Brushless mini?

I'm a big fan of the RC18 series. The Mini-T is like the T-Maxx of micros. It was a big hit when it first debuted but as time passed everybody else came out with something that was better. Now you look back and see how flawed it is. The RC18 gives you more options as far as what style of vehicle you want. You can have a Monster truck, a stadium truck, a buggy or even a rally car.

There a quite a few brushless motors and speed controls out there now. I can't speak much about them. I figure your lookind at around $50+ for either the motor or the speed control, so figure a good $100 at least.

Just get yourself a good NiMh sport pack. It'll probably run you around $35. (If you buy loose cells you can do it for much less, around $20)

Control is all in the driver. If you run your truck full throttle all the time chances are that you are going to lose control more often.

Brushless motors require very little maintance from what I know. No brushes or springs or armatures to fiddle with.

Steering servo is going to depend on the vehicle you buy. I like the hitec HS-65HB for my RC18's. you have to mod the casing a little bit to get it to fit but it's worth it. Quick and plenty strong.

I really havn't speed tested my RC18 but I would guess that it hit the low to mid 20's with the non-brushless motor and GP1100 cells. Depending on which motor I run.

I second any of the RC18 series. I have a mini-t as well and it is a POS.

You can pick up a Mamba 6800 brushless set-up for about $110 on ebay. for another $10, you can go extreme with the 8000 set-up.

IB1400 6-cell packs are inexpensive and offer plenty of run time.

... just thought I'd chime in about runtimes since Rob mentioned it.

Runtimes are going to be significantly longer with a brushless motor. Probably a good 35 minutes or so compared to only about 15-17 with a modded brushed motor.

Great thanks for the answers! I like what I see so far with the rc18mt and the 8000 setup..

Will there be any parts that I will be ripping through with that much power?

And lastly (for now any ways) Is the rc18mt a pretty tough truck for say around 4 foot or air?

I think 4ft is kinda a lot to ask from a mini but I have seen a mini t flying high so I think a rc18mt can handle it .. right?

You may grenade the diffs. If you do, you can upgrade to the MIP Super Diffs.

Wow.. I was almost scared to click that.. Thats TON cheaper then I though it would be!!
Thanks!

-As far as radio system goes how would I go about using my dx2.0 with my savage and my rc18mt?

-can it be done I see that the dx2.0 has 2 model memory but I'm so confused!

-How about any other parts that are broken a lot? I hear that the dogbones fall out a lot?

-That battery pack you were talking about I did a search on and it seems that there are a lot of them.. any idea on the one I need?

-Also thanks for your suggestion on steering servos but I'm not so confident in my moding ability..

So with that being said is there any good servos that require no mods?

Excuse my stupidity..
Thanks again!!!

scoobydoo2u said:

-Wow.. I was almost scared to click that.. Thats TON cheaper then I though it would be!!
Thanks!

-As far as radio system goes how would I go about using my dx2.0 with my savage and my rc18mt?
-can it be done I see that the dx2.0 has 2 model memory but I'm so confused!

Click to expand...

2 options here. One, you can steal the radio receiver out of your Savage when you want to run your rc18, or two, you purchase another Spektrum receiver

scoobydoo2u said:

-How about any other parts that are broken a lot? I hear that the dogbones fall out a lot?

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I personally have never had that problem. There truly aren't many things that break often on the rc18. If you plan to run it indoors sometimes you may opt for the RPM Front Bumper, they are a lot nicer to furniture than the stock piece.http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/products/assoc/hires/70032.htm

scoobydoo2u said:

---That battery pack you were talking about I did a search on and it seems that there are a lot of them.. any idea on the one I need?

Click to expand...

Here's a pretty cheap one.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMWC4&P=ML

scoobydoo2u said:

--Also thanks for your suggestion on steering servos but I'm not so confident in my moding ability..
So with that being said is there any good servos that require no mods?

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Off the top of my head I'm not really sure which servos fit w/o modding. I'd look but I have to get going to work. Try searching "rc18 servo" either here or at www.one18th.com as well. And there's always google!

Thanks for all your answers!

The reason I said no lipo is based on my fear of a battery rocket/Firework shooting across the room.

I would like to use lipo if the speed increase would be worth it but I don't know if they would or not!

-Is the Rc18t and rc18mt the mini same with a different body and tires?

The reason I ask is I'm kinda thinking about making this a speed project and wondered what the advantages one has over the other..

Well. I'm off to go do some more searching to complete My project!..I hope...
Thanks!

I think the benefits of lipo are more to the current flow at a constant, it's a very flat voltage curve and their lighter for their capacity. When it runs out of juice, it runs out quickly, but it stays at a very constant voltage through the entire pack.

NiMH's get charged to peak and the voltage constantly drops until it's dead.

