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Hi, Is anyone using the Castle Hydra 120, or 240? After blowing up 3 Barracuda-80's in our first two boats, my partner and I are a little gun shy about anything with a Castle name on it, and went with Hacker 70's. Well, it's time to step up to 6S Lipo and I'm hoping the Hydra series will suit the bill. Hearing about any experience, good or bad would be appreciated. Thanks.
Tom
Lots of racers are using the 120s and 240s, with apparent success. ESC failures can be caused by manufacturer QC, but I have had excellent luck with all my Barracuda 125s. Most of the problems with the Barracudas were traced to software - downloading the latests software cured most of the old problems.
Another factor is the timing advance. The Barracudas came with #2 timing, but that caused a lot of heat. Re-programming to the milder #1 timing helps a lot.
You can overheat/overamp any controller, regardless of brand or model (well, maybe not the Schulze 40-160). Since few modelers have any idea of their amp draw, many ESCs are burned up simply by exceeding their rating. While the Hacker 70s and 77s seem to be under-rated for amp draw, I destroyed one in a reasonable setup after occasional abuse. Others have had the same experience.
I prefer the US-made Castle ESCs for several reasons, mostly because of the excellent repair service (no need to send to Germany or Czechoslovakia) and their simple programming with the Link. I like them.
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I have 3 of them right now and have used 2 of the 3 with no problems multiple times. I have a 240 in my Syncron and another 240 waiting for the Jolly cat and I will now use my 120 in a brushless hydro project I am starting now.
They work well and there customer service is some of the best I have seen, period!
I have a 240 and 120. They both work great. I have run the 120 with 4s on both a 9XL and 8XL. I run the 240 with 4s on a Neu 1515/1.5D.
Thanks for all the replies. I use an Eagle Tree amp meter to keep things under control. Our first 2 boats came from FDM with the Barracuda 80's. Even with moderate props, 12 cell NIMH, we fried 3 ESC's. I must say FDM replaced them all, telling us he had MANY problems with these. After 3 we went to hacker. No more problems. Notice anyone selling the 80 says "every one factory tested"
Likewise, I want to deal with an American company with good service. That's the reason for this posting, to make sure Castle's product lives up to thier claims. Seems like everyone is happy with them. Thanks again.
Tom
I have a CC 80[watercooled] in my OM 26, a CC125 in the Drifter[see video] ; about to be replaced by a Hydra 240; and just put a Hydra 240 in the Titan. On her first run with the 4S lipos I punched the throttle, she shot straight up & spun like a football [ LIPOS !!!} & quit. I talked to a Castle tech [Tom- really a good guy & very helpful] ; He confirmed my suspicion that some software update changed the default startup throttle curve from "low" to "normal" . Too big a spike & too agressive prop[leftover from the nimh runs] caused the prob. I reset my SC's to "low" startup & Castle is replacing my 240 pronto. I suggested to them that some built-in protection circuitry would be nice & was told it's in their future plans. They're very, very good at customer service , particularly to brutal clods like myself :doh:
I had some issues last year with the 80s and 125s. The software update took care of it.
Today I'm using a 80 on 12 cells, 125 on 4s, and a 240 on 6s without a single issue all season. Knocking on wood now. LOL
Doug
Everyone in our local club runs Castle Cuda and Hydra ESC's and with the new software nobody has had a single failure. We run Eagle Tree loggers in our boats and none of us are running mild setups to say the least.
I know I read a bunch of bad stuff in the past with the old software but I wouldn't hesitate to buy CC now that they have us boat guys figured out.
Thanks again for all the replies.....seems like Castle 's got it right now, and I've heard their customer service it tops. I'll have no problem going with the hydra's.
Tom