Car loses power
11-20-2012, 05:45 AM
#1
Car loses power
First, let me start off by saying I'm fairly new to the hobby.
I bought a used TC3 about 5 months ago from the LHS and have been addicted ever since. The TC3 came with a brushed setup and the brushes went bad shortly after, so I upgraded to a Trinity D3 13.5t and a Novak GTB2. I'm also running an Airtronics servo that I got from the guy who holds the club races locally.
A couple months ago my car started freaking out. I would lose steering and it would take off at full speed. It usually only lasted a second or two, but usually long enough to hit something. Luckily the TC3 is built like a tank.
I was using a Fly Sky GT3B, and I thought that was the problem since it was a $40 transmitter. Last week I got a TC6.1 Worlds kit for my birthday. (Took me about 13 hours total to build it... lol) A friend of mine let me use his Traxxas TQi until I got a new transmitter, because I wasn't about to risk it with the Fly Sky.
With the TQi I had different symptoms. The car just dies out, almost as if I'm out of range. I lose steering and power. I even stood in the middle of the track and drove successfully for a few laps without it glitching. The TQi had a nick in the receiver wire, so I thought maybe it was losing range.
The same friend had a 2.4ghz transmitter that came with his Thunder Power bike that we knew to work well and have no issues. The car did the same thing, only this time it lost power on the back of the stretch and I broke a couple parts on my TC6.
I'm thinking it's the ESC, which sucks because I can't find the receipt for it. I found the receipt for the motor and the labor I paid the LHS to wire the ESC to the motor, which is the first day it was used. 7/21/2012. My LHS isn't open yet so I don't know if they'll be able to provide me with a receipt or not, but I'm right at the 120 day mark for Novak's warranty, even though the problem has been happening for a while now.
My friend told me he read that if your steering servo is going bad, it can cause weird problems like mine. Is that true?
I'm pretty strapped for cash and I'm dying to race my new car. Novak's 'trade-in' program is $80 for my particular ESC, provided I can't come up with a receipt. I just spent $115 on this thing 4 months ago! I'm almost hoping it's the steering servo at this point, since I already ruled out my $40 transmitter. What should I do?
I bought a used TC3 about 5 months ago from the LHS and have been addicted ever since. The TC3 came with a brushed setup and the brushes went bad shortly after, so I upgraded to a Trinity D3 13.5t and a Novak GTB2. I'm also running an Airtronics servo that I got from the guy who holds the club races locally.
A couple months ago my car started freaking out. I would lose steering and it would take off at full speed. It usually only lasted a second or two, but usually long enough to hit something. Luckily the TC3 is built like a tank.
I was using a Fly Sky GT3B, and I thought that was the problem since it was a $40 transmitter. Last week I got a TC6.1 Worlds kit for my birthday. (Took me about 13 hours total to build it... lol) A friend of mine let me use his Traxxas TQi until I got a new transmitter, because I wasn't about to risk it with the Fly Sky.
With the TQi I had different symptoms. The car just dies out, almost as if I'm out of range. I lose steering and power. I even stood in the middle of the track and drove successfully for a few laps without it glitching. The TQi had a nick in the receiver wire, so I thought maybe it was losing range.
The same friend had a 2.4ghz transmitter that came with his Thunder Power bike that we knew to work well and have no issues. The car did the same thing, only this time it lost power on the back of the stretch and I broke a couple parts on my TC6.
I'm thinking it's the ESC, which sucks because I can't find the receipt for it. I found the receipt for the motor and the labor I paid the LHS to wire the ESC to the motor, which is the first day it was used. 7/21/2012. My LHS isn't open yet so I don't know if they'll be able to provide me with a receipt or not, but I'm right at the 120 day mark for Novak's warranty, even though the problem has been happening for a while now.
My friend told me he read that if your steering servo is going bad, it can cause weird problems like mine. Is that true?
I'm pretty strapped for cash and I'm dying to race my new car. Novak's 'trade-in' program is $80 for my particular ESC, provided I can't come up with a receipt. I just spent $115 on this thing 4 months ago! I'm almost hoping it's the steering servo at this point, since I already ruled out my $40 transmitter. What should I do?
Last edited by Hardlion; 11-20-2012 at 05:48 AM. Reason: Formatting
11-20-2012, 07:48 AM
#3
Good to know! Atleast it's not something I already spent money on. I was really hoping it wasn't the esc. Thanks! I'll change the servo and post the results (as soon as I get my parts for the tc6).
11-20-2012, 11:23 AM
#4
Tech Regular
iTrader: (4)
Are you using a glitch-buster cap on your receiver? Servos can cause a brownout which glitches like you describe. They can be had for under $15.00 and are packaged by Novak and Spectrum, among others. The brand doesn't matter other than price. You may replace your servo to have the same issue as before besides being out $40.00 or more.
11-20-2012, 01:39 PM
#6
And if you get a cap, you need to wire it up to a servo connector, and plug it correctly into an unused slot in the receiver. It basically prevents "brown outs" when the battery voltage dips under servo activity or current draw from the motor makes the ESC's battery eliminator circuit "brown out".
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