John Stranahan

iTrader: (27)

Try removing and reinstalling both ends of the sensor cable to the motor and the speed control. The little plugs. If the problem does not go away there may be damage or defect in the sensors installed in the motor that would require sending it back for service. That is a very time consuming process. Tell me if you need a 3.5 replacement. I have a couple brand new just returned from service. One had the problem you mentioned originally caused by a rotor failure and was returned with sensor damage. I sent it back and it was replaced with a new motor.
John

yyhayyim

iTrader: (26)

John:

I'm trying out a TC5, but I'm having trouble with the shocks leaking from the bottom. Only two shocks are doing this...front right, and left rear.

It seems like the shock is not being sealed properly from the bottom, and it leaks a bunch of oil after a run.

According to the manual, the piston is followed by the black cylindrical "thing", then by an o-ring, and then a 2mm spacer. Any tips tricks to stop the leaking?

John Stranahan

iTrader: (27)

Check the caps and see if they are tight first and make sure the leak is not running down the shock body. If the leak is out the bottom then the O-rings must have been damaged (if it is a new kit). Try the assembly again with new O-rings and make sure there is plenty of shock oil on the shaft while you slide the parts on the shaft. Then lube the body bottom before sliding the parts home.
John

yyhayyim

iTrader: (26)

Thanks John...I think the bottom leak issues have been cured

Now, how do you adjust shock rebound on these shocks? On the Losi Type R shocks or the Schumacher MI3 shocks they have tiny bleeding holes on the shock caps, which lets excess oil out, and you can adjust rebound very easily.

With the TC5 shocks, there's no bleed holes, and I'm trying to figure out how to set shocks at around 50% rebound...Bleeding them its very triky, and maybe these shocks are adjusted with the blue rebound foams on the caps? How do you adjust rebound on the shocks?

John Stranahan

iTrader: (27)

Firstly you fill the shocks a little over full. Then when you put the cap on some fluid will ooze out. There should be little air in the shock now, but the shock can compress the rubber bladder in the cap as the shaft goes in. Check the rebound. If the shock is hard to compress all the way, then there is too much fluid, loosen the cap just a little and push the shaft in maybe half way. This will push out just a little fluid. Now check again.
John

yyhayyim

iTrader: (26)

Ok. so you just make sure the shock shaft moves w/o pressure....but dont really worry about setting a specific rebound setting? For example, bleeding enough oil so that the shaft rebounds 30% out after being pushed in/up on the shock body? FT drivers like to use specific dampening rebound, and I can easily do this with other shocks...but these AE shocks are a bit frustrating to deal with at first

John Stranahan

iTrader: (27)

What I do is make sure that the shock shaft moves without going into hydraulic lock. That is a big increase in force as the shaft nears the top. This means there is too much oil. You are not meant to adjust rebound on these as the bladder is there to remove "all the air" rather than to adjust rebound. The different foam inserts will give slightly different rebounds. You should make rebound the same, but I don't have a specific rebound goal in mind when I adjust them. They work extremely well and are very low friction due to the single o ring seal.
john

fathead

You can vary the amount of rebound by varying the position of the shock shaft when building them, if you want full rebound extend the shaft fully then roll the bladder on to the shock making sure to get all the air out then screw the cap on, to get less rebound put the shock shaft at say 50% extension the put the bladder on (making sure the shaft doesn't push out further as you put the bladder on), this will give you less rebound.

Lots of the factory guys appear not to be using any foam on top of the bladder, I only use the small one myself.

John Stranahan

iTrader: (27)

Fathead-Thanks for the additional detail on shock rebound.

Speaking of shocks, I had another good 30 minutes of runtime on the TC5. Traction was medium with some dust. Better than last session. There were a couple of bumps that have heaved up with the changing of the Season. The car was going airborne 3 inches or so on the straight at speeds of 40mph or so. Now this does not disturb the car much but it disturbs the driver and you tend to ease up for a good landing. I decided the RC18 shocks were no longer adequate and also the car needed more ride height now. I replaced the small shocks with the large Factory TC5 shocks. I have the piston tops drilled to ease bump travel. The car was much improved. I did have to raise the ride height a bit as well. The car has been doing quite well with the smaller shocks until now and was really fast when it was at about 44 ounces of weight. I am up a bit from that now.

LRP Rotor
I had another LRP 3.5 blow the rotor. In the pits this time after one pack. I usually give just a little gas to the car before I set it down to make sure things are plugged in and the tires are going forward. Not at high speed any more. No luck. I heard the little sharp splintering sound the rotor makes when it hits the windings. Good thing I have some spares. The nickel plated rotors on not shiping with the repairs yet. I look forward to this upgrade. I have 4 or these motors, so I can keep a constant stream going back to LRP. I thought I had the problem whipped with no revving and a slightly taller gear.

