1:24 Scale Reliability Issues

[grantwt]

Hi all,

Christmas before last I bought my daughter a Axial SCX24, and my son a Proline Ambush 1:24. I have had nothing but trouble with them, and I am looking for advice how to have reliable rigs.

On the Ambush I have failed 2 stock drive motors, the stock steering servo, and 2 EMAX ES08MA II steering servos. On the SCX24, I have failed 2 stock drive motors, the stock steering servo, and 2 of the stock battery chargers.

We hardly get to use them because they break down so much. The last time they were up and running I had just swapped in brand new EMAX steering servos on both of them, and I only got 15min of running before the one in the Ambush failed. I connected the motor in the SCX24 to the ESC in the Ambush to see if it was in fact the brand new motor that had failed or the ESC, and the second EMAX failed while testing. The truck wasn't even on the ground!

My kids love having these things when we go wheeling in my 66 Scout, but I am spending more time and money trying to keep these things working than my real rig. The fact that both of the EMAX motors failed when connected to the Ambush ESC makes me question if there is a problem with that ESC. I am tempted to just buy a second SCX24 as the Ambush has never been as good a rig, but even the SCX24 has been a revolving door of drive motors, and I did fail the stock steering servo. How do I get two micro-crawlers set up that will work for more than 1hr before breaking?

Thanks!

 

[HumboldtEF]

When kids are driving? I dont know that there is a mod that will fix that as you kind of need some mechanical sympathy with these things.

Are they old enough for a 1/10 scale?

 

[23drumerboy]

When kids are driving? I dont know that there is a mod that will fix that as you kind of need some mechanical sympathy with these things.

Are they old enough for a 1/10 scale?

My initial thoughts as well....you can't (not that you do this), but cannot hand ANY C.H.I.L.D. a Transmitter and say enjoy! And walk away....with ANY RC PERIOD. LET alone '24's! They are "fragile" as-is, yet ive never heard of repeat failures of similar variety from ANY forum member, bash/crawl-mate, or at all! MAKE SURE the kids know these "toys" are NOT drive-till-broke then trash em like walmart toys on Christmas, make SURE they KNOW how to drive em!! Show them what the heck a "stuck tire" looks like and explain why their allowances will be significantly smaller if they CANNOT drive em with respect. Make them ONLY watch you use em, and explain what you're doing, and at least 2 reasons WHY said-thing must be done!!

My 11 year old daughter has gracefully driven my 24's, my 1/10 Ridgerock MOA crawler, and now owns her own Slash 2wd SCT! And let's face it i break her truck more than her, lol!!! She also broke the ridge Rock one time after many many many many successful outings, but that truck's kind of dainty out of the box anyway had tons of extra weight inside the tires and I did leave her alone for a slightly extended amount of time while I was sending my rustler 25 ft in the air...

Are the wheel nuts being hammered down with 1:1 torque-specs?! That'll murder bearings and motors QUICK!!! These trucks literally only need to have screws and/or nuts ran down till they TOUCH their "clamping" surface, then a very gentle, call it, 3 - 7/10ths of a turn more.

Read-Up! Mod-On! Crawl EXCESSIVELY!

 

[Unclelee]

Bullet proof

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[grantwt]

Haha, ya I kinda expected that response.

I have spent time training them to drive nicely and to try to avoid overheating the motors. Don't hold the throttle if the wheels don't turn, etc. Also, they have broken with me at the wheel as often as not. The original steering servo on the SCX24 packed it in when I was driving it on ice. Don't see how I was stressing it. Maybe the grease in it froze up?

Do most people consider a SCX24 a reasonably reliable rig? What would people recommend for more reliable drive motors? Upgrade to brushless? Seems the EMAX is commonly used for steering servo. Is it possible that the ambush ESC caused them to fail? I didn't get any info on polarity for the connector. Could I have plugged it in backwards?

