jmcvicker

I'm using red-black and black-red and white-nothing. They say in the Mamba drivers' manual to do that if the motor spins in the opposite direction (brushed). Been driving around today again with it and upped the pinion on my RC18T and it's doing fine. Running 15/60 now with the stock 280 motor (we have a "stock" truck class at the local race track).

So, I think I'm in the "got it to work" crowd. But it does seem touchy from the other guys' experience. Pulled the Mamba 25 sticker off today and slapped an ESC heat sink on it just in case. It hasn't run hot for me yet, though.

walkingcarpet900

cool!
i guess i am gunna go put some bullet connectors on my vr3 motor
for my vendetta =)

supercharged347

Got it downloaded....but after some of the horror stories, I am afraid to put the new version into the esc. Maybe I'll wait a bit longer. If I connect it up, it will automatically get the new version to the mamba 25 now right ? I wouldnt mind playing with some of the adjustments....without putting the latest version into the esc and risking disaster.

jmcvicker

If you connect it up - make sure:

1) You have Castle Link 3.04 (on their web site, just download and install)
2) You then connect it and it says "you can upgrade if you want"

You don't have to push the latest firmware (1.17) to the Mamba ESC. You can still work with the existing settings for brushless. Or, you can push the new firmware to it, then work with the settings. Keep in mind that anything before 1.16 will not support brushed motors.

I set up an M18 today with the stock 180 brushed motor. Seems to have more power hitting it than with the Novak GT Micro ESC. So far, so good. It was raining outside so I didn't do any real driving tests.

On this one, using the 3.5mm bullet connectors - I added the male connectors to the black/red wires on the 180 motor and also had to go black to red / red to black from the Mamba 25 to the motor.

jmcvicker

Also - in terms of risking disaster - you could do it while on the phone with Castle. You can ask them "will you fix this for free if you walk me through it and it isn't working after?"

crf450r4u2nv

have you tried to go back to brushless yet
wondering if there is problems going back and forth from brushed/brushless
why not wire it like it shows
doesnt it show all three to one motor wire
and batt to the other motor wire<or something like that>high power brushed


just wondering because i just got one a few days ago and am afraid to update
but want to for this feature
anyone try one on a vr3?

supercharged347

Sounds good, maybe I will try this soon...and not push the newer firmware in.

So it sounds to be working out pretty good for you running brushed though. Still think I will hold off and see how more people do, and if anything new comes out about it and solves any problems there may be..(if there is any). I just got the brushless anyway and am looking foward to messing around with it more. Around here theres been snow on the ground, and have only really ran 1 battery through it on the street. Its the Pro-pulse car, mamba 25, and the megatech brushless motor they designed for it. Not sure how it compares to others. Claims to be a 6600 kv motor. Its pretty small, smaller diameter then the stock 370 can. I think castle's is similar in size ? Not sure though.



[quote]ORIGINAL: jmcvicker

If you connect it up - make sure:

1) You have Castle Link 3.04 (on their web site, just download and install)
2) You then connect it and it says "you can upgrade if you want"

You don't have to push the latest firmware (1.17) to the Mamba ESC. You can still work with the existing settings for brushless. Or, you can push the new firmware to it, then work with the settings. Keep in mind that anything before 1.16 will not support brushed motors.

jmcvicker

There are 2 wiring modes for the Esc to brushed motors. One is high-power (3-wires used) and the other is black and red (either way, whichever spins the motor right).

I am using the reversing mode. Page 6 of this booklet shows the modes. http://www.castlecreations.com/suppo...s_ed_guide.pdf

It shows: "In most applications, the red wire from the ESC will connect to the red wire (or positive + side hood) on your motor, and the black wire to the black wire (or negative - side hood) of the motor. The white motor wire is not used. After calibration, (explained below) you may need to swap the two motor wires to get the wheels to spin in the right direction."

walkingcarpet900

what would the vr3 be under???
its a 380 motor

jmcvicker

If you want the reversing feature, you'd wire it up black and red - using bullet connectors, you can go b-b / r-r or b-r / r-b depending on which direction the motor spins when connected. I guess the high power motor would be like a 540 or low-turn-count 370/380.

