Upgrading electronics on 1/12 scale crawler... need some help

[high plains drifter]

Performance issues:

> Truck stops very abruptly when letting off the trigger. Abrupt on the acceleration also.
> If you turn off the radio while the rig is still on, the wheels immediately spin. No way to correct this and even with a donor tx/ rx the issue still exists so I know it's something wonky with the stock esc.

These two things alone, have me searching for tx/ rx/ esc upgrades but I don't at all feel as if I need to spend a lot of money to have noticeably better performance. I'd like to keep the budget for the radio and receiver under $100 ( that's assuming that a new radio and receiver are going to be an improvement over the supplied RTR electronics. I don't need a lot of features for this rig but I'd like to have at least a few potentially beneficial features that will improve crawling performance. At this point, I'm not sure if the vehicle simply needs a new esc or if it would be worth it to get a new tx & rx at the same time.

So I've been looking into all three and here's where I'm stuck:

> I really like the Hobbywing 880 but will this work with the stock 380 motor? I ask b/c I see that it states "Motor Type Supported: Brushed Motor (540, 550, 775 Size Motor)"
> I also like the HPI SCM-2S but I'm running a 3S lipo in this rig so I'm assuming that won't work.

> The other candidate is the Axial AE-5 but I haven't heard great things about Axial's electronics and $40 is a little high if this thing isn't going to be reliable. The size would work and it states that it's 3S compatible but just like the Hobbywing 880, I'm afraid it may not work with the 380 motor.

Will any of these ESC's work for my 380 motor/ 3S needs?

Onto the radio/ incl receiver:

I'm not all that interested in Flysky nor Spectrum unless there's a great deal out there somewhere for a simple set-up/ user-friendly solution. Please keep in mind, I'm just looking for an entry-level, inexpensive radio that will be a bit better than the stock piece of crap. It would need to be at least 3ch and have functionality to control throttle/ brake input. So... What I keep looking at:

> Tactic TTX300 3ch/ TR325 rx
> HPI TF-45 3ch/ RF-45 rx
> Sanwa/Airtronics MX-6 FH-E 3ch/ 391W rx
> Futaba 3PRKA FHSS/ R203GF rx

None of these tx/ rx combos are "perfect" for one reason or another... price, receiver dimensions, etc. But one of the ultimate priorities for me is ease of programming/ ease of use.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Can't thank y'all enough!

 

[kincer]

A hobbywing 1060 is what you need, it’s 3s capable with a drag-brake, I’m running those in my 1/16 mini Yotas and D90s. I also run the hobbywing 1625 it’s also 3s capable. Both are around $18 the only problem with the 1625 is it doesn’t have a drag brake but in those I have 2spd transmissions and first is really low so it holds it self just with the gearing. I’m betting if you get the 1060 you won’t need a new radio. These are both fine for that motor, that 880 is more for an old Emaxx. Yeah you could use it but its total overkill.


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[Shinchu]

For a TX/RX dont rule out a 4 ch Radiolink.
I nabbed one for $60 on Amazon. Still works great and my son has the 5 ch version and no probs so far at all.

Not sure about a hw1060 on 3S for a 380. That's a lot of juice. I run 2S on my stock geared barrage its not bad. Way better than the nimh it came with.

 

[MasteroFlego]

Ok, so I'm pretty sure the hobbywing 880 is a dual motor esc, a better choice would be the 1080. The tactic ttx300 is a pretty good radio for the price, granted I have no experience with the other ones.

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[high plains drifter]

I already ordered the 1060 esc as per kincer's recommendation. I didn't see any motor specs listed so I'm hoping it'll handle the Reedy 380 just fine. I guess I could always run a 2S in this truck if someone else can confirm that the 1060, 380, and 3S are a bad bet. Fwiw.. I've got a wp1080 already but I'm planning to put that in one of my TRX4's.

I still think that I'm going to want to upgrade the radio so I'll check out the suggestions offered. Actually although I forgot to mention it, I was also looking at the Radiolink RC4GS so it's nice seeing the positive review.

