RC Cars

[C4S]

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I called Model Land, they hadn't even heard of the truck I want and they told me I am looking at $170 for a battery and $300 for a charger. Every other hobby shop seems to be $79 for a Spektrum Smart battery and about $50 for a charger. Hopefully they just messed up and aren't actually that expensive.

Well, it sounds about right …..

I do have few spare lipo chargers, but they are for DC … for Charger, you can still easy to buy one from US or China, but shipping time is super long, and for some reason, many sellers from US don't ship to Canada due to Covid 19(May be we don't want anything from US due to their Covid outbreak now? ) Lipo is hard to buy now from oversea now.

So, sound like you don't have Lipo/charger from before .. thus it is better to stick with 2S
https://traxxas.com/products/parts/b...id?t=batteries

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Well, it sounds about right …..

I do have few spare lipo chargers, but they are for DC … for Charger, you can still easy to buy one from US or China, but shipping time is super long, and for some reason, many sellers from US don't ship to Canada due to Covid 19(May be we don't want anything from US due to their Covid outbreak now? ) Lipo is hard to buy now from oversea now.

So, sound like you don't have Lipo/charger from before .. thus it is better to stick with 2S
https://traxxas.com/products/parts/b...id?t=batteries

You're right, I don't have a LiPo charger already. My old Losi truck had NiMh packs and those along with the charger went to whoever I sold it too.

I was looking at this battery:

https://www.greathobbies.com/product...ref=bestseller

Or this one if I wanted to run 3s with a pinion swap:

https://www.greathobbies.com/product...ref=bestseller


And this charger (I don't care about charging 2 batteries at once or charging above 1C):https://www.horizonhobby.com/spektru..._rot1_04232020
There is a $29.99 version of that same charger as well, but with 50W and no screen.


Do I need something different for a battery and charger? I am fairly confident those are at least the ideal batteries and they aren't anywhere near the prices Model Land was quoting me.

And then there's stuff like this, but I have no idea what the quality is like: https://www.amazon.ca/GOLDBAT-5000mA...1&rps=1&sr=8-3

[bjstare]

If you haven't yet, check hobbyking.com. I've got all my LiPo batteries from there (both for little 1/16 truck and 1/10 summit). They're awsome, and so cheap. No idea what shipping would be like these days, but you can select items that are in their US warehouse when shopping.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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If you haven't yet, check hobbyking.com. I've got all my LiPo batteries from there (both for little 1/16 truck and 1/10 summit). They're awsome, and so cheap. No idea what shipping would be like these days, but you can select items that are in their US warehouse when shopping.

Thanks for that, I have not even come across that site even with all of my googling.

If these are any good, they are indeed dirt cheap: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...en_us_products

They also have a functioning search engine and a filter system, which cannot be said about most other hobby sites lol. They don't have much for vehicles but for batteries/chargers they look very good as long as those brands are decent.

[C4S]

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Thanks for that, I have not even come across that site even with all of my googling.

If these are any good, they are indeed dirt cheap: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...en_us_products

They also have a functioning search engine and a filter system, which cannot be said about most other hobby sites lol. They don't have much for vehicles but for batteries/chargers they look very good as long as those brands are decent.

Their batteries are indeed not bad, I have lots from them ..

The main difference would be .. my Traxxas $150 3S 5000mah lipo, after ~7 or 8 year now, still strong, those lower cost Lipo, after few year, always puffed ..

I got few chargers from HobbyKing too, most are DC input, but I have a power supply as well.

Not sure how it their Lipo battery shipping policy now .. I think you can hardly order big Lipo such as 5000mah …

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Their batteries are indeed not bad, I have lots from them ..

The main difference would be .. my Traxxas $150 3S 5000mah lipo, after ~7 or 8 year now, still strong, those lower cost Lipo, after few year, always puffed ..

I got few chargers from HobbyKing too, most are DC input, but I have a power supply as well.

Not sure how it their Lipo battery shipping policy now .. I think you can hardly order big Lipo such as 5000mah …

For mail orders, I assumed you'd be OK under 100Wh, same as a plane carry on. I could be wrong though. They seem to be available for online purchase.

I know drone batteries can be shipped no problem, but the ones for my M2P are only ~3850mAh / 60Wh.

[bjstare]

I use the Turnigy nano-tech ones, but I don't even know what the difference would be between them and the ones you posted. C4S is probably right, shelf life might not be as good as the traxxas ones.. .but for the cost, you can replace them a couple times and still come out ahead

[C4S]

Speaking of Lipo …

I still got a bunch of brand new Lipo I ordered couple year ago, so … I was doing soldering this afternoon (convert to the right plug)

Damn .. not sure if my solder iron is getting aged or what, it took me so long and hard! *_*

Any high power solder iron?

