Help with ESC please

[sub_sea]

i have a sport tuned 23 turn motor on my TL01 chassis car. might soon be buying a 19 turn motor. my car is fitted with stabilizer kit, speed tuned gears. the problem is i am looking to upgrade from a mech speed contol to elec and dont know which one is best for me. i want it to be forward and reverse and reverse to be able to be disabled. i have a budget of around £45 and this must include delivery. i am in the city of ely in the uk.

[Live Steam Mad]

There are it seems 3 basic types of Reversible / reverse disable capable ESC's -

1)the "reverse delay" type,

2)the "double-tap control" type, and

3)the "smart braking" type.

On the reverse delay type, you pull back on the stick and hold it there on the Transmitter, for brakes, and then when the car has reached a stand-still there is a delay of X number of seconds and then the car reverses. Some like this method, I do NOT.

MTroniks/Carson ESC's are generally of this "reverse delay" type. Mtroniks/Carson ESC's are cheap and completely waterproof (30 GBP range for a reasonable one).

The second type of ESC is the "double-tap control" type ESC. This is where you pull

back for brakes and it slows the car to a stop as before, but then it WILL NOT go into reverse until you put the stick back to neutral and THEN pull back again and then it goes into reverse. This type includes the Tamiya TEU-101BK (Warning - there is NO BEC in it), and the Futaba MC230 CR and Futaba MC330 CR - these 3 ESC's are all great and work beautifully, I have the Tamiya one and the Futaba 330, and the 330 is my current favourite - see my showroom entry on the 330. The Tamiya 101 and Futaba 230 and 330 are all Reversible and all are also Reverse Disable capable. Tamiya 101 and Futaba 230 are both capable of running with Tamiya's Sport Tuned motor. The 230 will take a 20 Turn motor, 330 can take a 13 Turn motor. Futaba 230 and 330 have 6V BEC for highest torque on steering servo. The Tamiya 101 can be had for 12 GBP in bulk from Stellamodels, Futaba 230 is 40 GBP from Rip(off)max, and the Futaba 330 is 50 GBP from Rip(off)max.

There is a third and in my humble opinion rather odd type, which is the "Smart Braking" circuitry which is in the Novak Rooster. I bought one of these and it was frankly a mistake - the control is not to my taste at all. It is where you pull back on the stick and hold it there on the Transmitter, for brakes, and the car slows, but *just* before the car has actually reached a stand-still it goes straight into reverse with Zero seconds delay. Not very clever in my opinion. More like very irritating. However it does appear to suit some people very well as it is apparently the World's Best Selling Reversible ESC, so Novak say. Not so sure about that one either. And don't get me started on their so-called 'brake light circuitry'... See the recent Forum topics on "brake lights" for what I mean. Also see the thing in my showroom under the entry for it. The Rooster has reverse disable capability. Price is 50 GBP from your Local Hobby Shop (LHS), on special order.

All the above prices being for those of us in Blighty (UK) who get almost the worst deal possible, usually...

My personal recommendation is the Futaba MC330 CR ESC, 'cause it works great in my King Blackfoot monster truck. Good brakes (it's a heavy truck, a lot of momentumn!!). The brakes on the Tamiya TEU-101BK were not good on my KBF but fine on my touring cars.

By all means, listen to some other voices on here as well, we have got some really great guys on here with both brains and experience.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Floyd]

