Increasing the value of the motor from Castle?

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by drkdgglr

So what are the alternatives Castle is looking at? Superconductive brushless motors?

Nitro

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

...great tech info...

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Now, what can the RC enthusiast do to help keep prices low on high performance products (like Castle motors?)

Contact your congressmen, and let them know it's in our country's interest for them to support: H.R. 4866, the Rare Earths Supply-Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2010 (house) and S. 3521, Rare Earths Supply Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2010 (Senate)

IDK what the detail of the bill is, but can this actually do anything? From what I know, China has nearly all the available rare earth metals and is not shy about using that to its advantage, as well as having its own terrible inflation problem (from years of artificially keeping their currency low.)

Perhaps now are we just seeing a more "real" price for these items than we are used to (discounting the market manipulation)?


Glad I stocked up during last year's sale

[ZippyBasher]

*cou MEDUSA gh* what ever happened to Neu and them buying out Medusa for the "Cheaper end of the B-less Motors".

I had a 1520 and 1717 and I much prefer my 36x70mm Medusa motor in my heaviest of rigs. (13lb Maxx). It actually runs cooler and very lightweight. I would like to see a similar from Castle or the like. A cheaper alternative.... Proof is in the pudding...

[TexasSP]

To my knowledge neu only agreed to service the medusa motors for medusa, not actually ever manufacture them. Honestly the medusas were not much cheaper than the castle motors were and would probably be much higher priced now as well. Medusa obviously could not make enough profit on them to justify making them which is one of the reasons they got out of the RC market. Those two things coupled together lead me to believe that the bigger medusa motors would be selling for over 200 now as well.

People seem to forget this problem will affect all brushless motors in the end. This isn't just a Castle thing, they have just been the most up front and honest about it.

[Pdelcast]

Originally Posted by Finnster

IDK what the detail of the bill is, but can this actually do anything? From what I know, China has nearly all the available rare earth metals and is not shy about using that to its advantage, as well as having its own terrible inflation problem (from years of artificially keeping their currency low.)

Perhaps now are we just seeing a more "real" price for these items than we are used to (discounting the market manipulation)?


Glad I stocked up during last year's sale

China has about 30% of the world rare earth supply. The USA has about 18%, but doesn't produce (because all the producers shutdown due to extremely low prices from China 3-4 years ago...)

The metal used in the magnets (neodymium) isn't very rare -- it's more abundant than lead, and about as abundant as copper. It's just that all the producers around the world stopped production because they couldn't make any profit with China selling the metals so cheaply.

They are all scrambling to reopen mining on rare earths now that the prices have risen so high, but it takes a significant amount of time (1-2 years or longer) to reopen the old mines and production facilities.

I don`t know if it`s been said,but the reason china is doing this because of political disputes with Japan and world trade organization.

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

China has about 30% of the world rare earth supply. The USA has about 18%, but doesn't produce (because all the producers shutdown due to extremely low prices from China 3-4 years ago...)

The metal used in the magnets (neodymium) isn't very rare -- it's more abundant than lead, and about as abundant as copper. It's just that all the producers around the world stopped production because they couldn't make any profit with China selling the metals so cheaply.

They are all scrambling to reopen mining on rare earths now that the prices have risen so high, but it takes a significant amount of time (1-2 years or longer) to reopen the old mines and production facilities.

Thanks Pat, I stand corrected. Bad for Rc, maybe good for US miners. Hopefully we'll at least get some jobs out of this.

FWIW, I found the Neu and cc motors to be better than my medusas. They werent bad, just not as good.

[Pdelcast]

Originally Posted by Finnster

Hopefully we'll at least get some jobs out of this.

Very true! I know Molycorp is reopening at least one mine in California, and there are other companies looking to open mines in the Dakotas...

[bdebde]

If you guys look around, you may find someone with old prices still. I just picked up a repair kit for the 2650 for $19.95.... the same place had the 2200 repair kit for $55.

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

Very true! I know Molycorp is reopening at least one mine in California, and there are other companies looking to open mines in the Dakotas...

Wouldn't you know that BBC News had just this story on tonite. Molycorp is Denver based too

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14114107

Interesting.. I'll have to keep track of this..

I have been doing some research on rare earths. I have no idea why they are called that as they seem to be pretty abundant. Lots of countries have very good deposits. Can someone give me an explanation on this?

Anyway about quality of Castle motors.....very hard if not impossible to beat for the price. Sure I have cheaper motors like Leopard, Hobbywing and Tenshock. Actually the Tenshock is the closest in performance to Castle. Still not quite there but close. Now that is only performance. Durability is a whole other thing. For now the motor is going good but how long that will be is anybody's guess. It runs a little warmer than my 1515 1Y geared the same but not a drastic difference. Another thing that has to be mentioned is that my Castle motor in question (1515 1Y) has been to hell and back many times over the last two years I have owned it. It's been through mud, water, sand and stupid temperatures we see here in Australia. I don't think it has lost even 5% of it's performance since new. I have even removed close to a teaspoon of sand from it one day after a fun day at the beach. The wrapping on the rotor is scratched to the point of where I doubt it is doing much at all. Still, the motor runs like a champ.

What would I do if my Castle motor gives up? I will buy another one in a heartbeat. I have a rebuild kit but I don't want to use it. I want to see how long it will last as it is.

The reason I buy other brands is because I like to see and feel/try for my self. Every time something new hits the market I like to have a go (providing it isn't way out of my price range). One thing I have to say is that one old saying stands true: "You get what you pay for". Now that don't mean that the cheaper motors are junk. In fact a few of them are pretty decent but on par for what you pay. My Tenshock is pretty decent for the money but can't hold a candle to my Castle motors nor should it considering the price difference. Also given the fact I can buy rebuild kits for my Castle motors (still waiting on the kits for the 1518, 1520 and 1717 Patrick) it just makes sense to go with Castle.

For those that think that cheaper motors like Leopard and Hobbywing are the same quality or better than Castle I say open them up and have a look inside. It is pretty obvious to a blind person that Castle puts in a lot more effort.

Sorry for the rant people. It is freakin cold out side and I am bored to tears. LOL.

[lutach]

Just wait until the world's market and economies collapses and people realize their paper money isn't worth crap, then we can all hope that prices for any type of industrial material stays low. But as long as we have money hungry rich folks, I can guarantee you all that prices for everything will only go up.

Patrick, have you found a way to make a small A/C induction (Asynchronous) motor for us RCers? I only ask this because a while back I bought a small high speed motor that worked very well with a ESC I had.

[ta_man]

Originally Posted by BIG-block

I have been doing some research on rare earths. I have no idea why they are called that as they seem to be pretty abundant. Lots of countries have very good deposits. Can someone give me an explanation on this?

Wikipedia is your friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earths