I'll also continue to consider the Tactic for this rig now.

Thanks so much, guys. Hopefully I'll still see some more replies in this thread but so far, this is really helping.

 

[kincer]

I already ordered the 1060 esc as per kincer's recommendation. I didn't see any motor specs listed so I'm hoping it'll handle the Reedy 380 just fine. I guess I could always run a 2S in this truck if someone else can confirm that the 1060, 380, and 3S are a bad bet. Fwiw.. I've got a wp1080 already but I'm planning to put that in one of my TRX4's.

I still think that I'm going to want to upgrade the radio so I'll check out the suggestions offered. Actually although I forgot to mention it, I was also looking at the Radiolink RC4GS so it's nice seeing the positive review.

I'll also continue to consider the Tactic for this rig now.

Thanks so much, guys. Hopefully I'll still see some more replies in this thread but so far, this is really helping.

A 1080 would've worked too, I just suggested the 1060 for the price point, in these smaller trucks all the features of the 1080 are overkill, to me anyway. It will run the 380 motor great, that's what's in mine, be sure your motor has capacitors on it at least one because it will run glitchy without them.

 

[high plains drifter]

Motor has no caps... ugh.

 

[kincer]

Motor has no caps... ugh.

No big deal you can get like 50 of them on eBay real cheap,

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/171157436032

I was told by a few different people I didn't need them, they were just for radio interference so I ran without them, well it didn't run very well at all, soldered on 3 as recommended on a YouTube video and it runs super smooth.

 

[kincer]

Here's a link to the capacitor video

https://youtu.be/ik2ewjNEvYs

Here's a link to my mini Yota running the 1625 with 380 motor, I also ran the 1060 and it runs the same as this. This is running 3s also and ran 3s with the 1060 just as well.

https://youtu.be/FAjK7PWvyNw

 

[high plains drifter]

Thanks a ton, kincer. I appreciate the links and the advice. Cool little Toyota btw.

 

[BIGW0RM]

You want this... Even though you said no flysky.
https://www.amazon.com/Flysky-FS-GT...ywords=FS-gt5&qid=1552583548&s=gateway&sr=8-2

And this....
https://www.amazon.com/Hobbywing-El...bywing+1080wp&qid=1552583582&s=gateway&sr=8-1

And you will be most happy with all kinds of adjustments. The 1080wp worked on my doomsday 370/380 (not sure) motor just fine BTW.

 

[lonleycreeper]

FYI

A lower numerically motor is smaller than the larger numerically motor.

The number 380 in this instance is a common can size for smaller Rc's. The 540 is larger and draws more amps and produces more torque.

So a esc rated for a 540 on 3s will easily handle a 380 on 3s. but unfortunately not the other way around.

Brushed motors usually have a turn rating, refering to the number of winds around the armature. The more winds, typically the faster the motor.

 

[high plains drifter]

You want this... Even though you said no flysky.
https://www.amazon.com/Flysky-FS-GT...ywords=FS-gt5&qid=1552583548&s=gateway&sr=8-2

And this....
https://www.amazon.com/Hobbywing-El...bywing+1080wp&qid=1552583582&s=gateway&sr=8-1

And you will be most happy with all kinds of adjustments. The 1080wp worked on my doomsday 370/380 (not sure) motor just fine BTW.

I've got a wp1080 already but I don't want to use it in this rig. Hopefully the 1060 will suffice since it's already incoming. I'm trying to keep things a bit cheaper on this cr12 than my 1/10 scale vehicles. I have to say that I find that transmitter very appealing. I may give it a shot. The help is sincerely appreciated... Thank you!

FYI

A lower numerically motor is smaller than the larger numerically motor.

The number 380 in this instance is a common can size for smaller Rc's. The 540 is larger and draws more amps and produces more torque.

So a esc rated for a 540 on 3s will easily handle a 380 on 3s. but unfortunately not the other way around.

Brushed motors usually have a turn rating, refering to the number of winds around the armature. The more winds, typically the faster the motor.

