Emaxx 3905 budget setups?
 

Hey guys. I've come to the realization that I want an Emaxx. I've always yearned for a big freakin' 4wd monster truck, and now that I got a job this summer, I'll have some decent cash flow to fuel this money pit of a hobby (can't spend it all of course....3/4 of what I make is for school/gas money/groceries in the Fall and Spring terms).

Anyways, I was looking at the brand new 3905 Emaxx, and since it's advertised as "brushless ready" for a decent price of 360ish bucks, I figure that's a good platform to start off with for larger scale brushless.

So I have a few questions for those of you who have brushless maxxes (specifically the 3905).

What would be a good motor to run? I'm leaning towards the Monster Max as the ESC, so no issues there (I like their products, and from my experience with the MM, they have fine ESCs). I have an HV4400 motor I could use if the motor is going to end up putting me above my rough budget limit too (I can always buy the 45 dollar 5mm shaft upgrade). I would prefer a motor that would be a good 5s candidate, as that's what I'd rather run than 4s.

Also, should I run 4s or 5s? I was looking at the Zippy packs from Hobby City, and they look like a slammin' deal if they can deliver their rated performance, but I'd like some feedback on those as well. I was eyeing the 4s1p 5000mah 20C packs since they're about 85 bucks a pop (not bad, but if they just can't handle a monster truck, I'd appreciate someone pointing me in a different direction). I think there are also some 5s1p packs that have a good C rating, around 4500mah capacity, and still come out to about 100 bucks a pack. As I stated in the previous paragraph, I'd like to run 5s, but if 4s works out cheaper and will move the truck around with decent power, runtime, and the motor will stay relatively cool, then I'm willing to go 4s too.

I also found a charger on there that is identical to the Venom Pro Charger that is going to come out, for about half the price (about 60-70 bucks for an AC/DC unit, which this charger is EXACTLY what I'm looking for), so that is the charger I am leaning towards (does 1-6s at .1-5 amps and balances, so yipee!). I'm in need of a new charger anyways, so I'm probably going to end up getting this charger regardles of whether or not I do this little project.

So, any advice oh mighty gurus of RC-Monster?:mdr:

I'm trying to keep this as low cost as possible too, so any "cheapy" solutions for things such as the motor would be nice. This is, of course, not to say that I won't upgrade later on. I like my 50mm medusa, and if I can afford another one in the 60mm flavor, then that is a viable motor option down the road. But to start, I won't complain about using a cheapy KDA 30 dollar motor from hobby city (I know it'll run somewhat warm, but I can tolerate it for a little while until I move on to a better motor). I just need something to get rolling for now.

Keep in mind that I may have to do this in stages as well, and most likely won't start until about a month from now, or possibly two! If I find that the cost is climbing a little too high (above 700 or so as my uppermost limit), I may have to abandon this idea altogether. I am open to any other large scale vehicles to go brushless with though! Maybe an 1/8 conversion is in order if it comes out cheaper...:surprised:

Thanks in advance guys!

-Joe

My advice is to skip the E-MAXX! Especially if your gonna be waiting a month or two anyways. Traxxas is releasing an E-REVO, still brushless ready like the E-MAXX but the Revo is a much better platform. It's a little more $ for the E-revo but I think it will be way better than the E-maxx, I've had both in nitro form and the revo will kill a maxx as far as handling and durability. I have pre-ordered on hobbypeople.net and with shipping its about $420, I ordered my nitro revo from these guys without a problem, and I'm hoping that about the time this comes out CC will be releasing their neu based motors for the MMM. I'll be running the titans until they do! However if you really want a BL maxx I'm going to be selling mine in a week or two. I could do it complete with MM/CC BEC/8XL or without so you could stick in what you want. If interested PM, my price will be reasonable for what I'm offering!

I don't have the money right now; that's why I'd have to wait about a month so I could save up. Sorry. I appreciate the offer though.

