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Hi all,

I was hoping someone could tell me some things to check on my old super Blackfoot.

Basically, when I first connected the battery from my new LB and turned the SBF on it accelerated full throttle, got very hot and I had to turn it off at the battery switch. At that point I hadn’t touched the receiver at all.

Since then I have tried again after taking the top cover off, and disconnecting the motor. Now there’s nothing at all. Reconnected the motor and still nothing.

I was hoping that a bit of grease on the old servo might solve it as it could have seized etc.

But nothing. I have a silver can motor spare from the LB, is it possible to just replace the servo etc for more modern equivalents - whilst retaining the remainder of the car?

Thanks,

Carl 

B5AC282B-BC28-4645-AFA7-EB81A94EB4E0.jpeg

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You can replace the servo, but unless you are completely into the vintage look i would ditch the speed controller and its associated servo all together and get a modern ESC. Just search on ebay for "1060 esc" and you will find the one most of us use. This has the added bonus of having a lipo cutoff so you can use a lipo battery should you so wish. 

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I’m not bothered about the vintage look just want it to work so my little boy can enjoy it. Thanks for your help. Could there be an issue with the battery I tested with? I’ve put it back in the LB and it works in that.

E271B951-8CB8-4F11-884A-C3CAB497F05E.jpeg

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It looks like your speed controller is at full throttle.  If you plug in the battery (but leave the motor disconnected) ensure the transmitter is powered on, then turn on the SBF, does the servo attached to the speed controller move?  Does the steering work?  That would be the first thing to check.  Only reconnect the motor when you're happy the radio and servos are moving properly.

If the motor still doesn't run then it could be a problem in the motor connectors (it was working OK before you unplugged it), could be corrosion or dirt on the speed contoller, or you might have dislodged some resistor wires.  Check all the wiring over.  Even try spinning the wheels by hand so the motor turns over - sometimes a sticky brush will stop it from running.

If those don't work then come back and let us know :)

Or, as above, fit a modern speed controller (once you have ascertained your radio is working properly).

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This might sound obvious but did you turn your transmitter on before turning on the car? 

If not they tend to shoot off at full tilt. 

Always turn the transmitter on THEN the car. Hold the car off the groundwhen turning it on for good measure. 

Great car the SBF :D

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1 hour ago, KEV THE REV said:

Is the SBF receiver using the same band Xtal as the handset ?

I’m sorry for my ignorance but what is an Xtal? I am using the original handset to control it. So it’s the one I used all those years ago. That shows power going into it as it has one of those old battery gauges. Thanks.

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1 hour ago, J@mes said:

This might sound obvious but did you turn your transmitter on before turning on the car? 

If not they tend to shoot off at full tilt. 

Always turn the transmitter on THEN the car. Hold the car off the groundwhen turning it on for good measure. 

Great car the SBF :D

Thanks for your reply. I did turn on the controller first. I remember that used to sometimes be an issue. 

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2 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

It looks like your speed controller is at full throttle.  If you plug in the battery (but leave the motor disconnected) ensure the transmitter is powered on, then turn on the SBF, does the servo attached to the speed controller move?  Does the steering work?  That would be the first thing to check.  Only reconnect the motor when you're happy the radio and servos are moving properly.

If the motor still doesn't run then it could be a problem in the motor connectors (it was working OK before you unplugged it), could be corrosion or dirt on the speed contoller, or you might have dislodged some resistor wires.  Check all the wiring over.  Even try spinning the wheels by hand so the motor turns over - sometimes a sticky brush will stop it from running.

If those don't work then come back and let us know :)

Or, as above, fit a modern speed controller (once you have ascertained your radio is working properly).

Thanks for your advice. I’ll try those things tomorrow and report back. I’m not adverse to changing parts but if I don’t need to then I’d prefer that. I have got the silver can from my LB, I assume that’ll fit straight onto this car?

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5 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

@Carl888 If the battery works in something else it is definitely the electronics on your SBF that are fried. Get an ESC and it will work just fine. 

Thanks for the advice. I just retried that battery in the LB and SBF and worked in one but not the other?

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20 minutes ago, Carl888 said:

I’m sorry for my ignorance but what is an Xtal? I am using the original handset to control it. So it’s the one I used all those years ago. That shows power going into it as it has one of those old battery gauges. Thanks.

