How reliable are vintage ESC

[Dadio]

As the title says , I'd like to know how reliable an old vintage ESC would be , something like a Novak 410 for instance , I like to run my cars so any electronics need to work plus I don't want to ruin a nice vintage bit of kit by using it .
So are any of them properly reliable to use or are they just shelf and photo options ?

[Lonestar]

As the title says , I'd like to know how reliable an old vintage ESC would be , something like a Novak 410 for instance , I like to run my cars so any electronics need to work plus I don't want to ruin a nice vintage bit of kit by using it .
So are any of them properly reliable to use or are they just shelf and photo options ?

"it depends".

If you're going to run them like it's 1988 but with late-noughties brushed mills and "young" niXX, let alone Lipos, you have a high likelihood of toasting them because the current that will travel through them was never available bitd (motors were not pulling it, batteries were not delivering it either).

With a "mild" mod and a 2wd, for instance, this is manageable, if you get the lucky draw.

In my experience, Novak's hold up the best. I have a couple of M5's that are still running ok (in my TRX-1 and my RC10), even though brakes are a bit on the weak side sometimes. Also a couple of Cyclones (in my LXT, then one I can't remember where ), which, granted, are more recent and possibly the greatest speedo ever, and they will withstand pretty much ANYTHING.

I have found out that Tekin's are the finnicky ones - just like last century, really I have given up even trying, always too full of surprises - shelf duties only.

Net - if they aren't already disfunctional to start with, and if you don't overload them with some current-hungry configurations, it all works very fine, and you'll get a kick out of running them when you'll do

[Dadio]

I'm not thinking of lipo but modern Nimh and maybe a modernish 17t motor

[matt1ptkn]

I run several vintage, brushed Novaks in my vintage race vehicles with 2 cell Lipos. With 27T stock motors, I've never had any problems at all, granted I use Lipo cutoffs, too. I've also run several with 19, 17 and even a 12T mod motor. The only problem I've had is burning up the motor brushes. Never an issue with the ESCs. I run several of the Novak T4, Duster, Racer EX, 410-M1C, Dually, Rooster, Super Rooster, etc. I also run a few vintage Futabas, but those only get the 6 cell Nimh treatment and stock motors.

[Dadio]

Thanks , I'll have to start looking for one .

[jwscab]

anything rated for 6-10 cells and modified motors should be pretty much fine running a reasonable brushed motor (13 turn at the lowest?). Lipo or Nimh, but you just need to realize that these older esc's were not rated to run for more than 6-8 minutes, so heat is the dominant killer, running longer at high temps will destroy them quickly. old nicads had a great current capability, but the voltage dropped somewhat, and they did not have a great capacity compared to lipo or nimh.

figure out what you'd like to run, and fire it up, drive around aggressively for 2-3 minutes and check the temp. You could also bump up the heat sink size and run a fan like a modern esc might have. if it all checks out, just keep going and enjoy, but don't run longer than 6-8 minutes without checking temps. you should have no problems.

you should be able to get great performance out of something like a 16 or 17 turn motor, with a lipo, it acts like a 7 cell nicd battery.

the other side of the coin is the brushed motor also. heat will kill it and long run time will run down the brushes. so again, keep an eye on temps.

[dinglem]

I was a Novak guy back in the day, running T4's in 2wd and T1X in 4wd, and towards the end we were running some pretty wild winds. 11 and 12 turn motors were no problem, although you could only just about make the 5 minutes running SCRC's. Any more than a crash or two and you were done for.

As everybody else above has already said it will most likely be the motors which will struggle rather than the ESC's if you are going to go for a later power input source. I have heard loads of people complaining about their brushed motor wires literally melting off the tabs when running on Lipo power for example.

It is simple and cheap for fit a motor fan to help with cooling if you have a bit of spare juice to play with, but you will also find the extra power going through the motor will make a milder wind perform better than it used to way back when.

I am seriously considering going back to what i knew and running a full vintage set up, cells included in order to avoid any fewfangled worries!

[Dadio]

I'm pretty well versed in the modern stuff , BITD an ESC was quite a rare thing , I had a Downsway with a Turbo relay and it was the bee's knees at the time ,later I had a single direction ESC but I can't for the life of me remember the make , for some reason I had to pull the stick down to go forward , no channel reverse on my old Acoms AP227 MK2 most people I knew were still using mechanical speed controls but I was just leaving the sport when the Cat came out I guess so that kind of dates it at mid 80's .

[SteveMax]

I run several vintage ESC and motor combinations and have no issues. I don't run lipo. NiMh and some older 3000 mAh NiCds - everything works just fine. I have a couple Optima Mid's and my favorite has a LeMans 240SB (that's an old 30,000 RRM mill) with a vintage Tekin 411G. No issues and everything stays pretty cool. The car is fast enough that I have fun and it runs just like it would have back in the day.

I also have good luck with a couple old Futaba MC112b ESC's - but I wouldn't run them with anything lower than a 19t vintage mill. That ESC is not rated for hotter wind modifieds. The 3000mAh batteries make for a decent amount of run time. I run one with a leMans 240S and its been trouble free