Programming ESCs for R/C Rock Crawlers 

Thanks! I try to make them informative and pertinent.

Nothing has changed... Castle hasn’t released a production firmware update for the mamba x in over 3 years. The beta build is getting close to 2 years.

Thanks!

Glad it helped you out

Glad it helps!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Drunk comment?

Glad they can help!

Awesome, thanks for the support!

HolmesHobbies we'll be sure to keep supporting you for the future to come!

I bet yours is the 11 turn I wound up this morning. Thanks!

Yes, I chose the 11 turn and 6° motor timing. Does the motor timing affect the smooth start up?

Sounds like a little punch control is exactly what you need.

Hey, I can help you a little. Im sure John missed your response. He is usually extremely prompt in answering all questions...

So, first off regarding punch, there are 2 areas addressed while programming esc; 1. Initial punch. You want that set high. If there is a # or percent to pick, pick 100%. This is not the place to adjust for wheelspeed. Reverse should be set to high as well. 100%. Next is the exponential or throttle curve; This is where to control wheel speed and a controlled feel. JOHN said to set the puch control to 30%. This helps give you lots of torque at a low consistant speed. If you grab full trigger, you are still going to get to the wheel speed, the 30% punch will be over-ruled by holding the floodgates open to allow the battery to ramp up the speed quick enough to jump from rock to rock or blast over a tree root. Next is timing. Set timing to minimum. Timing adjustments are best left for racing and really dictated by the motor/esc your working with. Rock Crawlers, unless U4 racing, shouldn't mess with cranking up the timing. Finally, you mentioned that you have a Wraith(love mine) with spur/pinion of 56 and 11..which gives you a 5.09 ratio. Without knowing the diff ratios, tranny, tire height, i dont know your final drive ratio. But, assuming you're running a Status Quo Wraith, 5.09 is perfectly fine. Instead of leaning towards a Castle SW4 ESC with a brushed motor..personally I'd wait and save for a Castle Mamba X with a Brushless Holmes Hobby Motor. Or, a Holmes Hobby Trailmaster BLE Esc with a Holmes Hobby Brushless motor; the Puller Pro or the Trailmaster Pro Brushless 540 or 550 at 3300KV. The sweet spot is FOREVER! especially over brushed, it lasts much longer, so its a better investment and You WONT IMMEDIATELY WANT MORE!! You will be satisfied like THANKSGIVING FULL! You will LOVE YOUR WRAITH, and chics will want you! I feel you on the $$, i went from grossing about $25K/mth to SSDI, maxed the system at just over $24K/YEAR!! In the meantime you're probably having a great time with an Axial AE2 esc and 35T Axial Crawler motor. I hope this helps...i have 47 to 49 RC Vehicles. I'm talking about currently operational, running fully set to go, not diecasts or partial builds im "working on". Just so you know I'm not a Noob(we were all noobs at one time, no insult to anyone intended)..

Trying to help..

very much

Yes the Mamba X can be setup the same way.

don't think its programmable

it is a loud motor and esc combo. I'm working on an ESC with less noise.

HolmesHobbies ok, i just wasnt sure if it was a normal noise. I do run 3s so i know it will be louder then 2s

yeah, more of a basic conceptual similarity than anything else. I figured many people would understand at least the timing advance/ rpm relationship. Get outside of the golden zone and efficiency suffers. Can't really go too low on a brushless motor with sensorless technology, which is a key difference to ICE.

For low cost, flysky. High cost, futabA

Every now and then a racing motor will also be smooth on the bottom end, out of pure luck. It is not very typical though.

I already have 3 trx4s. Don't really need a fourth.

Makes sense.

3300 to 3500kv on 3s. I would recommend a Puller Pro and Mamba X.

The TrailMaster Pro won't be able to start up quite as smoothly since it is two pole. Anything above 2200kv is going to have more trouble being smooth sensorless at low speed, no matter how many poles, which is about the same speed as the TrailMaster Sport 21t 550. If you want more wheelspeed than that, you will probably have to go sensored to keep the startup and low end torque as good as brushed.

HolmesHobbies awesome, good to know, thanks!

for two speed use, i tend to use a 550 motor so it doesn't burn out in second gear. My recommendation would be a 45t 540 or 550 motor.

The throttle curve also controls the reverse curve. brake curve is a separate curve, but since we use drag brake it never actually gets used.

Haven't held one yet, but Spektrum has always been a solid brand.

They can take higher timing advance, but that isn't a good idea for a crawler.

3S, 4000 or superior mAh.

the motor makes the noise. The ESC is what causes it to happen.

that's in the radio

yes, same

@@HolmesHobbies Thank you very much you have an amazing product.

castlecreations.com

There's a box for audible idle warnings ,you can turn them off.

over 3500kv tends to be a poor choice due to ESC amp swamping.

man, I really need another one right now

Mostly crawlmaster esc's

3.2 is a pretty good cutoff. It's 3.2v per cell. so a 3 cell pack will cut off about 9.6v .

@@HolmesHobbies I prefer 3.4V, safety first.

power, wheelspeed, efficiency, long service life