Motors and Batteries - Your opinion

[Tamiya Tamer]

Here's what I'm after.

I've been trying to research the Tamiya Motors out there, basically I'm looking to change out the son's Hornet 540 Silver Can for something a bit more powerful but without changing out the gearings etc. So i have decided to stick with the Tamiya motors and well what is the best to go for. Also I want to give him a bit more run time and was wondering if I can change to Lipo, wihtout changing the ESC etc. Also with the options you give does the standard TEU101 ESC stand up to it all?

So whats a good set up you'd use and I'll go by the most announced set up.

I don't want brushless (on a budget here), just stick with either the Sport tuned, the dirt tuned etc or something not Tamiya, but just bolt on, charge up let him rip.

Bear in mind I'm not overly technically minded, so specifications like torque and RPM's will just make my head spin (I'm learning but not learned )

[Backlash]

Attn Mods;- The search function is broken... lol..

The Tamiya TEU 101BK ESC was designed to be used with the standard "kit" 540 silver can, and Tamiya Sports tuned motors ONLY... The Sports Tuned is faster than the Kit 540..

HOWEVER, some members have had success with using this ESC with other motors such as the Tamiya Dirt tuned, and the TZ-BZ series of 23 turn motors, BUT DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK... You may damage your ESC by using other motors other than a 540 or sports tuned..

The TEU 101BK should work just fine with a LiPo battery, but the TEU does not have an in-built LiPo cutoff, so you will need to fit an external low voltage buzzer or cutoff such as Novaks Smartstop to save over discharging your LiPo's and damaging them....

If changing to LiPo, you will also need a charger specifically designed for charging LiPo batteries.. You CANNOT charge LiPo's with a NiCd or NiMh charger..

EDIT... The Hornet is sort of over powered with a 540 in it.. You will see a noticeable difference speed wise by using a Sports tuned, and still get good run times.. I am guessing that you are using NiCd or NiMh batteries now, NiMh batteries can be purchased with ratings of 5000 +mAh, which will give you longer run times without having to buy a new charger.. Buying 2 smaller, say 3000 - 3500 mAh batteries will probably cost similar to buying 1 x 5000+mAh battery, but will give you and your son the ability to charge 1 battery whilst he is using the other..

[Static Age]

The Hornet is a fast buggy so it wont take much to get it going quicker. I noticed a big difference in speed in my Frog when I changed from the silvercan to a sport tuned, the run time wasnt affected to badly either.

I recently changed to a Tamiya Super Stock RZ, I expected this to be slightly quicker. Its alot quicker & the difference in torque is huge, I'm really impressed with this motor & I'm tempted to buy another couple for my runners.

The Hornet would go like stink with one in, though I suspect the roll overs when cornering will be much more frequent. Upgrade the pinion to a steel one, the soft alloy Tamiya pinion wont last very long with a hotter than stock motor.

Edit: Every time I have used anything other than a silvercan 540 with the TEU 101BK it has resulted in the ESC failing from overheating.

[Tamiya Tamer]

Yeah you're right might stick with the Nimh, I have an Imax B6 charge for Lipo and Nimh so thats all good.

What ESC do you suggest with the bigger engines? To avoid overheating etc. It is right to assume that these ESC's have an automatic cutoff so to speak for low voltage Nimh"s.

I have a spare Traxxas 19T steel pinion will this be ok or will i have to stick to the 18T it runs now and get a steel version of it?

[Skottoman]

Edit: Every time I have used anything other than a silvercan 540 with the TEU 101BK it has resulted in the ESC failing from overheating.

You can always put a heat sink on the 101BK and run hotter motors. You might fry it, but if you don't care (like me), there are quite a few ways of adding a heatsink.

I've run 17T, 19T, and the Tamiya RZ motor with 101BK's with heat sinks, (and creative airflow routing/fans, etc).

I think for the OP, the sport tuned would be a great choice, while not spending to much money, you get some noticeable speed increase.

Cheers,

Skottoman

[Tamiya Tamer]

You can always put a heat sink on the 101BK and run hotter motors. You might fry it, but if you don't care (like me), there are quite a few ways of adding a heatsink.

I've run 17T, 19T, and the Tamiya RZ motor with 101BK's with heat sinks, (and creative airflow routing/fans, etc).

I think for the OP, the sport tuned would be a great choice, while not spending to much money, you get some noticeable speed increase.

Cheers,

Skottoman

thanks fair call, and the sport tuned will keep the ESC in check temperature wise, or still heat sink it?

And when you say heat sink you mean like a fan attached to the ESC not the motor is that right?

[Static Age]

The last 101BK I killed was running a sport tuned motor, no heat sink & a very hot day. Other people have used 101BK with sport tuned motors & had no problems (see above). Its seems some 101Bk are stronger than others.

I only had two 101BK's, when they died I replaced them with ESC's that could cope with a wider choice of motors. There is a reasonable selection of good budget ESC's availble now. See the "which ESC" thread for recomendations.

[wildwillydriver]

What ESC do you suggest with the bigger engines? To avoid overheating etc. It is right to assume that these ESC's have an automatic cutoff so to speak for low voltage Nimh"s.

I generally go for:

- Futaba MC231CR ESC (also MC230CR): For down to 20T motors

- Futaba MC331CR ESC (also MC330CR): For down to 13T motors

They are very good to bash around, very easy to set, very smooth, and reliable.

Bye

WWD

[Skottoman]

And when you say heat sink you mean like a fan attached to the ESC not the motor is that right?

I mean something like this. I have a few of these and they stick right on the ESC, and fit perfectly. You still need to make sure there is airflow to it though.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJSU9

I've also used a fan on a 104BK to increase it's handling. Like other said, your results will vary. I learned about the heatsink trick, as I was running a 17T motor, and the ESC kept thermalling.

Then I made a temporary heatsink out of aluminum tape, and it totally worked! So I found these Associated heatsinks on Tower, and they fit perfectly, and do the job.

All that said. I don't think you'll have a problem with the 101BK and a Sport tuned.

Cheers,

Skottoman

[stu22]

Yeah you're right might stick with the Nimh, I have an Imax B6 charge for Lipo and Nimh so thats all good.

What ESC do you suggest with the bigger engines? To avoid overheating etc. It is right to assume that these ESC's have an automatic cutoff so to speak for low voltage Nimh"s.

I have a spare Traxxas 19T steel pinion will this be ok or will i have to stick to the 18T it runs now and get a steel version of it?

A problem you're going to run into is the Hornet gear case is fixed in terms of how the motor is mounted. Changing pinions can be problematic since you can't get the gear mesh adjusted correctly. CRP made an adapter plate years ago to get around this.

Also, your Traxxas pinion will probably be 48P while the gears in the Hornet are not, I think they're mod-0.6 but someone else will have to confirm/verify this.

I guess with the re-release of the platform this isn't as big of a deal as it used to be, replacing a set of gears that got destroyed from bad gear mesh or running the wrong pinion is just a matter of ordering parts now.

For brushed ESC's I usually use either the 101/104BK for the vintage stuff and LRP SC200's for everything else. The SC200 has a lower limit of 17T and has a built in LiPo cutoff. You can usually pick them up used fairly cheap from people who are upgrading their Associated RTR toys to brushless.