I also don't want an E-Revo because it's about 90-100 bucks more than the E-maxx, and with the setup I have in mind (at least a MMM, 5s lipo, and whatever motor and that charger), the E-Revo will run way over what I'm trying to stay at or under (I did think about the E-Revo though, but it's just not within my budget; the maxx may not even be within my budget depending on what type of suggestions I get). :(

E-revo $420 or E-maxx $360
MMM $170
8xl or 9xl $75
charger u found $70
2x 2s lipos aprox $200

no matter what ur going over budget if U buy new!
I know of a certain BL E-maxx with a decent setup that will sell for a little more than a new 3905. When ur ready hit up ebay, thats where mine will prolly wind up, you can find BL E-maxxs in the $400 range all day but most are the older ones and running Novak setups. The HV-Maxx is nothing compared to a MM/feigao setup, biggest problem with mine is the need for a wheelie bar, I've destroyed my crowd pleaser body flipping over backwards but the original isn't to bad.

Keep an eye on ebay, I am sure now that the e-revo is coming out that you can probably score some nice deals on a good used 3905 maxx. While the revo is certainly a better platform, the maxx is no slouch and with the upgrades to the 3905, it's a pretty decent truck.

I don't have the 3905 I skipped it and built a e-revo. My maxx was already better then the 3905 but thought I would add some input.

E-revonut has some good advice. But if you can't swing the $$ and you going to be doing this in stages. I save up some money and watch ebay or the forums. Should see a large number of 3905's going up for sale so they can get the e-revo. Pick up the MMM and run the Novak until the MMM motor comes out or you save up enough for a nice motor. The 4.5 does real good in the maxx on 4s when geared right. If your going cheap on the lipo you will probably have to buy another one by the time you get your list filled. The batteries are tough, can't run 5s on the Novak but you could pick up some 2s pack and run four then add a 3s to run 5 . No experience with the zippy packs but you get what you pay for.

Alrighty guys, I'll have to watch Ebay/forums I guess. So many things to buy....never enough money...lol!

I guess this little "project" will have to be put on hold for a very long while (can't buy a lot of this stuff outright at the moment, new or used).

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

If ypu want to get a deal on used stuff, try rcgroups, and rctech. Lots of good deals there. The traxxas forum is a good place to get good deals too.

Thanks for more resources linc! I'll have to window shop around a few places it looks like.

Yeah, keep an eye out there, lots of good deals, especially for what you are looking for, as most of the guys are on road electric or nitro there. Rcgroups is also a great place to find deals on lipos, in the battery, and electric heli sections.

I'll have to see what's out there. I may decide to just spend some money on my existing RCs and now that I'm getting into helicopters (an aerospace major should have SOMETHING that flies, right?), I'm finding that crashes happen...errrr....more than I'd like?:mdr:

Joe, if your only going 4s why not stay with the MM and a Medusa 36-50-2200(or 3300). My 3905 was clocked by a bushnell radar gun at 42 mph through grass on 5s A123(nearly the same voltage as 4s lipo)and a 15t pinion with the 36-50-3300. I have not seen the motor over 120f and the ESC is hitting 98f w/fan. Looking at the specs for the 2200 I would guess you could get nearly the same performance as me with a 22-24t pinion on the stock spur. I'm just not sure if the 36-50 is a large enough motor to pull that tall a gear ratio. I also worry about running the 3300 at 46+k RPM but it runs very well for me so far.

Cant wait for my MMM, Neu 1512, FLM Hybrids, and misc other RCM goodies to arrive, spending my tax rebate on good stuff made in the USA! Hope I have enough left over for diffs, LOL budget e-maxx, at least that was my plan a few months back;)

BTW what heli you flying I have a whole pile of them, 4 ready to fly right now, 3 semi retired, and a couple more in boxes.

Buzzsaw, I thought about using an MM, but knowing myself, I would definitely want to step up to a 5s or even 6s setup in the future (if I don't start out with a 5s to begin with that is), so that's why I'd rather stick with the MMM. Plus, I love how much power the MMM can handle. I'm paranoid when it comes to heat, and that's why I was so happy to find a decent motor that will push my Rusty to 40+ but not run over around 130F.

I forgot completely about the Medusa motors for larger scales though. The 60mm versions aren't too much more compared to the 50mm versions IIRC. I also have a big heatsink that came with my 4800kv 50mm, so if I need to, I can run the heatsink and a 50mm motor to save some money (thanks for the suggestion!)...

