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You've got to be kidding me!!!

Old 01-02-2013, 01:20 PM
  #1  
goodmanje
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Default You've got to be kidding me!!!



My son got a Volcano EPX for Christmas. After charging the battery for 8 hours we took it outside to try it out. The thing ran for about 5-10 minutes.... Hmmm... Something must be wrong I thought. We checked everything charged it again and the same thing happened. It ran for about 5-10 minutes and thats it. Thinking the battery must be bad I called Redcat Racing to report the problem. The gentleman on the phone informed me that 10 minutes was about what you get from that battery. Huh???

I'm totally new to this hobby so I'll admit I know nothing about the equipment. I'm just wondering why anyone would want something that can only be used for 10 mninutes every 8 hours? That's ridiculous!!! I've read you can buy different batteries and maybe get 15 minutes out of it....... every 8 hours. Complete and total crap!

I'm done with this hobby. I could buy my son a really nice bow or high end pellet gun for that kind of money and they can use it all day long every day.

Just had to vent my frustration....

Old 01-02-2013, 01:55 PM
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PetRock
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!

The stock trickle chargers are a cheap way to make the cars RTR... but... they're slow . Alternate chargers can fill that battery in 30-60 minutes or faster... and different batteries can triple your run time.

A budget multi-chemistry charger would be a good first upgrade, and then maybe get a second (higher capacity) battery down the road. Then your son could drive basically non-stop. But before investing any more money I'd live with the slow charge times for a few runs and see if he enjoys RC: no use spending more money if he may get more fun out of bow/pellet-gun.

Have fun!

Old 01-02-2013, 03:02 PM
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!

afriad those runtimes are normal for many RTR models.

The number on the battery (MAH) reflects the runtime.

many RTR's have batteries with 2000-3000mah...which is only good for 10 minutes or so.

I just bought a Arrma raider, and it came with a tiny 1500mah battery.

But a good 5000mah battery can be had for not that much, and should get you 20+ minutes.

Here is a link to a good one: http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-5000-7...ble-stick.html


Same goes for the stock charger. Most RTR models provide the most basic charger availible.

The thunder AC6 is a charger which can do most any battery a RC hobbiest will ever have. It can charge my 5000mah lipo packs in 1 hour. A 5000mah nimh battery it could do in less time. The thunder AC6 is availble on the same site as the battery I linked and only costs $50.

There was a time when 10 minute runtimes were the best anywone had. Batteries have come a long way, and its actually good that RTR's can come with a battery that will do 10 minutes. My 1st good electric RC I got 5 minutes tops! And the best batteries of that day could only do 15 minutes!


Please note that if you get a good 5000mah battery...you will need to let the truck cool before running another battery. If you dont give it a few minutes to cool down between packs, it could overheat the motor or ESC.
Old 01-02-2013, 04:57 PM
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!

Another victim of the EPX "non pro" line. On one hand it's lot of truck for the money. Like Nitrosports said, back in the day almost all rc's came without a battery or electronics. My first RC back in the early 80's was just a kit or roller. A cheap battery back then was about $35 plus another $150-$180 for the lower end AM radio gear. So really for the price, the Volcano EPX is truly ready to run out of the box. Unfortunately it's not ready to run for long.

I bought a EPX for my daughter who is 8. Without doing much research, I mainly bought it because I felt she just didn't need a brushless setup. I was just as surprised as you that not only did the stock battery which was a 1800 mah nihm only ran it for about 10 minutes, but after three packs the brushed motor smoked. Redcat warrantied it right away and provided excellent customer service, but also informed me that brushed motors run very hot and that I should keep the run time to between 6-7 minutes. I couldn't believe they sell a model with an intended runtime of 6-7 minutes. I figured with all the batteries I had that she could run it while I gas and go with my nitro equipment. It was very disappointing. Price was the obvious factor in my purchase of the Volcano EPX, but had I known about the run times, I would have just bought her a Caldera 10e like her brother has.

If your son seems interested, I would say don't give up yet. My son was one of the major reasons I got back into the hobby. It's really great teaching him how to work on it. He's 10 years old now and knows right away if something doesn't sound right in the drivetrain on his Caldera 10e. We go to the local track and park with our cars and it's a blast doing this together besides just playing video games all the time.

