jaguar-xjr

Hello!

I've wanted to get into the RC hobby for many years.

Our kids finally moved out, and I am finding time to start a new hobby.

My buddy and I bought two Redcat Racing Shredders.

I am beginning to think that I purchased the wrong brand, in fact I know I have.

Being new, I know absolutely nothing about setting up an rc car.

I have searched google, youtube, and of course Redcat's site.
I have even contacted Redcat's customer support, and all I get
are one or two word answers. The support from Redcat is terrible!

Anyway, here is our problem:

1) We can get the radios "binded" to the cars, but only the steering works.

2) We cannot get any power to the wheels.

We've gone over the instructions, and obviously we are doing something wrong.

We are reasonably intelligent guys, but we are stumped as to how to set these cars up.


I've searched this site as well, but I haven't found a basic thread on this problem, with this car.
Perhaps I am using the wrong search words.


If any of you can refer us to a video or some other link that we noobs can get our cars operating, that would be awesome!


Our goal was to buy something and see if we like the hobby, and they move up to better cars.


Thanks in advance for your help, and I apologize if I did not search correctly.
The material is probably already posted here somewhere.

Honestly, to a lay person, the instructions are pretty daunting.


I appreciate any help or guidance.

Stewart
Salem Oregon

p.s. the Redcat chargers that we received are junk. The LED indicator lights do not work as described. I went and checked the voltage on the batteries with an ohm meter, and they are in fact charged when the chargers show that they are not.

tooth-less

Hello Jaguar,

a fully charged 2s lipo will be 8.4 volts, is that what your meter is reading ? Can you post a pic of the speed control so we can get an idea of what brand it is ?

It sounds like ESC problems but it would be very unlikely that both models are faulty. Dont let this get you down...everybody starts somewhere and eventually we all run into snags.

tooth-less

80 amp Hobbywing is what Redcat says this car is equipped with. Read this manual just to make sure you have it fully programmed

http://www.hobbywing.com/uploadfiles...W-SM411ENG.pdf

08hondacivicsi

Sounds like the ESC is not program.

jaguar-xjr

Hi.

Thanks for the replies.




Again, forgive my ignorance.

The ESC green LED is constantly flashing two flashes.

When I push the button on the on-off switch, it never changes.

No red LED. Green LED keeps flashing two flashes no matter what I do.

I reviewed the instructions. Thanks for posting them.

Also, the batteries are 11.1v. One shows 11.5v, the other 12.5v.

Any ideas?

Again, I appreciate your help.

tooth-less

You need to calibrate the esc

Turn the radio on
Hold the “SET” key and then switch on
the ESC, when the red LED begins to
flash, release the key immediately.

while the throttle is at the neutral position press the set key
Now hold the throttle to full forward and press the set key
Now hold the throttle to full reverse and press the set key

After that I always turn the ESC off and wait a few seconds before turning it back on. Those HW esc's are good units I have owned several over the years and never had one fail...doesn't mean they wont lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7MNmR6gOWw a fully charged 3s lipo should read 12.6v. The chargers they give you are simple wall chargers and generally take overnight to charge a battery. Duratrax and Venom make some nice affordable chargers that are a HUGE improvement over the one you currently have. I own these Duratrax chargers Onyx 235 and Onyx 245

hope this gets you running

jaguar-xjr

Just went through the programming sequence, and all looks as it should.

Still no power to the wheels.

Nothing.

tooth-less

welp that sucks

Any beeps after you turn it on ?

when you give it full throttle does the esc lights change colors ?

jaguar-xjr

It beeps and does everything it shows in that video.

However, once "programmed", the green LED flashes twice in the same sequence as before the programming.

Moving the throttle does nothing.

No red lights and no difference in the green LED pattern.

Frustrating.

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

Sounds like something in the memory on the ESC has gone?

jaguar-xjr

Do you think the ESC is faulty?

tooth-less

like collector said...something is a mess in the esc. Sucks I understand but from what I have read Redcat seems to be decent about repairs or exchanges.

jaguar-xjr

Thanks for your help.

I just submitted a warranty claim.

I will let you know how that works out.

Thank you everybody for helping me.

tooth-less

no problem and come back soon

FokkerD7

My Feedback: (5)

Bet he needed to reverse the throttle on radio. Sounds like it was never on the off position of the ecs

DieHarder

^^^

jaguar-xjr

How does one do this?

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

Typically, it comes correctly set from the factory. And if he did recalibrate it with the throttle reversed, it would work but forward would be reverse and vice-versa.

DieHarder

The ESC could be programmed not to run when calibrated in reverse.

jaguar: On your transmitter should be two little switches. One is for the steering and one is for throttle. Figure out which is which and flip the throttle switch to reverse than channel, then try recalibrating. If it's still a no go, check motor connections, make sure your motor isn't blown up by putting the motor leads directly into the battery terminals when the motor is out of the truck, check battery connections, make sure the ESC is plugged into the throttle port on the receiver and is connecting, etc.

Does your steering servo work? (something I haven't seen asked yet) If not, it sounds like a radio issue to me.

jaguar-xjr

The nightmare continues.

Took the truck to my local hobby store. Asked them to look at it and get it running. I get a call, and go to pick it up. They say that it needed the wires to the battery modified. Great right? Nope. I get it home and decide to do a test run. Runs forward but NO REVERSE. I go back to the hobby shop and tell them what is happening. They tell me that getting it re-wired is not the same as getting it "programmed". They tell me that they know NOTHING about this particular ESC, or anything hobbywing. The guy helping me is reading the instructions that I printed off from one of the posts above. He cannot get it working no matter how many times he tries, He is switching all of the switches while programming it. Swaps positive and negative on the motors, etc. He is getting no where.

