Upgrades/hopups

[Malakite]

Hi,

I am looking at hopping up and experimenting with various cars I have. I would like to get a couple of upgraded motors as I have already bullraced most of my models now. What motor/s would you all recommend? Is the Technigold motor a quality motor and one of the best to purchase, or would you recommend others instead?

I have a Re-re lunchbox bullraced, a re-re Hornet bullraced, a Marui Ninja soon to be bullraced, and a Marui Galaxy fit for the scrap heap just now! 

Also do the new Lipo batteries enable cars to go even faster, or is it just that they last longer?

[terry.sc]

The Technigold is somewhat dated now, most modified motors available are faster than it.

Tamiyas Super Stock motors are a worthwhile increase in speed and probably as fast as you want to go with the vintage cars as those motors won't put much strain on the old gearboxes.

Also do the new Lipo batteries enable cars to go even faster, or is it just that they last longer?

Both and neither

Lipo batteries have a nominal voltage of 7.4v instead of 7.2v, so this will give you a little bit more speed, but not much. You can get longer runtimes by buying higher capacity Lipo packs, but NiMh are now up to 4600mah (and reaching 7.5v!) and catching up with the high end lipo packs. A lot of lipo batteries actually have less capacity than Nimhs.

The big reason for switching to lipo is convenience. Once you have had a run you can then just top up the lipo and off you go again. No messing about with discharging, battery care, etc. Lipos also hold their charge, so you can charge it the night before you are going to run it and it will still be topped up the next day. Compare that with NiMh which has the most power straight after it comes off the charger, but the power drops off as the battery is left alone.

[Tamiya1/10]

Another upgrade I think most people over look is with hotter motor and better batteries is to use dean connectors instead of the usual tamiya plugs which have been known to melt and better and shorter wirings. It takes some soldering works but I have heard is worth it for max. performance and run time. (I haven't used the dean plugs myself and melting of the tamiya plugs was a first hand experience.)

[taliesin]

broken record, but i love the sport tuned motors.

dean's plugs are good, but they are not fun to solder on. they are also not much fun to connect / disconnect unless you have tiny little fingers like a spider monkey. or unless you actually happen to be a spider monkey, which would be kind of incredible on several levels - reading, typing, rc model building, etc.

so operating on the assumption that you are not, in fact, a prodigiously precocious spider monkey with nimble fingers, good taste in rc products, and a firm grasp of the english language, i would recommend........... drumroll, please............. traxxas connectors. GASP. Blasphemy! they work great, and are large enough for humans to grasp comfortably. they also work as well as deans plugs i think. or close enough that i don't care, anyway.

spider monkeys would approve.

i hope you have thrown the original mechanical speed controller in the rubbish bin and upgraded to a nice, happy electronic speed controller? if not, stop whatever you are doing, run, don't walk, but run to your nearest local purveyor of rc hobby products and procure an esc with all due haste.

ps: no spider monkeys were harmed in this post.

[Malakite]

Brilliant replies thanks! Spider monkeys..rofl!

OK so i'lls tick the ESC in all old cars then (will have to buy a couple more) but isn't it better to keep original cars exactly how they were? Does an ESC just make the efficiency better or is there a difference with speed etc also then?

[taliesin]

the esc is more efficient and will regulate / use the power from the battery to better purpose. the msc uses a constant amount of current; it just bleeds off the extra current as heat when you go slower, thus the resistor plate that gets so hot.

the esc needs zero maintenance.

the esc probably won't go crackers for no apparent reason and send your favorite car speeding into a tree unexpectedly.

purists and masochists love msc's. there is surely an argument for keeping a model original, i just don't choose to follow it. and i love to malign msc's.

[Malakite]

the esc is more efficient and will regulate / use the power from the battery to better purpose. the msc uses a constant amount of current; it just bleeds off the extra current as heat when you go slower, thus the resistor plate that gets so hot.

the esc needs zero maintenance.

the esc probably won't go crackers for no apparent reason and send your favorite car speeding into a tree unexpectedly.

purists and masochists love msc's. there is surely an argument for keeping a model original, i just don't choose to follow it. and i love to malign msc's.

Fair point, and you are so right about cars just going off into the trees etc for no reason!

[DudeWalker]

I use dean's and ESC in all my runners.

Spider Monkeys don't have thumbs (if I remember from grade school). There is NO WAY that they could deal with Deans connectors, lol.

[terry.sc]

ESCs have many advantages. Firstly there is the smooth throttle control from nothing to full speed, instead of the 3 speeds on an MSC. Next an ESC has brakes when you pull the stick back. An MSC has no brakes at all, to slow the car down you have to put it into reverse. ESCs are more efficient than MSCs, so they are faster and the batteries last a bit longer than using MSCs.

[Danbox]

Sport Tuned motors are great and so are Deans plugs. Deans are a pain to solder, but if you use small o-rings or fuel tubing on the tabs, they're easier to grasp.

[WillyChang]

solder them right, preferably with the +ve (|) on the "inside", you should be able to yank them via the wires

i sometimes shrinkwrap over the whole plug for about 1" - give the monkeys a better grip

[markbt73]

i sometimes shrinkwrap over the whole plug for about 1" - give the monkeys a better grip

That's a great idea! The little pieces of tubing over the solder joints always seem to leave a little bit of metal exposed, and it always worries me. I've wrapped them in electrical tape before, but a big piece of tubing sounds a lot neater.

[HunterZero]

What sort of power in watts does one need in a soldering iron to solder battery bars and thicker gague wires successfully? I tried soldering some thicker wire, and couldn't get it to take. The heat dissipated through the wire faster than I could apply it with my crappy soldering iron. It's fine for smaller electronics, but I would love to get a decent adjustable soldering station.

- James

[terry.sc]

You need a high wattage iron with a large tip to retain the heat. I use the Weller SP80L , an 80W iron designed for stained glass frame soldering. The large tip means you can do a battery bar in seconds.

And I use Powerpoles rather than Deans, just as efficient but easier to work with and easier to use.

[Malakite]

Would someone actually show me via a pic what these adaptors look like, I have no idea!

[Tamiya1/10]

dean's plugs are good, but they are not fun to solder on. they are also not much fun to connect / disconnect unless you have tiny little fingers like a spider monkey. or unless you actually happen to be a spider monkey, which would be kind of incredible on several levels - reading, typing, rc model building, etc.

so operating on the assumption that you are not, in fact, a prodigiously precocious spider monkey with nimble fingers, good taste in rc products, and a firm grasp of the english language, i would recommend........... drumroll, please............. traxxas connectors. GASP. Blasphemy! they work great, and are large enough for humans to grasp comfortably. they also work as well as deans plugs i think. or close enough that i don't care, anyway.

spider monkeys would approve.

ps: no spider monkeys were harmed in this post.

Just wondering if some how spider man and spider monkeys are related, same father or same mother ?

Anyway, in the Tamiya RC guide book one can lighten the chassis by cutting certain sections out but one must know what they are doing else the chassis could collapse beyond repair on its first outing.

I also wonder if adding a small fan inside the chassis to keep the motor and ESC cool should help in the performance or is just recirculating hot air inside and add a bit of extra weight. I know from my Pajero, it would stop running if it is too hot and had to cool down. but once I added a small fan blowing at the motor and ESC, she never quite on me any more.