Castle Hydra Ice 240 questions.

[dag-nabit]

There are a couple Spartan owners who have successfully mounted the Hydra 240 in the component tray. I know there are some posts floating around somewhere. Try a search, or I'm sure they will chime in when they see your post.

Kevin

http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...tall+hydra+240
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...tall+hydra+240

[Troy711]

Thanks again for the replies. I have 4 packets of Castle 5.5mm bullets I think I'll use. I bought a Castle Link cable a while back when I was going to put a Mamba in my Rustler but never ended up doing it.

Cheers again :)

[Troy711]

Bullets are now on. I'm not 100% sure which colour motor wires run to the ESC though. The motor has white, yellow and blue an the ESC has white, black and red. I'm assuming like this first pic..?



Also the other question is how I've wired the battery end. I used bullets as well so I assume I need a cable to run between the 2 2s packs to run them as a 4s..? Before I actually complete the circuit can someone confirm that it's correct?



Also are my wires looking too long? I've made sure to keep everything at 8awg cable so as there is minimal amp/power loss. Aaaand last question.. I know batteries spark when connected but is it normal for higher C rated batteries to spark bigger?

Thanks again for all the help, this forum has been great!

[Fluid]

1- Connect the motor wires in any manner. Test for motor rotation. If it runs backwards, just switch out any two motor wires.

2- Plug Pack A's black wire onto Pack B's red wire. Connect the other two wires to the ESC: red-to-red, black-to-black.

3- Yes, your wires are way too long. Gauge has a smaller effect on impedance although it will reduce resistance. Impedance is what burns up ESC's. You should be able to cut off at least 2"-3" from each wire, or more. Leave enough wire to allow for connecting and shifting the packs around a bit. Frankly I'd turn the ESC around and shorten the motor wires a lot too. You'll be able to have some shorer pack wires too.

4- Yes, packs with lower internal resistance will produce a larger spark. Wait until you plug in some 10S2P packs!




.

[Troy711]

Hmm, I hope I have enough bullets left to replug everything. I knew I had to do my packs again anyway so if I shortened them to about an inch would it be enough without having to do the ESC?

[hobby_man]

I just mounted a Turnigy 180 amp esc in my spartan, I cut the old esc in half so I could use the base to attach my Turingy too via velcro. The boat speed is 57.4, up from 48.0 with the castle esc. (not the stock prop)
the esc runs real cool.

[dag-nabit]

Hmm, I hope I have enough bullets left to replug everything. I knew I had to do my packs again anyway so if I shortened them to about an inch would it be enough without having to do the ESC?

You should be able to re-use your bullet connectors.
Kevin

[Troy711]

Mounted!



I used my Dremel to remove the stock ESC mounting lugs and then made some holes to use the tabs on the side of the Hydra. I've had to move the radio box though, it kinda limits my battery placement a touch but I figure most of the time I'll have the packs full forward anyway.

Next step is to knock a few inches off all of the cables (including batteries) so there is enough slack on them without having way too much length. I think that'll be tomorrows job. I don't think you can quite notice in this pic put I also installed a Traxxas 2075 servo for a little bit of extra oomph. I have a TQi radio system sitting here that I'm thinking of putting in but I think I might just chuck it in my Speed Rustler instead.

Yesterday I plugged in the USB cable just to have a quick look at the Castle Link functions. I felt like such a nerd using a laptop to program an RC boat!



Hopefully all my new cooling lines turn up soon so I can get to work on the plumbing. Be prepared for some dodgy MS Paint drawings so I can get some opinions on what to do and how to run it all.

[dag-nabit]

Looking good

Kevin

[Troy711]

New lines turned up today but the sidewall is thicker than I'd like and I think it will cause me issues trying to get it to fit so I'll just stick with the yellow ones I have now.

Just about to start on shortening the wires on everything.. hopefully the heat from the soldering iron keeps me warm in the garage!

[madmorgan]

sorry to hear about another run of bad luck with that plastic turd lol j/k i have 1 the v1 burned up the elecs in it after about the 5th pass on 6s. i was booted from traxxas forums for boohooing and bashing. i was simply telling ppl they were fos about their speeds and still running spartans on 6s. i think the first thing that pooped was the flex drive lost a brand new 642 on that 1. anyways i emailed traxxas about the burned up junk in it being 2 weeks old and never recieved a reply. so i did like anyone would do and upgraded with non traxxas parts and every chance i get i bash traxxas spartan on every forum im signed up in. i thought the new castle would run 6s all day long? must be the guys that are praising it only run 1 lap then put it up for the year huh??? . good luck on the expieriments

[dag-nabit]

sorry to hear about another run of bad luck with that plastic turd lol j/k i have 1 the v1 burned up the elecs in it after about the 5th pass on 6s. i was booted from traxxas forums for boohooing and bashing. i was simply telling ppl they were fos about their speeds and still running spartans on 6s. i think the first thing that pooped was the flex drive lost a brand new 642 on that 1. anyways i emailed traxxas about the burned up junk in it being 2 weeks old and never recieved a reply. so i did like anyone would do and upgraded with non traxxas parts and every chance i get i bash traxxas spartan on every forum im signed up in. i thought the new castle would run 6s all day long? must be the guys that are praising it only run 1 lap then put it up for the year huh??? . good luck on the expieriments

The version 2 electrics are proving to be more reliable than version 1, but still lots of ESC issues being reported. The motor seems pretty solid now, you don't see many reports of burned out motors.

Traxxas still has some work to do to before the Spartan has a chance of earning a reputation as a reliable RTR.

Kevin

[Troy711]

Motor and ESC wires and now shortened so I just have the batteries to do. All the lines are run and I even added one of those in line coolers for good measure. I dunno if it does anything (comments?) so if it doesn't it will take me about 2 minutes to remove. Pics to come soon.

Next job is getting the radio gear set up properly and then to program the ESC. Is there anywhere I can download setup files for the Hydra? That would save me lots of stuffing around.

[dag-nabit]

You are not going to have cooling issues with this ESC, unless you try to run 12S and sizzle the motor. :)

The programming instructions are included in one if the links I posted above. Or log onto Castle they have pretty good documentation there.

Kevin

[Troy711]

No more updates as of yet. All I need to do is configure the radio gear and she's all ready to take out. Only problem is winter is starting to hit here so if I need to do a recovery it could be rather uncomfortable if I fall out of my rubber boat lol.