Some of my Lipo, the "metal pin" was loose, and I couldn't even solder the wire back ..

Or I should just replace the tip of my solder iron?

That is the "pain in the butts" part of RC …

(Wife was making cake, sons were playing computer game .. and I was soldering …. )

If you can order those cheap Lipo, still worth to try to order from HobbyKing! ^_^ (and you can order some Pinon gear too)

Speaking of Hobby King, Some (yes, only some) of their RC cars are quite good .. (you can't really judge by photos for their quality, some are terrible ..)

[Mitsu3000gt]

I finally bought something and it was not what I expected. I was tired of the Losi not being in stock anywhere and parts availability had me somewhat nervous. I ended up with a Traxxas E-Revo 2.0 VXL. Not really near my original budget but it’s super fun haha. I also like that I can walk into any hobby shop and they will probably have the parts I need. Seems to be built very well and I’m not going to be hard on it at all. Thanks again for all the input.

[C4S]

Congrats!

Can't go wrong with that!

Now don't get speeding ticket ... lol

I just packed my RC last night ... as back to work today!

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Congrats!

Can't go wrong with that!

Now don't get speeding ticket ... lol

I just packed my RC last night ... as back to work today!

Yeah it's pretty fun. I also like that it's a bit bigger with the "monster truck" style which I think is more suited to the terrain around me (grass, mostly). I was also looking at the MAXX and X-MAXX. The MAXX looks to be built even beefier (stock cooling fans on motor too), but it is smaller and looks harder to drive with the high center of gravity. I've always liked the buggy/truggy style so the Revo was more in line with that too. As for the X-MAXX it's just too big and expensive ($1300 + $500 of batteries) but I've definitely got my eye on it haha - maybe next time if I decide I'm sticking with the hobby for a while.

I bought it from PM Hobby and the guys there were awesome - they even honored a previous price for me (prior to the USD blowing out) which they did not have to do. Model Land is down the street from me but they were out of stock and more expensive anyway.

I'm running it on 4S (2x 7600 mAh 2S) and it has tons of power still. Traxxas sells a "completer" pack with 2 batteries and a dual charger for $300 which works out to around a $100 discount. I think I will save the drivetrain the punishment of 6S since it's plenty fast for me as-is. That's what I'm saying today anyway, haha. I was told it would get around 45mins run time (and that seems to be what others online are getting) however I think I got 20-25mins max when I went out last night. I'll try again today, maybe the batteries just needed a full cycle to wake up.

I think I'm going to grab a cheap Axial SCX24 crawler as well just to mess around in the house and back yard and between the two of them that should give me lots to play with this summer.

[C4S]

Yes, PM is good, James (or Jim) the manager are willing to honored old price for their old stock, but not much they can do for new arrival... (The $1,000 G500 6x6 is cool!)

For better, just think of of the box, you can run 5s ! That is what I have been doing, 4S is great, and with taller gear, still awesome speed, 6S is a bit overkilled, (with the new stability system should help) and because of the dual batteries lay out, quite easy to run 3s+2s (make sure same mah)

Well, for the 45min run time ... gotta be very consecutive gearing, and no full throttle .. if you can get close to 30min, very good.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Yes, PM is good, James (or Jim) the manager are willing to honored old price for their old stock, but not much they can do for new arrival... (The $1,000 G500 6x6 is cool!)

For better, just think of of the box, you can run 5s ! That is what I have been doing, 4S is great, and with taller gear, still awesome speed, 6S is a bit overkilled, (with the new stability system should help) and because of the dual batteries lay out, quite easy to run 3s+2s (make sure same mah)

Well, for the 45min run time ... gotta be very consecutive gearing, and no full throttle .. if you can get close to 30min, very good.

Yeah it was James who helped me there, he was great.

I saw that 6X6 in the store haha, looked like a beast. I forgot how big that store was, I haven't been there in ages. They have everything from coloring books to RC blimps.

5S might be interesting, I hadn't even considered I could do that but it looks like it runs in series so it should be possible. I'm good with 4S at least for now though, and I don't really want to buy more batteries just yet haha. Motor temps concern me a bit, I'll be watching them with my IR Temp gun today and I'll see if I should be investing in fans or not. Shame it did not come with a motor fan like the MAXX, especially since guys are cooking these motors on 6S pretty regularly and that's what it's designed to run. I'm hoping I'm ok on 4S but electronics hate heat so I might just get some fans anyway.

