Noticeable delay when going in reverse.

[TexVan]

I recently got my Wild Willy 2 running again.  I've just been driving it around slowly in my apartment, and I've noticed something weird.  It goes forward fine, but when I go in reverse, the car comes to a stop, then there is like a 1 or 2 second delay before the car actually goes in reverse, which I think is odd.  Is there a setting in the radio to change this?  I have a feeling its the speed controller.

3PV Futaba radio/Futaba R203 Receiver/Sport Tuned motor/LRP AI Runner V2 Speed Controller

 

[urban warrior]

Yes, you're right. This is the speedo. This has been done so the ESC won't get too much load when folks go from fully forward to fully reverse or vice versa. Actually I am not sure If the LRP AI speedos can be set otherwise. Some modern ESCs (especially for the crawler-market) offer a setting where you may switch directly from forward to reverse without delay (at your own risk 😉🤪).

[TexVan]

Yeah, I thought so.  Bummer.  I've never experienced this with Hobbywing speed controllers.

[urban warrior]

Well I guess the AIs from LRP are a much older design. I am surprised that they're still available at the shops. Maybe due to the "feature" AI 🤪.  We had them around 15 years back in the past and even back then opinions were quite divided. Due to their automatic setup, which could cause some weird effects.

[markbt73]

It's just a different way of handling the forward/brake/reverse transition. There's 3 functions and only 2 stick/trigger movements, so they need to work them all in somehow.

The LRP uses the old way, which is 1-2 seconds of brake and then reverse, on the assumption that you won't need brakes for more than 1 or 2 seconds. Most older reversible ESCs were set up this way. I don't think it can be changed. Reverse can usually be locked out, because it isn't allowed in organized racing, but I don't think there's a way to turn off the delay.

Tamiya and Hobbywing (and almost everyone else now, I think) uses the "double-tap" method, which is brakes for as long as you need them the first time you move the stick or trigger backwards, then if you let up and return to neutral, you get reverse on the second push. This means you can get to reverse right away if you just double-click it quickly.

[MadAnt]

Just normal for that ESC probably, some have an adjustable delay and some might not.

[JimBear]

6 hours ago, urban warrior said:

Well I guess the AIs from LRP are a much older design. I am surprised that they're still available at the shops. Maybe due to the "feature" AI 🤪.  We had them around 15 years back in the past and even back then opinions were quite divided. Due to their automatic setup, which could cause some weird effects.

Good to know - I bought one of these for a project, to replace a MSC on a 4-cell nimh car. Just need it to go forwards, mostly so I may be okay with it. We'll see.