Need help with an RC10T

[Jschoenb]

First time ever in a forum so be gentle. First of all I am very new to RC vehicles and have recently purchased an RC10t off of the bay. However, I am having problems with the RC. I'm suspect of the ESC but I am not sure as I am a noob to all things RC. The symptoms include: When I first turn on the RC and transmitter the steering works fine but no power to the motor. Then the steering stops responding to the transmitter and the car goes crazy. If I shake the transmitter it will throttle up intermittenly and the steering jerks back and forth and sometimes the motor will just turn on and the only way to turn it off is to turn off the ESC. Also, I noticed that there was some sparks inside the motor when it would run. The batteries in the transmitter are new but the battery for the RC are a little old-still hold a charge. The esc is a Novak 410. If you have any imputs they would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[scr8p]

well, i guess you just gotta junk it............just kiddin . i think the best place to start is making sure that every thing has good connections, battery to esc, esc to motor, servo to rec., esc to rec. make sure your antenna is tight in the controller. next trhing is the motor. an electric motor will spark a liitle bit. thats the brushes making contact with the commutator. if the motor looks like its glowing, thats a sign that its time fora cleaning, and pobably new brushes. you said when you first turn it on, the steering works, but no throttle. turn it on, pull the trigger back a little, if the motor doesn't spin, try turning the rear tires to see if it will start going. if it does, you need to do something with your motor. another thing would be, does the motor have any capacitors on it? that will cause glitching problems if it doesn't. another thing would be the tx and rx crystals. if they're bad, those will cause glitching problems as well. does your truck have graphite shock towers and is your esc mounted on it? if it is, try putting a piece of lexan between the esc and the shock tower. that will help with interference. same goes if your chassis is graphite. now i don't know about the novak 410, but does it have 2 small red wires coming out of it. an old novak i have says for 4 cell, solder together, 6 cell, solder together, unless it starts glitching, then leave unsoldered, for 7 cell, leave unsoldered. try this stuff first, and see what happens.

[Jschoenb]

Thanks for the reply, I don't have any graphite it looks pretty much stock maybe a couple of hopups. I will try your suggestions and see if it helps. Thanks Oh by the way I am originally from Lehighton-small world.

[MelvinsArmy]

Aluminum can be just as much of a problem with glitches as carbon fiber, and the original RC10T had an aluminum chassis. Make sure that your reciever antenna isn't touching any aluminum. Also, make sure it's not touching any other electronics, make sure it is away from the ESC, and also not near your battery or motor wires. That can cause glitches.

It is possible that you're ESC is not adjusted properly. Did you get an ESC instruction manual with the truck? If so, you might want to run down the set up info.

My guess is that this is most likely a capacitor or reciever wire problem. Either you don't have capacitors on you motor, or perhaps they've come loose, or else maybe your antenna is touching something that's causing it to glitch.

[Jschoenb]

Thanks for the help, I am planning to check out some of these suggestions as soon as I get time-very busy time. I do have an aluminium chassis and I don't have an antenna pipe so that might be a concern. Also, not sure about the capacitors. I think I have some extras but have no idea how to install. I will give it the old college try. Thanks

[Jschoenb]

Well just an update. I recently got another RC10t. I used the crystals from the original RC10t that is giving me problems. The new RC10t worked just fine. I checked to see if the motor had capacitors and it does. I think the problem is my ESC, I think it's got problems. I think I will switch parts between the two and hopeully narrow down the problem. One quick question though- is there a trick to getting the ball and socket joints on the end of the turnbuckles...MAN MY FINGERS HURT.

[badhoopty]

Well just an update. I recently got another RC10t. I used the crystals from the original RC10t that is giving me problems. The new RC10t worked just fine. I checked to see if the motor had capacitors and it does. I think the problem is my ESC, I think it's got problems. I think I will switch parts between the two and hopeully narrow down the problem. One quick question though- is there a trick to getting the ball and socket joints on the end of the turnbuckles...MAN MY FINGERS HURT.

i've wrapped some e-tape around a pair of pliers in the past, nowadays i just do it by hand and live with the pain.

if you use pliers, you just got to be really carefull not to damage and scratch up the ballcups with them. i think rpm or somebody makes a pair of pliers with a no-scratch grip.

[Jschoenb]

Thanks I was just wondering. I guess I'll just take the pain and suck it up.