[bjstare]

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I finally bought something and it was not what I expected. I was tired of the Losi not being in stock anywhere and parts availability had me somewhat nervous. I ended up with a Traxxas E-Revo 2.0 VXL. Not really near my original budget but it’s super fun haha. I also like that I can walk into any hobby shop and they will probably have the parts I need. Seems to be built very well and I’m not going to be hard on it at all. Thanks again for all the input.

Great buy. Sometimes I wish I had one of those instead of my Summit.

If you intend to run it in the shoulder seasons when it's coolre out and a little mucky, strongly recommend one of these: https://tboneracing.net/products/dus...o-summit-85038

[C4S]

I have been running the 5S configuration for ~ 8 year + (4S most the time) no issue, but yes, just keep eyes on temperature.

Not sure what motor/ESC Traxxas use now, I assume they are still using Castle, which that motor always stay cool, don't need fan if you run 4S.

I wonder how the "self flippin"g system work ....

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Great buy. Sometimes I wish I had one of those instead of my Summit.

If you intend to run it in the shoulder seasons when it's coolre out and a little mucky, strongly recommend one of these: https://tboneracing.net/products/dus...o-summit-85038

Thanks, I've only had it out twice but I'm really happy with it so far. I can't believe how easy it is to drive, even full speed in a straight line. Totally different than the RC's I remember from 10-15 years ago. The size/weight probably helps too as it doesn't get tossed around very easily. The build quality is surprising, it almost feels like it should cost more, but maybe that's how all RC's are built these days. The drivetrain is apparently based off the X-MAXX. I was flip-flopping between this and the MAXX, but after being told I could get the Revo 2.0 for the same price, it was a no-brainer. Don't love that it needs 2 batteries, but with a 40+ min run time I don't feel the need to re-run it right away again, and it should probably cool down anyway after that much driving.

I can't really tell if the TCM is working or not, which could be a good thing (seamless). I tried at 0% and 100% and couldn't really tell a difference so I put it back at 50% (default).

The charger is nice, it identifies the batteries and sets charging rates automatically, couldn't be easier.

I struggle a bit with the body, I love that it has no pins, but hooking in the front is a bit of an art and I feel like I have to bend the body too much, but it doesn't seem to bother it and once it's on it's fine.

For someone as anal as myself, and after just blowing the grass out of mine out with compressed air, that dust cover seems like something I might want all the time haha. Maybe not until ambient temps drop though as it will probably trap more heat around the electronics - or maybe you could leave it partially zipped so heat could escape. I have no plans to run it in rain / mud / wet grass but regardless that little protector looks pretty slick and it's certainly possible to hit some water or something you didn't realize was there.

I grabbed an Axial SCX24 today, the yellow Jeep Rubicon. PM Hobby had them in stock again when nobody else did, and for cheaper. Battery is charging now and then I'm going to set up a little course in my basement haha.

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I have been running the 5S configuration for ~ 8 year + (4S most the time) no issue, but yes, just keep eyes on temperature.

Not sure what motor/ESC Traxxas use now, I assume they are still using Castle, which that motor always stay cool, don't need fan if you run 4S.

I wonder how the "self flippin"g system work ....

Apparently they are using modified Castle electronics re-branded to their own Traxxas name (some people seem to think they're worse, some do not). The weak point seems to be motor cooling (even the 4S MAXX gets a stock cooling fan but this 6S Revo does not). Guys are cooking motors pretty fast on 6S (apparently 200-220F and it will start to die) and not watching temps really close, but other than that it seems to be pretty well built to handle the power. And if you plan to bash it off jumps and go to BMX/skate parks for big air, there is a suspension mod that seems to be popular but that isn't my style of driving. The original Revo had a lot of issues by the looks of things but pretty well everything has been addressed for the 2.0.

Took it out today and I got 42 mins of run time (minus the quick temp check stops) with lots of full throttle bursts driving mostly on packed dirt/dead grass and short grass (field). I checked motor temps every 5-10 mins and the highest I saw was about 65C / 150F which I think is well within the safe zone. It didn't seem to get hotter than that even after a bunch more driving in grass, but I will definitely avoid long/thick grass.

The flip system spins the tires and rocks the car until one set of tires "bites" and flips the car. Apparently it works best on 6S for the torque, but is hard on the tires and diffs so I just go pick it up if I accidentally flip it - it's never far from me anyway. The other thing is if you're not on a soft surface, the auto-flip scratches up your body pretty good as it rocks back and forth. It does work though.