Savage Flux XS Castle Electronics Question
 

I have seen the Savage XS is heavily promoted as having Castle Creations electrics, most notably a 4 pole motor and an ESC which appears to be a Sidewinder SV2 with a fan on it.

What I am curious about is the specs of this gear, given a lot of people report the motor in particular runs quite hot. Branded as a 1410 4000kv motor, how does this compare to the Castle Short Course 3800kv motor? What temps are safe for this 4 pole motor given reports of 170-180f are common (I thought we left the hot temp on motor days with the 4 pole series)

What are the specs on this ESC? We wouldn't recommend a Sidewinder to someone doing a custom prodject with 100+ amp draw on start up. Yet my Eagletree shows the Flux XS is more Amp Hungry than the Flux HP! 110 Amps on start for the HP, 145 Amps on the Flux XS, all through a Sidewinder? That was on 2s, on 3s it'd be huge? Can the ESC safely take this?

Will we see a significant reduction in temps if we remove the HPI Branded 4 pole and install a Castle SCT 3800 motor (given that Castle has said the Alphastar 2350 motor in the Flux 2350 is essentially a HP Motor with weaker magnets, is this HPI one the same deal, weaker magnets, lower efficiency, higher temps?

Would appreciate the input, I am tentatively starting to trust Castle electrics again, the MMM in my SC8e has been behaving of late, and I am hoping the XS electrics will behave as well.

You should also factor in that manufacturers usually over gear their stock stuff in order to get ridiculous speed claims, putting more stress on everything. Whenever I get a new RTR I plan on gearing down a tooth or two on the pinion.

I would but the stock gearing on the existing spur can only go up as it's a fixed position motor mount, they list a larger spur but noone has the part yet.

oh yeah, forgot about the fixed gear ratio thing on the XS :grrrrrr:

Does the ESC run a full version of the Sidewinder software ?

Can it be toned it down with punch control / torque limiting etc...

145 amps seems crazy if its only travelling 40 mph or so

Cheers

The ESC runs Sidewinder software so it can be toned down, keep in mind I got 145 amps after toning down timing and punch control.

What is concerning to me is the lack of response from Castle on this, is it top secret or something? Are the magnets in this HPI motor budget stuff (like the Flux Alphastar motor) and would we get better results substituting it for a Castle 1410 3800kv Shortcourse motor.

I haven't noticed much Castle posting on the forums lately, they might be pretty busy with other things, so one of the first things to go under the radar is posting on forums (I would think it would be low priority). I bet whenever Thomas or Patrick logs in they'll chime in on this thread.

from the reviews and motor temps i have seen so far, it looks like castle kind of cheaped out on this motor just like they did with the alphastar motor. the sct3800 motor will run cooler for sure. if you are only going to be running 2s, you will be fine with the stock motor. if you want/need to bump it up to 3s, i would swap to a 3800.

The motor is a slightly less expensive version of the 3800kV motor, with just a slightly less expensive stator and rotor. The main differences are the stator laminations (.35mm on the HPI, .2mm on the Castle) and N35UH magnets instead of N38UH magnets. Not a big difference like with the 1517B motor and the 1515.

Well I direct swapped out the Flux XS motor with a Castle SCT 3800 motor, and motor temps were 35-40f lower straight away. Makes me wonder what these N38UH magnets are, fridge spec? Will transplant the Flux XS motor into a Hyper 10SC behind a HPI Q-Base (MMP) Esc and see if the lighter truck and easire gearing helps it but didn't expect such a difference.

Hang on a minute champ! Castle made these motors for HPI based on what HPI wanted to pay. If anyone cheaped out that would be HPI. HPI could have easily paid a little more and fitted better motors to their trucks. Instead they wanted to make something for x amount less and that is the outcome.

I absolutley love Castle motors and they are kickass units but I don't really like to see what they are doing for HPI. Making lower spec motors for another company and then putting the Castle name on them will not help their reputation.

i am a huge fan of castle and the majority of my motors and escs are castle-branded. looking back on that post, i guess i was a little harsh. you are right about it being HPI and not so much castle.

I'm building a superlight 1/8 buggy. rtr weight 2800g powered with castle 1410 3800kv , 3s lipo and geared for 40mph top speed. I want a waterproof esc. Can the esc of savage flux xs handle this car?

Short answer is no, its just a rebadged Sidewinder with a fan

Cheers

I'd agree with that, which is why I am puzzled that they are advertising it as pulling 3s with the Flux xs motor which is less efficient (cheaper magnets and runs hotter) so if anything would be harder on the ESC, no wonder the failure rate is as high as it is.

I'd get a cheapy $40 Hobbyking 120A esc and coat the thing in liquid tape or silicone, if it blows, well it's $40, but the one in my Savage Flux is still kicking and I haven't really been nice to it!