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Capacitors? New motor, old speed control

Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:11 pm
by MelvinsArmy
So, it's been a long, long time since I've had to deal with capacitors. I'm wondering if I need some now. I'm trying to get my RC10 truck conversion up and running. It's got a new Reedy StockStar motor in it:
http://67.199.85.166/main/productdetails.php?text=300

Which, according to the AE site says it has surface mounted capacitors already installed.

My ESC is a vintage Novak 610-HRV. My radio is a vintage Airtronics Vector AM 2 stick.

I'm getting some heavy glitching. Everthing else looks to be in order. Do I need to do something about my capacitors? Do I need a schottky diode? My memory with some of these old electronics is not so good. Any assistance helping me get my old truck running would be appreciated. :D

Re: Capacitors? New motor, old speed control

Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:35 pm
by THEYTOOKMYTHUMB
The motor should be fine the way it is. My guess would be the radio. Have you used it lately in anything else? I don't say this because it's an old radio, because old am radios still work great. You might pop open the receiver and make sure the antenna wire is in tact and that there are no frays in it anywhere. Seems simple, but sometimes the easiest answer is the right one. You may take a second look at your wire configuration too. If a high current wire is running in just the right way near a receiver wire or something it can cause interference. Transmitter batteries could be low or living in an urban are as it seems you do, there just might be too many signals running around for vintage radio to handle. :? With a problem like that you need to look over all equipment and see if it appears to be in good order. If so, then I would try a different radio or extra receiver if you have one. Then again, it may have just been a weird phenomenon. Try again tomorrow and it might be fine. Hope you get it fixed. Glitching can be annoying. :evil: Maybe even more annoying than some of my posts. :shock: well...let's not go that far... :roll:

Re: Capacitors? New motor, old speed control

Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:42 pm
by MelvinsArmy
Yeah, I'm thinking it might be the radio and/or receiver. I've got all my wires in order, power away from the receiver, antenna not touching any metal, all that. I used to race with this radio set up, but that was over 5 years ago. I did manage to drop the transmitter the other day, clearing off a shelf. Doh! Hopefully it didn't mess the old girl up. So far I've only tested it inside and the oddest thing is I get half way decent reception with the transmitter antenna all the way down. Pull it out and the truck goes nuts. Must be something in my apartment. At the same time, I don't really want to try it out on the street. I might just have to switch one of my FM or 2.4 receivers over. Kinda bummed though, I want to use my old Vector.

Re: Capacitors? New motor, old speed control

Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:46 pm
by THEYTOOKMYTHUMB
If you dropped it and the antenna is working half way up then maybe the housing at the base of the antenna came loose or something. I have two Magnum Jrs that rattle when you shake them because the nut that holds the antenna came all the way out. Maybe the one on that radio is just loose. It's definitely worth looking into to save a vintage radio. :mrgreen:

Re: Capacitors? New motor, old speed control

Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:57 pm
by Mikeyboy
I just read in my Associated RC10 manual that schotty diodes are only used for forward only high frequencey speed controls. It says that running one with a reversible speed control can cause damage.

Re: Capacitors? New motor, old speed control

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:08 am
by Bormac
I recently tried getting all nostalgic and set an old techniplus acoms radio in one of my beach scorpions. The car got about 5 feet away then started going C R A Z Y ! The antennae wire was plenty long enough and everything was wired in right. perhaps the transmitter and receiver were past there due date....LOL! Thank god for 2.4 gigs. :mrgreen: