Mamba Max above 3S LiPo
 

Hello
I'm hearing some problems with MM running above 3S.
Having polar opinions from all over, including Castle Creations (their claim was 14 cells (above 4S) no problem), and not having an ESC which can have such a failure mode. I am curious if anyone would like to offer its MM controller with such problem, so I can investigate and offer solution.[/COLOR]

I'd love to help, but I've got the old gen2 MM. I've got hope of picking up another MM in a few weeks for another project, and if no ones beat me to it, I'll get mine shipped via GriffenRU :) I'll keep you posted.

I just got a brand new. They scrapped my old one and just replaced it for free. I don't know how it fairs above 3S though...I'll let you know when I find out.

I actually just bought a new MM ESC (2 days ago) for my RC10GT :smile:. So should I just plug in my 4s pack and see if it works? Unfortunately I do not have any 7 cell packs to make 14 cells.... I also wanted to run 2s through it for my GT, and was planning to keep the internal BEC. Could I still try 4s for a couple minutes just to see if it works? Or does the external BEC really have to be wired in?

Make sure you use the external BEC on 4S. I don't see what the problem should be with 4S as long as you use the external BEC, that's what I do with mine. How do you tell which version you have? Mine's fairly new and I'd like to check it out.

unscrew the two allens on either side of the heat sink and look at the bottom board when you take it out. The gen1 and gen2 both have 18 fets (little back squares) and the gen3 only has 15 fets. There may be other ways to tell but this is what I know.

Thanks, I'll do that tomorrow.

Mine didn't work on 4s. DickyT has it now.

I thought yours didn't work on 14 cells, but worked with 4s except for all the cogging it had with the neu.

didnt someoen say if you put too many volts through it, it will just read an "overload volt" warning or something like that?

No problems on 4s here, both gen 1 and brand new from the factory versions (gen 3?).

John, when was yours made? I don't know if mine is ok on 4S yet, but I hope it will be. I do know it was made in November 07 based on the sticker under the board.

The newer ESC was made two production runs ago, so first of october/late september maybe?

Hey JRH. I just ordered a Mamba max. I assume it will be a new one. The new ones have less fets? Are they of better quality or do the new ESC's have lower voltage tolerances? I am going to find out about the mods Griffinru does when I get home from school. I would like the ability to run 5 or 6s lipos on it. Well be home around 3.30, darn school

No replies darn. Hey Griffin RU. I just ordered a new mamba max saturday. If you still need to see it I might send it if you are able to make it better. Maybe like mods for cooler running and higher volts and such? Maybe like stick two together with a bec?
Let me know.

Give it some time man! lol! It is a new one, fresh from the factory. They have less fets, but they are half the resistance of the older fets. You could run 5s with mods, but probably not 6s.

what type of mods? we are talking the gen 3 right?
phil

If it fails to work with 4S or 5S LiPo, then yes.
Otherwise:
mod1 $75.00 + S&H + 1 donor ESC
mod2 $150.00 + S&H + 2 donor ESC's
I can provide donor ESC from Tower with free S&H.

Cool you got an exact list of what you do? I will probably end up trying to get another esc or two from some crawler guy lol. He has the hook up, I sound like a crack head. I will probably end up using mambas in everything.

Do you really? I know you test but once you see, it's "can I kill it time" lol. But yeah Griffin RU do I get a discount for letting you see the new model lol. Also does the Stage two mods or whatever include the first mod? I didnt have time so I went straight to stage two. I will be back on tomorrow:cry: checking it out after school, when I gots more time.

I will push a new one tomorrow if it isn't raining. I will see how it handles 4s lipo, then try a cooler running motor on 5s if it isn't above 170F on 4s. I hit about 195f on the older ESC with a 4400kv 2221 outrunner and 4s lipo yesterday. It wouldn't get any hotter.

Good to hear. I dont even have lipos yet. I am still thinking what charger to get. My hobby shop has that Triton and triton jr. and I can save money on a power supply by running off a vehicle battery. Maybe an Ice or a superbrain 989.

Go with the 989, I have it and an ICE and a hyperion and it gets the most use!

Does it come with power supply? The one for the house, and its about 150 right?

yeah it comes with a power supply.. 144.99 at tower.
phil

I've seen the new ones, sorry no discount yet. And, yes mod2 includes all the goodies of mod1 plus doubling number of FET's.

Sounds like MM fails to work with higher number of cells when low voltage cutoff is enabled. I haven't had a chance to test this, sounds like a loop hole...

Just hooked my newest MM to 4s lipo with auto lipo cutoff. Beeped 4 times, armed, then worked just like normal with no surprises.

I don't know why there is a rumor that the new MM is any different in software, they haven't done jack to the released firmware since 1.09

mine didn't work so called castle and told them the cut-off didn't work period. anyway after talking whith them I updated the software on the castle link and it works fine on 4s now..
phil

After successful install of CastleLink on Windows Vista, run some tests with all Mambamax ESC's.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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It works fine with 3,4,5 and 6S LiPo with no problems (do not go over 25V, electronics inside will fail at 26V) when cutoff disabled.
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It would arm properly with AutoLipo cutoff, but will not count more than 4 LiPo cell's, so testing in that mode is useless and can be unpredictable, think as if software would be sensing huge voltage drop due poor connections or whatever.<o:p></o:p>
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It won't arm with custom cutoff at all with 6S, two LED's would be half lid, I bet illegal state. I've tried 3 times and let it go, I was afraid of damaging ESC...<o:p></o:p>
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Bottom line, it works above 3S with any generation, but LiPo cutoff useless above 4S.<o:p></o:p>

Hang about, you did just say that all the MM escs work upto 6s/25v, if you switch off the lipo cutoff (and use a seperate LVC I presume)? Interesting, verrryyyy interesting....

All, the ones which I have...starting from gen1 up to the latest. I have brains from various generations, so I built a simple fixture and tried them all.
No separate LVC, just bench testing with load and receiver pack.

Thank you Artur, did someone provide a gen3 for you to test?

Sweet. Assuming it all still works fine once the brain is reconnected to the/a powerboard, you would need to use a seperate LVC to protect your lipos (since the built-in one is turned off)? That was what I was getting at before really. You never cease to amaze me with your electrical wizardry.... :intello:

Gen3 the one with 30 Fet's, correct?

Yes, the newest version. Are there more than 3 generations, or less?

I've seen 4 variations so far...

<TABLE class=tborder style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR title="Post 140701" vAlign=top><TD class=alt1 align=left>suicideneil</TD></TR><TR><TD class=alt2 align=left>Sweet. Assuming it all still works fine once the brain is reconnected to the/a powerboard, you would need to use a seperate LVC to protect your lipos (since the built-in one is turned off)? That was what I was getting at before really. You never cease to amaze me with your electrical wizardry.... :intello:</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

I've tested 2 modified controllers with 6S for 30 minutes, running up/down/brakes with no problems. Have not tested unmoded ones.

MM mods
 

I just sent one of my MM esc's in for mods. I'm hoping to run 5s in a 1/8 buggy when I get it back. Does that seem realistic? Reliable? I'm running it now on 4s with an un-modded MM and so far no problems. I was running an 18t pinion and it got pretty warm after 8-10 min really heavy bashing, didn't thermal though. I switched to 14t and there's very little heat.

What motor are you running?

Motor
 

Its a Feigao 8xl. Around 30kv if I'm not mistaken.

8XL (kv2084) at 5S would be too hot...