Anyone know about anything RC cars?

Pablo

I'm was breaking out my old RC cars to start playing again (my daughter wants one), but I can't seem to get any of them running. I have 3 cars (yokomo sadan, traxxas truck & a buggy), 1/10 scale, and they all have an ESC. I have 2 remotes with 3 recievers. I got the truck running for a minute, but nothing after that when I tried to use that reciever for the sadan. I'm guessing that the reciever is not picking up a signal. I get no response on throttle or steering (I can get the tires spinning if I short out the ESC manually, and the servo starts to move if I giggle things a bit). I swtich around crystals & recievers, but I couldn't get anything going for any car with any combination of things.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can test the remotes or the ESCs? (just trying here first before I sign up for an R/C board).
Thanks.
Paul.

nadams

Are we talking gas or electric?

Pablo

They are all electric (someone stole my gas car a month after I got it).

nadams

It could be that your crystals have gone bad. Pick up a crystal set to test that idea out... they're not that expensive, and you can always use them later on. Also, are the batteries charged in both the transmitter and receiver?

Traxxas has a fairly active message board, but only for traxxas vehicles. Your post will be deleted if it's about a competitors product!

Pablo

Thanks for the sugestions.

I was thinking about the crystal change. I'll try that if I can find them (there really are no hobby stores around me). I have been swapping the crystals between the 2 recievers to no avail. I have a air controler as well, so I might try taking the ones from that and giving it a try (I know you're not allowed to use them). I have regular batteries in the controler, and the reciever gets it's power from the ESC. I might try a seperate batter pack for the reciever to see if that could be a problem.

I was worried about other boards having an attitude (most rc guys I meet seem to have one). This is the friendliest place I've ever been, so I figured I would try here before experimenting with other boards.

Anything else you can think of, please let me know.

PolkThug

I used to race competitively. Kyosho Ultima. I think that hobby was more expensive than home theater.

Pablo

It does get ridiculously expensive after awhile. That's why I want to fix what I have. I did a few off road races, but I sucked, so I stuck with the "just for fun aspect". To keep up competitively, you need to constantly buy crap. Between batteries, motors, and stuff constantly breaking, it's a never ending purchase cycle.

But my friend and I used to have a blast racing in a parking lot at night. A cop once came buy and I thought he was going to give me sh#t for drinking. When he called us over and wanted to know how much and where we got them (and to not tell his captain he was hanging out watching ever other night).

I just played around a little more, and I seem to have the steering working, but through the throttle channel. When I switch it, I get nothing. I'm going to try swapping ESCs and see what happens.

sucks2beme

Many ESC's require a setup. Also,if the pot was flakey, the esc would never turn on. Also, check for a hung brush on the motor. Try hooking the motor straight to the battery if you connectors allow it. I used to make the ESC in and out connectors the right gender to allow for that for testing moters without the receiver turned on. You got a voltmeter?

deepinya

lol I have an old graphite rc-10 laying around. That thing was tricked to hell cause I used to race it all the time.

Then came my other hobby....paintball. Now THAT is an expensive sport.

nadams

you have a graphite rc-10 "laying around"???? Sell that thing and buy more audio gear!

ledhed

Yea, I would swap crystals and also make sure the reciever and transmitter have the same band (im sure you already checked that). If you ever think about selling one, let me know. I used to have an RC10GT but I soon realized what a hassle gas was and sold it for 150 after putting about 700 into to it :eek:

PolkThug

deepinya wrote:

lol I have an old graphite rc-10 laying around. That thing was tricked to hell cause I used to race it all the time.

Then came my other hobby....paintball. Now THAT is an expensive sport.

Sweet, that was the epic R/C battle in the late 80's! The USA RC-10 vs **** Kyosho Ultima.:cool:

deepinya

nadams wrote:

you have a graphite rc-10 "laying around"???? Sell that thing and buy more audio gear!

lol I have no idea if its worth anything! Plus it always brings back fond memories.

Polkthug- Dont forget that Team Losi jrx10 something or another. That and the rc-10 were winning everything.

masanz1

could be any number of things...does your esc have setup lights, do they turn on when you hit the throttle, if so I would think it's more of a motor issue. Older esc's with the pots do go bad. Undo your motor leads and put a meter on them. If the voltage goes up when you pull the throttle that will answer your question

Pablo

The motor(s) do run. They turn when I turn it on, and I can get it to spin if I short out the leads on the ESC. I did get the wheels turning, but I can't get the throttle going. I actually have the steering going on the throttle stick. When I switch the leads into the reciever, nothing happens. The light goes on the ESC, but nothing changes when I move the stick. Is it possible that 1 channel can go bad in a crystal?

If anyone has old crap they want to get rid of let me know. I can always use more spare crap in my "geek box".

masanz1

what esc do you have? is it programmable?

sucks2beme

Try swapping channels between the steering and throttle. see if the problem moves with it. The crystal normally works or doesn't work.
I never only lost one channel. Make sure the polarity of the leads look ok.
Some servo and speed controls don't pin out the same. If you mix and match stuff because you have less radio gear than cars, and haven't used it in a while, it's easy to forget what goes where. Go online and check for manuals.
If the motor spins when powered, and the steering works, you know the receiver is getting juice. Just for fun, try reversing the throttle channel if it has switches, or push the throttle instead of pulling it.
If it worked when put away, it will be something simple.

MattN03

PolkThug wrote:

I used to race competitively. Kyosho Ultima. I think that hobby was more expensive than home theater.

Yeah, I had a Traxxas T-Maxx and that thing dollared me to death. After less than a year, I Ebayed it and never looked back!

nadams

I had a T-Maxx (original) and an older Ofna 1/8th scale buggy, both nitro. The T-maxx was fun as a basher, then I got into racing and sold the maxx after rebuilding over one winter to fund upgrades to my buggy. After the local tracks around me shut down (bad management), I sold the buggy for a chunk of change and moved on for awhile. Some day I might like to get another T-maxx or maybe an e-maxx. Something I can bash around without too much thought....

masanz1

I raced the older golden pan RC10. Loved it. I have a Losi Streetweapon and 2 Traxxas Rustlers and just sold an e-maxx. Had a gas Rustler but just not into nitro rc's so sold it. As far as Pablo's problem, another thing to check is the trim on your transmitter. If the esc is programmable the light should change colors or turn off if you hit throttle, same with pot style if I remember right. If the light stays on it might be a setting

audiobliss

I have a T-Maxx, too. Sure is a lot of fun...when it's running. Over the last year and a half or so, I've had it out of the shed once...maybe twice. I'm sure it's really not that hard to take care of such a simple, small two-stroke engine, but the hassle of making it work everytime I get it out with my lack of experience and time, for only 20 minutes' worth of fun, just isn't worth it to me.

pablo - Hope you get your problem solved!

scottyf

I had a Rustler...I wish I had stopped there. Now I have a $2500 aluminum brushless Emaxx that just slurps cash. Oh, the good ol' days!