My Neu Maxx is almost done
 

I ran my Neu Maxx for the first time today! Well not the first time but let me start at the beginning. After constantly repairing a broken RC10 T3 with a 2s LiPo MM 7700 Kv, I bought an E- Maxx. I thought with all the upgrades and after market parts available I shoud be able to have a great brushless basher. So first came the upgrades. I tried to keep it as light and strong as I could.

Upgrades:
Castle Mamba Max esc
Two 7-cell, matched and zapped NiMh packs from SPC and 2 TrakPower 2S1P 4900 mAh LiPo battery packs
PowerStroke coil over shocks
12 Associated slipper balls with heavey duty spring
Traxxas wheelie bar
RPM suspension arms
RPM axle carriers
Traxxas 3.3 turnbuckles
Traxxas 3.3 drive shafts
Revo wheels
RC-Monster steel dog bone center shafts
Traxxas 3.3 gray bulkheads
Power Pole connectors
Futaba S3305 MG steering servo
Gorilla Max single speed transmission
RPM shock towers and body posts
RC-Monster steel idler
FLM aluminum diff cups with modified gear and 3 mm screws

Next I had to find a motor. I wanted all the speed that I was used to with my stadium truck. After searching forums and asking questions Mike suggested a Neu 1515/1y and a UBEC.

Then the fun started. The Neu is so big that it hits the transmission, so you can only use larger spurs and pinions. If not the gears would not mesh. The problem was the MM controller would cog with the 4 pole Neu if the gears were too large. I tried anyway. With Brian's gear calculator I figuered out the smallest gears that would mesh. With a 52t mod1 Associated gear and a 17t pinion I thought I was read to go. I put 14 cells in and....nothing. I was over voltage. Apparently Castle had changed the fet board and my MM would no longer run on 14 cells. I tried only 7 cells and it actually rolled, but cogged like crazy.

Which brings me to today. I got my bother to solder up some bullet connectors dropped in two TrakPower 2s lipos and She rolled! :surprised::party:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL143.../277092442.jpg
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL143.../277092436.jpg

Differential Ratio: 2.8461538461538462
Transmission Ratio: 1.7222222222222223
Spur Tooth Count: 52
Pinion Tooth Count: 17
Total Voltage: 14.8
Motor KV: 2200
Tire Diameter (inches): 6
Tire Ballooning (inches): 0
Motor Current Draw: 0
Motor coil Ω: 0.006
Spur/Pinion Ratio: 3.06 : 1
Total Ratio: 14.99346 : 1
Tire Circumference (inches): 18.85 inches (478.78mm)
Total Motor Speed: 32560 RPM
Vehicle Speed: 38.76 MPH (62.27km/h)
Effective Speed Rate: 2.62mph/V (4.21kmh/V)
Effective KV Value: 2200

I hope to add a Strobe or Kippster slipper, lighter wheels and a MGM speed controller because I hate the cogging.

Thanks to everyone in this forum for all the advice and help.

Looks good! However, I have a feeling your diffs might be begging for mercy soon :yipi:.

I was trying to keep it as light as possible. But this thing is insanely fast and a little extra weight may be good. 1/8 diffs with aluminum cases aluminum bulks and an extended chassis.

Everything looks fine on this truck (especially the electronics!), but, GET AN FLM CHASSIS!!! :yipi:

A couple of cartwheels and it could be gone! No jokes! :neutral:

Thanks for the comment zero.
I have already end over ended it. The cogging was helped tremendously by making the throttle curve exponential. At the 30% mark I pulled down until I got a nice smooth curve. It is fairly shallow and I may deepen it. My current settings are:
brake 30%
punch 80%
start pwr low
drag brake disabled
motor timing low

However with the drag brake disabled, reverse slams on with almost an immediate stop and if I am not careful just end over ends.

If you increase the start power to high, that will also help to reduce cogging.

