2wd Brushless Ruckus- reverse no longer working- Hot!

[Fsucriminole]

ECX Ruckus - Reverse no longer working. Hot!
Hi guys! I recently got back into using my ECX Ruckus. I haven't run it too much, been using the stock 2400 battery. But the ECM and Motor both get really hot to the touch after I run it for a while. I'm not sure of the temp, I do not have a thermometer. I looked at the gear mesh and comparing to videos I've seen on YouTube, it seems ok.

Also, the reverse no longer works. I'm afraid I've burnt out that part of the motor. Could it be anything else?

Im planning on buying a couple of 2s lipo batteries as well.

Any suggestions? Thanks for helping a noob out!

 

[rendnb]

Did you try recalibrating the radio and ESC? That might get reverse to work again. that's happened to me before re-calibrating did the trick.

If that doesn't work, then the problem could be with the ESC/motor =( Mine gets pretty hot on the brushless setup, but it doesn't go over 130 degrees. You might want to pick up a cheap thermometer from your local shop if you can. I got a Duratrax one that isn't the greatest, but helps me keep track of my temps.

Did you upgrade the pinion or do anything like that to the Ruckus? Might have to step down to a smaller pinion gear.

 

[Fsucriminole]

Did you try recalibrating the radio and ESC? That might get reverse to work again. that's happened to me before re-calibrating did the trick.

If that doesn't work, then the problem could be with the ESC/motor =( Mine gets pretty hot on the brushless setup, but it doesn't go over 130 degrees. You might want to pick up a cheap thermometer from your local shop if you can. I got a Duratrax one that isn't the greatest, but helps me keep track of my temps.

Did you upgrade the pinion or do anything like that to the Ruckus? Might have to step down to a smaller pinion gear.

I will look into recalibrating the radio. The forward works well, so I guess I can just stick with that for now.

I did not upgrade the pinion. I looked at the gears, but to be honest, I didn't really know what I was doing. What size pinion would you recommend I change to?

 

[rendnb]

If you didn't upgrade the pinion and you weren't having these issues before, the problem could be with the ESC/Motor. Are you you still running the stock motor and ESC?

And I know what you mean man when it comes to looking at the gears. I'll see if I can dig up a guide on getting the mesh "just right" and post a link up here. Should probably find something on gearing too because I THINK I understand it but still not too sure (I need to do a little experimenting). But, my understanding is:

The smaller the pinion, the smaller the heat build up but your top end speed falls off a bit.
The larger the pinion, the faster the heat build up, but your top end speed is fast.

Also I think the smaller pinions make the truck more "torquey". I'm still running the stock pinion but doing OK. I know my ESC sucks so just going to replace it and the motor eventually. I'm running a 17t pinion right now I think, but I was curious on how a 15t would behave. I need to buy one lol.

If I were in your position I'd just stay with the stock pinion.

 

[Fsucriminole]

If you didn't upgrade the pinion and you weren't having these issues before, the problem could be with the ESC/Motor. Are you you still running the stock motor and ESC?

And I know what you mean man when it comes to looking at the gears. I'll see if I can dig up a guide on getting the mesh "just right" and post a link up here. Should probably find something on gearing too because I THINK I understand it but still not too sure (I need to do a little experimenting). But, my understanding is:

The smaller the pinion, the smaller the heat build up but your top end speed falls off a bit.
The larger the pinion, the faster the heat build up, but your top end speed is fast.

Also I think the smaller pinions make the truck more "torquey". I'm still running the stock pinion but doing OK. I know my ESC sucks so just going to replace it and the motor eventually. I'm running a 17t pinion right now I think, but I was curious on how a 15t would behave. I need to buy one lol.

If I were in your position I'd just stay with the stock pinion.

I'm glad I'm not the only one! Thanks for the well written reply. I have always had, what I felt was, pretty hot esc and motor after running out the stock battery (about 10 minutes). Only recently has the reverse gone out. I'll check the calibration in the morning.

I'm still running the stock esc and stock motor. What are you running in yours? Maybe I'll look into upgrading if they both go out. How do you tell if your esc sucks, What do you look for? Also, what do you have in mind for your upgrade?

I bought the truck a few years ago since I've wanted one since I was a little kid. My three year old saw it in its box this morning and was begging me to take it outside. I want to get it working awesome for him since he gets a kick out of it when he sees it run.

 

[rendnb]

Same boat for me lol. I always wanted an RC growing up. I did have a kit in high school but, I couldn't figure out how to build it and ... well it just wasn't the time lol.

I'm running an older Dynamite Tazer brushless combo. It was a budget combo back when I got it 4 years ago, and I know it sucks because the fan mounted to the ESC doesn't work at all. If it did, I think it would work better. A more accurate temp gun might be what I need to monitor things but, I'm not that obsessed over it lol. So I'm going to work with the pinion size and see if that helps.

Basically I look to see how it responds, and see what its longevity is during a bash session. Mine right now lasts a good 20 minutes before I have to start resting the truck ever 10 minutes or so. After it cools off, I'm good. I'm definitely overheating and my temp gun is lying to me haha.

For an upgrade, I always wanted a Castle Sidewinder system, so probably going to go with one of those when I have the cash for it. But, currently upgrading my Axial Wraith crawler and it'll be next year before I do that.