Gees Alistair , that Novac has realy got you tweeked [] lol . Youve been ranting about it for a couple of weeks now . You cant realy hate it that bad , do you ? Ive been thinking about it too and as far as with the Novacs ( Im suprised I didnt think of this before ) they are mainly made for raceing purposes and that could be why there is no pause between the braking and reverse . In a race situation you dont want to waste time double tapping to get your car/truck/buggy back on the track so this is probobly why they make it that way . Plus it is still designed in a way that even though it goes straight into reverse after braking is complete that there is no extensive load on any of the electronics so no damage can happen . I do agree with you on the brake lite thing ( though I knew about it before I ever bought one ) . Why does Novac call it a "brake lite" when it only comes on in reverse ? Definately a mind bender . Oh yah , and if you realy do hate it so much Ill trade you my Futaba MC230CR for it . The MC230CR has that double tap thing you like ( for me I find that anoying , to each his own []) . So far has been a great ESC , it was the pack in that came with my Futaba MS T2PH radio . Im not sure what the motor rating is on it but I could look it up , though I do know that it can handle the stock 750 in my Moutaineer with no probloms and dosent even get warm in the slightest . Not sure if thats realy saying much though being a box stock motor . As far as Novac being the #1 seller , the stats Ive seen from an independent sales study does put Novac as #1 at least here in the USA , cant realy say for you all over on your side of the pond ....

Ok , sorry for hijacking your post sub_sea . I just couldnt resist poking fun at L.S.M. . As long as he has been posting about his Novac , its getting kind of funny [] . As you can see I personaly am a Novac fan so I would recomend them . Alistair does give a great breakdown for you to go by ( other than the general Novac bashing [] lol ) but otherwise a good response for you . Oh and Alistair , I by no means ment anything in my reply here to make you mad . Like you say , to each his/her own ( had to be politicaly correct ... lol ) I know how frustrating it can be when something wont work the way you thought it was suppose too [V] ....

[Live Steam Mad]

quote:

>Gees Alistair , that Novac has realy got you tweeked [] lol . Youve been ranting about >it for a couple of weeks now .

---

id="quote">id="quote">

[] LOL! I know, but the thing cost me 50 GBP!!

>You cant realy hate it that bad , do you ?

YES!! [] No, to be serious for a minute the quality is excellent and I think that your argument about it being very suited to racing is a completely valid one what with the zero reverse delay and things, I hadn't thought about it like that! [:I][|)]

But I haven't raced anything for 15 years now! [8)]

It's scale performance that I like, and the "double-tap" controls (I think that Mr. Pushrod coined this useful and good phrase) suit me MUCH better in these circumstances.

It's just the sheer *SURPRISE* (SHOCK!!) that I got from trying it for the first time and when it behaved completely different to anything that I had met before I thought "AAARRRGHHH!!!" [].

> I do agree with you on the brake lite thing ( though I knew about it before I ever bought one ) .

Lucky you! I wish I had've known!

>Why does Novac call it a "brake lite" when it only comes on in reverse ? Definately a mind bender .

Exactly, it drove me bananas when I did find out about it!! The light set cost me 30 GBP as well!! AARGHHH!! {oops, ranting again, sorry! [:I][]}.

>Oh yah , and if you realy do hate it so much Ill trade you my Futaba MC230CR for it . The MC230CR has that double tap thing you like ( for me I find that anoying , to each his own [])

You got it! [][8D]

I will think very strongly about this, it's a tempting offer. Funny though, I have been wanting to get back into racing recently thanks to encouragement from 1 other local R/C cars guy and also the LHS (I've only got back into Tamiya's and R/C full-on in the last 6 months really after a 15 year absence [:I]) and I have thought about getting a Tamiya Top Force Evolution (since the old LHS shop owner Harvey used the to beat the pants off everyone with it in races) but I just found out that they cost 450 GBP for a NIB one!!! And I had not given any thought to the ESC that I was going to put in it [:I] and now I see what you mean about the Novak being good for racing! [xx(] You've opened my eyes!

>As far as Novac being the #1 seller , the stats Ive seen from an independent sales study does put Novac as #1 at least here in the USA , cant realy say for you all over on your side of the pond ....

O.K., you win!

>Ok , sorry for hijacking your post sub_sea . I just couldnt resist poking fun at L.S.M. . As long as he has been posting about his Novac , its getting kind of funny []

Oh my misfortune, har har har !!![][][]

Well it seems we are all learning something useful here!

Cheers,

Alistair G.