 

[DRED805]

I think they're pretty much a novelty. I like changing out parts and modding my scx24, but I really only run it for a few minutes here and there... mainly just to see how different parts change the performance.

I think you're gonna have to go up in scale if you want something more durable and dependable.

 

[Trike Kid]

On the steering servos, are you adjusting the dual rate (since the stock radio lacks end point adjustment) to where the steering servo isn't hitting the mechanical limits of the steering and binding up? Might be something to try, I know when my son is driving anything RC he's hard against the steering stops of the transmitter if he's turning.

I've smoked a few SCX24 motors, all of mine were binding and the resulting heat that caused the failure. I killed 2 in about 10 minutes run time before noticing that I'd over tightened the front wheel nuts after a tire change. I got about 2 months daily running from the last one I killed, and with the abuse I hand the little thing I'm okay with that, I put 30-45 minutes on it a day most days and that's with heavier wheels and bigger, stickier tires. I haven't gone brushless yet but will be as soon as Furitek starts shipping their kit.

 

[23drumerboy]

Haha, ya I kinda expected that response.



I have spent time training them to drive nicely and to try to avoid overheating the motors. Don't hold the throttle if the wheels don't turn, etc. Also, they have broken with me at the wheel as often as not. The original steering servo on the SCX24 packed it in when I was driving it on ice. Don't see how I was stressing it. Maybe the grease in it froze up?



Do most people consider a SCX24 a reasonably reliable rig? What would people recommend for more reliable drive motors? Upgrade to brushless? Seems the EMAX is commonly used for steering servo. Is it possible that the ambush ESC caused them to fail? I didn't get any info on polarity for the connector. Could I have plugged it in backwards?

Personally, even though total cost of upgrades is about the price of the truck itself....i did the GamyRC Surpass motor mount, bought a surpass 2204 outrunner, and a Furitek TEGU ESC w bluetooth...EMAX, and let me tell you that emax takes a beating, and has for several months now...but is definitely starting to have the "click of death" lol. Theyre cheap servos, it is what it is. So either you got multiple flukes out-of-the-box, or these kiddos, mixed with non-adjustable endpoints, and most likely quite a few HArd smacks against (insert immoveable obstacle here) WHILE steering is full-lock, while dad wasnt looking.

I find the (Betty) truck to be extremely reliable, as, its usually the only rig still working at the end of any given week! And i cant honestly say I've "broken" anything on it, if it has been inoperable, its only due to upgrades!

[emoji2958]*Dont say ANYTHING to dad about this, its the 4th time this month, and he wont let me play if he doesn't "think i get it"! *


Read-Up! Mod-On! Crawl EXCESSIVELY!

 

[vinceherman]

Trike Kid is right. Adjust your steering rate down. I cannot see any other way they could destroy that many servos unless you have significant binding at full throw. Back that throw down.


You have 2 kids in the hobby? Time for a proper battery charger rather than the cheapo chargers that come with the RTR models.


Motors, I have helped many people with brushless upgrades, largely for the reliability, but also because the Furitek ESC provides magical slow speed control which makes techinical crawling much better.

 

[SCX10 JK]

Having 2 kids myself and 5 of these little trucks I would say so far they have been completely reliable. Granted I don't let my 3yr old play with them much but my 6 yr old does very well with them. So far after probably 20 to 30 packs thru them I have had no break downs and they are all basically stock except for some sliders on 3 of them. 2 of them were purchased used off Ebay and still no issues. Maybe I got lucky or maybe I am to easy on my stuff but seem to work perfectly fine. I will say though I have seen tons of videos with people just hammering these little things and trying to make them crawl over stuff that is way to extreme. These are a tiny scale so drive scale stuff and they should hold up very well. Try to drive over stuff that your 1/10 scale comp rig does and drive it like its a bullet proofed rig then yeah its gonna break every 5 min. Also I agree with Trike Kid Don't Don't Don't over tighten stuff on these little guys.