 

[Fsucriminole]

Same boat for me lol. I always wanted an RC growing up. I did have a kit in high school but, I couldn't figure out how to build it and ... well it just wasn't the time lol.

I'm running an older Dynamite Tazer brushless combo. It was a budget combo back when I got it 4 years ago, and I know it sucks because the fan mounted to the ESC doesn't work at all. If it did, I think it would work better. A more accurate temp gun might be what I need to monitor things but, I'm not that obsessed over it lol. So I'm going to work with the pinion size and see if that helps.

Basically I look to see how it responds, and see what its longevity is during a bash session. Mine right now lasts a good 20 minutes before I have to start resting the truck ever 10 minutes or so. After it cools off, I'm good. I'm definitely overheating and my temp gun is lying to me haha.

For an upgrade, I always wanted a Castle Sidewinder system, so probably going to go with one of those when I have the cash for it. But, currently upgrading my Axial Wraith crawler and it'll be next year before I do that.

I tried to recalibrate the truck and I think I just reset the modes for the ecm. My battery is a 2400 so it doesn't normally last very long, so I decided to get a couple of runs in. After a few minutes I tried to recalibrate again and the reverse seemed to work! My battery was just about dead so it's sitting on the charger now.

Thanks for your help! I think I may have fixed the problem thanks to your advice. I ordered a lipo battery which should get here in a couple days to give me more run time. Any special places to get lipo batteries that aren't $40-100?

You're a good man. Thanks again!!

 

[rendnb]

I tried to recalibrate the truck and I think I just reset the modes for the ecm. My battery is a 2400 so it doesn't normally last very long, so I decided to get a couple of runs in. After a few minutes I tried to recalibrate again and the reverse seemed to work! My battery was just about dead so it's sitting on the charger now.

Thanks for your help! I think I may have fixed the problem thanks to your advice. I ordered a LiPo battery which should get here in a couple days to give me more run time. Any special places to get LiPo batteries that aren't $40-100?

You're a good man. Thanks again!!

Nice man!! Glad I was able to throw you some advice that helped you out. Recalibrating the ESC is a thing to do, and usually the first thing I try when my remote isn't acting right, or certain functions have stopped working. My son once turned my steering trim all the way to the right and I didn't realize it. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Results were a bruised ankle and a pissed off wife lol.

Yeah definitely get a Lipo as that's going to increase your run time significantly. That being said, you might want to make sure you turn on the Lipo cut off on the ESC so you don't kill your battery.

As far as Lipo's go, I personally like Venom batteries as they come with a universal connector, and a nice warranty. However, you'll pay a nice penny for them. My 5000mah 20c battery cost me 50$. Lasts about an hour in the Ruckus, and about 3 hours in my crawler.

If you're looking for a budget Lipo, best that I can recommend would be Duratrax

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bi...&V=DTX&D=Duratrax-Batteries---LiPo---R/C-Cars

They have lower mah ratings for decent prices, but if you're looking for run time, if you can, plunk down the 40$ for a 4000mah 25c battery. Do you have a Lipo charger already? If you need a charger too, then might want to half that mah rating and grab a charger too. Nice thing with Tower Hobbies too, is you can typically find what you need covered by Easy Pay, where they break up your purchase in to 2 or 3 payments, no interest.

 

[Fsucriminole]

Nice man!! Glad I was able to throw you some advice that helped you out. Recalibrating the ESC is a thing to do, and usually the first thing I try when my remote isn't acting right, or certain functions have stopped working. My son once turned my steering trim all the way to the right and I didn't realize it. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Results were a bruised ankle and a pissed off wife lol.

Yeah definitely get a LiPo as that's going to increase your run time significantly. That being said, you might want to make sure you turn on the LiPo cut off on the ESC so you don't kill your battery.

As far as LiPo's go, I personally like Venom batteries as they come with a universal connector, and a nice warranty. However, you'll pay a nice penny for them. My 5000mah 20c battery cost me 50$. Lasts about an hour in the Ruckus, and about 3 hours in my crawler.

If you're looking for a budget LiPo, best that I can recommend would be Duratrax

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bi...&V=DTX&D=Duratrax-Batteries---LiPo---R/C-Cars

They have lower mah ratings for decent prices, but if you're looking for run time, if you can, plunk down the 40$ for a 4000mah 25c battery. Do you have a LiPo charger already? If you need a charger too, then might want to half that mah rating and grab a charger too. Nice thing with Tower Hobbies too, is you can typically find what you need covered by Easy Pay, where they break up your purchase in to 2 or 3 payments, no interest.

Cool! I think I bought that same Venom battery off of amazon yesterday. Should be here tomorrow. I do have a lipo charger, although it's an older hand me down from my father in law. I'm going to see if that will suit my needs for the mean time.

Turning on the lipo cut off is part of the esc settings, right? Kind of the same way I calibrated it?

 

[rendnb]

Cool! I think I bought that same Venom battery off of amazon yesterday. Should be here tomorrow. I do have a LiPo charger, although it's an older hand me down from my father in law. I'm going to see if that will suit my needs for the mean time.

Turning on the LiPo cut off is part of the ESC settings, right? Kind of the same way I calibrated it?

Yup. Might have to peek at the instructions but can't be too difficult to figure out. Might also want to check the manual to see if the cut off is enabled by default.