The Hedgehog

You will need FM regardless.

The Hedgehog

The ferrite ring does work Access.

I know your books are always right, but saying that the signal wire isn't probably the source of the glitching is wrong. It has worked on all my systems, I use them in airplanes as safety and has cut down glitching in those when I am running high power setups.

Castle also confirms that this fixes almost all of the glitching problems.

The books may say otherwise, but first hand experience trumps over them.

turbotb0205

My Feedback: (31)

yes ferrite rings do help as well as braiding the wires throughout helps as well there are alot of things that can cause interference .. from atmospheric conditions to electrical poles with transformers on them... to metal on metal vibration in the car itself.. however the most likely cause is the am radio they arent tuned as well as fm to hold up against the rf and such created by the high frequency of brushless gear

Access

No I'll take your word for it, maybe I spoke too soon. In addition to the RF interference I spoke of above, there are other types of interference like power-line or ground-line interference and that might be more common in your situations.

For instance the receiver might depend on a perfectly-steady voltage (flat) DC power and ground in order to function properly. The BEC in the ESC doesn't necessarily supply this, especially in times of heavy usage. Interference from the ESC might find its way back onto this power line and create little ripples or fluctuations that cause the receiver to misfunction. Likewise any wire can serve as a (poor) high-frequency antenna, especially longer, poorly-shielded wires.

If this is the case, the ferrite may help, as may a number of different capacitors on the power line (the ferrite is probably a better idea though). You know those spektrum or other, larger caps that plug directly into the receiver(?) They can help here too. The ferrite adds some high-frequency impedence to the wire so that these high-frequency ripples don't find their way back into the power lines.

The same thing can happen with signal lines, but it's pretty rare in cases like these, more often they are interfering with something else and not the other way around. But again it depends on how the servos / ESC treats that (minute) interference, how sensitive it is to fluctuations on those (digital) lines, etc.

Also if these are the sources of your problems, switching from one type of receiver to another may not solve it. It might misfunction the same way when giving unstable DC power.

The books aren't always right, they can be wrong and so can I. Science is just a bunch of theoretics that try to explain or simplify the world and when a better theory comes along, it replaces the old ones.

simplecj

This makes sense.... so where do I get one of these ferrite rings for my truck and can anyone recommend a good capacitor that's made to plug into the receiver? Seems like both working together should more than solve the problem, we should hope anyways....

Thanks for clearing up the whole "MM and Sidewinder pull more amps" deal. They all are limited to 70A, therefore there must be better power handling and shielding in the VXL since it does not cause the glitching that the CC units do.

BTW, Access, I did as you said and called CC. Did a quick trouble shoot over the phone then they set me up with a new unit and an envelope for return shipping just as you said!!! I guess they're super busy though and the Sidewinder is on back-order at the moment. He said they just can't keep up with current demand!

Access

If they think they are busy now, they should wait till the Mamba Monster Max + Motor kit comes out...

Redvanmafia

VXL COGGS more repeat, more then a MM, the vxl isnt that nice.

Always Dreamin

I thought that on 6c NiMh, the Vxl cogged less. Lipo might be another story. The Vxl also is made to run AM radios and runs them quite well. Although I now have a MM esc, I loved my vxl. Besides the plugs coming out, it was a great system!

Always Dreamin

I just had a very nice run. I must say, after having both I don't see the big hype on the Mamba. I will say without a doubt it cogs more. It's almost hard to takeoff, you have to hit the throttle a few times, get it over 3 mph, and then step on it. It also glitches way more then the vxl. I know you guys say it's more powerful, but I don't believe it. It can't be pushing that much power. I mean, I hardly notice a speed difference and yet I cannot drive the truck more then 20 ft away without glitching out. [:'(]

It's a strong esc, no doubt. I really just don't think it's any better. The tuning feature is nice, but with the vxl there was no need to tune. It was setup perfect from the factory. All ready to go. So I was running today and my first run, my esc got to 155F and my motor got to 150F. So I set the timing to high (not very high), and re-ran. The motor now got to 160F, and the esc was at 130F. I liked that better. Other then that though, it's running strong. I cannot get good speed runs, especially with 12 cells because I cannot get the truck far enough away. Now I have to go out and buy a $80 radio system. I am not too happy at the current time. I thought that since I was spending MORE money, I would be getting an upgrade. Right now I would not rate the Mamba any higher then the Vxl, maybe even the vxl higher. At least I don't have the esc problems I used to.

Maybe I will fine tune it better later, but right now those are my main problems.

For the radio, I guess I will have to buy a FM Futaba one, with a receiver, that should stop the glitching problems.

The cogging, I guess I will have to live with, although, it's quite annoying when your taking off. Electrics can be so complex sometimes. Just when you thought you had it all figured out, a perfectly setup car, you have to go spend another $80 on a new radio system.

