Faster in reverse.......

[Price_of_cider 7]

Hi all,

ive got a Falcon that I’ve fitted with a brushless motor.....

the first problem was that the directional control was wrong - forwards made it go backwards and vice verce. I swapped the coloured wires around and this fixed the problem - but I still have more drive in reverse than going forwards. Anyone any ideas?

[Price_of_cider 7]

I can’t flick the tx into reverse as it’s an old system.....

[IoWBasher 148]

Have you calibrated the esc to the Transmitter ?

[JennyMo 2925]

fwiw. some motors are designed to run faster in one direction than the other, and it's possible that the gearbox of the Falcon means this motor is always running backwards for the wheels to turn forwards if you see what I mean.

I know that some Tamiya motors are directional, and indeed had to swap one for a non directional motor in one of my crawler builds as I had the same issue.

Hope that helps?

Jenny x

[SupraChrgd82 914]

The ESC needs to be "reversed". Look at the manual or possibly Youtube for instructions on reversing the ESC. 

[Matty36 181]

The falcon gearbox possibly has an extra gear in the gearbox, so the motor will run backwards, not so much of a problem with brushed motors as they can run either way. On some modern buggies, which I have a hobao h2, the gearbox can be built to swap the motor direction as it can have either 3 or 4 gears, and either mid or rear motor position. It may just be that it is designed for modern cars where they all run the same way as sensored motors shouldn't or cant be swapped on the wires.

[El Gecko 356]

2 hours ago, Price_of_cider said:

I can’t flick the tx into reverse as it’s an old system.....

Traxxas ESCs are backwards like that too, I had the same problem with one of my transmitters recently. You'll have to crack open the Tx and reverse the red/black wires going to the throttle stick. I just cut and spliced the wires, then capped the splices with wire nuts, but to keep it tidy (and to avoid opening the radio case again) you can also install a switch on the outside that lets you reverse the channel direction (I may do this in the future). In my opinion all Tx's should have come with a reversing switch ever since ESCs hit the market, but for some reason they held off. Not sure why since it's such a trivial thing. On a race ESC, you can't run the motor wires backwards because you'll have full power in reverse and only brakes in forward.

[TurnipJF 5291]

Indeed. The Falcon gearbox utilises standard rotation - when the motor spins clockwise when viewed from the endbell, the car goes forwards. Once you have your radio and ESC agreeing as to what should be forwards, you should be able to swap the wires between ESC and motor back to matching colours.

[KEV THE REV 1419]

How about getting a TX with servo reverse switch

[Price_of_cider 7]

Thanks all for your suggestions - I’ve managed to get another TX (more modern) which has done the trick. Took it out yesterday and working like a dream 🙏

[KEV THE REV 1419]

Have fun !!!

[Juggular 3440]

It's good that you installed a newer radio.  

For posterity, sometimes servo reverse switches are in the battery tray or at the bottom, well hidden away from the view.