Stock Revo's EVX-2 on fire

Originally Posted by sikeston34m

The only time I really played with the stock Titans and the EVX was on the very first E maxx that I got. That was a long time ago. These days, the Titans and the EVX come out and usually are quickly sold. Brushless goes in, right from the start.

A Friend of mine purchased the new E maxx back in the summer of this year. He has had alot of trouble with it and has been able to only run it a few times.

He has melted 6 or 8 sets of batteries into smoking piles of goo. After taking it back to the Local Hobby Shop twice, and the motors/ESC being sent back to Traxxas for "testing", he was told it was the batteries he had been using.

He asked if he purchased a set of this guys best Nimh packs, if he would warranty them against melting like all the others. The answer was No.

Meanwhile, it was rumored that Traxxas would not honor warranty issues if Lipo batteries were used with their setup. 4S Lipo is 16.8 volts. I seem to recall seeing that listed as the maximum voltage on the EVX.

He has asked me several times what is going on here.

The original E maxx setup was relatively slow, but reliable. If I remember right, the original setup was:

Motor pinion/ spur gear: 18/66
1st gear ratio: 13/36
diff ratio: 13/37

In the Quest for higher top speed and more advertising bragging rights, the new E maxx/ E Revo setup is this:

Motor pinion/ spur gear: 19/68
Single Speed Ratio: 18/33
Diff ratio: 13/37

Huge Difference in gearing.

My friend demonstrated his truck to me. After about 15 minutes of running, his ESC and Motors were getting HOT. 160 degrees or so, but by this time, the twin 7 cell Nimh packs were melting the shrink off and were sizzling. Several cells were so hot, they were oozing and leaking.

IMO, the Titans/ESC are being pushed to their limit. They are being asked to deliver watts they are not capable of. Starting torque required to pull this type of gearing must be around their "stall torque" with this type of gearing.

I've checked my friend's setup for binding and all of that. I don't see anything wrong.

IMO, a much smaller motor pinion would have to be used to get the kind of reliability the original setup had. Something in the 14-16 tooth range.

What do you guys make of all of this? Experiences?

I don't see the connection between what happend to my esc and all this because:
1. I am using a 17t pinion, and not the 19t (i geared down, so the titans will not get hot).
2. As I said - my esc and my motors were not hot when the car stopped running (just warm)....

[sikeston34m]

Originally Posted by Billyboy

I don't see the connection between what happend to my esc and all this because:
1. I am using a 17t pinion, and not the 19t (i geared down, so the titans will not get hot).
2. As I said - my esc and my motors were not hot when the car stopped running (just warm)....

Sorry, I wasn't trying to hijack your thread. I thought you might find some useful information in what I had to say.

Did the wire between your LVC and the Receiver melt too?

It's pretty obvious something "went south". It appears the internal BEC circuit of the EVX2 encountered a dead short.

Originally Posted by sikeston34m

Sorry, I wasn't trying to hijack your thread. I thought you might find some useful information in what I had to say.

Did the wire between your LVC and the Receiver melt too?

It's pretty obvious something "went south". It appears the internal BEC circuit of the EVX2 encountered a dead short.

Ah, its OK

The wire between the LVC and the receiver hasn't melted. I think there was a problem with the esc (it stopped), and afterwards I might have connected the LVC to the non-BEC side of the esc, and thats what melted down the wire between the esc and the LVC (as seen on the picture).
Any ways - the esc is on its way to Traxxas now. I will update if there's new / special with their analysis...