Problem getting new electronics to work
 

First off, I'm completely new to the RC world. I inherited a 1986 Blackfoot that I'm trying to restore with new electronics. It has the original motor, which still works, but the speed controller doesn't work very well, so I wanted to upgrade. Here's what I have:

• Futaba T3PRKA 2.4G Transmitter (new)
• Futaba R203GF Receiver (new - came with the transmitter)
• QuicRun 1060 Brushed ESC (new)
• Futaba servos that came with the truck (old)
• New battery with Tamiya plug (Ni-MH battery)

The problem I'm having is getting everything to work. The transmitter and receiver are synched based on the instructions, but I can't get the servos to run nor the motor to spin. Like I said, I'm completely new and I've read multiple things on it, but I keep getting more confused the more I read. Does anyone have any experience with this setup, or have I installed things incorrectly where it won't work? Or do I have parts that aren't compatible and need to buy something new? Any help is appreciated!

1) Charge you battery
2) Connect battery to ESC and confirm it lights up when turned on... set jumpers to NiMh mode
3) Connect ESC to Rx on Ch2
4) Connect Servo to Rx on Ch1
5) Confirm steering controls servo, make sure trim is zeroed out on the throttle for ESC to calibrate
6) unplug/swap out servo with known good servo if ESC works but not the servo

If you accidentally reversed the polarity at any time, then chances are you fried the ESC and it will need to be replaced.

it does help to get the correct info.. this esc has no dip switches it has jumpers.. to set lipo or nimh mode

esc can not be blown by having radio in wrong position..no way no how.

QuicRun WP 1060 Brushed_Car Systems_HOBBYWING | Welcome to Brushless System Trends -

only thing i agree with is make sure battery nimh is charged

radio and included rx are not bound so they must be binded to work that might be the only thing thats wrong with this.. yes chanel 1 is servo ch 2 is esc.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll work on all of this tonight to see if it corrects my problem.

Also, how do I know the polarity of the motor? There aren't any markings on the motor itself, just yellow and green wires (motor side) and yellow and blue on the ESC.

just to clarify, I meant the polarity from the battery to the ESC is what can't be reversed without risk of damaging the ESC... if you reverse the polarity from ESC to motor, it will simply change the direction that motor spins, that's no big deal, typically you can either reverse the direction on the radio or swap the wires between the ESC and motor to get it move in the direction you would like.

Gotcha, that's what i was thinking, but wanted to double check!

If the servos are analog, make sure the radio is not in high speed mode.

This is a cardinal rule, you should never turn off the Tx without first turning off the car... however, there should be "fail safe" setting in your user manual that came with the radio to help you set the "Rx" to zero out when then signal from the Tx is lost, but this should never be a feature to rely on.

Ok, thanks for the info. I thought maybe I wired something incorrect. I'll read through the manual for the Tx and Rx and see if I need to adjust something.

Futaba has a pretty good reputation for keeping settings long term... but there are some brands of radios that intermittently lose their settings, seen folks get runaways because they relied on their "fail safe" settings, turned off their Tx and then watch their car go WOT into an innocent person with their back turned... ouch!

Probably wouldn't hurt to hold the car in the air and periodically check the "fail safe" is still properly configured by turning off the Tx to check. It could spell disaster if you ever drive your car out of range and lose signal only to watch your car drive off into the sunset... ha!

That's great advice. Mostly I'll be driving my truck in my own yard, but I don't want it running off on me. Haha