Looking for simple ESC, motor, and battery suggestions.

[John English]

I have a Tamiya Falcon and BigWig that have been out of action for about 15 years. The other day I decided to dust them off and play with them again but I remembered why I had retired them; neither of them work. The BigWig seems to have suffered an electrical short of some sort on it's speed controller during the first time I used it (there's a black scorch mark across it). The Falcon's wheels spin just fine when they are lifted off the ground, but it barely crawls when you put it on the ground. I thought the pinion gear might be lose on the motor but it's fine. I'm guessing the motor's gone (I only had the car about a year or so before this happened).

I'd like to get an ESC, new motor and batteries for both of them. What suggestions can you guys offer? Obviously I am not looking for high end parts, just something that'll allow me to play with them again but has some power too.

[SteveK]

I love the Futaba MC230CR: It's cheap, smooth, and small enough to fit anywhere. It also has reverse, which is pretty much a must-have for bashing IMO.

For motors, don't go too wild as you don't want to over-power the cars and risk damaging them. I would go with one of the 20-turn closed-endbell motors included in many RTR kits, like the Traxxas Stinger. It will be cheap, more powerful than the Mabuchi they came with, and need little maintenance.

[John English]

I love the Futaba MC230CR: It's cheap, smooth, and small enough to fit anywhere. It also has reverse, which is pretty much a must-have for bashing IMO.

For motors, don't go too wild as you don't want to over-power the cars and risk damaging them. I would go with one of the 20-turn closed-endbell motors included in many RTR kits, like the Traxxas Stinger. It will be cheap, more powerful than the Mabuchi they came with, and need little maintenance.That Futuaba ESC does look really nice, pretty much what I was looking for; thanks.

As far as motors go, yeah I wasn't planning on getting anything over 20 turns. Do you have any particular suggestions?

What about battery packs? I've been out of the scene for a long time. My BigWig had an 8.4v battary pack but the Falcon just used a 7.2v pack. I *think* they were 1700mAh packs but I can't be sure. What type of battery would you recommend?

I know it's a lot of questions but I've been gone for a while. :)

[dalejrfan8]

Gp3300's. They are the top of the line cells now. Gp came out with 3700's but i dont know how good they are.

[Vato Loco]

Novak Explorer II $50.00 with Reedy Quad mag 19t spec. motor $35.00, and I don't know what charger you have? But if your charger can charge Nimh's then GP3300 From $29.00 and up but if not any Sayno 2400 nicd packs. This set up will give you great power but not over board! This is what I had in my rusty before going Brushless and this has Really Rocked for me! JMO

[SteveK]

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJE43&P=ML
A motor like that is basically the silver can motor your cars came with, but with more power. That's about as fast as I would go with those cars, just because of their age. Maybe you could try a milder stock motor, but the competition stock motors today are way more powerful that what was around when you left.

For batteries, with that motor some 1700 NiCads will get you good power and long run times. NiCads now go up to 2400mah, and nickle metal-hydride cells go up to 3600mah. You'd be looking at super-long run times if you want to spring for one of those packs.

If you need a charger, get yourself a peak charger, as they are better and less expensive than ever.

[SteveK]

Novak Explorer II $50.00 with Reedy Quad mag 19t spec. motor $35.00, and I don't know what charger you have? But if your charger can charge Nimh's then GP3300 From $29.00 and up but if not any Sayno 2400 nicd packs. This set up will give you great power but not over board! This is what I had in my rusty before going Brushless and this has Really Rocked for me! JMO

True, that is moderate power for modern cars, but don't forget that he's using 20 year old cars, the nearest parts for which are probably on eBay. Plus they are sturdy, but our 'mild' motors today are pretty powerful compared to to the mid 1980's.

I say go mild first, and if you can get some spare parts on eBay, then go a little wilder.