With brushless, I believe the 5400, 6800, 8000 are the RPM's per volt. So, if your running a 10V pack, your getting 54000, 68000, 80000 RPM's out of the motors. The Lipo will give you those peak RPM's for a longer duration than NiMH's because of the flat voltage curve. So it will be faster longer.

Sorry if I'm telling you stuff you already know. I looked into and read a bit when I had my MLST for a month. I ended up selling it because I really don't have anywhere good to run it. I got it in a trade to a fellow in need of a nitro rig. He didn't have money, but didn't have a need for the MLST. So I traded, realized I didn't have much need and ditched it. It was pretty well built. It had a LRP Mini Comp speed control and an 8KV motor. It was pretty quick with a 7.2V pack. I ran it with my throttle EPA at 50%.

The MLST2 has a lot of the kinks worked out though and is supposed to be a decently built and tough rig.

I have a pair of RC18s: a truck and rally car. Both are running Mamba 6800kV setup with 7-cell NiMH packs and they are almost uncontrollable. If you are heavy on the throttle, don't get the Comp X (8000kV) package.

olds97_lss said:

Sorry if I'm telling you stuff you already know.

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I suddenly understand!!! Thank you very much this is getting saved on my computer!

hamz9561 said:

and they are almost uncontrollable.

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Now thats what I wanted to hear!

From what I understand you can set your max throttle input so I think I would like to have the 8000 just so the power is there if I want/need it.

Thanks for letting me know that though!

I was watching this vid: Click on the title the play button isn't working..
[ame="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7061841305939489603&q=rc18t&total=235&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6"]Brushless RC18T - Mamba 8kv - Fastest RC Run[/ame]

And he is using 10 cells and that thing IS FAST! and its not even lipo powered!

He said He mounted 6 in normal battery spot and 4 up front but I have a couple questions..

How do you think he went about doing this ?

Is it safe for the electronics to do so?

What would be the best individual cells to buy?( if I need to make my own pack for the 10 cell)

And lastly should I buy one of those cooling fans for the esc?

A few sites I have been reading from says mamba 8000 can handle 14V but I just wanted to get more info on the subject

Thanks again!

Also.. To begin with I will use a low voltage pack or set my throttle waaay down to get used to it but Later I want lots more speed for open parking lots.

I actually built a 12 cell 8000kv Mini-t a while back. Yes, it was pretty heavy for a micro but it was stupid fast.. pulled the front wheels up at mid speed.. crazy power. You just have to make sure your getting plenty of air to the speed control. That's critical. I'm not really sure how he fit 10 cells. It's just one of those things you're gonna have to fiddle with.

this is the battery pack i run in my rc18t
http://www.b-p-p.com/proddetail.php?prod=b_Elite1500_7.2v_18T

runs great for me but i don't have anything to compare it to, but everyone at one18th.com sings its praises...if your not going lipo, i would suggest going with a mamba 6800 motor...the 8000 just didnt have as much torque on takeoff with the nimh.

also if you buy a mamba brusless system, i strongly suggest buying a mamba link to program the esc http://www.b-p-p.com/proddetail.php?prod=e_USB

its a LOT easier than programing by beeps, plus its super cool to connect your car to your computer, and theirs a lot you can program with it

I second using the Castle Link. You can adjust every parameter on the ESC with it.

retarded pilot said:

if your not going lipo, i would suggest going with a mamba 6800 motor...the 8000 just didnt have as much torque on takeoff with the nimh.

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To be honest with you I have been considering lipos more and more lately but I need to learn more about them before I make the leap for lipo..

Couple more questions I haven't been able to find the answer to..

-I'm sure most of us have seen the 'explosions' from lipo packs but is it a common thing?

-Does it only happen during charging or could they just randomly swell and blow up if something happened?
(Such as rolling your car or landing from a little to high)

- I need a Charger for lipos, receiver and nimh but I know nothing about chargers...
What charger should I buy if I do decide to use lipo? I've heard a fair bit about the duratrax ICE and great planes triton but are they good chargers?

-How exactly do you go about charging lipo packs?
I heard you never charge the pack as one pack you charge each cell by its self? sounds like a pain to me.

-How would I go about mounting a fan to cool the tiny mamba esc?

-Is there a heat sink I can mount on the mamba 8k motor?

Thanks again for all your answers and advice on what to get!I'm definitely getting the castle link!

Lessen said:

Steering servo is going to depend on the vehicle you buy. I like the hitec HS-65HB for my RC18's. you have to mod the casing a little bit to get it to fit but it's worth it. Quick and plenty strong.

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I think this is the servo I'm going to go with but I seen on one18th.com that you have to get a longer screw for the servo saver along with sanding the servo mount..
What screw did you use?
Or will these screw included with the new servo saver for hitec work?

Thanks again!

Oh and I've decided on the rc18t

Hmmm. You're absolutely right but I don't recall what I used to be honest.

I would recommend using the full-sized Dean's connectors on the ESC and Battery pack. This gives nice high gurrent path from battery to ESC and motor.