Ibeachy18

Will the car slow down if you overheat your motor or esc because I run a 3 cell lipo with the vxl brushless bandit and I overheated my lipo so I got another one but the car does not have near the power that it used to do does that mean that I overheated my motor? Or what else could it be?

samnelso

iTrader: (1)

yep, you could have. Keep it below 160°F. This is the onroad forum btw.

2uzferunner03

First of all what are the ratings on your lipo? A lipo should rarely get warm and never get hot. I'm guessing it's too small for this application.

As far as the motor goes you need to reduce your your pinion size when using 3s. Something around 18-25 teeth.

You'll be able to get away with more gearing if you
A) get an rpm gearbox which has an aluminum motor mount to reduce temps.
B) get a clip on heat sink with a fan for the motor.
C) get a fan for the esc.

Also make sure all your bearings are free and spinning right. If you started out with an xl5 your going to have bushings instead of bearings. Change those out to bearings asap.

andrewv28

iTrader: (1)

I had a velineon motor start to get slow as well. I'm sure I may have overheated it too. I ended up sending it to traxxas and paying for a new one. I was careful after that to make sure my gearing was good. Traxxas makes a temp gauge you can add to your car. Cheaper than overheated motors.

2uzferunner03

Save your rc some weight and get a handheld temp guage. Harbor freight has nice ones for like $10. Probably more accurate than traxxas telemetry mess too.

Geezatec

Heat brushless motors downfall. What rating of ESC and motor? Find out if they can take 3C lipos! Go from there. Stock VXL can only take NiMd.

andrewv28

iTrader: (1)

The vxl will run a 3s lipo.

hispeedguy

iTrader: (37)

as mentioned before, this is the on road thread, just an FYI.
With that being said, start with the obvious things:
1) Did your VXL ESC get switched to training mode somehow? That would be 50% throttle. Reset your ESC to normal mode and see if performance returns.
2) Check the gear mesh between spur and pinion. If too tight it will add heat to motor and overheat the bearings. Use a strip of paper between the pinion and spur to set the proper mesh.
3) If you overheated the motor, how badly was it overheated? A cheap temp gun is a must have in your toolbox. As previously stated, Harbor Freight has them for $10 or so. That would be adequate for what you need.
-if you really torched the motor, the magnets are probably toast and/or the bearings at either or both end of the motor. You can pull the black plastic endbell cap off the motor, then carefully disassemble the motor to inspect the bearings. You can replace the bearings if they are ruined. If magnets are weak, look for a replacement motor.
4) Check all 4 corners to make sure your wheels are rolling free w/ no binding. Friction is the enemy and will add heat to any motor. You want ALL of the bearings clean and lubed so wheels spin free.
5) Check the bullet connectors/wires. Make sure nothing is melted or wires touching from motor to ESC.
VXL will run up to 3s with proper gearing. Check in the manual for suggested gearing or the Traxxas website. I've never had a Bandit so I don't know what suggested gearing is. Check the rating of the 3s lipo as well. The Bandit is pretty light so anything over 30c is probably OK unless you are overgeared (too tall).
Good luck and have fun

Geezatec

What ma the 3lipo give out and the amp the motor rated at? Question should've been asked in the first place!! Other than ESC hot and motor!! Which VXL he running. More info is needed.