Receiver/ESC problem. Need an upgrade..?

[pieisgude]

Well, it's been a while since i've played with my xmod, so i took it out today. I was driving it and notice that sometimes when i'd turn the wheel with the throttle on, the servo didn't respond at all. Only when i centered the wheel and turned it again did it respond. Would that have something to do with my motor at all? I've got a PN Racing 43T BB, with a 2x2 4562 FET swap. Power switch was removed and has deans plugs for motor and battery. Does the motor have to have capacitors on it?

Also, i was kind of thinking of upgrading it. Now, what i came across is the 2.4ghz Mini-Z board. I like that, but i'm just curious why everyone uses that? Because that's not the only option i've seen, but i'm assuming it's probably the best for our chassis. I was thinking of a 2.4ghz micro reciever and some small ESC. Haven't looked into it too much.

Any thoughts, comments, and help would be appreciated!

Thanks

[yamar6]

If u use a rec and esc u have to fig out how to wire the steering.

[taiwanesekid05]

I personally don't think that this has to do with the motor, but I'm not very good with Xmods electronics. I'm going to guess that the servo may be jamming or something, inhibiting the servo from recentering. But that's just a guess. Personally, I don't like the Gen1 electronics much, partially due to the servo and that it can't turn the wheel very much, so a board upgrade is a good idea.

As for the 2.4ghz board, it's mostly because of 2.4ghz board's ease of use. One thing is that it does not require crystals and I believe that you can use many more r/c's at the same time than you can with crystals. I believe that 2.4ghz boards don't require a specific transmitter to go with the receiver so you can buy any 2.4ghz board and pair it with any 2.4ghz transmitter. I think the reason why people use Mini-z's 2.4ghz board is because it's very responsive and the face that it's size is perfect for Xmods.

If you think that a 2.4ghz conversion is a bit much, a Evo Xmod's ESC or a Micro-T/DT/B board works fine as a conversion for the Gen 1.

Personally, I don't think that 2.4ghz conversion is worth the money since I don't race with a lot of people so radio interference isn't much of an issue for me. I have my own Gen 1 and I'm thinking of putting in a Micro-T ESC and servo since I already have a transmitter and it would allow me to replace that crappy Gen 1 servo.

[pieisgude]

Hmmm, i was kind of looking into the Losi Micro Trail Trekker ESC/RX combo, it's also a 2.4ghz board, using Spektrum tech, so i can use a higher quality TX. I'm curious as to my servo options though, i've never looked into servos quite this small.

[taiwanesekid05]

The Losi Micro-T/B/DT servo should be just fine. The Hitec HS-55 should be a pretty good servo as well.

[yamar6]

How would u put the servo it would be nice if you can take the stock servo gears out and put a real servo so it looks stock

[taiwanesekid05]

Just cut off the tabs that most aftermarket servos have and mount it with servo tape. You may have some issues with getting the pinions to match up with the Gen 1's steering rack but otherwise it should be a simple swap. I bet you could take out the Gen 1's servo internals and put in a different servo's internals, but it would take too much time and wouldn't be worth the effort. You'd have to make sure the motor would fit, the gears would mesh right, and that the POT is in the correct spot.

[yamar6]

It,s the Gen 1 I was talking about the evo sorry

Originally Posted by taiwanesekid05

Just cut off the tabs that most aftermarket servos have and mount it with servo tape. You may have some issues with getting the pinions to match up with the Gen 1's steering rack but otherwise it should be a simple swap. I bet you could take out the Gen 1's servo internals and put in a different servo's internals, but it would take too much time and wouldn't be worth the effort. You'd have to make sure the motor would fit, the gears would mesh right, and that the POT is in the correct spot.

[taiwanesekid05]

The Evo's servo is a little more complicated because of it's integration into the chassis. Still, it would probably be a better idea to mount a new servo and not change the internals because I don't think the POT or new gears would fit, nor the motor that runs the servo. I've seen some pretty crazy ways people have connected aftermarket servos to Evo/Street chassis using linkages for airplane parts.

[yamar6]

For the evo I wonder if you take out all the gears and pot try to find a servo to fit in there

[taiwanesekid05]

Originally Posted by taiwanesekid05

I don't think the POT or new gears would fit, nor the motor that runs the servo.

You'd be hard pressed to find a micro servo that'll fit perfectly into the Evo's servo housing. Every servo has different sized gears and POTs. Finding one that matches the Evo perfectly would take more money than it would to mount a micro servo onto the chassis and make your own steering linkages.

[pieisgude]

That's the reason i decided to base my project on the Gen 1 chassis. It seemed a little easier to swap out electronics if i had to do so. I've been trying to think of a way to get rid of the tie rod bar entirely and replace it with rod end linkages.

[SnoOpy]

when you guys say "pots" what do you guys mean? sorry im new to this. And I agree with Taiwanesekid05 with the losi servo. I use the 3 wire servo and it works fine item # LOSB0814 but that was for my gen1, as for the evo i think proxmodder did a mod that i saw on youtube but it was a big servo sitting sideways

[taiwanesekid05]

POTs are just the servo potentiometer. If you've ever taken an Xmods Evo's servo apart, it's the little black square. I don't remember what the Gen 1's servo potentiometer looks like since it's been a while since I've taken the servo apart. It's job is to basically make sure the servo is centered after you turn left or right. Here's a picture of the potentiometer in the Evo.

[SnoOpy]

ohhhhhh lol i feel dumb now haha pot as in potentiometer ROLF, yea i taken apart my pot on my evo before, when i upgrade to the stilleo chassis and the wires broke of and became too short to reach the board. So i de-soldered the old wires and replaced with new servo wire... Haha thanks for the info taiwanesekid.

[reaper]

2.4ghz is a massive step up from the xmod electronics , they are much faster responding ,have infinate incriments in both steering and throttle , much better range and virtually glitch free
A "normal " servo is just the same as an xmod one except the case is buit differently and the xmod servo board is built into the main electronics board
What this means is you can get your normal servo take out the small board and wire it directly to the xmos servo motor and pot . . . . .job done :-)

[yamar6]

I wonder if they make a better one the size with the clips.I'm going to search to see if I can find a company who makes them

Originally Posted by taiwanesekid05

POTs are just the servo potentiometer. If you've ever taken an Xmods Evo's servo apart, it's the little black square. I don't remember what the Gen 1's servo potentiometer looks like since it's been a while since I've taken the servo apart. It's job is to basically make sure the servo is centered after you turn left or right. Here's a picture of the potentiometer in the Evo.

[reaper]

the xmod pot are prety good quality to be honest so i dont think a replacment is needed , also i doubt they are an off the shelf part with the housing

[Microshark]

Micro-T---------XMODS
POT
Black-Black
Red-Orange
White-White
Steering:
Blue-White
Gray-White/black stripe. http://www.youtube.com/user/psychotikpaisano