king_oli

Hello there again.

I have a Grasshopper 2 which i am having a couple of problems with.

I did have a manual speed controller in it which i was having problems with (since driving through a puddle by accident i think). What hapens is now when i push forwards on the controller the car gets stuck going forwards until it crashes ( i have no control over steering or anything). As soon as i lift the back wheels off the floor, i then have full control again.

I presumed this was a problem with the speed controller. I then purchased an Electronic Speed controller. Which is an Mtroniks Viper 20T esc.

When this was installed i had problems with it. When i push forwards on the controller it judders and has hardly any power. when i pull backwards it makes a whirring sound and then the wheels start turning slowly. i asked for help in these forums regarding the esc and i was told to install capacitors on my motor which i have now done ( i think correctly). Still doing the same thing.

This leaves me with a problem. I dont know where the problem lies. Thought it could be my motor, but tested it with the small motor which came with it. same problems

I thought it might be the receiver but i tested a different one there too


I have also tested the battery.


Anyone have any idea what could be wrong?

Doahh

iis your pinion secure on the motor shaft?
That is a low quality ESC though...

Foggy

All I can suggest is to double check every thing again and check to make sure you have installed it all right! There is not much that can go wrong in these! I'm sure its something simple!

king_oli

Thanks. Maybe i didnt install the capacitors correctly or something. i was told they were the right ones. i soldered one from the positive terminal to the motor casing and one from the negative to the casing. is there anything else should have done here?

Foggy

I had a Grasshopper about 22 yrs ago and I had the same problem now I think about it! I didn't have a ESC back then but the receiver still used the 7.2 v for its power, one of my batteries died and didn't hold its charge properly. when you put load on the battery it just went flat, that's when I lost control of the car, but if i picked up the rear end of the car it took the load of the battery so it gained power back to the radio. It sounds like you put the capacitors on properly, I would check your battery again or put a different one in the car! I hope this helps you!!!!!
Good luck
Foggy

king_oli

Thanks Foggy. The battery that i am using is a brand new one. 3000mAh, so im thinking its not that. it is a cheap one though [] i'll test it. I'm still trying to think of the problem with my ESC. i could just be that its faulty and needs replacing or something.

Foggy

If you have no luck take it down to your nearest hobby store or track and get some one to have a quick look for you! Maybe where you got your ESC from!![sm=wink.gif]

king_oli

thanks

Not a bad idea. except i didnt get it local. i dont have a nearby shop that deal with that sort of thing. I live in the middle of nowhere. practically in the WILD!

I'll just have to wait. [>:][&:]

Evader 53

Make sure you read the instructions properly on your ESC... it sounds to me like you never set it up;

king_oli

There wasnt much of a setup guide with it. it just set switch it on and press setup straight away,GREEN LIGHT SHOWS -> push forward on controller and then put back into the neutral position. RED LIGHT SHOWS -> Pull backwards and then return to neatral position and it should be done.

Evader 53

Sounds correct...

Another thing to check is to make sure the plugs going into you're reciever are all in the correct way. Try the plugs one way with all of the bronze side things facing one way, and if it doesn't work turn the plugs around and try them the other way. Make sure all the bronze sides of the reciever plugs are faacing the same way as one another.

king_oli

Ok Thanks. I'll check that again when i get home later on. I probably have checked this (not 100% though) i think the RED light on the esc was permanantly on. meaning error.

Team Dominion

Try adding one more capacitor to the motor from positive to negative terminals...I use Novak speed controls and they require three capacitors.

It sounds to me like you have a reciever problem though.



I would suggest hitting ebay for a complete set of electronics.



Also check for any shorts in your wires...look for kinks or sharp bends in them, if any of them are showing any damage repair or replace them.

Also look around the area where you run the car for anything that may be causeing radio interference, power lines cellular repeaters, transformers, cb antennas...any of those things can give you grief.

I tried to cover all bases here, any one or a combination of two or more of these could be your problem. Of course it could also be something else entirely.

Haulin Azz

your servo could be bad and causing these problems.

king_oli

Thanks people for your advice. [8D]I read the instructions which came with the esc, this said have one capacitor from the positive to the can and one from the negative to the can. Then it says Important - for forward only esc there must be a third capacitor going from positive to negative.

This one does have reverse so i dont think it needs it.

--------

I didnt think i needed to have the servo in anymore with the esc because it just moved the arm for the msc. Is this right? [&:]

king_oli

This could be the problem. My receiver type is a robbe mini-R2 27mhz. This make of receiver is no in the list. Is this the problem do you think??

kostaktinos_mt

robbe miniR2 is for mainly aircraft use as far as i remember. it isn`t made to work with car escs nor servos. buy an rc car one and make sure you use the same frequency crystals for the receiver and the transmitter.

Foggy

Have you plugged the ESC in were the manual speed control servo wires went in???? If you haven't take the speedy servo out and plug the esc in were it came from! i.e in the number 2 plug on your receiver!