I notice Novak Warns not to rev brushless motors with no load now.
John

jason douget

iTrader: (15)

Hey John,

Its Jason (not jason lee) the other jason. i am at mikes with you a lot and i drive the kyosh0 rrr wc vone. I bought the tc5 from Robert and built it, installed a lrp tc sphere and lrp 3.5 brushless. I am running a team orion 3200 mah 7.4 lipo (carbon series) and a 22tooth pinion with factory spur. This thing is fast, too fast. I have recently entered the 18 sec club with my nitro and i feel that the tc5 has potential to be even faster but i cant get it to go in a straight line undr acceleration. I can finesse the trigger to 1/2 throttle then 100%squeeze and bzzzwwhoppa it shoots off its line under severe traction loss. Could you call me and let me know when you r going to be back out again or if there is a possibility that one day I could come by your place to pick your brain and get some guidance from you. This car needs therapy and so does its owner. pm me and I will send you my tele number - Im sure its in the setup but i am new to the tc5

John Stranahan

iTrader: (27)

Jason-Here is a link to the setup I am still using for rubber tires. Add the small change at the bottom for a locked front diff. My car accelerates pretty straight. I am geared 87/20, I believe, with an LRP 3.5. It is a real rocket.

I'll get with Jason since he is in town and will report any improvements we make.


"I can finesse the trigger to 1/2 throttle then 100%squeeze and bzzzwwhoppa it shoots off its line under severe traction loss."

This is more or less normal behavior when you lose forward traction. The secret especially when its dusty is to roll the throttle on just a little slower. You have to keep the wheels from spinning wildly. My rubber tired car still accelerates really quickly when its dusty even though I am holding off on the throttle a little. It helped me a lot to drive a 2-wheel drive pan car previous to this car. Throttle control is even more essential with the 2 wheel drive.

John

t4mania

iTrader: (5)

Welcome back John, got used to reading your words of wisdom and really missed them for the past month!

John Stranahan

iTrader: (27)

T4mania-Thanks. I am still driving the car regularly but nothing new has come up until Jason's car. So here is what happened today.

I evaulated the car. It was too high, too stiff, not enough rear toe in. He had a limited selection of tires available. The problem with the car was 70% tire and 30% setup. We ended up with copper front springs top of the shock all the way out. Silver rear spring (we changed to these from red) 3 holes in at the top. We added the largest shim plus a .030 spacer to shim the rear toe in to 2.75 degrees. We put my body on. The car was near perfect. When Doug drove it it was like a completely different car now. He could hit full throttle even on the short straights with traction just low to medium. (mostly tires. We used CS32's). He tapped the bumper with the nose a couple of times on the hairpins so we took out a little steering. Since the car was equipped with ball diffs front and back we moved the front shock out at the top one hole (stiffer)and the rear shock in one hole (weaker). Now the car would drift perfectly sideways on the hairpins without tucking the nose in and hitting the boards.
We had excellent luck and Jason was in good form when we finished.

Now for durability with the 3.5 we need to get rid of the plastic diffs.
John

jason douget

iTrader: (15)

Hey John - I appreciate your help today that car is awesome. I will buy some new tires and order a spring set this weekend. Where can i find the diff upgrade and I am not opposed to buying the spool at the same time. Again, your knowledge is contagious and I really appreciate your help today!!!!!!!!!!!!

John Stranahan

iTrader: (27)

Jason-you are welcome. The car looked great.

Stormerhobbies.com has most of the replacement type parts. Get these aluminum outdrives.

https://www.ssl-stormerhobbies.com/c...ns&pn=ASC31181


Search under TC3 to find springs.

The associated aluminum spool is just OK. It will cause you problems with the hex drives breaking the wheels and the CVD pins coming out and breaking. It will wear out quickly and start shredding the pin pillows on the third run.

I got this titanium racing spool from a dealer in Hong Kong. I have ordered from them twice now. Everything seems to be OK except they throw in an extra part and charge you for it. I don't know if this is a website problem or intentional. It is a much better setup than the associated spool. Shipping is reasonable. Four sessions now without a problem up front.

You will need 2-3 sets of the nylon outdrives and maybe 1 spare set of the aluminum reinforcing tubes. These are available from them as well. The last time I checked the TiR web site was not up to date with the latest version of the spool and it was difficult to order the right parts from them. Pics of these parts earlier in the thread.

http://shopping.rcmodel.hk/product_info.php?products_id=11765
John