mtb416

I have a stampede with the Xl-1 esc(which is crappy, i know) and just upgraded from the stock Stinger motor(20t) to a Speed Gems Arcornite 19t. The Xl-1 now gets ridiculously hot, but the motor and batteries are not very warm. I have it running 18/87. So what is the problem? I am new so anything will help, thanks.

Bria1

You may need to change to a slightly smaller pinion. Does the motor get hot too?

mtb416

No, the motor does not get hot. What might I switch to? A 17t pinion? Or should I keep going down until the heat starts to go away?

Bria1

Ya, try a 16 or 17 tooth to see if that helps. Also make sure nothing is binding in the drive train and that your gear mesh is not set too tight. How hot is it getting? Is it too hot to touch the heat sinks and hold your hand on it?

Sorry, I just noticed that I missed where you said the motor wasn't hot in the 1st post.

mtb416

No problem. Yeah, the ESC is super hot. Gear mesh? Not sure what you mean by that, I'm a newbie.

mtb416

Oh yeah, the gear mesh is the spacing between the pinion and spur gear right? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's properly set up, with just a little wiggle room in there.

twomanytoys

if the motor is not hot then its not really geared wrong. An esc can get hot with different motors. Ecpecially going down in size. The esc has thermal protection against heat so if it were to overheat it will cut off till it cools down but its not good to keep running it hot time after time. It is capable to handle down to a 17t standard motor but the 19t that you now have is a modified motor. The esc cant handle a modified motor because of the advanced timing. You can use the xl-10 esc that can handle down to a 10t motor and even modifieds.

mtb416

So I have to buy a new ESC, great. When looking at ESC's will it specifically say whether or not it can handle a modified motor? What is the different between modified and not anyways? Thanks.

twomanytoys

It has to do with timing. Standard motors have 0 timing. Modifieds have advanced timing. Most are advanced more than 10 degrees. It would be cheaper for you to get a different 19t motor. You can get a 17t double wound motor way less than a new esc. A 17t will get you down to the esc limit and the double wound gives more torque to compinsate for gearing and larger tires. Rule of thumb is to keep your pinion 2 teeth lower than the turns of the motor you are using. So if you had a 17t motor you would need a 15t pinion. A double wound is better for the larger tires and taller gearing. A single wound motor will not have as much torque but will have a better top speed. If you want a good cheap motor you can go with a fireball 17t double. Speed gems also have other motors that are standard but with double wound.

Bria1

I was just trying to recommend the cheapest way to bring down the temps. Gearing down will help the ESC to not have so much load on it, but the best way would be to get a better ESC.

twomanytoys

Yes regearing would help but then that pretty much makes the motor change useless because you will lose the speed that you wanted to gain in the first place. I think the cheapest thing at this point is get a standard double wound motor and sell the one he just bought. A better esc will cost up near 75.oo. A good motor will cost about 25-30.

Bria1

Not really, the stock Stinger motors don't produce much rpm. Only dropping 1 to 2 teeth on the pinion with the motor he has will still have more speed and a lot better acceleration than the Stinger motor had. Ya it will have slightly less top speed than it has with that motor now the way it is geared, but you'll also be losing that speed by dropping to a cheaper motor. I have a 17 turn Speed Gem in my oldest son's Stampede with a 14 tooth pinion and that will blow my other son's Stampede away that has the stock Stinger motor with stock gearing.
Hey for $3 for a different pinion it's worth a try before swapping motors or the ESC.

mtb416

Will my speed improve any with a better ESC? I don't mind having to upgrade it, although I wish I had some of this information before I made a poor purchase.

twomanytoys

Yes true. My sons stampede has a trinity speedworks caliber 14t double wound modified with heatsink, robinson racing spur, steel tranny gears and the traxxas xl10 esc. Talk about fast. It would keep breaking the rear axles so I installed Jato axles and have not had a problem since.

Bria1

You probably won't notice much if any speed improvement with a better ESC. There may be some since it will be running cooler and not draining your battery quite as much. You may get slightly longer run times too. The XL-1 ESC has a low PWM frequency (around 60 HZ) so that is some of the reason it runs hotter than a comparable ESC that has a higher PWM frequency say around 1000 HZ. The longer the transistors are on the hotter they will get. The biggest benefit for a better ESC is you can put in a hotter motor to get more power/speed and it will have a smoother feel to it. Technically the XL-1 should be able to handle mild modified motors down to 17 turn though.

mtb416

Well I probably just go ahead and get an Xl-10, something I was going to do eventually, just didn't think anytime soon. The Arcornite performs decent enough and I have not messed with the timing yet, so I should see some improvements. The Xl-1 just gets too hot. I did not know about the HZ things. Thanks for all the info.

jombo

are you using a 8.4 batt pack , just a thought

tripleup05

Would that make a difference? I run a Team Orion sv2 15t in my XL-5 with a 8.4v pack and never have ESC heating issues.

jombo

yea mine with a doubble turn 19 with a 8.4v batt caught fire