Gool RC 3500kv Brushless upgrade *mini review*

[valve90210]

Is there any way to change settings like the punch and braking etc with this or similar models? I see some goolrc combos come with a programming card whilst some don't...

 

[xlDooM]

Good question, if you want to be certain that the programming card works, you probably want to buy it in a combo. There is zero documentation about which ESCs will work with which cards (there's 3 styles from what I see).

It's entirely possible that all their cards work with all brushless ESCs though... Do you feel lucky, punk?

 

[BriaN]

Well, my Gool RC 3500kv Brushless Combo arrived today so I thought I would take some pics and give my thoughts on the setup and performance since I know alot of people are curious of this system.

First initial thoughts:
Motor comes nicely packed in a small package with the motor wrapped in bubble wrap, nice and neatly well packed. The instructions are a single page with not much info and no calibration instructions. I briefly searched on YouTube for a video but didn't find any right off, so I just went ahead with the install.
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First the motor install, pretty straight forward, the stock screws fit just fine. I did notice the motor shaft was kinda short, but there is plenty of room for the set screw to bite and hold just fine.
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Next is the ESC. First off, the switch has to go, I never run switches on my rc's, it's not needed and just something else to cause problems down the road, so I just cut it and solder the two wires together. The esc will power on once the battery is plugged in, so beware if you do this and always have Tx powered on first. After I soldered the wires I taped it to the side to keep it from flopping around.
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Next, the esc has a slot on the side for the switch to mount, well for me this was keeping the esc from fully seating down flat because I have a velcro strap on the other side which needs a little room to move around. So since I done away with my switch anyway, I went ahead and grinded off the tabs with my Dremel and a grinding stone. Now it fit's all the way down flat with some room on the other side.
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Next, I noticed the Rx wire is going to be too short since I decided to mount it in the stock location. But thanks to a friend of mine for teaching me how to make my own extensions, I made my own extension to solve this problem, approx. 2 1/4" was needed. The esc would not fit on the other side with the Rx because it's too big. I felt the Rx had no choice but to be on the passenger side due to the antenna wire mount, but if your Rx don't have a antenna wire, then I recommend swapping sides, esc on the passenger and Rx on the driver to counter balance the motor weight slightly more to the left of the truck. But this may not be a big deal. I tucked the extension plug behind the servo, it fit's nice and snug and highly doubt it will slide out.
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Another reason I mounted the esc on the drivers side was the motor wires seem to be rather short, didn't seem like it would reach the opposite side. My motor wires routed nicely through a opening in the shock tower.
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In conclusion:
To me the motor performs slightly faster and quicker on takeoff vs the stock motor, both running on a 2s lipo and still using stock gearing. But not a huge difference, HOWEVER, if you was to run a 3s lipo and change the gearing, this thing would be a beast!! The motor stays just barely warm to the touch, so you might could get by with a tooth or two larger pinion gear, but just keep an eye on temps. Overall, a very nice performing motor combo for only $39.99. While there was no calibration instructions in the box, mine seems to perform just as it should out of the box, but I will look online for some instructions on calibration and making sure the LVC is correctly set to 2s lipo. I will report back if I have any issues or to update if I change gearing any. Below is my personal Pros and Cons. Really the Cons are really not a big issue, but I figured I would mention them anyway.


Pros:

• Value ($39.99)
• Quality made product
• Smooth operation
• Direct swap from brushed, only slight modifications needed
• Waterproof (not tested)
• Longer run times

Cons:

• Noisey fan
• Motor leads could have been longer
• Motor shaft wouldn't hurt to be approx. 3mm longer
• Better detailed instructions on calibration and setup

I got the same esc for $12 on amazon, it was defective and smoked up on first use, so I bought the same one, but this time it is working fine. I got a $13 motor on amazon as well for my own $20 brushless combo, which was great. I’m surprised you got it for $40!