Hi, New to forum and would appreciate some advice please.

Background: Been into RC since.. forever! Had untold cars, planes and helli’s. Never raced but am very familiar with the tech. (I work in Hydrogen fuel cells so I know a bit about DC electrics)

At Christmas I took advantage of the wife saying I should spend more time with my 5yo son. So took the opportunity to augment my ageing GV cage and hyper 7 nitro with a Losi 8ight TE truggy (simply awesome!!) and got my son a Rustler XL 5.

I originally wanted a Tekin sensored setup for the TE but though a waterproof setup would be best here in the UK or I would never get to use it! So I got a Castle MM X set with a 2200kv motor. I also bought a Hobbywing EZRUN SC8 120 Amp ESC to get the cage running and a Etronix Photon 80A ESC and HPI Flux Mmh-4000kv Brushless Motor to upgrade the Rustler as he outgrew to std brushed system in hours!

Well, 2 minutes after running the CC on my very first 4s lipo the fan and switch died. (Emailed Castle and they sent me 2 switch harnesses and 2 fan units from the US FOC, Max kudos!) Long story short, On my 6th lipo the CC ESC died. The Hobywing ESC died on the 3rd lipo (3s) and the Etronix ESC died on the 4th lipo (3s, nerfed to 50% power).

Fed up with this (and urgently needing my bashing fix whilst the other units were being repaired) I bought a Tekin Rx8 Gen2 ESC Combo With 4038 T8Gen2 Motor 2000kv. This ESC died last weekend on the 2nd lipo (4s) (one phase dropped out) that’s 4 ESC’s in 2 months!

Look, It’s not like I don’t know what I am doing, there is nothing to get wrong! All esc’s were set with low timing for torque and longevity, the lipos were either gen ace or overlander. (I may have run the odd 6s setup on the CC for fun..)

Is this just a run of bad luck? are these products poor quality or am I doing something spectacularly wrong?

Certainly doesn't seem normal. What temperatures were you seeing, motor and ESC? What gearing? And what type of surfaces are you running on?

Hi
I was only out bashing. The Castle ESC would not read on the link after it stopped. The tekin dropped a phase immediately after changing the battery so it never got hot. I only run a 14t pinion (not sure what this would give overall). I would asume that they would have safety systems that would prevent damage if they got too hot? I guess this should be on the losi thread but what pinions are "normal" for an 8ight TE 3.0?
Thaks for reply by the way. The Castle and Tekin replacements are due back today. I'm gona try dropping to a 12t and keep a closer eye on temps see if that helps

maybe try running in small bursts and monitor temps on esc, motor and battery, see if one is getting excessively hot. Make sure your esc fans are working too. Although it is not unheard of but you have some quality esc's that should not be failing like that across 3 different manufacturers. As the problem has occurred on different esc's it may not be an esc fault but something else.

On two different cars too!
Good advice, will run in bursts and monitor temps. Also gona drop to a 12t. Thanks for your opinions guys.ĺ

keep us updated, interested to see how it goes.

RX8 How many LED are lite after 5min?? That quickly tells you if its Thermal Cut-out. Average is just about 4 LED's. Flashing from 1st LED and 3rd LED at the start is normal.

Thanks for the advice guys. When i get them all back (and there isn't a storm blowing outside!) I'll run them again and report back. I have to say, in the short time i had with them i far prefer the Tiken to the CC. Like compering fresh, soft white bread with butter with old crusty french bread with sand in it. Both do the job but the CC was so cogy. Far more adjustment on the RX8, and from your phone too! Nice. You can interface with it without pulling ur RX out as well! Shame it not waterproof and doesn't have auto lipo detection or it would be perfect.