Multiple issues, or just one?
 

Hello,

My scenario...

Duratrax - 835E
TrakPower 5600 Lipo - 5600 mAh 14.8 V 60C 83Wh 4s
Charger HiTec X1 Touch - Settings - 5600 mAh - 5.6V charge current - 2.0A discharge current

Scenario 1

New battery - 2 uses , charges 1 hour 13 minutes, completes at 3558 mAh
Run time 6 minutes full power until brief loss of connectivity to remote, runs another 8 minutes with connectivity, and then steadily loses range over the next 10 minutes, first at 25 feet, then 20, and then rapidly down to about 3 feet... and that's that.

At one point toward the very end of the battery life, it seemed as though the buggy also lurched forward, not entirely on its own, I did touch the trigger... but I didn't floor it, the buggy appeared to take off at full speed.

Is this due to the fact that the battery has only been charged twice? Am I in a situation where this is a normal break in period? Is it possible I messed up my charger settings?

Thanks so much,

Nick

You are charging the battery correctly. There's no break in necessary on a lipo battery.

It sort of sounds like the low voltage cutoff, but that wouldn't explain why you can continue to run another 8 minutes.

What radio/receiver are you using? I'm more inclined to think that's where your problem lies.

Have you changed the transmitter batteries?

You'd think, but the transmitter is stock DuraTrax and came with the buggy, the transmitter batteries are 4 week old Energizer Lithium Ultimate... I'm at a loss, I have a second TrakPower that's fully charged and also new, I'm going to run the batteries side by side tomorrow and see what happens. However the intermittent loss of connectivity is worrisome as the buggy can shoot off as I mentioned, I'd be really upset if it hit a person.

Brown out maybe?

In terms of loss of power?

The lack of range is a radio problem. Check the radio battery.

The batters are four week old Energizer Lithium, I suppose one could be bad, but they're pretty decent batteries.

I did change the charge parameters to max 5500 as the manufacturer suggest just below 5600. After charging both batters yesterday, I was able to get a max charge on both. However run times remain to be seen. I'm going swap out the batteries just to see what happens.

I second that.

A quick blip of the throttle can cause enough of a voltage drop to the receiver to shut it down for a split second causing a glitch situation. If there is an LED on your receiver I'd put the rig up on a stand and hit the throttle quickly while steering the car and watch to see if that LED goes out for a split second.

I am now at a total loss. Fresh batteries, started losing connection 10 minutes in. Total run time was 25 minutes, however at this point I'm convinced it's the car and not the batteries/charger. The remote was disconnected from 40 feet, then 20, and eventually down to less than 3 feet. Thinking OK, this is crappy, but meh, maybe the battery didn't charge all the way - I swap out to a fresh Trakpower 5600, nothing.Iintermittent connectivity at less than three feet, and then... the buggy moved forward on its own, I kid you not. I have no clue, the thing is possessed.

And I just saw your response, thank you so much, I wish I could have tried.

After some back and forth with Duratrax tech support, we agreed that I'd remove the transmitter ans ESC to be replaced under warranty. It was actually a nice little beginner project, I really want to build a buggy and I think I'm going to finally do it.

Putting the truck on a stand and blipping the throttle might not catch it. With the tires free spinning, there's little to no load on the motor.

Explain in more details what happens when you loose connectivity. Does it just come back on it's own? After how long?

Don't know if you'd have enough time to get to the truck when it happened again, but if possible drive it around without the body and when the problem occurs set your radio on the ground and run and look at the receiver and see if it's got a solid LED.

Is the problem happening immediately after a hard acceleration?

Not sure what 2.4ghz system the Duratrax radio uses, but you might want to try and rebind the receiver. I had glitching problems on a DSSS radio that was solved by rebinding.

I've got a buggy right now that will brown out on the stand just by blipping the throttle. That's even with a glitch buster, two glitch busters and it goes away.

I had a stadium truck that you had to blip the throttle and steer quickly to get it to brown out, all on the stand.