eat2muchrice

I just a new VSTank Pro M1A2 2.4GHz IR. This is my first VSTank and it seems to have a few problems, I want to know if anyone else has the same issues or it just a defective unit.

The first thing is that It makes a horrible sound when it turns right or left, even while it is off the ground; it almost sounds like the gears are grinding. While it drives forward and I try to make a turn, it will lose power and becomes very sluggish, feeling like the batteries are dying. (Brand new batteries)

The second thing is that sometimes it won’t shoot the main turret. The button will just stop working and I have to reset the tank a few time before it works again. One time all the buttons stopped working. I rebounded the controller, but the problem still comes back every now and then. Annoying but I can live with it.
Anyways I’ve contacted Tower’s and they are going to replace it for me, I’ll give it another shot but if all these tanks are like this then I’d be better off returning it. It would be just plain sad to have my $40 cheap tanks run circles around these.

Please let me know if anyone here has experience with them. Thanks!

eat2muchrice

I know these tanks have two motors, what I don't understand is when you just drive forward and backwards my tank sounds great and smooth, but the you want to turn it sounds like junk and loses power. Can anyone explain this to me.

It also seems like there are not many people who do mods on these tanks. Why are these so unpopular on the forums?

Captain Nemo12

Have you tried opening the hull up to inspect the internals?

eat2muchrice

Yes, I did open it up, but I'm new at this and did not want to tear it completely apart. The motor and gears were enclosed into a plastic case that I felt best not to remove due to the fact I'm sending it back. Do you think it was defective or are they suppose to sound like that?

Captain Nemo12

It seems weird to me that the gearboxes sound differently when running independently... It could be that the electronics are defective and that insufficient power is being outputted when only one motor is running. Could you post a video?

eat2muchrice

I know, it doesn't make sense to me either. Both motors seem to drive perfect forward and reverse, so why would it have problems turning? Sorry I have already packed and shipped it back so I can't get a video. Here is what it did when flipped over and tested.

1. Forward and reverse = both tracks move just fine and sounds good.
2. Turning left or right = Both tracks run in opposite directions but sounds horrible.
3. Forward and Turing right or left = One track stops while the other turns and sounds horrible.
4. On the ground turning right or left = Very sluggish turning then suddenly kicks into full 360 spins like crazy.
5. On the ground and driving forward and turning = Maybe about 10-25 degrees of angle change, I can't even make a complete circle on my living room floor.

My guess is as good as yours, the electronics must be defective. I will get a new one and hopefully it is not a whole batch of defective units with the same issue. If it does then I'll take some video of it and post it up for you.

Thanks for the help!

Captain Nemo12

No problem! From what I've seen VSTanks usually have great quality control, then again there's always the odd tank that slips past...

eat2muchrice

After researching some youtube videos I came across one that sound like what I'm talking about. I am afraid they all making this sound, so mine was not entirely defective. I am posting the link below, you can hear it when this guy is turning his tank around in the snow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fnvuaiZx3I

Another example, but this one is a Leopard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4rhCdCJtGQ

eat2muchrice

OK, got my second tank in today and it has the same issue. It has no turning power and almost seems worse than the one I returned. The tank cannot turn on commercial carpet (very low), low cut grass (golf cut), or even on me front door mat. It just does not have the power to turn.

I don’t know what’s up, but I have seen videos of their older tanks driving through grass without a problem. Maybe the newer 2.4GHz models got a downgrade in motors to keep the cost down.

I would love to keep the tank if I could figure out how to solve this; does anyone know of any upgrades or mods that can be done on them? I have searched the entire web for stuff but nothing comes up. Maybe a mod that adds lipo batteries or new motors would give this thing the power it needs to turn.

interstates

I have a few VS tanks, but none of them are 2.4 gig.
The only one that makes the same noise as yours, and the 2 in the vids you posted, is my T72, and that's only in reverse.
This is caused by the plastic strip holding the rubber skirt on, which rubs on the tracks- the skirts are coming off soon, so it's not a problem for me.
None of my tanks have the running issues you describe, so my guess is it might be related to the 2.4 gig electronics. I'm not an expert, but I don't see how the TX/RX frequency would have any impact on the mechanicals.
Watching the vids closely, especially the Leo, it looks like motors aren't getting enough power when using small stick movements.
Hope this helps.