I think I have this all figured out. I'm just going to do it in stages, and if I can, I'll buy stuff used. First I'll have to take the dive and get the Maxx or E-Revo (I'm starting to like the E-Revo...lol, my wallet isn't though!). The only thing is that if I get an E-Revo, then it'll probably be new (I doubt a lot of people want to sell their E-Revos since the thing just came out). Then, next purchase will be the MMM (I can run the HV4400 with a 5mm shaft upgrade for the time being I suppose, and I have some GP3300 packs around here somewhere). After that, batteries and motor. I'm probably going to order that one charger I was looking at soon, because I'm getting sick of charging a 4500mah lipo at 2.5 amps, so that's pretty much decided on...:whistle: Basically, many many baby steps. If I'm lucky, I'll finish by Christmas (probably the very end of this summer realistically, and in that case, I can take this beast to college with me!)...LOL!

I'm flying an E-sky Honey Bee Mk3 Fixed Pitch. I'm getting better at it. A week ago, I could hardly get it off the ground, and when I did, it crashed after 10 seconds. Now, I can actually hover it about 5 or 6 feet off the ground for 30-40 seconds, and then bring it down safely. Broke a paddle bar frame though....so I'm out of the skies for a few more days (I have an order that should be getting here soon; ordered it before I even broke the part, so it's a good thing I stocked up on doubles and triples of these little parts!).

Helis are difficult, but it's so rewarding when you do finally get the hang of it.:mdr:

realflight4 is your best friend. I am spending ample time on that thing before I dive in and spend the money on a real heli. I have a cx2 but want to buy a trex 600. I plan on waiting a while before I do it though.

I've read on numerous forums that if you can fly a smaller (mini/micro) fixed pitch heli, you can handle the larger CP helis no problem (especially the much larger, more stable ones). My heli isn't a coaxial either, so it's that much more of a pain in the butt to fly in windy conditions here in Florida (I'm about 14 miles from the coast, so during the day, there's always a breeze- most of my flying is in the very late afternoon and into dusk).

The Honey Bee came with this flight sim software, but unfortunately, it's only for windows XP. It won't work on Vista (which is what I have on my laptop). I did toy around with it on my mom's PC which still has XP though. I think that's partly why I'm able to get it off the ground and actually hover it for a decent amount of time before the wind kicks up and I have to bring it down. It definitely helped me develop more finesse so I can correct the heli ever so slightly.

I'm not buying another heli until I can fly this sucker perfectly though. When I get to that point though, I'm going to upgrade to a Trex or Belt CP; preferably something larger that comes with a brushless outrunner in it already.:mdr:

Just a quick update: I got the Imax B6 charger. Decent price, does 1-6 lipos, 1-15 NiMH. I needed a new charger to begin with (my dynamite vision peak ultra just can't charge fast enough since it only has a 2.5 amp MAX charge rate for lipos).

Joe reading about your early hover attemps reminded me of my first flight with an LMH 100+. Finally got in the air and it starts flying towards my father in law, good thing thos LMH's were tough, I chopped the throttle and let it ball up by a tree. 24 flight hours on the CSM v10 sim had me flying like a pro.

I'm still very hessitant to get real crazy but I can piro to the left through a whole pack and put the heli pretty much where I want it. For some reason I have more trouble piroing to the right?? I can do it but I have to slow down or stop to regain control from time to time. I figure the flips and stuff will be easy the hard part is learning to stay in control at all orientations. I do, acasionaly do a flip or loop but for the most part I work on getting good fluid control through the piros yet.

I can certainly understand going with the MMM over the MM for future performance upgrades, I just figured my setup is pretty darn good and not that expensive. To be honest the more I think about it I wouldn't try the 36-50-2200 I just dont think the short can motor will have the torque to pull the gears.. My setup works because its geared pretty low and lets the motor make power through rpm rather than brute force.

Finally finshed all my yard work for the day, been at it since before noon today. Time to drive my trucks!!

I have three or four MS composit Hornets ranging from an original CP to the lastest X3D, Including one that is part Hornet part MaxiR, supper nice all alloy and CF. The guys with HB's and Blade CPs get a huge kick out of it because it looks no more threatening till I spool it up;)

Next is a Dragonus II Pro (Trex 450 size) again all alloy and CF this one just came out of the box that way, Sweet heli but its easier to find parts for a Trex.

