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just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

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just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

Old 03-13-2013, 10:56 PM
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JawzSS
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Default just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

finally pulled the trigger and purchased a Traxxas Villain from my LHS. This boat is going to be used as my retrieval boat once I get the PVC fork built around it.. anyway, i wanted to do a motor upgrade, nothing crazy, because I want to keep the stock esc and such. I am not too familiar with brushed motors so I wanted to seek some advice.

i have a 15T HPI firebolt lying around from another build.. would I be able to purchase another one of those and run these? or would that be too much for the stock esc?

thanks
Old 03-14-2013, 02:38 AM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

Probably too much if its going to do rescues without harm to the boat being rescued and/or itself.  Yes you need performance to get to the cripple, but you also need good control when you get there.  If the existing motor is near the limit for the supplied ESC, a hotter motor will likely fry the ESC, or at least cause its safety cutout to do its thing at the least appropriate time, leaving you with two boats drifting.  Of of my top reasons for preferring to use the rescue boat to tow a line.
Old 03-14-2013, 07:24 AM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

Do like i did was revamp the power system. But first look for Magnetic Mayhem motors and that might be a hassle. Best bet is to remove the guts and put a UL-1 motor in on 3S as a retievel boat. I did and it moves out and reason for power is if boat in need is drowning, you want to get there fast. Something else; if you get brushed motors, get motors with 12/3 wind. You can look on ebay but watch who you buy from. I've been burnt on ebay when i opened motor , i found a rubbber donut where shims should be and magnetics were loose. Wish i could help you more. Might try hobby shops in California! Maybe someone here can join in your search. There's a guy called Scorpion 1 on RCGroups who has Villian EX on power setups like mine and they TRAVEL! Your swivel joints will be your weak parts.
Old 03-14-2013, 07:32 AM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

Ok, another solution is to get a 22" mono and power up real good with a esc with reverse with a Octura 632 prop and 2- 2S- 2.2- 40-50 C rating lipo.
Old 03-15-2013, 08:43 AM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

I have a Traxxas Villain rigged up for rescue, but I built a Vac-u-tug over the winter. If you want a dependable rescue boat I would stick with the stock Titan 550's, and add water cooling if you haven't already. A second water pickup fits perfectly on the back so you can cool the motors and esc separately. Are you running nimh's or lipo's? You can run two 7 cell nimh packs if you want a little extra jam but when you have the frame on you can't use a lot of power anyway because the props will just cavitate. (Spin out).
My Villain was a rock solid rescue boat for me and our club for 4 years on the stock setup and never let me down.

Old 03-15-2013, 06:47 PM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

ok..well im not sure what motors are in there now because there are no labels on them.. should I assume they are the Titan 550s? In addition, when I purchased it from my LHS2 days ago (strictly for retrieval purposes) i noticed the previous owner had installed some double blade brass props.. I included a couple of pics of how the system came and my rescue rig with a short vid..

like i said I would like to just get a little more power out of her but im really not interested in spending a fortune..







[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvw1cE0ADAo[/youtube]
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Old 03-15-2013, 07:25 PM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

upon some further research.. it looks like i can go to a 19T motor on the stock evx2 esc..is this correct? if so what are some decent motors to look into and would i need to decrease the pinion?
Old 03-15-2013, 08:15 PM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

They look like the Titans with the labels taken off for better contact for cooling. I had the same setup with the props but I eventually went back to the stock props after blowing a couple u-joints, not the props fault I just went back to the stock driveline because I had the parts.
I did try some of the lower turn Titans, the WildMax 19 turn motors but they ran hot enough to melt the solder on a motor wire. And I've never seen a motor that burned up brushes so fast.
The cheapest bang for your buck would probably be try some bigger pinions first and then maybe try some 7 cell packs, that will wake it up. Keep an eye on your temps. Just keep It looks like your one motor has a bit of rust, I always tape up the hatch like I do on my FE boats for extra protection doing rescue work.

Edit: I did drop a pinion size with the 19 turn motors.
Old 03-16-2013, 08:03 AM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?


ORIGINAL: Tombsy

They look like the Titans with the labels taken off for better contact for cooling. I had the same setup with the props but I eventually went back to the stock props after blowing a couple u-joints, not the props fault I just went back to the stock driveline because I had the parts.
I did try some of the lower turn Titans, the WildMax 19 turn motors but they ran hot enough to melt the solder on a motor wire. And I've never seen a motor that burned up brushes so fast.
The cheapest bang for your buck would probably be try some bigger pinions first and then maybe try some 7 cell packs, that will wake it up. Keep an eye on your temps. Just keep It looks like your one motor has a bit of rust, I always tape up the hatch like I do on my FE boats for extra protection doing rescue work.

Edit: I did drop a pinion size with the 19 turn motors.
well then I guess I will leave the boat the way it is.. get some 7cell packs a bigger pinion and call it a day. The last thing I need is a rescue boat for the resuce boat lol... what pinion size could I go up to you think?

Old 03-16-2013, 08:26 AM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

Does it run fairly cool now? I'd try going up one or two teeth but check the temps, the cooler it runs will be more dependable. I mentioned before but if you can find another of the black water pickups there is room at the back to run two then you can run a separate line to the motors and out the right hand side. Here's a pic from when I had the metal props, I put in an autobailer early on but it's pretty useless for rescue and you don't need it if you tape the hatch. I'm not sure what shape your props are in but sharpening and balancing them always helps too.

Old 03-16-2013, 09:02 AM
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Default RE: just bought traxxas villian as a retrieval boat, motor upgrades?

it runs fairly cool as of now.. havnt temp gunned it yet. How many teeth would that be on the pinion if i went up a couple? not sure what the stock size is?.. where do you get the pinions for these boats? LHS?

i will also be adding the additional water intake as you did on yours.. running seperate cooling seems like a good idea...although one intake is going to have to supply the cooling water for one motor, as well as, the esc correct?

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