Jato Roller came in planning on putting a remote start on it

[Metallover]

Seems like the easiest soluton would to get a whole ez start system. Take apart the handheld thing and put the chip somewhere inside the jato. The only hard part is making the switch activate through the receiver. Everything else is really easy just put a 2000mah 2s lipo on there and you're good to go.

[BrianG]

I agree, that would be the easiest. I remember taking mine apart back when I had nitro () and there is stuff in there that can be removed. It really is pretty simple; the only real circuit is the step-down for the glo-plug. The motor start is just a switch and LED indicator.

[pedeboi364]

there is some RAM Ignition thing on towerhobbies.com look it up.

[Metallover]

I found it. That and the ez start gears and motor and you're good to go.


It would be easier to use the traxxas ez start system though. Here's a link to the page with all the starting products.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...93p?&C=PDC&P=7

edit - If you could integrate the starter battery and the rx pack that would be one slick system.

[Metallover]

If you want an ez start wand - http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=475403

You could probably pick it up for 10 shipped.

[Gee]

Got the itch to get the Jato running so I went ahead with the stuff I had on hand to try out the remote start. Well by stuff on hand I mean the esc I had. I already picked up a smaller 2s lipo to use from another RCM member and also found that traxxas has a smaller ez-start setup that can be mounted on the RC instead of using the ez-start wand. It's about 1/3 of the size of the wands board that was used in the article I referenced. There a picture of it included. I am still going to pick up a smaller esc to use for this. I started out to use a Duratrax Sprint ESC but couldn't get it to arm with my DX3R so I ended up using a XL-5 esc. Needed to remove it from it case and the heat sinks to get it to fit into the center compartment. It really isn't the ideal setup with the on/off switch located on the esc itself. I have to leave the lid off the compartment to turn the Jato on/off. I'm searching for a small brushed esc that has a LVC included in it an a external on/off switch. I would splice it into the on/off switch already on the Jato. The smaller the foot print the better. I want to be able to get it and the ez-start board both stuffed into the center compartment if it is small enough. In the setup in the pictures I didn't cut the original connectors and shorten the wires to clean up the setup. I wanted to test it out first and if I don't use the XL-5 It might be easier to get a couple $$ for it with all the original connectors on it.

This turned out to be a lot easier then I thought it was going to be. I'll be picking up a smaller Lipo for this also. There are rx lipos out now that are 1/2 the wieght of a 5cell Nihm hump pack. With a lighter lipo and the wieght of the ez-start and esc. It might be the same wieght as a 5cell rx pack all together. Well close, I would have to weigh everything together to find out. The Lipo I got just barely fit into the trunk and added enought weight I had to adjust the rear suspension. I cut the lid for the trunk so the wires could come out but then realized I cut the lid in the wrong place so now I got a nice hole in the back part of the trunk to show the yellow lipo wrapping. LOL Here's a diagram I put together for the connections.



Quick run down of what I did.

Fit the lipo into the trunk. Cut the wire access (twice).

Removed the XL-5 from it case and it heat sinks. Sprayed it down with a couple of coats of Clearex. Then wrapped it in a plastic bag and put it into the center compartment. Connected it into the 3rd channel of my receiver.

Had an adapter to connect the dean plug from the lipo to a tamiya connectoro that is on the xl-5 battery connector.

I removed the ez-start from the plastic casing it was in. I need to spray it down aslo with Clearex still. I taped the engage button on it down so it was always on. The button will be removed and the contacts will be bridged when I redo the wiring or find a new esc to use.

I had an adapter that connected into the bullet connectors on the XL-5 for the motor to a tamiya connector. I plugged that into the battery connection on the ez-start board.

For this test all I did was remove the on-board ez-start wire harness from the roll bar and connect it to the ez-start boards wire harness connector. I zip tied the board to the roll bar. I will clean this up and shorted the wires from the ez-start board and make them direct connections to the ez-start motor, ground, and glow plug. Hopefully all coming from the center compartment.

Really that was all there was to it. Set my 3rd channel to 2p and now when I press my aux on my transmitter it engages the motor and to disengage it I press the aux again. I added a temporary bright red LED into the bullet connectors with a resistor at a place where I can see it through the body. At first it was difficult to hear the ez-start motor engaged while the engine was running. The LED would be on if it was engaged. It's easier to hear it engaged now. The lipo through the XL-5 powers the electronic for the Jato. No LVC setup at this point. I could use a CC BEC for it but I haven't been running it enought to worry about a LVC on it. I could fix it in a couple ways before spring with an esc with the lvc included, a BEC with a low battery indicator, or just the cheap old inline 2s LVC.