Then I have a Robbe Eolo Pro upgraded to near SE specs, serious money pit but it flies so nice!! It's a bit smaller then the Trex 500, swings 385mm blades.

Next up is the SJM 500 V1. worthless piece of poo I just got it last sep-oct and its two generations old already, when V2 came out it had most of the upgrades I reccomended rolleyes: The newest V3 has all the stuff I commented on and a few extras. Mine came with 380mm blades they now come with 430mm IIRC.

Then I have a Century Hawk III and a Falcon SE semi retired along with the LMH.

I couldn't even begin to count all the planes I have right now and I have been flying planes for 25 years, many have come and gone in that time!

You got quite a little airfield going on there! In your experience, are the larger helis easier to fly vs. the smaller stuff? I figure I still have a few more weeks of tail in flying before I can move on to nose in stuff (got a great tip from a guy on another fourm though for nose in flying; move the controls in the way of danger, so if the heli is drifting right while facing you, then move the right stick to the horizontal right and it should get straight again). With the collective pitch stuff, do you find that it's more stable due to the constant rotor head speed? I'm wondering if I should have started on a larger CP bird... (crashes would be far more expensive though I think...)

Anyways, my first hover attempts have been interesting. I'm learning that small corrections are absolutely key to flying a heli stably. And also, the heli flies "behind your hand", so I have to account for any delay the heli will experience from wind and weight distribution and stuff.

After nose in flying, I think I may be able to try manuvering in figure 8's. After I get all of that stuff down, some free flight screwin' around until I get it down perfect!

If your on a budget I would suggest these ideas
1) Get the MMM (does not do you any good to save it today and spend more later)
2) Get either the wanderer 9XL or a Medusa 36/60/2000 V2
3) Use a 6s 1p A123 pack and zip charge the sucker (Ebay a dewalt pack and search for 2 extra cells.)

You'll save alot of Money on the battery/charger setup. $130 for batteries and charger is $10.00 so that total setup is 140 compared to 200+ for lipo and charger. Keep in mind with the a123 you'll have 2 packs and can charge as fast as you run em down.

Misc comments
I use the A123 packs in Combat wings, E-gliders, and am considering trying it in my Trex 450 V2.
I also use them in a brushless 1/10 stadium truck. I use the same packs or combination of the packs for all of the above listed RC uses. Very very versitile.

Highflier

Hmmm...good points highflier. Thank you. I just purchased a charger that is A123 capable, so that is now an option.

Five-oh, if you haven't already, check out the forums at www.helifreak.com

There is a lot of great knowledge on there and a guy that does setup videos on most of the popular heli's.

Just checked it out. Exactly what I need, a heli forum! Thanks Tex. I'll browse around and see if I can find a setup video for my Honey Bee.

Lots of good info on that site for my heli. When I get my parts in, I'll have to try some of the tips I found on there. Thanks again Tex.

No problem, when I first got on the site, I was all hot to buy a trex 600. However, after spending some time and learning more, I have decided to wait a little bit. That forum is kind of like the RCM for heli's. There are some really nice, knowledgeable, and helpful folks on there. If Finless Bob hasn't done a setup vid for your honey bee, I know there are a lot of guys on there that run them and give you some great advice. By the way, Finless Bob (goes by finless) is kind of like lincpimp, lutach, patrick, briang, and a bunch of others mixed into one when it comes to heli's.

I checked out the Esky forum, and there's ton's of Honey Bee threads. Picked up some interesting flight suggestions for easier manuverability and better response. Can't wait to get my spare parts in; hopefully they come today or tomorrow. I'm itchin' to get in the sky.

Until then, my Rustler is asking to be run with its new gearing setup (27/87 on 2s lipo and the 4800 kv medusa)...:mdr:

Good luck with the heli Joe, you are so right about how rewarding it is to finally tame one.

What tires you running on your Rustler?

Thanks, I'll need it!

As for the Rustler, some Proline Road Rage IIs. The fronts (which used to be the rears) are BALD, so it's difficult to steer this thing. I also have front rims on the rear (so front rims all around really) to widen it up a bit out back. It makes it SUPER stable.