLink to it or anything. You should see 3 leds and specifically not the white one. Now try you're throttle, with no white led you should be at the factory default setting.........let me know what you get.

cyljock

Dvaid, please retract the claws sir. I understand your frustration in the fact that the kinetic,In essence is a train wreck. As far as the video request is concerned, I think wishbone might be on to something asking for a video. Often "visual aids" can be beneficial in finding the root cause in malfunctions or failures.
Respectfully submitted,
cyljock.