Budget ESC

[Njpartsguy]

Hi I'm updating my 80's vintage RC10 and I want to install a new ESC but I'm on a budget. Looking at a couple on eBay. One's a duratrax slash the other is a dynamite tazer. Does anybody have any input on these. I'm staying sorta old school and using brushed motors with nmih batteries
Thanks

[yellowdatsun]

Personally, I think Castle is the best esc with an affordable price. You can get a Castle Sidewinder esc and 4600kv motor for like $110 total, if you'd like to jump to brushless. As for a brushed esc, I have no idea. I'm old school as well, returning to the hobby after a 15 year hiatus, and even I went straight to the brushless and Lipo stuff. It's SOOO much better, and the reasons why are many.

[sbcnyc]

ive been using the older rtr associated xp sc200 for brushed motor builds, less than 20 bux and has a lipo cut off, even comes with a deans style battery lead, plug and play, works great in my stadium blitzer and wheely king... brushless is really the way to go now, no more comm sticks and brush filing!... nothing as cheap like the xp speedo that i have used, other than a hpi branded ezrun 60 amp, i think the ezrun's can be found under 100 bux and work pretty well, get the lcd programmer, lets you tweak a ton of useful stuff, been using the hpi esc for 3 years trouble free

my advice, troll ebay for rtr pulls, im sure you can find what your looking for super cheap... a "crappy" chinese rtr brushless setup is light years ahead of anything top dollar back in the day... and you can have reverse too!

[Coelacanth]

I like the Leopard Toro and EZRun sensorless combos for a runner or basher. The 35A EZRun with anywhere from a 17.5T to 13T motor would be great. The 60A Leopard Toro/13T motor combo should pack a punch, the RC10 should probably be able to handle it just fine. Under $70 USD with free shipping and you're motoring. I have this combo with the 12T in my OptiMutt car and it's super smooth and very adjustable with the program card.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SkyRC-Leopard-60A-ESC-13T-3000KV-Brushless-Motor-Toro-Program-Card-Combo-1-10-RC-/181745893673?hash=item2a50e64129:g:XwIAAOSwBLlVVWn8

[Njpartsguy]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah a lot has changed since I last ran this car. I was also looking at a reedy sc550 and noticed how much it looks like a hobbywing quicrun esc

[terry.sc]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah a lot has changed since I last ran this car. I was also looking at a reedy sc550 and noticed how much it looks like a hobbywing quicrun esc

Hobbywing are major ESC manufacturers, not only do they have a great reputation for quality products they also make OEM versions which are rebranded. The Reedy sc550, and also the HPI Sc-3swp2 , is indeed a rebadged Hobbywing Quicrun 1060. A very reliable brushed ESC.

[yellowdatsun]

Wait before you make any purchases though, amd thinjk about the whole brushless and Lipo stuff. If you're looking to stay in it for a while, I'd definitely go with a brushless setup. Unlike the old days, now a lot of motors and esc's come packaged together. Yakes all the headache out of build.

[DMAT]

I have that toro leopard system in a different KV. outside of the motor being a 380 size instead of 540, its been pretty good. The heatsink is huge so it looks like a 540 in size b/c of it. easily enough power though.

[slotcarrod]

This one is excellent value: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__77149__HobbyKing_174_8482_X_Car_Beast_series_Motor_and_120A_PRO_ESC_Combo_1_10_Scale.html

If I was looking for myself, I would buy this as a combo!

[Coelacanth]

A 7.5T motor in a vintage RC10? Yikes...

[slotcarrod]

A 7.5T motor in a vintage RC10? Yikes...

Sure, plus that's what your finger is for Marc! You don't take out your Dodge Charger at full throttle all the time right?

[Coelacanth]

Well, if I dropped in a Keith Black Hemi with over 1000 horses, as it sits right now, I'd probably blow up my tranny & rear end... I see your point, but I still think a 7.5T motor in a vintage RC car is just asking to wreck it.

[harvey]

I'd second the notion of considering a brushless system. Mostly I like not having to worry about overheating my brushed motors after 5 minutes. I run these on some of my Rc10's:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__22602__HobbyKing_X_Car_45A_Brushless_Car_ESC_sensored_sensorless_.html
With a 17.5 motor and a 4000mah LiPo i can get 38 minutes of run time, still stone cold at the end. That's like 6 runs with a brushed motor! Runs fine with NiMH too.
Because it has throttle limit, you can reduce the power of a faster motor if it's too much. Also, I've recently been playing with the initial acceleration adjustment, as I've been running without a slipper (more like a 6 gear) and it makes it way more managable, with less wheel spin and drive line wear.
Just make sure to look at the BEC voltage on different systems; your servos run slower on a 5V BEC, and modern digital servos draw more amps than the oldtimey analogs.

[yellowdatsun]

Buy this:
http://www.castlecreations.com/products/sidewinder3.html

I *guarantee* you won't be sad. It's an awesome setup with the 4600kv motor. So awesome that I have it in my vintage RC10, and my current RC10-B4. Both cars are *very* fast. I also have a similar setup from Castle for my Traxxas Slash called the SCT (short course truck), which I've also been happy with. You can dial back the speed, if you'd like to take some time to learn for a bit, then crank it back up. It has more power than you need, as mine still wheelies on a regular basis. You can run them as-is, of get the programming link kit called "Castle Link" (which I highly recommend), and it's extremely easy to change the parameters of how the esc/motor work together. You can change brake on/off, change drag brake amount, change the punch off the line, god I can't even remotely think of how many tuning options there are, but it's VERY easy to use. Feels kinda odd for us old-timers to plug our RC cars into our PC though. Never in a million years would I have assumed I'd be doing that back when I was a kid. It's probably one of the easiest combos for a newcomer, and also has tons of power if you wanted to race. People ask me what I have in the cars on a regular basis, and are always surprised when I tell them I'm running a sensorless Castle setup.

Also, for what it's worth, the sensored setups really only help you just off idle, in my experience. Having run these setups, I doubt I'll ever run a sensored setup. My buddy has had a few sensored trucks, I've driven them, and just don't see what the hype is. It's also one more point for breakage or loss.






Also, go Lipo. Just do it and be done. The amount of Nimh batteries is really getting limited anyways. With Lipo, there's no need to drain the batteries after a run with that dang stack of lightbulbs, Lipo's are lighter, can hold *WAY* more run time, are easy to charge since you can charge them back up if they're only half dead without any worries. Just don't buy Turnigy batteries, they're garbage. I've jhad excellent luck with Peak, GeForce, and Lectron Pro, they've all been very good to me. I prefer the Peak Shorty packs for my vintage RC10, mounted front-to-back and forward with a foam spacer behind them.





Also, while we're at it, get this charger, it's a good one to start out with for not a lot of money:

[slotcarrod]

That Castle is a great entry level combo, but for the fact that it is non sensored. A non sensored system will not give you a smooth response at low rpm. This is very important in gaining traction, especially in a 2wd car.

If you are on a budget, any of the Hobbywing or Hobbyking sensored systems are very good. Some say, they are built in the same factory as the very expensive Orion and Reedy esc's!

Sensored is the only way to go!