The Maxx is looking awesome. It is a shame, that MM coggs with the 1515/1y so much. This is the motor I was planning on getting to try with my MM ESC. Guess I'll have to save up even more and go for an MGM.

looks good... are you liking the anderson power poles...go to deans Bro... for sure the drivetrain is crying... ;D

Tis none too shabby. One thing I will suggest is make sure screws holding the drive cups on the tranny & diffs are threadlocked to heck, or better still use the stock traxxas screw/pin thingy- I find it a bit more solid in that it locks the cups to the output shafts. You will also need lots of threadloc on those too.

Thanks. To keep cogging to a minimum it appears start power high and high punch control would be best, right?

The more I tweak it the better it gets. Also, just a little bit of throttle to get it rolling and then wot never cogged on my second run.


"looks good... are you liking the anderson power poles...go to deans Bro... for sure the drivetrain is crying... ;D"

Luv the PowerPoles be the PowerPoles! When I first installed them with 2 stock Titans on 14 cells the acceleration was noticably better. If the are good enough for BattleBots and the US Navy the are good enough for me. (Plus I never learned how to solder:oops:)

Sorry you took the comment wrong... :oops:

Just saying it won't last long, the screws that connect to the bulkheads are the first and most easily broke.... or at least the holes break out.

Other than that, your truck is TOP notch for powertrain. You could actually go for a 1512 motor and still be more than powerful with that light of a truck. :mdr:

Thanks for the comments. I already have them threadlocked. I lost a few before w/ Titans and 14 cells:oh:

I'm glad you're happy with the poles dude... :)

if you really like the power poles.. you can get the 45 Amp bars from robotmarketplace.com.. that's where I get a lot of my stuff..

robot combat uses the really "BIG" pole connectors... :)

this would be worth the upgrade.. Just tryin' to help you out dude.
http://www.robotmarketplace.com/mark...onnectors.html
45 Amp PowerPole Extra Contacts

No, I didn't take it wrong.:great: I apperciate the advice. RCShocker has been after me to upgrade my bulks. With the insane speed I am getting a little extra weight and length would be helpful.

I think a FLM chassis and 1/8 diffs, and AL bulks are in order.

Have you thought about the FlexTek suspension? From a strengh-to-weight standpoint you can't get much better than titanium! They shouldn't weigh much more (if any more) than the RPM arms.

Sounds like just what I would want. Got a link?

Never mind. I got it. What about a titanum chassis? Does anyone make one?

Edit: Ouch almost $300 bucks. :surprised:I just spent almost that much on an MGM controller. I think an extened chassis and stronger diffs first. Thanks for the advice. Maybe I can talk my wife into them for my bithday in February.:smile:

Do you have the MM set for Forward/Reverse or Forward/Brake/Reverse? If you don't have it set for the later the MM will kick it right into reverse when you move the throttle past neutral. If you have it set to Brake and then reverse it will slow the truck and require you to return the throttle to netural for min 2 secs. before it will allow reverse to engage. Also I would set some negative exponential curve on the Brake settings tab. Switch the line to "curve" and drag the line from 40% down to 30% at the 40% brake throttle mark and that should give your finger a little extra throw before the brakes really kick in.

Thanks. I'll check when I get home.

Sorry, my bad - I didn't remember the setting right off the top of my head.

'Forward to Brak to Reverse' is the one that will slam into reverse on you.

The softer handling one with the reverse delay is 'Proportional w/ Reverse Lockout'. This is the one with the 2 second delay return to neutral before allowing reverse setting. This is the better setting to use if you want reverse. You only reverse when bashing to get out of a pickle and with this setting you will not get reverse unless you really want it.

Thanks that is the one I was using, Forward to brake to reverse. Even at 20% of brake it was still flipping. I'll try the proportional w/ reverse lockout tonight.

That'll probably fix your problem. You might want to bump the brakes up to 50% until you find the right setting when you make the change - just so you actually have some brakes.