What to do... [&:]

The Hedgehog

Get better batteries or get the VXL.

AD its clear you like the VXL better, might as well go for it. I personally like the tuning options a lot, mine I cannot get to cog at all on 4600 batteries. My RC10B3 won't stop wheelying and again no cogging at all. I even tried a lesser quality batt and it still doesn't cog. You may have a bettery problem or something elsewhere, you can practically get rock crawing speeds with the mamba, something must be wrong.

Access

You need LiPo to really notice the difference. The VXL is a mass-market ESC designed for their own 1/10th scale RTRs. The Mamba Max is a more versatile / powerful setup that can be fine-tuned to a wider range of setups. They're both pretty good setups but I think once you get it set up right (batteries, everything else) you'll see the true power of the mamba.

Always Dreamin

I already own a Vxl. I'm not going to go back, not after I already spent the money. I'm still waiting to sell my Vxl. I should take a video of what I'm talking about. Maybe I have it tuned wrong, or something. I will keep searching, thanks.

I bought these packs for $24 + $2 for deans plug. They have lasted me years and I assume it's about time for some new packs.

Always Dreamin

Access-

I cannot even think about lipo right now. I just spent $115 on a new esc. Plus another $80 for a new radio system. BTW on the radio system, would that Losi 2.4ghz work good? Then I need to add some lipo money. As much as I want them, it's not in the cards right now. I will keep saving, and my birthday is right around the corner.

The Hedgehog

The losi 2.4 should work by why not get a proper radio system since you are spending so much on your truck. Eventually you will have to anyway.

powerslider

Did you update the firmware on your Mamba? You need to do that if you haven't, it virtually eliminates any cogging....

Always Dreamin

If I don't need to, I don't want to. If something will work just as good, there's no reason (that I see at least) to buy a nicer radio. The nicer radio might have better features, but I was honestly fine with my Traxxas radio. All I want is my glitching problem gone, and then I want to run my truck. Thats all I'm trying to get. I really could care less at this point about upgrades.

Always Dreamin

I will check again, but I'm pretty sure I have the latest firmware.

I clicked the update button and It said no updates were avalible. Maybe I have the wrong settings.

What should my start power, timing, and all that be set to?

powerslider

I use the low settings for all, you need really good batteries to run the higher settings or that may cause problems, also if your running tall gearing that will cause the cogging on startup too. I use a MM/Velineon in an E Savage and it's really smooth....

traxxaspede

quick question. I have mamba max esc/vxl in my pede. right now im running stock tires with 15/86 gearing. Is that undergearing, and is undergearing bad? also, i will be switching to bearings and m2k's, so what would be good gearing for that?


edit-I'm running epic 3000 nicd's and sometimes some worn out tenergy 3800 nimh's. i will e switching to some elite 4000 nimh's

The Hedgehog

AD, no you do not go to check update that is for the softwar eon the computer. Click on the firmware tab. You must be running old versions of the firmware. Upgrade it and cogging will be nonexistant.

Always Dreamin

Thanks, Auto, I will check it out and report back.

Always Dreamin

I updated it.

I got the V1.17, that I've had for a while.

Is this the newest one?

simplecj

I'm starting to not like the VXL either... seems like you go from cogging to a moderate speed and not much in between. I like to have full speed range, not just gunning it the whole time. Plus I had a post come unsoldered from the Velinion yesterday, the whole think just pulled right out. It drives ok if I just push it back down in the hole, but that can't be good right?? AND another gripe about the Velinion esc is the damn button!! [>:]It sticks so bad that I can't tell if I pushed it down or not and sometimes it says down and starts changing my settings like voltage cutoff or profile then it takes me another several minutes to get it changed back. Then when i'm done I can't get the dang thing to turn off!! I have to unplug the battery! I really miss the power switch on the CC system.

I still have the problem with heat though... anyone know if they make a fan for the Sidewinder? I'm convinced I need one to avoid constant worry about overheating and having another unit burn up on me...

You guys said gear it up, change the settings and all that time consuming stuff. I tried the suggested settings and I'm within the suggested gearing range and I still can't keep it cool... I checked the driveline and tranny today and there's no sign of binding anywhere, so that's not the cause. I am using A123s and they pump plenty of juice, perhaps too much... without a fan anyways.

powerslider

Yes that is the latest firmware version, recheck your settings as they may have changed with the update.....

Always Dreamin

Make the opening for the button bigger. Dust gets in there and locks up the button. That happened with all 3 of my vxl's.

Ok guys, this is my setup. I am still cogging like crazy.

26/86 gearing (thought this was good)
Dirt works tires (not too huge, about the size of stock)
No driveline binding
High timing
Medium start power
0 punch control

I think that's all.

The change from medium timing to high helped a lot. The motor is staying cool, the esc is consistantly running hot and cogging.

HELP. []