Lack Of Range With Newly Built Lunchbox

[gjlatz 0]

Hello all,

Just built a Tamiya Lunchbox but the range is only approx 30 yards which doesn't appear to very far at all.

Is this a common problem with new builds or could there be another issue?

Many thanks in advance.

Garry

[Mud-Plugger 2]

You don't possibly have an Mtroniks ESC in it do you?

Mud

[Blacque Jacque 4]

You don't possibly have an Mtroniks ESC in it do you?

Mud

Why on earth would that affect the radio range ?

To the OP; You say it's a new build, is the radio gear new too ?

[Mud-Plugger 2]

I would have thought the topic problem is radio range and not just endurance. If it's endurance, then the cause could be a number of issues; but have had 3 Mtroniks ESCs now and in their final few minutes before dying, radio range has been seriously affected, cured for a short period by using a higher power early Acoms transmitter. I can only assume that dodgy fet switching started to produce signals detrimental to ESC control. Unfortunately this has always been difficult to pin down due to the swift demise in each instance of the ESCs.

Mud.

[skip665 169]

You really hate Mtroniks don't you Richard (won't let me put the shortened version!)!

[Mud-Plugger 2]

You really hate Mtroniks don't you Richard (won't let me put the shortened version!)!

They've just let me down so many times, sitting there idly doing nothing until they just go up in smoke!

[Butler 338]

I had range issues caused by my mtroniks too, it was replaced under warranty.

[gjlatz 0]

Why on earth would that affect the radio range ?

To the OP; You say it's a new build, is the radio gear new too ?

Hi guys,

Yip, everything is new...

[Mud-Plugger 2]

Can we ascertain whether this is a radio range or endurance, and does everything turn freely?

Mud

[gjlatz 0]

Can we ascertain whether this is a radio range or endurance, and does everything turn freely?

Mud

Hi there,

This is a range issue and everything does run freely aswell. It only has a range of approx 30 - 35 yards even after everything has been fully charged....when the Lunchbox gets out of range it starts to jerk forward until I walk closer and get back in range. I believe it should have a range of at least 3 times more than at present.

Gjlatz

[Blacque Jacque 4]

OK lets start with the basics:

Check the batteries in the transmitter & car fully charged.

Check the aerial is fully extended on the transmitter, and the wire aerial on the car is upright & not touching anything metal.

Also make sure none of the aerial wire is coiled inside the car (for now at least).

Check you have the transmitter crystal in the transmitter & receiver crystal in the receiver (sounds daft, but you'd be surprised how often it happens), they are usually marked, if not try swapping them over & see if the range improves.

I'm assuming you have a Tamiya TEU-101 esc in the car & if you bought a package you most likely have an Acoms radio system, correct ?

If you have different gear, please list it here so we can help with the diagnosis.

[gjlatz 0]

OK lets start with the basics:

Check the batteries in the transmitter & car fully charged.

Check the aerial is fully extended on the transmitter, and the wire aerial on the car is upright & not touching anything metal.

Also make sure none of the aerial wire is coiled inside the car (for now at least).

Check you have the transmitter crystal in the transmitter & receiver crystal in the receiver (sounds daft, but you'd be surprised how often it happens), they are usually marked, if not try swapping them over & see if the range improves.

I'm assuming you have a Tamiya TEU-101 esc in the car & if you bought a package you most likely have an Acoms radio system, correct ?

If you have different gear, please list it here so we can help with the diagnosis.

Checked the crystals and both were in the correct hardware, even tried swapping them over but that made the range worse. The Lunchbox did come as a pack and does have the TEU-101 with Acoms Radio controller (all of the lights are on the controller, Im assuming that means the are fully charged). I'll run the battery in the Lunchbox down and re-charge fully from scratch.

What kind of range should I expect from this set up?

Many thanks for your patience guys.

Garry

[Blacque Jacque 4]

It certainly sounds like everything in order.

Normally I'd expect something like a hundred yards or more range from a setup like this.