A customer comes up to see what is going on. He says "maybe my box will help". He comes back and in a minute or so he is done. Forward AND reverse work! He tells me to get one of the hobby wing "programming?" boxes.

We work bench tested it.

Get back home.

Now, forward works GREAT! Reverse does work, but REALLY slowly. I have to adjust the knob that equals out how much power it is putting out. Turn it one way and the motor starts to move by itself, turn it a little way the other direction, and it stops, in a neutral position.

Then, I decide to take a run up the street. The car hits a curb (I am new, remember?) Hops the curb, and gets stuck in some rocks. Now the front right drive shaft is bent.

Okay, I disassemble the front right suspension, straighten the drive shaft and now it is perfectly straight. The wheels were both pointing outward, so I adjusted the shafts that move the steering angle in and out.

Okay, so now I think I messed up the servo because I can adjust the steering to go perfectly straight. It works perfect when I turn to the left all the way, and when released it goes back to exact center. When I turn the steering all the way to the right and release the wheel, it does not come back to center, but stays a little to the right.

So now I have a car that runs in forward. I can get reverse to work by adjusting the knob as stated above. When I go forward after this adjustment, forward works fine. When I try to reverse again, it sometimes works a little or not at all.

I am stumped.


Finally, Redcat gets back to me and this is their reply:

Update for Case #29164 - "Faulty ESC"
The problem is you are running two 11.1v LiPo batteries. You can only use two 7.4v at once or one 11.1v battery. We are confused as to your comment about the batteries we sent you "with the car", the Shredders are no longer sold with batteries from us?


Well, I ordered everything at the same time. It was shipped to me directly from Redcat. No where did state this the batteries I bought are not compatible with a Shredder.

Now I have a truck with modified wiring, that doesn't have reverse, and that has front end damage.

The ESC fan started making a screeching sound, and I tapped the housing, and the fan started to run normally.


I don't know what to do.

This has been something that I was to enjoy for my 50th birthday so a nightmare.

I've got money in the truck, the batteries, the charger, and paid $72.00 at the hobby shop for their work.



Oh well.

Thanks for your help everybody.


p.s. I should mention that ALL of the testing was done on a work bench.

The car has run approximately 300 feet TOTAL.

jaguar-xjr

Here is what the wiring looks like now:

jaguar-xjr

Forgot to mention:

Radio tests out fine.

DieHarder

Ok, your 'modified' battery wires are screwed up. With that, you are only giving the ESC 7.4v (2S) instead of 14.8v (4S). It should be much less powerful than it was. Here is how it should be wired:


Ignoring the white balance plugs and note at the bottom, you should be able to see the difference between this wiring and the wiring on your truck as of now. What you have now is wired in parallel and you should have it in series.

As for the steering issue, your steering trims are not centered. To center them, find the knob on your transmitter (handheld radio) that is be labeled "ST" or "Str. Trim" for Steering trim. Keep in mind there is also a throttle trim that should be nearby (the one you use to make it go in reverse). Make sure you adjust the steering trim knob. Moving it back and forth, the center position of the front wheels should change and you can make them point straight forward.

Put a drop of light oil on the fan bearing/bushing and it should stay quiet.

Is there any other front end damage?

For the reverse issue, I recommend that you purchase the Hobbywing programming box. I believe this one will work: http://www.hobbypartz.com/07e-hobbyw...d-progbox.html

You can program the settings and modes of the ESC and reverse may be disabled. The programming box can only help. If you want to try something else before purchasing the box, and as much as you probably don't want to hear this, try recalibrating your ESC now that it's been reprogrammed by that guy's programming box. It may reset some things and setup the reverse properly.

In order to fix the modified battery wires, you're going to have to solder a minimum of two joints. Can you solder? If not, we can teach you. There's some guys on here that are real good at explaining that.

I think that hits all your points. I'm here to help man! Sometimes I wish I could just show people in person how to fix their trucks and give them as much knowledge as possible. I wish I could just take your truck to my bench, fix everything, and hand it back to you. It's like I just want to show you everything and how it works and what to do when something happens and how to fix it and all that. This is one of those times.

jaguar-xjr

Hi.

Thanks for your help.

I should have walked out of my one and only local hobby shop when they told me that they weren't familiar with this ESC.



I've tried the steering trim. I am pretty sure I messed up the steering with hitting the curb.
I know how to adjust it with the knob on the radio.
I can get it straight, but it won't return to center after turning the wheel to the right.


The batteries are 11.1v lipos, not the 7.4v nimh.

Yeah, I thought that the way the batteries are now wired that the car is getting 11.1 and not double that as it could be.


I wish I hadn't just paid 72.00 to have the wiring messed up.


At this point I think I am going to take a break from the car. This was supposed to be a hobby to reduce stress in my life, not to create it.


There are a couple of hobby shops an hour or so away, but I fear that they will be as ignorant as the place that just "fixed" my car.


I am hesitant to purchase any more parts or tools for this thing.
I am in the car just over $400.00 as of today.

After seeing what one curb accident can do, I really don't know if I should just walk away and cut my losses.

Would a different brand make a difference?

Is this Redcat Shredder XB worth spending more money on?


This is a lot of money to spend for a car that has gone 300 feet.



I wish I could ship this to somebody and pay to have the car sorted out.


Anyway, sorry about the rant(s) and thank you for all of your help everybody.

Appreciate it

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

I might be able to sort it out.

A brand would make a massive difference. Stick to brands like Traxxas, HPI, Associated, and OFNA.