Thanks for the replies. Makes sense since the air temp was upper 50's. Can was temping 120ish. Will check it out. Ran great otherwise with a protek 100c saddle pack. Have to admit I'm impressed with the protections viper has designed in and how well they work. Almost like a new generation of electronics. When I first started running the black and yellow a few years back magic smoke was usually the first sign of a problem. Viper is setting a new standard.

running the viper vst 17.5 in my T4.2 and i'm looking for some gearing help. currently running 28-78 and truck lacks punch on the small tight track i'm running on. Temps are way down, like 85 after a 5 min heat. esc is lower around 65, but inside it's cool on the track cause it's cold outside here. I have a mamba max pro with no boost, no traction control, medium start power and 30 deg on the can. This is a new build for me so I don't have much track time on the set up (got it off the AE site).

Try 28/72. That is what I have run with my SC10b so the weight is about the same and the gear ratio is the same. Also, turn the motor can timing all the way up to 45. Check your motor temp and if it is still ok, move the timing a little bit more. There is a sweet spot just after 45 degrees of can timing. It will really wake up the motor.

sweet, thanks for the intel.

I've got a pretty major problem. I'm running the VTX10 BE with either a viper 7.5 or an LRP X12 7.5 and no matter the gearing or throttle frequency I run it constantly gets so hot it either shits doe now is so hot I ca t even touch it. I dunno what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

the esc gets that hot? which car are you running it in? you have 3 listed in your sig. if its in the b44.2, then your over working the esc. The wheeler should have the vtx10r. Are you running on super high bite like carpet? what is your gearing?

Yeah sorry, it's the B44.2. Not sure I understand. What's the difference? Usually it's just motor turn limits.

well, yes and no..... You also cant put the vtx10 in a sct 4x4 truck with a 6.5 motor, even though the esc is 6.5 rated. The power to turn 4 wheels and the extra weight combined make for a heavy load. I have heard of people using the vtx10 with a 10.5 in 4x4 buggy. Also, are you running cooling? An esc fan?

No, I've never seen a cooling fan for a viper speedo

your over powering and under cooling your esc. thats why its hot. here is their fan
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...10-ESC-Fan-Kit

So what's the solution that doesn't involve getting a different speedo? That's simply not in the budget.

well, a fan for sure......Maybe a softer motor. but your going to need the fan.....

you can dig on this thread. There were a few people using the vtx10 in the b44.2, I know a few were using 10.5s, but I wanna say some got the 8.5 to work with a fan on the esc. definitely make sure you have the esc temp cutoff set correctly to protect it.

I read about A64 software tweaks at the Reedy Race. any info?

AssocRacer, make sure you have ventilated the body properly before you do anything else. A tight fighting, unventilated body on a 4x4 buggy will burn up any ESC. I'm running a VTX10R 6.5 in my Durango DEX410 with no fan. I should probably have a fan. Higher throttle and brake frequencies will build heat in the ESC too. Check where those are set.