If you have access to another transmitter of the same band, either as a spare or borrowed from a friend, give that a try with your crystals & see how it behaves.

Other than that, I'd suggest contacting the store where you bought it, if they are reasonably local, pop in & see them & show them exactly what's going on. Any store worth their salt will help you troubleshoot it hands on.

I must admit that I've found modern Acoms systems to be a bit deaf & exhibit shorter range than expected, which is one reason I no longer use Acoms, apart from the three vintage systems I have.

[gjlatz 0]

Hello all,

Firstly, a big thank you guys as the problem has been solved using a combination of the suggestions provided by you.

Here's what I did:

Discharged the battery (in the Lunchbox) and charged for 9hrs

Removed the crystals again

Once the battery was charge put the crystals back in the Acoms and the Lunchbox (really pushed them in)

Tested the Lunchbox and the range has more than trebbled.

Now for some hop ups. But I believe it's only the Shocks that can be changed on this model.

Many thanks.

Garry

[kaiser 8]

you can do more than shocks, theres a thread in the moster truck forum about a bunch of cool stuff you can do to the lb.

i'll try and find it.

edit:

i can't find it, but you can do the front suspension upgrade for the fx10, it make the front end much better, you can also stiffen up the chasiss with braces. search the showrooms for pics.

you can find the fx10 parts on ebay, crp makes them. it's a great upgrade.

[Gripper 0]

just to add...

I have an Mtronic ESC, and yes, the range on it seems terribly short! (thought it was just mine which acted like this)

[Champ85 609]

Are the three .1uf capacitors installed on the motor per usual?

One cap goes from + wire to motor can.

One cap goes from - wire to motor can.

One cap goes from + wire to - wire.

The caps keep motor interference down, which helps improve radio range.

[essexjohn 0]

you can do more than shocks, theres a thread in the moster truck forum about a bunch of cool stuff you can do to the lb.

i'll try and find it.

edit:

i can't find it, but you can do the front suspension upgrade for the fx10, it make the front end much better, you can also stiffen up the chasiss with braces. search the showrooms for pics.

you can find the fx10 parts on ebay, crp makes them. it's a great upgrade.

Does the FX10 front suspension just fit on lunchbox or does it need modding to fit?

[TA-Mark 195]

Does the FX10 front suspension just fit on lunchbox or does it need modding to fit?

It's a pretty easy fit onto the Lunchbox. Remember it was not designed for a Tamiya.

You would need to trim about 2mm from each end of the pivot on the CRP lower arm so they are the same length as the Tamiya arms and don't bind.

The CRP upper arm does not fit, so you need to make up an adjustable upper link. DT02 turnbuckle set is ideal for upper links and adjustable steering links.

There is no where on the Lunchbox to connect the upper link to. You would need to attatch some ball nuts to the front bulkhead for the upper link.

Getting the dampers to fit requires some imagination. Some connect them to the C-hub, I used the CRP mount with a modified lower damper eye.

The CRP double wishbone front end does resolve all the odd camber, odd toe, and bumpsteer issues, and solves the problem of the front suspension bottoming out in reverse. It makes the Lunchbox much more predictable when landing the front wheels from a wheelie. It does steer alot better too... when the front wheels are actually touching the ground.

Here's how I did it (I also have the FX-10 suspension fitted to my Grasshopper which was much harder to fit up): Showroom entry.

[fabia 0]

Hi all

I have a similar problem on my rising storm package, but waht are crystals ?

[TA-Mark 195]

Hi all

I have a similar problem on my rising storm package, but waht are crystals ?

RX plugged into the reciever. TX plugged into the transmitter. Both the same frequency.

They look like this:

There's lots of threads here on the forum concerning radio range and what things can affect it. Most causes are from interference from the motor, or motor/battery wires. Be sure the antenna wire from the reciever is not near any of the large wires. NEVER cut the antenna wire shorter if it appears too long as this will drastically reduce range.