If you can get past the bad first impression do a little research. Like Nitrosports mentioned getting a decent charger will change everything. Unfortunately spending extra money on a good charger is just part of this game no matter what brand of RC you buy. Once you get one it will work for everything. The equipment is also something to look at. Upgrading to just the EPX pro or Caldera 10e line is a major improvement. You can easily find Lipo batteries for around $20. I bought a 4000mah Lipo for $17.99 that will run my sons Caldera 10e for 25 minutes.
Old 01-02-2013, 05:49 PM
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!


ORIGINAL: Dads like rc too

Another victim of the EPX ''non pro'' line. On one hand it's lot of truck for the money. Like Nitrosports said, back in the day almost all rc's came without a battery or electronics. My first RC back in the early 80's was just a kit or roller. A cheap battery back then was about $35 plus another $150-$180 for the lower end AM radio gear. So really for the price, the Volcano EPX is truly ready to run out of the box. Unfortunately it's not ready to run for long.

I bought a EPX for my daughter who is 8. Without doing much research, I mainly bought it because I felt she just didn't need a brushless setup. I was just as surprised as you that not only did the stock battery which was a 1800 mah nihm only ran it for about 10 minutes, but after three packs the brushed motor smoked. Redcat warrantied it right away and provided excellent customer service, but also informed me that brushed motors run very hot and that I should keep the run time to between 6-7 minutes. I couldn't believe they sell a model with an intended runtime of 6-7 minutes. I figured with all the batteries I had that she could run it while I gas and go with my nitro equipment. It was very disappointing. Price was the obvious factor in my purchase of the Volcano EPX, but had I known about the run times, I would have just bought her a Caldera 10e like her brother has.

If your son seems interested, I would say don't give up yet. My son was one of the major reasons I got back into the hobby. It's really great teaching him how to work on it. He's 10 years old now and knows right away if something doesn't sound right in the drivetrain on his Caldera 10e. We go to the local track and park with our cars and it's a blast doing this together besides just playing video games all the time.

If you can get past the bad first impression do a little research. Like Nitrosports mentioned getting a decent charger will change everything. Unfortunately spending extra money on a good charger is just part of this game no matter what brand of RC you buy. Once you get one it will work for everything. The equipment is also something to look at. Upgrading to just the EPX pro or Caldera 10e line is a major improvement. You can easily find Lipo batteries for around $20. I bought a 4000mah Lipo for $17.99 that will run my sons Caldera 10e for 25 minutes.
I wouldnt go lipo on the EPX myself. Lipos put out more juice than a good nimh pack. That extra juice could burn out the speed control...or burn up the motor sooner.
If the OP wants to upgrade down the road.... you can find a traxxas XL-5 ESC and motor on ebay used for $50 or less. That will allow for more powerfull batteries.
Also, the alloy motor heat sink upgrade isnt a bad idea for the EPX.
Old 01-02-2013, 06:13 PM
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Dads like rc too
 
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!


ORIGINAL: nitrosportsandrunner


ORIGINAL: Dads like rc too

Another victim of the EPX ''non pro'' line. On one hand it's lot of truck for the money. Like Nitrosports said, back in the day almost all rc's came without a battery or electronics. My first RC back in the early 80's was just a kit or roller. A cheap battery back then was about $35 plus another $150-$180 for the lower end AM radio gear. So really for the price, the Volcano EPX is truly ready to run out of the box. Unfortunately it's not ready to run for long.

I bought a EPX for my daughter who is 8. Without doing much research, I mainly bought it because I felt she just didn't need a brushless setup. I was just as surprised as you that not only did the stock battery which was a 1800 mah nihm only ran it for about 10 minutes, but after three packs the brushed motor smoked. Redcat warrantied it right away and provided excellent customer service, but also informed me that brushed motors run very hot and that I should keep the run time to between 6-7 minutes. I couldn't believe they sell a model with an intended runtime of 6-7 minutes. I figured with all the batteries I had that she could run it while I gas and go with my nitro equipment. It was very disappointing. Price was the obvious factor in my purchase of the Volcano EPX, but had I known about the run times, I would have just bought her a Caldera 10e like her brother has.

If your son seems interested, I would say don't give up yet. My son was one of the major reasons I got back into the hobby. It's really great teaching him how to work on it. He's 10 years old now and knows right away if something doesn't sound right in the drivetrain on his Caldera 10e. We go to the local track and park with our cars and it's a blast doing this together besides just playing video games all the time.

