ESC and motor questions

[rnoswal3434]

I know its probably been covered a milion times but the searching can be a pain! I don't mind links to help point me the the stuff I am asking about though.

First are my cars, esc's and motors. All 1990's stuff. I have a few radios from then too but only one esc.

My Novak has an adjustabled amp dial on it and no reverse. I would still like a brushed esc as I have several motors and nicad batteries. I would like an esc with reverse but I read somewhere here that reverse might blow a dioded or diodes on the motor. True? If true how do I work around that? This is all old stuff I am dusting off so that is why staying with older tech for now. There is no place to race anywhere near me so its backyard stuff and letting my dog chase it . I have plenty of old hand out motors from years ago so I guess I can just use the diodes from them unless the newer brushed motors don't use them any longer.

So, I am looking for another esc that can have reverse for convenience but not a deal breaker. Will be looking for another motor, 19t or so like my current one. Its a slow process but its kind of my side hobby now that I just sold the last of my restored autos. It brings back memories and wish there was a place for kids to find out about RC in this town but no hobby shops carry the good stuff here.

(side note);
I unwittingly bought a lipo (spelling?) battery , charged it up and tried it with my brushed motor and Novak esc. It didn't work. Something glowed and melted the heat shrink over that part of the battery. I have since read just how careful you have to be with charging and running the lipo battery pack and meltdowns or fires! I read about minimum battery voltages for those batteries and I can tell I am not ready for them yet. Brushless, someday.

Lastly I have an old Traxxas truck with an engine, .15 cc I thnk. Just waiting for pull start and a steering servo. Will be my first try with gas, (nitro) power. The dog will freak out!! Haha

Thanks

Russ

[Frankentruck]

The Traxxas XL-5 is a decent, inexpensive fwd/brake/rev speed control. You would just need to change connectors to match what you prefer. The battery connector on it disassembles easily, so no need to cut those wires.

There are some good bang for the buck Reedy Radon 2 motors available in 15, 17, 19T. They are still in production. This is the 19T:

Reedy Radon 2 3-Slot Brushed Motor (19T) ASC27427

I have blown a barrel style capacitor by driving in reverse. It made a loud bang. In general, I probably run fewer capacitors on my motors than are recommended (sometimes none) The small disc ones don't seem to have a polarity. I haven't seen any issues with them destructing.

[juicedcoupe]

A Hobbywing 1060 is a nice inexpensive esc with reverse. They sell for ~$20 and have the basic features, including lipo compatibility.

The Hobbywing 1080 steps it up with full adjustability. At ~$40, its a deal for what you get.

The current Reedy Radon motors are available in 15, 17, and 19 turn. I've been seeing them for ~$21 at several places.



The Reedy 480X esc looks tempting, but pay attention to the features. It can only be used with high voltage servos and doesn't come with the program card. It also doesn't have nearly as many features as the Hobbywing 1080.




And do not use diodes with reversing esc's, only capacitors.

[rnoswal3434]

Thanks so much for the replies. I will check those all out. And yeah, capacitors! I am amazed at how low the prices are with these things. More efficient and longer running too! I really do like my novak but no reverse is a pain at times. I have a 19t motor but I didn't realize it until I ran it lately and thought damn, this is way faster than my other motors. I don't know when I got it but it had to be back in the 90's with handout motors. It's all I run now so lots of cleaning afterwards. So now I want another! but I can't wait to try a brushless as my next step.

Thanks

Russ

[threesheds]

Never heard of diodes on motors before, they'd only allow the motor to run in one direction? Blocking reversed polarity.
Is it possible diodes are cancelling any reverse from an esc?

[juicedcoupe]

Never heard of diodes on motors before, they'd only allow the motor to run in one direction? Blocking reversed polarity.
Is it possible diodes are cancelling any reverse from an esc?

https://www.associatedelectrics.com/teamassociated/parts/details/745-ASC745-schottky_diode/

[FredsRCsleds]

Russ,
I've been using 2s lipo batteries with several old Novak esc's for the last two years without issue. Two of my cars are equipped with 410-M5's,one with a Cyclone ,another with a T1X and two others that are running Explorer Sports.
As long as the connectors are wired correctly, l don't think the battery should be a problem.

[rnoswal3434]

(A Hobbywing 1060 is a nice inexpensive esc with reverse. They sell for ~$20 and have the basic features, including lipo compatibility.

The Hobbywing 1080 steps it up with full adjustability. At ~$40, its a deal for what you get.

The current Reedy Radon motors are available in 15, 17, and 19 turn. I've been seeing them for ~$21 at several places.

The Reedy 480X esc looks tempting, but pay attention to the features. It can only be used with high voltage servos and doesn't come with the program card. It also doesn't have nearly as many features as the Hobbywing 1080.)

I did buy the Hobbywing 1080 and it worked great! Will def buy another! As for the Reedy radon motor, I was very disappointed. I had an old lightspeed motor, 19t from the late 90's and it turns almost twice as face. I know its hard to exactly tell rpms but a huge differenece. Not sure if light speed still makes motors, (Arlington Texas) but will check later.

AS for the Novak esc, I don't know why it would not work but wiring is pretty straight forward, red pos and black neg, the rest was already running off nicad , nihm(?) batteries, 7.2 volt 6 cell. But it sure made the plastic heat wrap melt quickly around that Lipo battery. It's all still new to me though with the new batteries.

[juicedcoupe]

You can try increasing the timing. But I still wouldn't expect it to be on par with a hand wound race motor.

But in general, currently available brushed motors aren't near the quality of those from the 90's and early 2000's. With the exception of crawlers, there just isn't a market for high end brushed motors.

[juicedcoupe]

I just checked, they come preset at 0°.

For good brush life and limited wear, I typically run my motors conservatively at 6-8°.

For max power in a buggy, I'd run 15-20°. In a truck, probably no more than 15°. But depending on the application and motor selected, those numbers could go either way.