Gorillaz48

Im thinking about purchasing the Caldera 10e but I would like to drop a higher kv motor in it. If so what would you recommend and would I have to change anything else to accommodate the higher KV?

xxturbowesxx

With 4-6 cells NiMH/NiCdor 2 cells Lipo: On-Road≥9T, Off-Road≥12T; With 6-9 cells NiMH/NiCd or 3 cells Lipo: On-Road≥12T, Off-Road≥18T;

As long as the motor stays within the range I don't see a reason to upgrade the esc.

nitrosportsandrunner

I would get a 540 can motor that is about the same KV.
a traxxas 3500kv motor, or the novatech 3300kv that comes in the epx pros (note it comes with 4mm plugs so you will need to change them to 3mm to work with the stock esc)

I dont reccomend a high kv motor. If you want more power...use a 2 or 3s lipo and a true 540 sized motor.

Gorillaz48

So the traxxas 3500kv motor is more powerful than the 3750kv motor that comes stock in the caldera 10e?
Maybe I'll stick with the stock motor and go 3s lipo as you suggest.. Sorry for all the questions.. I just finished building a mini t from the tires to the motor using a 4200kv castle creations setup and now I have been bitten by the rc bug and i have a feeling that I will be itching to upgrade the caldera so I just wanted to gather all the info & advice I could..
I really appreciate your response & support!

nitrosportsandrunner

speed is not just a factor of KV rating.
KV #'s represent the max RPMs of the motor per volt with NO load on the motor.

The lower the KV, the lower the rpms...however the lower KV the more Torque.

A small truck like your mini T can get away with a high KV motor and be geared high because it is light and doenst take much torque to get it moving.

In most 1/8 scale trucks the brushless motors have 1200-2300kv motors...yet they can do 50mph...partly cause they run on 4s lipo.

So, the thing is you CAN use a high KV motor in the caldera but you will need to gear it DOWN to compensate for the lower torque of the motor.

Thus, a 3300-3700kv motor with stock gearing is just as fast as a 4000-5000kv motor that would need to be geared down.

Lastly, you can run 3s on the caldera but you need to do the following:

Wire the ESC fan to be powered from the reciever. The fan is run off the BEC of the esc and if you use a 3s then the fan will get to much voltage and fry....and if the fan dies the esc may overheat.
Again, just run the fan off the batt or 3rd channel port of the reciever and it will get safe voltage no matter what battery you run.

2: get a heat sink and fan for the motor. The motor can handle 3s voltage...but the caldera is a heavy truck for that motor (again, its KV is higher than say the traxxas or novatech motor) If you dont put on a heat sink and fan then the motor can get hot and cause the ESC to go into overheat protection mode.

My buddies both had caldera's. For them 2s was plenty of power...tho they both did run 3s sometimes. They found that running a full 3s 5000mah pack without the motor heatsink/fan the motor would get hot and the ESC would shut power. With the fan/heatsink the motor can run cool enough.

If you really want to run 3s I do reccomend the traxxas vxl motor. even tho the KV is a bit lower...the diameter of the motor is larger (540 instead of a finned out 390 like the stock motor) the larger diameter increases torque some. This means the vxl motor will not have to work as hard as the stock motor.

You can often find used VXL motors on ebay for $45-$60. Even with the vxl motor, a heatsink and fan are not a bad idea.
Heat is the enemy and a fan and heat sink cost alot less than a new motor!

Gorillaz48

I'm going to take your advice and stick with the stock motor using the 2s lipo for now. I already have a 3s lipo so maybe I'll use it for occasional short runs only. If I need more I know how to go about making it happen the correct way thanks to your advice.. When I get everything up & running I'll be sure to come back to the thread and post my experience with the setup.
Thanks again!

nitrosportsandrunner

yeh, IMO the truck is plenty fast on a 2s lipo. get a good 20-30c pack with 5000mah and it will be plenty fast and run for 25+ minutes per charge.

One of my friends but a 1/8 scale system in his caldera. It might have been OK, but then he has no concept of throttle control....he just mashes the throttle all the time. On a 1/8 scale brushless system this kinda driving shredded 1 spur gear after another.

I have been wanting to get a caldera for myself. I just bought a parts lot with a lightning that came with a bunch of caldera parts.

Oh, one other thing. more than 1 caldera owner running lipos has had to replace the tires. the stock ones are kinda soft and will ballon on lipos. and when they ballon the wear faster....or hit a sharp rock and rip. So you might want to think ahead as to what you want for replacement tires.

PetRock

Staying on 2s and using 3s occasionally for a kick in the pants is a great idea: mine runs fine on 3s. For a more permanent boost you can switch to a lower-KV Tacon 3660 (way more torque than stock) like this or this, and run full-time on 3s. Note that both of those motors require more power than the stock 35a ESC can deliver: look at any of the 80a+ models from HobbyKing, or for something in the US one of these two models from brushlesshobbies.com would be perfect. By running lower-KV with 3s you can keep the temperatures under control (it will be cooler than higher-kv on 2s).

I'm currently running a different combo for more on-road speed in my Caldera SC 10E, but will be swapping in one of the 120a BH ESC's with a sensored Tacon 3650 3000kv motor (had it from an old Traxxas Stampede). I'll let you know how it goes.