The Xtal is an abreviation of crystal which is the 'chip' that is pushed into the receiver and the same coloured one goes into the controller handset , if these are mismatched then the car can go haywire . You said you are using the original handset and receiver so these should be matched crystals , but just check to see that they are , they may have been swapped some time ago and forgotten about . do the checks as mentioned before  and also give the speed controller ( MSC ) a clean over the contact areas and under the wiper arm as dust and grime can build up and lose your power flow  .It does look very dust / grime coated . Is the on / off switch smooth as that could interupt power flow if has got damp and corroded inside

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When you turn on your handset does the battery indicator show good power , and does it fluctuate on / off on the guage , which vould mean bad contacts in your handset , clean those too

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16 hours ago, KEV THE REV said:

When you turn on your handset does the battery indicator show good power , and does it fluctuate on / off on the guage , which vould mean bad contacts in your handset , clean those too

It goes to full power and stays there. I’m pretty confident that the controller is fine. 

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16 hours ago, KEV THE REV said:

 

The Xtal is an abreviation of crystal which is the 'chip' that is pushed into the receiver and the same coloured one goes into the controller handset , if these are mismatched then the car can go haywire . You said you are using the original handset and receiver so these should be matched crystals , but just check to see that they are , they may have been swapped some time ago and forgotten about . do the checks as mentioned before  and also give the speed controller ( MSC ) a clean over the contact areas and under the wiper arm as dust and grime can build up and lose your power flow  .It does look very dust / grime coated . Is the on / off switch smooth as that could interupt power flow if has got damp and corroded inside

I’ll try and get a minute to check this stuff later today. Thanks. 

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Evening. So I cleaned the car as best I could this evening. Particularly the throttle servo and components.

I then went ahead and disconnected the motor. I connected the battery and ensured the remote was able to operate both the steering and throttle servos.

Both worked, but I noticed that when engaged the rod that comes from the servo pushed the contacts beyond the plates that engage the forward throttle. It was however no longer sticking. When released it didn’t centre, rather it kept the throttle forward due to this.

I removed the rod and servo attachement and tried to realign them. This temporarily resolved the issue. But after 10 mins of use the car will now not reverse. I assume the contacts aren’t meeting in reverse this time.

As this hasn’t cost me a penny at the moment I was hoping I could keep it that way. So could anyone offer any reason as to why after centring the servo it has lost this caliberation, only in reverse?

Otherwise, the car drives fine. Although I will be after some hop ups, a rear bumper (cracked), and the part that the rods at the front of the car connect to, behind the bumper as one of the self tapping holes has sheared off.

Is it worth sanding and repainting this shell?

Thanks all

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When you recentred the arm did you have all power on and handset set to throttle neutral ( centre) ? . When you reverse does the MSC arm move with the servo so the arm wipes across to the MSC reverse position but just no power running through ? , or does the servo move but not the servo horn and MSC arm ? . If the MSC arm moves with the servo then you should clean the MSC contacts as I said before if you haven't already done so and retry . if the MSC arm doesn't move then it could be the splines on the servo or the servo horn or both slipping which could also be why the calibration or centering is throwing out which means new horn or servo or both .

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Hmm... sanding & repainting plus decals from MCI racing would be 1 option or you could buy a new shell for £18 and save some work. The new shell is from a rere Blackfoot & yours (if original) will be marked up as ‘Super Blackfoot’ 

got any pics of the body? 

 

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1 hour ago, J@mes said:

Hmm... sanding & repainting plus decals from MCI racing would be 1 option or you could buy a new shell for £18 and save some work. The new shell is from a rere Blackfoot & yours (if original) will be marked up as ‘Super Blackfoot’ 

got any pics of the body? 

 

I think I’d like to keep the body for nostalgia. I’ve added some pictures of it. I guess I had it  early/mid 90’s from new. Also added the broken arm at the front I referred to. 

3381D946-684D-41AE-BF87-07909F8BAB00.jpeg

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6 hours ago, KEV THE REV said:

When you recentred the arm did you have all power on and handset set to throttle neutral ( centre) ? . When you reverse does the MSC arm move with the servo so the arm wipes across to the MSC reverse position but just no power running through ? , or does the servo move but not the servo horn and MSC arm ? . If the MSC arm moves with the servo then you should clean the MSC contacts as I said before if you haven't already done so and retry . if the MSC arm doesn't move then it could be the splines on the servo or the servo horn or both slipping which could also be why the calibration or centering is throwing out which means new horn or servo or both .

I did have power on for sure because I was using the remote to test the throttle. It does seem to centre. But whereas before if I engaged full forward throttle the contacts went beyond the plate it has to touch, now when I reverse the same thing happens with the reverse contact. Sorry I don’t really know the descriptions.

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So I’ve reset the servo again and the car doesn’t like to reverse consistently. I can trim it, but then throttle forwards doesn’t work at full. I’ve taken a picture of both situations without the motor connected. 

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