timatc

Thanks @Tamiya Fan 1. It is the servo's I believe as I have tried some others and no issues. The ones I had are 4.8 - 6V ones, but they were high performance ones. With the MFC's, is it safe to leave the battery connected (with the MFC switch off) for a couple of days when not in use, or is it best to fully disconnect the battery?

Thanks @Tamiya Fan 1. I've installed 2x 2400uF ones - one made somewhat of a difference, however I was still getting brownouts, with 2x, they now seldom occur (luckily, my reciever is an 8 channel one, so had enough connectors). I am thinking however I might get 1x of say >4800uF to save having to have 2x. Cheers, Tim.

Thanks Tamiya Fan 1 and everyone. I can confirm that this was the servos. I have bought 2x Carson CS3 (3KG) servos - will this suffice for a truck? @Tamiya Fan 1 thanks for your advice on the glitch buster - I might look at getting one of these. Do you ever have brownouts with this installed? Any risk of damage / danger to the MFC unit or reciever?

Looks good - is it difficult to repaint? Do you need to sand the paint back down to white plastic, or can you sand and then paint directly over the top?

Ok, I have purchased a better tx / radio and reciever - what is being reported is low voltage on the reciever side caused by the servos. Is this common with high power / performance servos with Tamiya MFC units? Have seen other posts which suggests that it is.

Here is a video of what I mean by the disconnect - does not happen 99% of the time if you move the steering / shift slowly, on when fast like that. https://file.re/2022/01/15/video20220115162327/

An update, this issue only seems to occur if the shift / steering function on the transmitter are moved very fast from side to side (i.e. the rc stick on the transmitter unit). Is this normal? I have a Futaba 4YWD, and there are reports of this unit not playing nicely with the MFC units. Would it be worthwhile switching to a RadioLink R9S or similar with a new reciever?

I have just finished installing the MFC-03 unit into my Cascadia. The truck works well most of the time, however I can force the unit to shutdown if I move the steering very fast in one direction and the other on the controller - the MFC appears to switch off and switch back on again, with the alarm sound / lights blinking momentarily. This can also occur randomly from time to time, but mainly with the steering. I have km5515ma 6.0V analog servers for steering / shift and a 3000mAh LRP NiMH 7.2v battery that is very new and charged. Is this normal, or is the battery / servo(s) to blame? Should I get a different battery?

I have almost finished with the install of the MFC unit into the Cascadia. As this was a retrofit, there are a large number of fingerprints and minor hairline scratches on the paint where it has rubbed on the cloth holding the cab whilst I was working on it - mainly evident in the light. I am wondering, is it safe to use car / automotive polish / scratch remover on the paintwork? Another quick question, this seems to be normal according to videos, however the headlights when first turned on tend to flicker for a few moments and build up intensity. I gather this is normal? The Cascadia I have also seems to have 2x additional headlight slots for "main beam", however these are not quoted in the instructions, with these slots empty. I have put LED's in these, however with my four channel controller, these seem to cause issues with the horn. Again from the videos and instructions, it would seem that for the Tamiya MFC system, these are not added / required, however the slots for the LED's still exist for other systems?

Another question I have with this - I have ordered the MFC unit, so just awaiting delivery, so are availing myself to the instructions. The reciever unit connects to the MFC device via 4x input cables to handle shifting, steering, throttle and the trailer hitch lock. I gather all of these need to be connected, even if you are not using the trailer hitch so the unit calibrates correctly? What controls the light functions from the reciever then? I have a Futaba 4YWD, and it looks like the trims on the controller do this, so assume specific combinations trigger the various light functions based on their position at the time on the controller?

Thanks @Tamiya Fan 1 that seemed to have sorted it. I took it apart - was a bit dry in terms of grease so re-did all of the gears and the shafts, as well as checked the servo travel - now much improved. I also swapped the motor out to a Carson Poison which made a big difference too - the existing Tamiya 540 motors are too fast which compounded this to a degree.

Thanks @Mad Ax and @Carmine A. I think at this stage, I'll stick with the MFC-03 - I can source one "fairly" cheap; here in Australia, with our exchange rates at the moment and supply / shipping issues, the Beier parts are very expensive. So far, I have updated the default Tamiya 540 motor to the Carson Poison - and what a difference it has made! I gather that this should also play nicely with the MFC unit - from what I gather anything from 25 - 80+ motor turns is fine for that unit? I currently have a 3000mAh NiMH battery, what sort of runtime should I expect with sounds running approx? Would 5000mAh yeild any benefits in terms of significant improved longevity?

Hi Everyone, I am looking at getting the MFC-03 for my Tamiya Cascadia. I know that this MFC is for the "European style" trucks, however, I feel from what I have heard it sounds better and has some minor additional functions that I want such as independent indicators. Just wondering if this is compatible with the Cascadia? I saw something in the instructions stating that when using the MFC-03 unit, a rear LED needs to be hidden - can anyone please shed any light on what this is or what should be done? Cheers!

There are a few small swirly scratches in the paintwork at the top of the cab. I am wondering if using an automotive polisher (like scratchx from Merguires) will cause any issues at all? Paint is standard Tamiya with clearcoat.

Ok, thanks for that.