Plettenberg Brushless Motors

Hi Guys,

I've seen some vids of some MT's with a Plettenberg Maxximum/Big maxximum in it. All I can say: WOW!!! These motors are crazy! The torque is just INCREDIBLE!

Anyway, I've got a few questions about these motors:
- Where to buy these things?
- How do they compare to NEU motors?
- On the site from Plettenberg it says that these motors are up to 70.000 RPM, did somebody ever tried to get near 70.000 RPM?
- I also would like some opinions from guys who had this motor. Was it a good motor? Did it get hot?

Thanks,

Patrick

P.S. And one general question: How thick are the shafts from normal 540 motors? (Haven't got one here to look it up, only 1:18 brushless motors and 1:8 motors are laying here around)

[Metallover]

Plettenberg is one of Neu's European Compeditors. Lhner is also one but Neu has easily beat them. I don't know much about Plett but I do know they are as good if not better then Neu.

[jsr]

Regarding shaft diameters, most 540-sized and 550-sized canister motors have either 1/8" shafts (for the smaller sized can length motors, such as 50mm) or 5mm shafts (for the larger sized can length motors, 50mm to 80mm, and beyond). Larger motors have 6mm shafts.

[kostaktinos_mt]

Originally Posted by Metallover

Plettenberg is one of Neu's European Compeditors. Lhner is also one but Neu has easily beat them. I don't know much about Plett but I do know they are as good if not better then Neu.

both lehner and neu have their flaws, but i wouldn`t agree that neu is neccessarily any better than lehner.

[kostaktinos_mt]

Originally Posted by Byte

- Where to buy these things?

if you live in usa/canada, then www.icare-rc.com.
if you live in europe, www.a-pasch.de drop him an email; he is very helpfull and has them cheaper than icare-rc [no customs to worry about either].

Originally Posted by Byte

- How do they compare to NEU motors?

imo, plettenberg quality remains unrivalled. neu however has better service/support and more reasonable prices for out-of-warranty repairs or replacements.
many may disagree, but as far as i know, most of today`s high end motors [neu,medusa,losi,cc,tekin, even the original aveox up to a point] are 'copies' [design-wise] of the original plettenberg design [dating back in `97 with the hp220 series].

Originally Posted by Byte

- On the site from Plettenberg it says that these motors are up to 70.000 RPM, did somebody ever tried to get near 70.000 RPM?

i had a maxximum on 5s, which is ~58000rpm. no problems whatsoever. pretty unusable amounts of torque and overall power however. not recommended. 35000rpm is just fine for either bashing or racing [with any motor; not just plettenberg].
i also had a shadow [brand is plettenberg again, with same construction technique as the maxx series] on 3s, which translates to ~68000rpm, in a tc3. motor took the load and the rpms without issues, but two of the tires literally exploded within 50meters. not recommended either.

Originally Posted by Byte

- I also would like some opinions from guys who had this motor. Was it a good motor? Did it get hot?

any motor will get hot if not used or setup properly. with the proper setup, both the maxx and the bigmaxx stay warm [close to ambient temps]. even the maxx w/out fan stayed under 140F in a 4s 1/8 buggy conversion.
right now, i have 5 plettys and had another 3 in the past years. no problems at all. in fact, my maxx & bigmaxx [bought on 2004] still work like their first day [although it`s true that i baby them -they haven`t been through 'hell']...

[mkrusedc]

Before I bought my Neu for my E-Maxx I searched this forum and this is some of what I came up with:

Neus have 4 poles which creates greater torque but limit the rpms. Cooling fins are integrated into the motor case. A MGM or Quark controller work well with Neu motors. They are American made so service should be easy to get. The down side of these motors is they are large and may require modifications to the mounting holes on the motor plate to accommodate some gearing ratios. These motors come from an airplane background and have vent holes in the end bell. A cap is needed to prevent dust from entering. Castle Neus ahve been adapted for land use.

Lehners are 2 pole motors which give less torque than the Neus but higher rpms. They are German made and hard to buy in the US. A problem for these motors is that the mounting holes are shallow and care must be given to how deep the mounting screw is placed.

The Plettenberg Big maximum motor is a 4 pole motor runs 2300kV per RPM. At 18 volts, power is 1271W, current draw 70.3A, rpm 37688, torque 28.9N-cm and efficiency is 89.8%.

I would have bought a Pletty but I did not want to wait. Mike had a Neu in stock and I felt better with a "local" warranty.

[jzemaxx]

I have had a ton of NEU's. I have a buddy of mine running Pletts. Both are about the same and I probably would give the nod to the NEU, as mine under the same conditions as his in race conditions and voltage and gearing the NEU runs a little cooler but could be a difference in poles...maybe??. Torque....well they both will shred the drivetrains, so that is a wash. Price....well both are pricey with the nod going to NEU for a little "cheaper". The one difference is I have been running a 1521 1.5D (1900KV) motor for almost 1.5 year now on 12S doing speed runs. That is right at 100,000rpms on this big motor and not one problem.....took it out of the truck and now run it on a HEAVY Nemesis conversion on the race track.....its bulletproof and I have yet to hear of a Plett doing those rpms with a big motor and consistently....not one balls to the wall run. It doesn't get hot and pushed my big XTM MMT to 80.4mph on 12S.....which no MT has matched period.....I'll stick with Neu for now until one fails me.

[plettenbergs]

i love the Plette's...you can get them here...http://www.icare-rc.com/plettenberg_pricelist.htm#cars
here are some pics!!...Major power and the best on the market!!...You get what you pay for!!


My custom Direct-Drive E-maxximum chassis!!
Dual Big MAXXimums on 24cell NimH...
Single BigMAXXimum on 5s2p...

[mkrusedc]

Love those VBS bulks. Just plain sexy!!

Nice trucks.

[sikeston34m]

Where can I get a replacement rotor for a Maxx with fan?

Do you think Icare has them?

Ok, thank you guys! :)

@Plettenbergs, did you ever pull the throttle to 100% when the car was standing with the dual Big Maxximums?
You've got some BEAUTIFUL cars btw!

But the Plettenbergs on a-pasch are WAY cheaper than on icare-rc. I'm lucky that I live in the Netherlands

[plettenbergs]

Dual PLETT's all out from a dead stop is not advised...this will happen to you!!


The front and rear drive cups sheared right off!!But my UE spider8's,all titanium UE drive line and my ULTRAMAXXED metal trani gears were fine,thank GOD!...Driving Duals is like having your finger on a large machine gun trigger(GAU8)...Very exciting!!... Press the trigger(big smile) and hold on!!

[phibes]

Originally Posted by Metallover

Lhner is also one but Neu has easily beat them.

please elaborate? beaten in what criteria?

[suicideneil]

From an American standpoint, Neu provides quicker and cheaper servicing, and prices are better I believe for comparable motors. Plus Neus are 4 pole vs 2 pole for the Lehners, so they are more powerful for the same given size (in principle, I may be lying).

If you live in Europe, then Hackers, Lehners and Pletts would be great, but Neus and Medusas are great if you live over the pond; whatever floats yer boat really...

[T-Bro]

Never had a Neu but I do have the Big Maxximum. Never gave me a problem for the last 3 years! I love it. It does get a little hot when overgeared in my heavy E-maxx but no major problems.
I am about to have a pullout with a Nitro Savage with a .32 Motor (3.6 HP) soon. I will be posting a video of it online. We'll see just how strong this motor is really soon...
My question is what HP is the Big Maxximum? I heard 3.5 Is that correct?