Here's some shots of the snakes nest I got going on which I thought I would make a few of you squirm in your seats by seeing it in this kind of disarray. LOL Not to mention any names but I know there are a few members that would go crazy until they had those wires snipped, zipped, braided, and tucked away nice and tidy like. If this was their project just picture them laying in bed, eyes wide open, with beads of sweat rolling off their foreheads, thinking about those wires. ROFL




















For those of you that have run nitros you know they always die when they are the farthest away from you. Well it still dies at that point, but I don't have to run after it anymore. Just hit the aux button feather the throttle and then hit the aux again to disengage it. It has been a real nice addition. Probably as close to getting a nitro to run like a brushless as you can. The tuned pipe on it give it more lower end and is really not that loud. I can't hear if it is running when it more then a block and a half away. No, I'm not that old. I have excellent selective hearing. It's tuned in for this cold weather and starts easy. Only time I get close enough to the smell is when I add fuel to it. For me it the best of both worlds my RCM brothers.

[Gee]

I still have some bling to add to the Jato. I have some aluminum GTR shock and the rear Traxxas red aluminum turnbuckles to still install. Just got the 17mm adapter in for it the other day to run 1/8 buggy tires that I have been accumulating. The body I just got off ebay. I kept getting outbid at the last second on plain old jato bodies in the upper $20 dollar range. Pissed me off the last time it happened. So I searched for the first BIN jato body and this was the one that came up. $35 wasn't a bad price to save the frustration and it's the nicest paint job I've ever had on any of the RC I've owned. No it hasn't seen any action yet. Couple of same angled shot with different lighting to show how it changes the outlook of it.
















That's black plum those rims are dyed in, not purple. lol

[Metallover]

Looks Great! Nice work gee.

[Arct1k]

super nice body...

just a thought - why the need for an esc - why not just use a micro sevro on the 3rd channel to press the switch on the ez start?

[Metallover]

Lets see a vid of this thing doing... whatever it does. All this is needed just to turn the kit on?

[Gee]

Thanks guys.......

Yes, all this was needed to remotely start the Jato. Not to just turn the kit on. What kit? This remotely starts the nitro engine on the Jato at a distance as far away as you transmitter will work with your receiver.

To me the use of a micro servo to contact the start button would have been more difficult then the use of an esc. The location of the micro servo and the ez-start would of been difficult to do. At least that the way I see it on this setup. The esc regulates the power to the receiver. This method seems like a lot but it wasn't that much. To simply state why not use a micro servo makes it seem like that would of been much simpler until you try to locate the servo, sercure it and the ez-start board down to where they make contact........

Why not simply use an esc to power the ez-start from the 3rd channel on your receiver.

[lincpimp]

I would use the smallest cc car esc as it is fully adjustable, will run a brushed motor, has a lvc and is small. You can use the internal esc to run the truck, although it may be a bit much for 2 servos. I would use a ubec, adds some size, but will help.

I would also use a stand alone glo plug ignitor, like the ram setups mentioned. I guess the esc output could be used to power the ignitor... That way you can scrap the entire ez start setup.

Or use the ez start and remove the push button switch and replace it with a rec activated switch, like the robot guys use. No lvc but you could wire a li saver between the switch and the rec. No sure which is easier but the second option would be cheaper. Some sort of external bec would be required for either setup.

While remote start is cool, brushless is cooler! I have been working on a radio actuated flip over device... That would be handy.

[lincpimp]

Here is the switch you need to replace the push button switch on the ezstart.

http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/0-PICOSW1.html

Just wire the 2s lipo to the ezstart. Replace the switch on the ezstart with the above linked item. Attach the motor and glow plug to the ezstart as usual. The switch wire goes into the 3rd channel.

I would also wire a ubec into the 2s lipo to provide power for the truck. A li-saver can also be wired into the setup, possibly after the ubec. That way it will interrupt power to the rec if the voltage gets too low. I would not do that however, as it may cause a runaway. I would wire it in between the rec and switch for the ezstart. That way you can not start the truck when the lipo is low, but the radio componets will still work. A small digital voltmeter would be good to keep an eye on the lipo voltage. A 2000 mah lipo will provide quite a long runtime for this, that is for sure! If you pay attention to the lipo voltage the li-saver may not be needed, and will simplify the wiring. Or you could buy a ubec with a lvc built in, such as some of the novak models.

[Gee]

Thanks for the input and ideas James That's the kind of stuff I was looking for when I started this thread. Some ideas on how to improve the current setup.

This project was a challange to me and my limited experience with the items I used and what available. Your ideas and explainations of those ideas are greatly appreciated.

The radio actuated flip over switch sounds to be a challange worthy for you. Looking forward to seeing it. If it could be added to a remote start system like this. I wouldn't have to get off my butt at all. Thanks for you help and support.

There's a real short video of the remote start located at this link.

http://www.rcbunker.com/Guyjor/public/1

[Gee]

Here's just a couple of shots of the Jato with the remote start wiring cleaned up. I was able to get the duratrax esc to arm with my Tx. It was smaller then the xl-5 I was using. I also swapped out the sr3100 receiver I was using for the sr3500 (I think that the model #) it's the small version. Got it all to fit into the receivers compartment and center compartment. Looks a lot better with the wires all tucked away. I left the connetion between the ez-start board and the onboard ez-start wire harness. That way I could use a ez-start wand if anything goes haywire with the remote start setup.

Before I cleaned up the wiring.


After the wiring and components were all tucked away.




Thanks for your guys help and support during this project