I just received a new Mini Baja in the mail on Friday (9/14). From the first time I turned it on there seemed to be a lot of interference and some noise could be heard. I didn't changing anything because it still worked. I ran the first battery out without problems. Then I charged the second and was having problems where the car would not move after I stopped it. I had to give it a push to get it going. That's the first problem.
Also, I tried switching frequencies, but the button on the receiver seems do to nothing. Is there a trick to this or should I just be able to hit the button after switching the frequency on the receiver?
On top of this it was shipped with a missing bearing on the left rear axle.
I own 5 R/C cars and this is the first Losi I've owned. It's given me more problems in one day then the rest of my R/Cs have given me combined, disregarding breakages caused by me, obviously. Is this typical of Losi's quality?
Losi quality has taken a plunge since Horizon took over. The Baja and Mini Slider both have issues with the motor being used. Check to see but the situation you describe is probably due to sticking brushes in the motor. Sometimes the shunt wire is not long enough to allow the brush to move freely and it sticks. Out of 7 new Mini Sliders, we had this problem with three of them. If you solder the leads close to the entry point on the end bell it will allow them to move all the way down the brush hood. You might also replace the brushes.
I am not aware of the radio issue. You might call Horizon support they sometimes are helpful.
The problems you have are not entirely a losi phenomenon. Its the fact these things are comming from china, seems lately with all the toy recalls, and lead probelms that whole industry has quality issues.
Anyway, the noise you probably are hearing is the ESC constanly "chattering", I had the same thing happen to my Baja even after trying to center the trims and reset the speedo. My cure was to change the radio out, had to anyway since the stock radio had very poor range. Also the RX270 motors are having brush issues, all you can do is try to pull the brushess out and make sure the shunt wire isnt tight making the brush have poor contact. My fix for that too was to replace the motor wire an old losi speed motor had sitting around. Besides those little issues its a great little buggy, fun to drive and is very durable.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Mini B, but I hate its problems. Once I get them fixed I will love it even more and use it a lot. I got it mainly for indoor use. I already have enough outside toys to keep me content. I have a big basement that I plan on driving it in mainly. I understand that driving it indoors will cause me some interference problems, but the constant noise and jittering seems like something else. Like I said, I tried to change channels without success on the receiver. Can anybody help me with this problem?
As far as the motor, I have never had brush problems with any of my Tamiyas. If brush problem rate is 30% or even close to that, it's insane. But that is typical Chinese quality. Now there's an oxymoron - "Chinese quality". It seems to me that the brushes are really not all the free to move because of the stiffness of the wire and because of the way they're soldered on. That's not a huge concern because aftermarket motors are cheap, but I shouldn't have to put up with this crap on a brand new car. The receiver is my bigger concern because, as I said, it wont switch channels. Is it bad?
On Monday I'm going to contact Losi. I hope they stand behind their product. I'll let you guys know how it went.
OK now I'm confused. It seems like my battery is not charging. I have a DuraTrax Piranha AC/DC Digital Peak Charger and I've been charging it with that. It has beeped every time saying that the battery was complete. But it never seemed like full charge except for the very first charge. But then again maybe that wasn't fully charged. I don't know how fast stock Mini Bajas are. Today I tried charging the battery with the included wall charger. I let it on there for 6 hours and when I put it in the Mini B it was slow and seemed dead right away. What gives?
do you have a voltmeter to check the battery packs voltage....a fully charged pack should be about 1.15v per cell. a fully discharged pack will show about .9v per cell. The digital piranha gives this info.....when the pack has peaked....you will see the voltage in the pack.....when it is charging you will see voltage applied to the pack....
another question.....did you straighten out your problems???
your pack may need to be discharged to .9v per cell and charged...
I called Horizon Hobby today (aka Losi) and the guy was good about it. I did wait forever on the phone though.
I first told the guy about the motor and he also said it's probably a brush and they'd replace the motor.
Then I told him about the receiver and he said send that and the motor back for replacment.
And right before he hung up I remembered about the bearing. And he said something like "well at this point I'd say just send us the whole truck". They're going to look into it. He only wants me to send the truck, though - no transmitter or anything. He's probably thinking I've had this car for a while and have trashed it, but I haven't! I have like 2 or 3 runs out of it. I'll keep you guys updated.
New Mini Baja - Two Problems
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