Also, Castle has a pretty quick response to email questions about products. You can let them know what motor you have and see if they would want to have you set it up with high current wiring or just 2-wire. They will "unofficially" support larger motors but I think they are trying to stay at 380 or below for warranty issues.

crf450r4u2nv

thanks thats a better version than the one i saw
i wish that they gave guidlines for what high power motors are
like at what point do you need to be in high power mode to be safe

also was wondering how do you tell if your mamba 25 is the new or old version ?

ttppll

I've tried it with a VR3. I had it overgeared and the motor has red hot afterwards but the ESC was not warm at all. It worked fine.

After that I switched the ESC back to brushless mode to run a GH motor and it worked fine.

dnitro

I upgraded to v 1.17 last night and things seem to work okay. Smoother throttle response, faster brake to reverse response and no cogging on starts and low speed. I'm running a 6800kv motor and 1500mah 6-pack, 15/60 gears on my RC18R.

This set up is fast enough for me and I'm still able to steer and control it to the direction I want. Speed runs are fun too, but for day-to-day bashing I'll stick with this setup.

WalkerBoh

My Feedback: (7)

Anyone have any issues with this new firmware not re-arming? I have a 6800 in my recoil w/ futaba 3p 2.4. When the rx goes into failsafe due to low battery the ESC will not re-arm. Turning the switch off and back on will re-arm it properly. Is their a setting that I'm missing?

-Aaron

crf450r4u2nv

thanks thats what i wanted to hear
were you using 2 wire setup or 3 wire setup

jmcvicker

Two cars I set up with brushed stock motors and the Mamba 25 made it through a night of racing on Saturday night. No problems with them in that state and the setup drew some interest from some guys there. I didn't see it being much of an advantage over regular brushed ESCs but will monkey with the settings somewhat to see if I can do something with the power curve and brake curve. Ran them in an Xray M18 car and RC18T truck in our local track's "stock" classes. Price-wise, choosing a Mamba 25 programmable ESC for both b/bl is the same price as something like a Novak Micro GT which is forward-only. Our track has a Pro-stock class for M18 which is using a Super 370 motor and the Mamba 25 would really do well with that.

Mr. Mugen

I haven't heard back from castle yet. I sent it in a week ago. They said with in 3 days I would get an email.....maybe tomorrow.

walkingcarpet900

has anyone tried it with a vr3 in a detta or detta st?

im scared to try it
since its heavier than most minis

Chris4207

tonite i tried it in a Detta ST with stock gears, 2S lipo and the vr3. Ive only driven around the house for about 5 or 10 minutes but it was fine. The temp on the ESC got up to 128 F.
Oh and it was set for Brushed W/reverse

Mr. Mugen

Well I got an email from CC today stating they got my esc and email. It is in repair shop and more info to come.

Kevin

jmcvicker

I noticed that too - that the ESC got pretty warm even when it wasn't running the motor but just switched on. I guess the plan is to plug the battery in when you're ready to run and disconnect when done.

I'm going to run my M18 this weekend without the Mamba 25 (using Novak Micro GT) and see how that goes. I'm not entirely sure I'm really into using the Mamba 25 for brushed other than for conversational purposes just yet. Great ESC for the brushless though.

Chris4207

Im going to try racing this weekend with the mamba and vr3 in vendeta st, Ill report back with the outcome. I called cc tech support today and asked about temps they told me if it didnt get any higher than 160-170 F that it would be fine, they also told me it thermals at about 220 F. I didnt know it thermals.

Mr. Mugen

WOW Thats 8 degrees higher than water boiling. I never knew it had a thermal shut down either. Hmmmm....wonder if thats what happened to mine and I sent it in too early. It was still warm when I boxed it...lol. I figured why wait and off it went. Good luck racing man. Hope you do well.

Kevin

Chris4207

I raced at the LHS carpet track tonite I used a Vendetta ST, stock gears, VR3 motor and mamba 25 set at forward w/reverse and it is wired R/B B/R. The ESC never got above 105 F. I also was using a GP 1100 mah pack. This is the smoothest setups ive used so far.

jmcvicker

Good results, eh? I helped a kid out this weekend get a Mamba 25 running in our Stock M18 class. He's one of those kids who loves to go 50MPH on the road but needs more practice making turns. Anyway - his setup worked out well too - but he used a motor that was on its last legs and he ended up seizing it. More guys at our track are getting interested in using Mambas in their brushed setups. So, it seems like it's good for Castle Creations. They'll at least sell more Castle Links, right?