[John English]

I don't know if the batteries I were Ni-MH or if they we Ni-Cd. All I remember was that I had about 10 minutes run time and then I had to charge the batterry for 24 hours before I could use it again. I'll look into the info you guys posted, thanks. :)

edit - I had a look at the Novak Explorer II and it's forward only. I'm not planning on racing these things, just having fun with them in parks and stuff so a reverse function, like in the Futaba model, would be nice.

[tadium54]

the packs you used were probably nicds. pretty much any charger will work. look for a peak detection one. adjatable amperage and digital display are nice to have too

[John English]

Well I might try some NiMH battery packs just because I'd like a longer run time. Plus I need new batteries anyway the ones I have are no good any more. Are the battery packs 7.2v now? I ask as the ones I had for the BigWig were 8.4v.

Why is there such a big price difference between these two packs? Is he more expensive set mached? It doesn't say anything about it that's why I'm wondering.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGZM8&P=0

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXERB5&P=0

[Vato Loco]

I don't know if the batteries I were Ni-MH or if they we Ni-Cd. All I remember was that I had about 10 minutes run time and then I had to charge the batterry for 24 hours before I could use it again. I'll look into the info you guys posted, thanks. :)

edit - I had a look at the Novak Explorer II and it's forward only. I'm not planning on racing these things, just having fun with them in parks and stuff so a reverse function, like in the Futaba model, would be nice.

Why I suggested the Novak explorer and 19t quad is that the ESC has 512 step speed control coupled with the quad mag you can drive real slow or fast depending on your mood or condition of the car plus it is smooth to drive. this system should not tear up the gear box of you Big wig and falcon! as for revese I don't race eather and never missed having reverse. also going from forward to reverse can cause damage if you don't take care when doing it. I got reverse in my brushless set up and really don't use it....... :D

[dalejrfan8]

A word of advice. Dont buy batts from tower. They are way over priced.
http://maxamps.com/ http://cheapbatterypacks.com/main.asp?sid=314338

[SteveK]

The MC230 is exceptionally smooth at low-speeds, and it has a reverse delay built in so you won't tear up the tranny with it either.

[John English]

A word of advice. Dont buy batts from tower. They are way over priced.
http://maxamps.com/ http://cheapbatterypacks.com/main.asp?sid=314338
Don't worry about that, I've seen how expensive batteries form Tower can be. I was just linking from there as it was the easiest place to find examples of what I was talking about. :)

[Kronic]

for the esc try a novak explorer II, for the motor try the orion havok, and for the batteries try the reedy x-rated pack. the batteries are Ni-MH and are pretty cheap :)

[BrianSearles]

Check out the new Tekin Rebel 2. It handles motors down to 10 turn, has reverse lockout feature if you ever decide to club race, and many more features. Tekin's customer service is top-notch, I know from experience.

www.teamtekin.com

www.stormerhobbies.com

[Cain]

Agreed on Tekin. There customer service is top notch.

Futaba's MC203CR is also a very nice ESC and the MC330CR is nice too.

[SteveK]

Jeez, I dunno: Tekin died once, I don't think I'd be so quick to sink cash into them again.

Futaba and Novak are the two brands I would trust most: They have been around forever, and Futaba might be one of the biggest overall companies involved in RC today.

[BrianSearles]

Believe me, with the ambition the new Tekin has, they won't die.

[thewarrenator]

what about a novak xrs. i had one for about a year. worked great. only 50 bucks too. i would suggest the stinger earlier talked about. vmaxx 2400 are alright . you can get two for like 40-50 bucks. then go with a cheap but effective peak charger like the vision peak 2 from dynamite. ive used everything i said above except for the stinger and it all works great for starting out.

[thewarrenator]

sorry double post

[John English]

what about a novak xrs. i had one for about a year. worked great. only 50 bucks too. i would suggest the stinger earlier talked about. vmaxx 2400 are alright . you can get two for like 40-50 bucks. then go with a cheap but effective peak charger like the vision peak 2 from dynamite. ive used everything i said above except for the stinger and it all works great for starting out.
Thanks, I'll look into these too. :)