If you can get past the bad first impression do a little research. Like Nitrosports mentioned getting a decent charger will change everything. Unfortunately spending extra money on a good charger is just part of this game no matter what brand of RC you buy. Once you get one it will work for everything. The equipment is also something to look at. Upgrading to just the EPX pro or Caldera 10e line is a major improvement. You can easily find Lipo batteries for around $20. I bought a 4000mah Lipo for $17.99 that will run my sons Caldera 10e for 25 minutes.
I wouldnt go lipo on the EPX myself. Lipos put out more juice than a good nimh pack. That extra juice could burn out the speed control...or burn up the motor sooner.
If the OP wants to upgrade down the road.... you can find a traxxas XL-5 ESC and motor on ebay used for $50 or less. That will allow for more powerfull batteries.
Also, the alloy motor heat sink upgrade isnt a bad idea for the EPX.
Maybe it was confusing the way I wrote it but I was trying to say to think about upgrading to something in the EPX pro or Caldera lines and be able to utilize Lipo batteries for the longer run times he was looking for.
Old 01-02-2013, 08:26 PM
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!

if you are honestly looking for longer run times i would have purchased a nitro engine because you can keep running as long as you have fuel, i have a volcano s30 a tornado s30 and a monsoon xtr, and they all have over a gallon through them and still run like new!
Old 01-03-2013, 08:18 AM
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!

ORIGINAL: carslover

if you are honestly looking for longer run times i would have purchased a nitro engine because you can keep running as long as you have fuel, i have a volcano s30 a tornado s30 and a monsoon xtr, and they all have over a gallon through them and still run like new!
its true with nitros that you can run tank after tank.
and most will get 15-20 minutes per tank.
But then nitro fuel is $35+ per gallon.
But a $30 2s 5000mah lipo in any of my brushless trucks gets me 30 minute runtimes

If you cant tell, Im a fan of electrics. I love the sound of a nitro, but not the extra work envolved in running them. Way more cleaning needed!
Old 01-03-2013, 08:46 AM
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!

to me its the constantly tinkering, tearing apart, rebuilding, fine tuning that makes the sport enjoyable, and as for the fuel price, i go through a gallon maybe every two months between my cars, and its worth it just for the sound it makes alone, take the monsoon xtr, it is so loud when its at its top end i could wake the neighbors up if im out early enough!
Old 01-04-2013, 02:16 AM
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Default RE: You've got to be kidding me!!!


ORIGINAL: goodmanje



My son got a Volcano EPX for Christmas. After charging the battery for 8 hours we took it outside to try it out. The thing ran for about 5-10 minutes.... Hmmm... Something must be wrong I thought. We checked everything charged it again and the same thing happened. It ran for about 5-10 minutes and thats it. Thinking the battery must be bad I called Redcat Racing to report the problem. The gentleman on the phone informed me that 10 minutes was about what you get from that battery. Huh???

I'm totally new to this hobby so I'll admit I know nothing about the equipment. I'm just wondering why anyone would want something that can only be used for 10 mninutes every 8 hours? That's ridiculous!!! I've read you can buy different batteries and maybe get 15 minutes out of it....... every 8 hours. Complete and total crap!

I'm done with this hobby. I could buy my son a really nice bow or high end pellet gun for that kind of money and they can use it all day long every day.

Just had to vent my frustration....

When you buy an RTR vehicle, particularly a low budget one, you will get low budget equipment. The charger here is the problem. I can understand why you would think that nobody would run a car for 10 mins every 8 hours, and of course we don't. Nobody is still using the equiment that came with the car, particularly the crappy battery and charger (bear in mind 95% of RCs are not supplied with any kind of battery or charger, so really you are complaining about stuff you got for virtually free). Only about 20$ of your purchase price was for the battery and charger. Really its just equipment to get it rolling, it's not expected that you will never want to upgrade it.

If you wanted a car that you will never have to upgrade, you should have added a '0' to your budget.

For $40 you can buy 2 batteries that will run that car for half an hour each.
For another $40 you can buy a charger that will charge them in an hour each.

For $120 you could buy 2 batteries that would run the car for 40 mins each AND a charger that would charge them in 40 mins each, so you would never have to stop running.

For another $60 you can upgrade the motor and speed control to a brushless set which will give you a lot more torque and speed as well as improving runtimes further.

I don't know if the volcano is fully equipped with ball bearings, but if it isn't, then that will again increase runtimes and speed dramatically.

Hopefully you are starting to realise that if they had included all this stuff to make the car great right out of the box, you'd have paid more than double what you paid. It's a simple case of managing your expectations. Why on earth would I pay thousands for my cars and equipment if I could get the same result for $200? I can't, that's why.

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