I did what?
 

As of 1/12/08, I am the owner of a Revo 3.3 NITRO, my first nitro in 3 years. $150 was way too tempting for an almost new one, being totally RTR and the bag containing all of the parts and manual was unopened. The truck has a bit of dirt on it, but no problem. The 3.3 is still tight (will lock up at the top), and I'm gonna break it in tomorrow. This truck only had a problem with the OptiDrive. Simple fix, and a great deal for me!

Now, you're probably thinking that a hardcore electric guy and nitro don't mix... Believe it or not, I'm actually pretty good with nitro and can tune pretty well. I've gotten LOADS of experience with it from working at the LHS for a year and a half, since there are lots of newbs out there who need help with nitro.

One problem I have run into is that I don't own any 7.2v NiMh stick packs to use on the EZ Start, let alone anything with a Tamiya plug (it's surprising that Traxxas isn't using their new connector on it). The solution: solder a Deans connector onto the EZ Start circuit board, and strap in a 2s 6000mah Lipo... I think that should work :lol:.

More on this truck tomorrow after I get it running.

I do the same thing with the ez start when I have to tune a traxxas nitro vehicle. I just use a tamiya to deans adapter and my 2s 6000 lipo. And a zip tie to hold it all together. When people see how well it spins the engine over they ask where the battery came from. I quick explancation of the 250 dollar cost between the battery and charger usually raises some eybrows!

Yeah, well the Lipo-powered EZ Start works! Break-in is done, and I burned an extra tank or two on top of that. I tuned it for what I think is optimal performance (maximum power without getting too hot, and won't die), and the performance certainly isn't what I'm used to. It doesn't wheelie... It's loud... There's tuning... It left oil all over my driveway and the sidewalk... At least I know why electric is better.

If it doesn't wheelie, somethings not right...It should wheelie like crazy with the 3.3. I dunno though, I've heard the 3.3's don't really come alive will around a 1/2-3/4 of a gallon.

I talked with a buddy of mine who is like a nitro king around here. In his experience with the 3.3 (standard 3.3 long chassis, of course), the Revo doesn't wheelie but takes off really hard. The suspension in the rear is pretty soft, though, and needs preload added to keep the back from almost dragging.

My eperience with the 3.3 as well. The one i have seen that would wheelie, I temped them and were over 300* and lean bogging on top. I think the 3.3 is perfect for racing, right powerband and power for most situations without overpowering the track.

Welcome to the "One of each club" I to have a Nitro and electric in both revo and T/Emaxx

Sounds cool, atleast you can maybe turn some profit if you decide to sell it? great deal

I could, but I told my boss I wouldn't (he allowed for me to get such a good deal). Down the line when the nitro stuff is done I can do something else with this truck.

nitro isn't that bad. It's a pain in the arse to get working and keep working and find some where to drive that you aren't going to piss anyone off but once you get all that right it is fun. It took me a while to get used to the noise and the noise still sucks when it's not working perfectly but when it is tuned spot on it sounds fantastic. I still prefer electric though. I am sick of constantly replacing parts on my nitro motors to keep them running. At least electric motors only require bearings every now and then and they tend to last longer.

I want to have both electric and nitro so I can pick and choose the best one for the occasion. It will still be nice when I go bashing for the day to pull out the nitro and just run it all day with out having to keep charging batteries. I realised something though on the weekend. My nitro savage has more batteries then my electric one will.

Nitro is good for back to back running, but still a pain to tune, especially the small block motors. I will most likely buy the baja ss kit, as it is gas powered, and that offers the best of both worlds, in respect of ease of use and lack of batery charging. I know that it will be noisy, but I have large areas close where nobody is bothered by the noise. I have seen the same thing with the 3.3, just not much torque. Personally nitro is boring for me, slow acceleration and just a sticky mess.

air compressor, simple green and alchohol make short work of cleaning. With a good charger and some A123s you could do back to back electric running I suppose.