As someone with a lot still to learn, I appreciate your reply. At this point plans are to install the 1060 and try running it with the 1000mAh 3S pack that I've been using already. If it glitches, then I'll solder in the caps. At that point, I'll decide if I think a new tx/ rx will be in order.

 

[kincer]

I've got a wp1080 already but I don't want to use it in this rig. Hopefully the 1060 will suffice since it's already incoming. I'm trying to keep things a bit cheaper on this cr12 than my 1/10 scale vehicles. I have to say that I find that transmitter very appealing. I may give it a shot. The help is sincerely appreciated... Thank you!



As someone with a lot still to learn, I appreciate your reply. At this point plans are to install the 1060 and try running it with the 1000mAh 3S pack that I've been using already. If it glitches, then I'll solder in the caps. At that point, I'll decide if I think a new tx/ rx will be in order.

If it is anything like mine if it does glitch it will stutter going forward and only run about 3 seconds or so in reverse then stop. After I soldered those caps on they both ran super smooth, don’t worry that 1060 will work great with that battery you’ll be happy. My little trucks run as smooth as my 1/10 stuff. I could’ve run the 1080 but all these little trucks are to me is something to tinker with, yeah I want them to run good but I don’t wanna sink a ton of money in them either so the 1060 fit the bill.


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[high plains drifter]

Regarding all the rc expenses... I'm deathly afraid that my wife will one day call in her own "gift" request and if she stacks it up against all my rc stuff, I'm screwed!

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm sure I'll be happy with the 1060. I'll be curious to see if the cr12 exhibits the same behavior you experienced. Like I said, I'll grab some motor caps if necessary. Still gonna try to wrangle me a decent radio but that can at least wait until after I see how the truck runs with the new esc.

 

[kincer]

I don't know how many rigs you have but the hacked versions of the Flysky gt3b and gt3c are really hard to beat, receivers are cheap and you can run up to 8 channels on them. I have both, hacked the gt3b myself and got the other one used off a member here, I have half my rigs on one and the other half on the other so if someone goes with me and they don't have one they can run one of mine. I can do all of things the Traxxas radio did on my Trx Bronco plus, there is so much adjustability to these radios I still haven't touched on but it's there if I need it.

 

[high plains drifter]

Yep... I'm really getting itchy for a new radio at this point. After the recommendation, I looked at some reviews/ demos of the FS-GT5 and I'm really starting to gravitate towards this one now. 6 channels is insane to me lol but I love the possibilities and it's certainly better to have and not need than visa-versa. I've only got 4 operational vehicles at this time but they're ALL using their crappy rtr radios which is another reason that a multi-rig transmitter seems quite appealing.

 

[indybama]

Yep... I'm really getting itchy for a new radio at this point. After the recommendation, I looked at some reviews/ demos of the FS-GT5 and I'm really starting to gravitate towards this one now. 6 channels is insane to me lol but I love the possibilities and it's certainly better to have and not need than visa-versa. I've only got 4 operational vehicles at this time but they're ALL using their crappy rtr radios which is another reason that a multi-rig transmitter seems quite appealing.

Ive got a FL-GT5 n love it! Light weight n easy to navigate. Granted im only usin 3 ch at the moment. But i would recommend it

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[durok]

Another vote for the FS GT3C here, I have multiple vehicles running from mine and love being able to just bring one radio with me.

The naming feature is nifty, I switch from "K10" for my Ascender to "RR10" for my Bomber, works like a charm.

Also, having a lanyard loop on the radio is so "handy" (groan) when you need to just let go of it when clambering up a steep hillside or when tweaking your rig.

 

[high plains drifter]

I went thru and picked each transmitter apart one by one... price, functions, ergonomics, looks, ease of use/ programming, receiver size and cost ( for multiple vehicle applications), etc. Went with the FS GT5 for just under $80 and I feel like I'm going to be very happy with it. Also grabbed a bunch of #104 caps for the Reedy 380 just in case.

Thanks, guys for all the help. Virtual 'likes' all the way round!