Sidewinder 3 Sport not acually waterproof?

[Exitaph]

I'm having some issues with the Sidewinder 3. The last time I ran it I accidentally rolled my truck into a lake. Not for very long and the water was actually quite clean. I thought it'd be fine since they advertise the SW3 as "waterproof". But now it just stutters the motor. No smooth motion of the motor at all.

So I go to look at the manual for the Sidewinder 3 and at the very end it says "Sidewinder 3 is not intended for operation while submerged in liquid." They literally advertise this thing on the store page with a picture of it fully submerged in water. C'mon Castle! I'm not looking for sympathy. I should have read the manual but I'm quite annoyed considering the guy at the hobby shop was like "yeah man this thing can run underwater all day!".

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had water issues with their SW3?

 

[micro racer]

Did you wash the truck off afterwards? While the ESC is "waterproof," the manual also tells you to rinse off your equipment anyway. Also, an ESC ruined by water would most likely just not work at all; this sounds more like a seized bearing in the motor or transmission.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Could also be a bad plug. Check the wires and plugs. Damage could occur if you hit the water hot.

 

[Voodoobrew]

My first impression was it could be sand in the motor. how long ago was the last time you ran it? If you put it up wet and let the bearings rust...there are so many bearings...

 

[Exitaph]

I should have mentioned I know for certain it is not an issue with the motor or the transmission. I tested it with a fresh motor off the truck, different battery, different receiver and radio, and even with no servo plugged into the receiver. I didn't wash it after the truck took a swim though. I really should have. There were some bits of sand stuck to parts of the esc. But this thing was run hard in sand and muck once before and did fine.

Anyway I ordered a new sidewinder 3 and the castle 10a bec because my servo has always been a little slow. I'll keep tinkering with the glitchy one though. Maybe I can resurrect it.

 

[Sneetches]

I used one in my mud truck and it was completely submerged for several minutes and still good, so it's hard to say. Last time I had that "jitter" problem it turned out that one of the motor side connectors had come unsoldered and was barely touching.