Brushless Car Compatibility

[tamiya monkey]

hi there im new to this brushless lark, i will continue to use my nimh cells for now, just woundered which system would suite the following

original blackfoot, was going to get a ezrun system off ebay at 9t or 13t as didnt want to destroy the gearbox they come with 35a rating and a 4300kv motor.

ta02 off roader, was going to fit the same as above.

striker, the same as above would the gearbox hold out.

traxxas slash, castle creation sidewinder 5700 combo, or would 4600 be better.

any advice would be good.

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken]

A tame brushless system should be ok with the old backfoot transmission - anything equivalent to a 19 turn brushed motor would be pretty safe (I believe the turn ratings of brushless motors don't translate to brushed)

I think a sidewinder and 5700 would be a good combo in the slash. I'm sure there are a few gear ratio options to make it work perfectly

[tamiya monkey]

thanks forthe quick reply buddy, hope to see you at one of our meets again real soon.

[TA-Mark]

If you get the optional PC-Link with the Sidewinder ESC you can adjust the power settings to suit any car. Toning it right down can make it accelerate slower than a silvercan which makes it suitable for any Tamiya. You can save your setups in the PC so it's quick to swap it between vehicles. The default settings are on 'WOW factor' and you need a very strong chassis to handle this and last. MambaMax has a USB port built into the ESC, Sidewinder needs a USB adapter. Sidewinder is about 2/3rd the output of the MambaMax. Both use the same CM36s motors.

The Kv rating is how many RPM the motor will do at a given voltage, 1000rpm per volt. Both the 4600Kv and 5700Kv are the same power, just one revs higher than the other.

I have one MambaMax ESC and both motors. On 2.2 wheeled vehicles I use the 4600Kv and on 1.9 wheeled vehicles I use the 5700Kv. I use my Sidewinder in boats as it's waterproof with a different brand lower Kv motor (Direct drive output to the water screw).

Don't try to compare Castlecreations products to the other brands, there is no comparison and the CM36s motors are not legal for racing as they are considered not rebuildable. I had no issues rebuilding my 5700Kv and recently fitted a new set of bearings after almost 2 years of heavy use.

No matter which setup you decide on, I recommend using steel pinions (2 to 4 teeth less than stock) and never run a plastic bush in the vehicle, all bearings. Plastic bushes melt very quick with the high rpm and then a gearbox detonates. When the soft alloy pinions wear it takes out both the pinion and spur gear. Alloy clamp style hex drives behind the wheels is also a good idea, the axles get very hot with the higher rpm and longer runtimes and the plastic ones get soft and 'sag' over the crosspin and drag on the bearing sheilds which inturn heats everything up (Motor/ESC).

All of the cars in my showroom run a Castle brushless of some form with no adverse affects (Some are pictured with brushed motors but they are old images, I gave my brushed ESCs away). I do tune the ESC for each car it gets fitted to. Swapping cars takes less than 5 minutes with the ESC mounted on velcro (hook/loop). PC-Link and load the new car's setup before you stick it in the new car.

Cheers, Mark

[tamiya monkey]

great advice mark, many thanks, i think im going to go for a sidewinder and 4600 motor to start me off, then might move over to something faster later on.

[garethgeezer]

Just to add to the excelelnt advice that has already been posted - we got a Bush Devil running on the ezrun 9T system and it works a treat. We bought two for 80 inc p&p, which makes 40 for each complete system including shipping which for us was acceptible. Excellent so far, for a budget system. Lots of power and wheelies, the esc settings are adjustable 'out in the field' by using the handy programming card too. Obviuosly as TA-Mark said, these cheaper systems just cannot compete with the quality of the Mamba stuff, but for the money it cost we are very happy. No problems as yet with the standard ball-raced Bush Devil transmission, so you could always swap in the later Super or King Blackfoot or Bush Devil rear end into your original Blackfoot if you wanted.

[tamiya monkey]

thanks for that, wasn't sure weather the blackfoot gearbox would take mild brushless power, going to order an extra ezrun for it, thanks.