Brown outs and Mamba Max Pro
 

I have a B44.2 with a Tekin 5.5 motor, a Mamba Max Pro esc and a XP1015 servo.



I keep experiencing brown outs. Sometimes everything shuts-off, sometimes the motor quits but I still have steering ( maybe that's because the ESC is re-initializing after a brown out? )


I'm wondering if the XP1015 servo draws too much juice from de MMP BEC. I just relaced the servo with a BLS451. Do you think the BLS451 will draw less current? I'm 75 miles away from the track so It's a little difficult to do tests at home ( and there's a snow storm outside... again.. )


Thank you!

Yes they do that, often from the draw off a good steering servo..

First thing is to see if a glitch buster is enough to fix the issue.

They are cheap and simple to add in, if that is not cutting it you will need to switch to an external BEC.

The built in BEC on that speed-o is just not pushing much juice out.

I bet you have a spektrum reciever?

the mmp has a weak bec, you'll need an external one. I'm using the castle 10a and have no problem at all on my 1/8 buggy with the mmp.

Thank you, I changed to a less power hungry BLS451, and I found a 4700 uf 10V cap that I installed in my receiver.


Hopefully this will work, the track is 80 miles away...

what he describes inst the bec, its the CRAP power switch. Replace it, or just solder the wires together and use your battery plug to turn the car onn and off.

Doubt it, but clip the switch and solder the wires together anyway because it will go out at the worst time.

True, happened to me in racing but it was with a mamba monster. A good thing to know is that it doesn't void the guarantee, I asked Castle for this.

Put a Novak glitch buster on one of the receiver's channels...

Ok I went to the track last night and changing the servo and adding a capacitor did not fix the problem.


I also tried installing a separate BEC, and the ESC kept resetting itself. I removed the switch, tried with the sensor cable removed, tried different lipos, re-soldered my connectors, tried various firmwares...


No joy.


Next step: put the ESC behind the wheel of my full-size car, and put the car in reverse. I'm done with Castle: I've had several car ESC's, and only one has been working correctly from the start. I've had a bunch of helicopter ESC's, they have been the subject of two recalls ( and they have a history of bursting into flame!)


Ordering a Tekin RS pro.

If you haven't destroyed it yet, I'll pay for shipping and you can send it to me.

Hello,
I had the same problem when using a high amp draw motor. I was already running a separate BEC etc... After putting a datalogger on the system I could see that after ~45Amps the ESC would cut out. You have probably noticed that it only happens when your motor is under high load. If you smoothly get on the throttle, all will work okay. I ended up using a different ESC as well.

Nothing wrong with the esc, just way too much motor.

It is only rated at 2650 kv, The 5.5 550 motor is a 4000 kv motor.

http://www.castlecreations.com/suppo...-advisory.html

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...-550-Motor-55T

Well they don't say that in the product description when you buy the ESC.

This ESC is supposed to run the 7700 and 9000 Kv Mamba motors...

I'm not running the ESC in a short course either.


Anyway, I talked to my LHS and he might exchange the ESC for a Tekin ( I'll cover the price difference)

Don't get wrong I hope it works for you, The key is 4 WD, Not the short course reference. 4 Wheel Drive greatly reduces the kv you can run.

Only trying to help. Been in the hobby 30 years & seen the simplest thing problems for months.
Yes it will run open mod in a 36 ounce, 2wd pan car but not a 4 pound off-road 4wd buggy.

Check with racers at your local track, gear ratio, drag in the drive train, a bad bearing, wrong settings on your radio or esc can also create the problems you are having.

Tom

Thanks for the suggestions. I've been in the hobby for a while too, I know what you mean when you say the simplest things can be the hardest to fix sometimes...

However, I think Castle could be a bit clearer about their products limitations... They seem so absolutely confident that their products are bulletproof! Look at this product description:

( I linked to the Castle site... product description of the MMP... Seems like I don't have enough posts here to post a link... oh well...)


Nowhere in this ad is any indications of how many amps the BEC can supply ( they just say it can go up to 7V! ), and I don't see an amperage limitation or anything about the BEC or the ESC itself( every other ESC manufacturer lists these specs...)