This is true, but a thousand dollar gas vehicle like the baja is easy to buy (cheaper than a full blown electric) and just more fun in a large area. Not sure if you have seen one in person, but they are quite impressive.

I haven't seen one in action but I want too. I want to know if they are faster then a decent nitro savage. They definitely don't look quicker then a savage in videos but that is always deceiving with different scales. They also look like they land a bit hard to me. I saw some pics of some bajas getting huge air at one of the monster jams somewhere.

I was watching a baja 5b RTR run in the sand dunes near me, and it was just killing it out there. Butter smooth suspension and plenty of top speed for normal bashing. This was about a year ago if not more. Since then I have been dreaming about getting one.... And no tuning required, and all you need to dirtbike gas (car gas with some oil) and you're good to go.

only thing with the a123 and good charger is that if you go out to the desert you need a generator or something to power the charger.

with a nitro truck you just need gas.

Why not just use your car battery? Unless you rode out to the desert on your horse. LOL.

yea, nitro is fun, i still like running my nitro rustler and t-maxx occasionally. i decided that after the 3gal or so of fuel that i have runs out, i wont buy more, and sell the nitros. got rid of by rc10gt yesterday.

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I wonder how long it will run until he just goes with what comes natural to him and converts it to full blown brushless?:lol::lol::lol::rofl::yipi::party:

well you can but then if your pulling 8-10 amps for an hour on your car battery it could die easily on you.

or at least mine..

I think that point will be reached when the nitro engine dies. We all know it will :diablo:

It sounds like you might have some experience on that one. :whistle:

You could always leave it running, but that would be a waste of gas. But it might be more efficient than a generator.

Is it ok to have a chrger on a car battery while its on? I could see some problems with fluctuating voltage etc.

Car??
 

As long as you are not driving a piece of crap it will be fine. If the cars electrical system is operating normally then yyou should not have any issues. Just don't leave the car running with the keys in it without someone watching it. Otherwise you might come back and it will be by by:diablo:. There are a lot of mean people and wierdos in the world.:lol: If you plan to make a habit of using your car as a power source for your RC charging you might want to take a fully charged spare car battery with just in case it does get drained. A little preplanning would be a good thing.:intello:

no, you can't power a charger with the car running, in many cases it'll blow the fuse, and if you start your car and let it run 10-15 mins it'll be recharged, I can't even imagine killing a car battery with an r/c charger, but just let it run every couple hours and you'll be fine

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I charge my 6 and 7 cell nmh packs with a dual peak charger on my Dodge Grand Caravan LE while it is running and have never had an issue.:lol:

Aside from the safety aspects of charging inside the car while driving, these are the points to consider:

A typical car battery is between 40 and 60Ah. Pulling 10A for an hour will deplete it somewhat, but shouldn't keep you from starting your car unless the battery is older and/or it's cold out.

A car battery is really designed for short high current bursts (like for starting where over 500A can be pulled). If you want to pull a steady relatively low current, a marine battery is best.

While the car is running, the alternator puts out a loosely regulated 14.4v. Of course, there is some fluctuation, but it should be really close to that. This higher voltage will cause the charger to require less current than it would if the car was not running (battery at ~13.8v).

The only way you would blow a fuse is if the circuit was not designed for the current you are pulling, or the alternator voltage is higher or lower than it should be. Noise should be fairly low since the battery acts like a form of ripple filter. If you are really worried about it, a 20v 10,000uF capacitor on the charger input would suffice. Gotta remember that there are all kinds of electronic devices on board (radio, car computer, etc) that need a clean power source, so it can't be that bad, except maybe on older cars.

If you want to protect the car's battery, I'd pick up a yellow or blue top Optima battery to power the charger. They are safer and lighter (no lead and acid), but are expensive. Just charge it at home in lead-acid mode at the end of the day.

Info.
 

Great Info BrianG. Thank you for clearing that up for all of us:lol: I sure hope that no one is charging while they are driving:gasp:. That could end badly:neutral:. Those Optima batteries are a work of art in technology, and from everything I have seen and heard are a great upgrade for any system.