Hopefully GOOD BYE and GOOD RIDDANCE to MM cogging. I just got my TMM 16018 in the mail. Beefy compared to the MM. I can't wait to install...........

What's the latest?

Here it is. I just finished the install. Now to program it.........

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL143.../278359029.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL143.../278359030.jpg

Looks good. Let us know the programming is? Hope it runs well fro you. :smile:

I'll tweak the programming tomorrow and check temps. So far the inital test runs were very smooth with zero cogging.

I finally got a chance to run my NeuMaxx. Bashed for about 35 minutes on the New Orleans levee. 20 minutes into it the tires were still balooning. :happy: . It ran very smooth without any cogging.:mdr:

Temps were:
90F ambient
117.6F esc
128.2F motor

The only damage was 3 lost body clips and a mounting screw for one of my shocks stripped out of the arm hole.

I'll try to post another threads with my first attempt at vids.

Great news man!! Glad you had fun. Less than 130*F is great for all your electronics even though they are top notch. Don't think you'll be needing a fan any time soon. :smile:

I'll be expecting the video!! :party:

That is an excellent result, those temps are brilliant. As for the shock screws, it might be worth getting one long screw that goes all the way through and holds both shocks to the tower, then use a nyloc nut on the other end to hold it in place.

Can you tell me what's this controller???

MGM maybe:neutral:

MGM 160/18:yes:

Mike has them here:

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail...MM160183sHCS01

It will be much easier to program it if you use the 2 cables for your computer.

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail.php?prod=MGMusb

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail.php?prod=mgmcc02

{noob ducks bullet}

I am using only the coil over PowerStrokes. I was thinking of using the same idea but just for 1 shock. I have 3.3 shafts, so if I don't have enough clearence to do this I may upgrade to CVDs.

Could you tell me if this controller worth every pennies, because for +/- $350.00CAD, it's alot more than a MM, and i've read on a tread here on this forum, somes guys how'd experiment somes problems with MGM controller.

I'am to build an e-revo, and for now, i've a MM controller and i think for a Feigao 8XL motor, but i've think to wait for the end of the winter and save money for a high-end controller (MGM or Schulze, something like that) and a Neu or Lehner motor.

But i don't know if the big $$$ difference between MM/Feigao setup and MGM/Neu setup worth the money.........

And more, i want to take a set of hybrid 1/8 scale diff for my revo:gasp:$$$$

Or i'll simply leave it nitro with a big LRP Z28 Spec 3 truggy engine.

nice build mark! be sure to let us know how the new controller does for you. i may have to yank my MM and invest in the MGM.

It is hard to say since I have never run a Feigao/MM. However alot of guys do and from reading the posts that system works well. I can tell you from experience that the MM/Neu is a pain in the rear. I used a MM 7700kv in a stadium truck and got hooked on the incredible speed, but had heat problems. So when I got an E-Maxx I wanted a truck that I could bash the hell out of without having to worry about not enough power to clear the jump I wanted to make or worry about it thermalling. I guess it depends on what you want. I tried to get minimal down time, so I spent the money. (Actually wife did for a gift. This is my midlife crisis. Better $1000 than a 20 year old blonde)

If i spend $1000+ on a brushless system and my wife know that, she'll cut my head with a steak knife, put it in the oven at 350 for about 3 hours and her and my 3 kids heat them for lunch:lol:

Some women just dont understand RC...
As for the shock screw thing, I thought you ment it ripped out at the top, not on the lower a-arm. In that case maybe just a slightly longer screw with a nyloc on the other side, rather than one giant screw that goes all the way through both lower shock mounts.

I only have one kid so they could eat for a while. :lol:The $1000+ was the whole truck. The Neu and MGM cost about $550.

Here is my first attempt at a video. Of course all the best action was when I wasn't rolling. It is alot easier to take still photos then a movie with one hand. the next one will be better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdalFU4itLA