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Old 08-22-2012 | 01:13 PM
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Default spectrum brown out issue help.

hey guys. so i have a problem with the spectrum stuff lately. i have a dx2.0 with 2 spectrum recievers, a sr300 and the losi mxr3000 (i could be wrong on the actually model number thing, but its losi's dsm reciever). it does the same exact thing in both my cars -

22 buggy
tekin rs speedo
7.5 trinity
savox 1257 servo

22t truck
tekin rs speedo
17.5 trinity
ko propo servo (not sure model number)

usually involves the steering. if i trun left then qucikly turn right, it will brown out. it will just quit for about 2 seconds and continue. im guessing my voltage is going down to a point where it shuts off, then when regained power, comes back.

my main question is, what can i do to fix this?

the funny thing about this, is i have a flysky gt3-b that ive been using with both cars, that work just fine with both units. annnnd i tried an old AM associated radio in the buggy and no glitching at all!

im very confused why the am radio worked fine and all. but the spectrum browned out.

so looking for a solution (specific). im guessing ill need a external BEC, any links to a good one to fix the issue would be awesome! let me know guys, thanks!
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Old 08-22-2012 | 01:28 PM
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Get a 10A Castle BEC.
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Old 08-22-2012 | 01:31 PM
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Just run a power cap. Cost about 5 bucks.
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Old 08-22-2012 | 01:38 PM
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found the castle bec. i might get those but where can i get a power cap? and will that for sure fix the issue?
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Old 08-22-2012 | 02:01 PM
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A capacitor might help, but those dsm1 receivers are highly prone to brownouts, especially when hooked up to a high draw servo like the savox. Here is the kind of cap being referred to http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...P?I=LXNRE0&P=8

The BEC would be a better solution.

....or a better radio (not spektrum)
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Old 08-22-2012 | 02:26 PM
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So a brown out is when the car just randomly dies for a couple seconds?

I took my sc10 to the track a couple weeks ago and at one point it seemed to loose power or something weird for a second. After it started operating normally I didn't really think much of it.

I was either using a 5000mah 40c gens ace lipo or a 3000mah onyx nimh battery, I don't remember which one was in it at the time.

It's practically the stock brushless RTR(not the race version). The only things I changed in it so far is a Savox 1258 servo, Futaba R603FF Receiver with Futaba 3pm and an AMB transponder. I do have a Reedy Sonic brushless motor and an LRP speed control to install, and I'm guessing those will take more power.

Is this BEC/power cap the same thing as a glitch buster?

I really don't understand what a brown out is but have been noticing people talking about them more and more. ?

Last edited by Zac_with_no_K; 08-22-2012 at 02:37 PM.
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Old 08-22-2012 | 02:41 PM
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A brown out is when the voltage drops so low the receiver doesn't work. When the voltage pops back up ('cause now neither the motor nor the servo are loading the battery) the receiver turns back on but it takes a second to get its bearings.

A glitch buster is a capacitor, and in my case at least, didn't solve the issue entirely but did help to reduce it. It's my kid's car and he's young enough that his throttle EPA is 45% at most, so it doesn't bug him.

The freestanding BEC is probably the best bet, or eliminate the Spektrum gear. That's my intent eventually.
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Old 08-22-2012 | 02:45 PM
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A quick explanation of the brown out issue everybody thinks you're having, also commonly called glitching.

An ESC (electronic speed control) has a BEC inside of it to provide power to everything that is not the motor. That power is sent from the ESC to your receiver, and from the receiver out to the other items (such as a servo, transponder, etc). Some ESCs have a better BEC that can deal with a high current draw (especially in bursts) than others. When you quickly turn one way and the other, the servo uses more power (more so if there is also resistance from sitting on the ground or while fighting traction in a turn). This draw of power will stress the BEC more. In many cases, due to the BEC not being able to fully handle the burst power requirement, it will drop the voltage being provided, thus why it is called a brownout.

Every receiver will operate within a given voltage range. Some of them (regardless of brand) are more sensitive to this than others. The ones you happen to have are both highly sensitive to this issue and don't work well at lower voltages. What happens is when the voltage drops too far, they shut off and then once the brownout is over they come back on. You could replace them with newer spektrum DSM2 modules (which is what I run in all my vehicles) and probably be fine...but I doubt that is money you want to spend, since otherwise the rx's you have should work fine.

The simple and cheap solution to this is a "glitch buster", which is a capacitor that sits on that power channel and charges up. When something like the servo then wants to pull a burst of power, instead of browning out the BEC that badly, once there is an extra draw and voltage drop, the capacitor sends in extra power to deal with that initial burst, preventing the big brownout. I typically recommend doing this even if you don't need it for your rx, simply because it is kinder to your ESC's built in BEC. A "glitch buster" is a plug and play solution that should cost 5-10 bucks in most places, so is definitely worth a try.

The other solution is to run an external BEC that can handle more of a load. This is most commonly required in 8th scale vehicles that have high voltage and high torque servos.
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Old 08-22-2012 | 02:52 PM
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Zac, it has more to do with the internal bec of your esc and power hungry servos than it does with what battery you're running. Some receivers will operate at a lower voltage, created from the load of a power hungry servo like the Savox. Others (receivers) won't, like the DSM1 receivers listed by the OP.

I run DSM2 receivers with Savox (they were free) servos and have no issues. Running Orion Pro v10 esc's, fyi.
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Old 08-22-2012 | 02:54 PM
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justpoet nailed it, only issue with the OP going to DSM2 is that, IIRC his radio won't support them...along with the added cost.
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Old 08-22-2012 | 03:15 PM
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a spektrum voltage protector will fix it. Mine was browning out and glitching like crazy.

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...tage-Protector
Attached Thumbnails spectrum brown out issue help.-photo-2-.jpg  
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Old 08-23-2012 | 10:44 AM
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Originally Posted by racer1812
justpoet nailed it, only issue with the OP going to DSM2 is that, IIRC his radio won't support them...along with the added cost.
http://www.horizonhobby.co.uk/autoon...2/j26_dx2.html

Spektrum shipped the dx2.0 with DSM2 for a while, and someplace there's a page where you can have them add it to yours if your model doesn't have it already.
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Old 08-23-2012 | 03:38 PM
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Originally Posted by justpoet
http://www.horizonhobby.co.uk/autoon...2/j26_dx2.html

Spektrum shipped the dx2.0 with DSM2 for a while, and someplace there's a page where you can have them add it to yours if your model doesn't have it already.
thanks for the info on the radio. im soon gonna be using a m11 with spectrum module in it, and i believe they only made them them as dsm1 compatible.
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Old 08-23-2012 | 04:05 PM
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I sell them for $6.50 shipped. But any 10V 4700uf + cap will work. Novak and other brands other than Spektrum are smaller.
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Old 09-02-2012 | 02:42 AM
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We had to use the caps in our cars here. Some wired them in series with their servos and others just plugged them into channel 3 or 4. High Voltage Servos will cause the brown outs. The Caps are cheap and they work. Once you get one you can confidence check them by turning back and forth as fast as you can to see if you can glitch the servo. More than likely you will not see this issue with the Glitch Buster Caps in place. Best of luck!
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