1/16 Traxxas Revo VXL Brushless lipo's
 

Hey guys I'm fairly new to the new rc world had them as a kid but these days they are a lot different. I was wondering what you have to do to get the Revo to run 2 2 cell lipos in series. Any help would be appreciated as far as gears, motor?, or speed control needed upgrades.

Well you don't want to run lipos in series on a 1/16. You can run parallel. If you are in lipo mode, and series 2, 2s, it will not work. You would have to be in nihm mode, to fake out the esc. Not a good idea. A 1/16 on 2s lipo is pretty fast, on 3s is borderline insane, on 4s, would be uncontrolable, probably severe carrnage. So to explain, when you series, it doubles the voltage, but your mah stays the same. For example, 2, 2s, at 1300 mah, on series you would be 14.4 volts, and 1300 mah. 2, 2s, at 1300 mah, on parallel would be 7.4 volts, and 2600 mah. The more mah = more run time. I run 2, 2s, 1300 mah, parallel, and get around 40 minutes to an hour of run time. I hope this helps you out. As to how to do it. You can buy the connectors for series, and parallel.

well to run 2 2s's in series you would ned a new ESC, and a motor capable of running them. Problem is those parts are 1/8th scale territory so the ESC alone wouldn't even fit on the chassis.
Also the motor would be so large you would have to make some custom mount, and gear it so high it wouldn't be funny. Finally you would need to custom create some drivechain as the stock revos would more then likely snap, and the diffs would would become a metal puree. Ohh and while you are at it you would need to find some way to power it as the lipos that fit in the chassis wouldn't be able to drive the motor/esc combo you would need, and would probably instantly puff up from being overtaxed.

So to sum it up if you can't figure it out you basically would need to replace your whole vehicle with a 1/8th scale RC ;).

Yeah stick with 2s in parrellel. I've been running two Mini Summit brushless, for over a year now. 2s is really plenty. If you've never ran lipos you'll be happy you switched from NiMH. Best upgrade you can do. So get a parrellel connector and 2 2s lipos. I recommend SPC brand. After you run 2s for awhile then maybe get a 3s pack.

Just my experience I slapped a 31t pinion with 2s in one of my lightweight MSummits, and it was dang near uncontrollable. I can't imagine 3s. But remember high gearing is only for short speed runs on hard surface or you'll overheat everything fast. And I would seriously shim your diffs. These little guys are notorious for stripped ring and pinions.

get a motor heatsink if you ain't got one!

what they said is right. If you are running nimh, even 2 nimh in series, lipo is still better. I run my min e-revo on 2 2 cells in paralell, and it is almost uncontrolable.... I cannot imagine, nor do I even want to try 3 cell lipo..... its hard enough to keep it upriight on 2 cells.... Beofr I went lipo, I used two nimh in series... it would wheely and was fast. Going to 2 cell lipo turned it into an insaine beast.... I had to buy a wheely bar to have any holpe of keeping it upright, and its still crazy.... Its just oo much, I am converting it to a mini summit....

It's becoming a very popular mod, to use only front RPM arms, and the stock MSummit rear swept back arms on the MERV. A lot of people put slightly bigger tires on there MERV, and the extra wheel base givin by the swept back Summit rear arms helps, make the MERV more stable. Boil them and keep a extra set on hand.

Shim your diffs!

I am actualy upgrading my mini revo to a summit... would do the summit rears but RPM doesn't make any and I am changing them out to green..... 16T pinion, Purple springs, long travel rockers, and two pair of big joe II tires and my "revo" will be better than ever!

I think the OP needs some basics considering his question.

Parallel doubles run-time.

Series doubles top speed.

Series kills motors and batteries if the electronics haven't been built to match. Do some research as far as wiring batteries for both occasions.

Good luck and have fun.

I picked up a mini e-revo vxl and am running 2 3cell lipo's in parallel and it will do back flips at half throttle lol.
i'm getting ready to sell it as it's just too much for me.

I run mine in training mode pretty much all the time. Every now and then I get the need for speed and take it out of training mode for a few speed passes... then after 5 or 10 backflips and high speed cartwheels, I remember why I run it in training mode.....

One thing I did that made my e-revo a LOT more fun is convert it to a mini summit... all you need are the summit rockers, springs, pinion, and new tires, and its a whole new beast... lots more fun and runs way better in the grass.... Still run it in training mode though, hehe

I just yanked out my brushless motor, and threw a 27t 540 Tamiya silver can(had to get a new motor mount, spur, and pinion) with an XL2.5 into mine ;)