Help, boat wont get on plane, or run worth a crap

[mrproc1]

Hello all, i have a brand new spartan that has been run on two outtings that went fine. Now the boat wont get up to speed and is really weak on power......and yes the batteries are charged, ecu is set up for lipos, its in sport mode, and throttle has be set to get full throttle. Called the support line and thats all they could recommend. The closet hobby town is 40mins away and dont really want to drive there unless i need to

any help would be great, the pond out back it calling my name!
Thank you!

Also looking for a trailer or plans to build one

[dag-nabit]

The ESC on the Spartan has a tendency to fail, but they usually fail completely, so before jumping to that conclusion, check to make sure the ESC isn't set to training mode.

Are you having any temperature problems with the ESC, Motor, or Batteries? If you haven't already done so, check your flex cable for signs of damage that may cause drag, and make sure it is well greased.

Kevin

EDIT: PS Sorry I see you have already confirmed it is in sport mode.

[mrproc1]

any way to test that??

[humayrayakongkinaon]

have you try calling traxxas? they might be able to narrow it down for you. they have a good customer service and they might replace it for a new one!!

[mrproc1]

Yes I have, we tried 3 different things, three different times.

[stadiumyamaha]

I have a second gen spartan that was doing the same thing. I put a seaking in it while the castle esc was at castle and it ran fine. Also runs fine with the new castle that was returned to me under warranty. Call castle not Traxxas.

[mrproc1]

whats seaking, is that a brand of esc(sorry im new to the rc world). Ill give castle a shoot tomorrow and see that they say. what batts do you have on your sparten. I have traxxas 2c 5800.. but not really thrilled about the speed.. looking to maybe get some 3 or 4c

[stadiumyamaha]

Seaking makes some great marine esc's. You can get them here on ose or at hobbypartz.com
I used the 180 just because I had an extra one laying around.
I run my spartan on 4s2p which means running two 4s batteries parallel. That gives better run time and low amp draw which leads to lower temp. With that setup I get the spartan running in the mid forties in stock configuration except for a larger prop.
IMO the stock spartan is just not set up to run 6s reliably even with the cooling mods.

[mrproc1]

oo ok, what brand of batts do you like to use, seems like there is a ton off differnt brands, hobbyptarz.com has them alot cheaper than the traxxas brand

[humayrayakongkinaon]

hobbyparts are know for their Gens Ace lipos and i have 2x 2s 5000mah 50c hardcase, i have not use it on the boat yet but i've been using it on my ERBE and it really give tons of power and long run time (depending on your driving style) but i get 35-40 mins per run. i also order the AC6 lipo charger from them and i could'nt be any happier with what i got. next lipo i'll order from them are the Gens Ace 2s 5300mah 65c-130c and hoping to get alittle bit of a run time, lol.

[stadiumyamaha]

The gens are good batts. I've also great luck with the sky lipos from partz.
The hitech x4 is a great charger for the money and you can charge 4 batts at once. I believe they are also making one the has an internal power supply as well.

[stadiumyamaha]

No matter what may be wrong with you castle esc, just call them and say its faulty. They will replace it. Try and talk to Thomas. He knows boats.

[i2oadsweepei2]

Is it confirmed that it's an electrical problem? I might be totally off here but, I had an issue where my Spartan was running really slow and not getting on plane. The end result was a broken flexshaft. It broke just inside the strut and came unwound near the coupler too. The cause was that my strut had moved and was at a really bad angle downward. I'm a bit embarrassed to say I didn't check it but not to embarrassed to suggest another cause for your problem. I use loctite now.

*edit* I just seen that dag-nabit suggested something similar about the flexshaft. Did it all check out?

[mrproc1]

Well I know for a fact the flex shaft is all good, because if had it in and out a couple off times since the last run, when it ran fine. So something silly happend from last outing to now.....