Rampage MT issue and reccomendation
Hey Mike, sory to hear of the problem... I have had nothing but fantastic service from Red Cat with anything I have sent in. They always replaced any component I've sent in the next day. Billy, Chris and the whole gang at Red Cat are wonderful to deal with! But I have to give props to my FAVORITE Red Cat dealer, Kurt from URCHobby.com! I'm sure the boys will take care of your problem pronto!!
Mike
Spoke to Chris @ Redcat. They got my parts today and they were too far gone to pinpoint the root cause of the issue. The power cables to and from the power switch were completely destroyed. The battery had a hole burned in it and the reciever looke like someone burnt some brownies. I am happy to say replacements are on the way no questions asked and should arrive in time for me to take the truck on vacation.
Thanks Redcat Support for the super speedy turn around!
Thanks all
Mike
Got replacement parts yesterday from Redcat after the fire in the electronics box. Installed them today and attempted to finish the breakin tank. The truck really is solid. Having moved up from 1/8 scale it is a ton of fun to drive even just puttering around in the street at 50% throttle. Unfortunately, both of the steering servos died with in 3 min of each other. I thought for sure I screwed up and did something wrong but when i hit my LHS for replacements we pulled it apart and 2 chips had fallen off the circuit board in the servo. Called Redcat again, and to their credit replacements were sent out this afternoon. Anyone else have issues like this?
Mike
I went through my third set of stock steering servos last week. Was on vacation got replacements for the second set, bolted them up and they lasted about 15 min. They died one after the other then a fire started again in the box. I was sure after the second set I was doing something wrong. I am not new to RC but new to 5<sup>th</sup> scale. I had the guy @ my LHS check my connections and configuration with the 3<sup>rd</sup> channel Killer B v1 I have and he could not find a reason this is happening outside of some very poor quality steering servos. And by the way no issues at all with the T/B servo. I took apart one of the second set of steering servos I was sent while I was in the store with him and two chips had come off the board. I mean just broke loose and were floating around inside the servo they came unsoldered right off the board. I haven’t broken open the third set yet but one of them is making the same sound when it is shaken.
So I have a killer bee v1 and contacted Kent over there and he does not believe there is any way the kill switch could be doing this. Has anyone else had such terrible luck with these stock servos or had problems like this? I am getting to the point where I feel like I need to wear a helmet when I leave the house J I came from Nitro and have very little experience using a kill switch. When testing everything out of the truck the switch , servos and the failsafe in the radio (Spektrum DSX3R) work as I expect them to.
Redcat has been great so far sending replacements. They have now requested I send all of the parts back including the kill switch and the receiver which I managed to save it this time. I was running with the lid off and watching it closely. I am going to mail everything tomorrow. I have a set of Hi-Tecs I picked up today and started making mods to bolt them on but at this point I am going to wait to see what redcat says before I risk destroying the new servos. I am inclined to agree with Redcat… from their perspective three pairs of bad steering servos? That is unlikely and unlucky (thus the helmet). Furthermore, they said don’t risk those new Hi-tecs until they can get a look at things and identify a root cause (rule out the kill switch and receiver I guess). The kill switch is original the receiver is new as the first fire ate the last one.
Its been a rocky start but I will say those guys at Redcat support have been very accommodating and I feel are genuinely interested in seeing this through and getting me up and running.
STILL waiting to start shredding with my Ramp
Mike
I appreciate the input and the experience. I hope no one gives you greif. If it is the reciever I hope they find it. I will see about returning it and getting an airtronics. I am willing to do just about anything for a week of trouble free operation at this point.
If your not burning out servos w/your other vehicels/spektrum maybe its notthe spektrum? Futaba is also good so they say but I havent tried it yet. If you get an airtronics you might want a mx3 fg or x because it has the perfect location for a 3rd channel kill switch. The airtronics sport 3rd channel botton sucks for a killswitch.
well to start off with burnin up servosi have went through 4 spectrum receivers myself and one did cost me servos, they said my receiver was fine and sent it back, hooked it up and it wouldn't work they argued with me and said if they paperwork said it worked then it works, i hungup called backed talked to someone else they sent me a new one, so far it works. but still i will be switching back to futaba.
what this does is lets your steering servos pull current straight from the battery, and not have to pull it through the receiver, but you'll still be powering your receiver through your steering channel. Another bonus is your new steering servos will get a full 6 volts instead of the 4.8v they were getting from the receiver, so they will be faster and have more torque. Also ditch the stock on off switch and get a good heavy duty switch.
Here is a site talking about the y-harness setup
http://www.modelgasboats.com/Magazin...2_Harness.html
let me know if you got any questions. I went thru these same issues with my TT and haven't had a problem since.
Thanks so much for the information. This has been killing me for 3 weeks since I got the MT. I will definitely try this. I actually already have the Hitecs you are talking about. In the process of fitting them onto the truck this week. What radio are you using? And if you dont mind what would be a good heavy duty power switch for a vehicle like this?
Thanks!!
Mike
this is the one I am using. I like it cuz it has a built in charging port.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPNU3
And im still using the stock radio and failsafe.
Stick with it, i was getting annoyed with the problems i was having with mine but once i got the steering servo issue worked out i've had a blast.
I did finally melt down the stock gears but i was drifting around the local rc tracks oval course for 15 minutes straight lol
Thanks to everyone in this thread who has provided their input I really appreciate the help!!
isn't this supposed to be a FUN hobby???
Mike
Your gonna burn up the reciever, trust me i went thru 3 of them before i fixed the power issues (cheap switch, and y harness)
you have 2 steering servos (which we all know pull a **** tone of power) the stock spectrum receiver only pulls 4.8v @ we will say 100kv respectably... this is not good i cant say whether the stock steering servos are good or not (haven't had the money to pick up a mt yet hopefully for my birthday or so says the gf)
but in a car audio setup if a sub woofer says minimum it requires 700w rms and you try to power it with 400s rms (under power) your going to blow the high end out of the subwoofer and thus why your setting your receiver on fire and burning up the steering servos... imho
pulling that much load through a receiver was never intended
i guess i have to chime in here....
you have 2 steering servos (which we all know pull a **** tone of power) the stock spectrum receiver only pulls 4.8v @ we will say 100kv respectably... this is not good i cant say whether the stock steering servos are good or not (haven't had the money to pick up a mt yet hopefully for my birthday or so says the gf)
but in a car audio setup if a sub woofer says minimum it requires 700w rms and you try to power it with 400s rms (under power) your going to blow the high end out of the subwoofer and thus why your setting your receiver on fire and burning up the steering servos... imho
pulling that much load through a receiver was never intended