Thermal Issues with the New Traxxas Spartan

[djmaincheese]

Seems like everyone who has the Spartan is having high motor temp issues after about 4-5 minutes of run time on 6S Lipo's. The ESC and Batteries barely get warm but the motor, well thats a different story.
4S is not a problem on these boats if you only want to do 30mph

My question is what is a more effective way to keep the motor temps down. If I change to an aluminum water cooling jacket would that possibly help, or do you prefer the thin aluminum coil tubing wrapped over the whole motor.
Any input would be greatly appreciated

[Make-a-Wake]

Seems like everyone who has the Spartan is having high motor temp issues after about 4-5 minutes of run time on 6S Lipo's. The ESC and Batteries barely get warm but the motor, well thats a different story.
4S is not a problem on these boats if you only want to do 30mph

My question is what is a more effective way to keep the motor temps down. If I change to an aluminum water cooling jacket would that possibly help, or do you prefer the thin aluminum coil tubing wrapped over the whole motor.
Any input would be greatly appreciated

Get a new motor............... Leopard makes a 36 x 74 4 pole for 50 bucks, or you could get the Ammo 36 x 88.

[djmaincheese]

And just use the stock ESC with it? Do you possibly have a link for the motor you are referring too? Traxxas recommends a 1600-1800kv motor. Thanks

[GeoVW72]

I have read the traxxas forum. I can find no mention of how the boats are run or if they are maintained properly. The flex-shaft and strut bearing have to be lubricated at the start of each session.

I do not think that the statement of the esc being warm is accurate. It is shrouded in plastic and sealed in epoxy, the only true way to find the temp is to remove the plastic cover and check the heat-sink directly.

An aluminum water jacket may help, as it has more surface area than tubing.

All the videos we have found of the boats show an unusual amout of running at partial throttle, the esc generates a lot of heat under these conditions with minimal cooling flow.

I also believe that there may be some inconsistencies in the thermal resistors that traxxas is using that cause the receiver to thermal-shutdown, assuming that the receiver is shutting down and not the esc.

[djmaincheese]

Hey Geo
I grease everything after each run.
Yeah its definitely the receiver that is shutting the boat down to 50%. The Reciver is flashing red like crazy which according to Traxxas is Thermal Protection but the ESC has a Solid green light, which is good.
I may try an aluminum jacket and see if that help before I send anything back but I think a better, cooler running motor is in the books in the near future.
Here is a picture of the ESC, I don't really want to have the open the case to check the temps inside the ESC
Probably a stupid question but Can the thermal resistors be adjusted/calibrated or do they have to be replaced?



Thanks for your time

[Make-a-Wake]

If it were my boat i'd go less kv and up the prop a tad. This is one of the Leopard 4 polers, more powerful as well as more efficient. Your stock ESC should be able to handle this motor...............isnt it around 80-100a rated? Run this on 6s.

http://www.nitrorcx.com/96m811-3674--1300kv.html

[steveo]

are the escs 4 pole for the spartan

[Rumdog]

Your untimes are too long. 4-5 minutes from what I'm presuming is 6s1p.. Cut the runtime down and check temps throughout the run. The REAL problem is a 540xl can in a 36" mono. It just isn't quite enough.

[T.S.Davis]

I don't own a boat I run longer than 4:20

[djmaincheese]

Im running 2 x 3S2P Batteries 6400mah. I put the boat into training mode 50% power and I went non stop for 25 minutes and 3/4 of the time I was at full throttle.
After 4 minutes in Race mode the motor just gets too hot and the receiver cuts the power in half.
There is a temp sensor installed on the can at the very front of the motor.
I don't mind getting the short run times just so long as it's not the motor thats doing it.

Whats the consensus for motor choice in your mono hulls of this size?
That leopard looks perfect for this boat and worst case it's only $50

Hey steveo, not sure if the ESC is 4 pole, I will call Traxas and find out.

[Steven Vaccaro]

I have to say with all the high mah packs out there, 4 minutes of "playing" runtime doesn't cut it!!! This boat should have been stress tested at a minimum of 10 minutes.

[jac4412]

cheese, the issue here is that the stock bare minimum setup they want you to run is 4s... and it appears to run fine on it.. what 30-35 mph? Jumping up to 6s on a RTR boat is a biggg jump, thats a significant amount of change on the esc and the motor especially. I also would take the KV down a bit to keep the motor happy, especially if you want 5 min runtimes.

[yurkanip]

agreed, the stock motor a 540xl which is a 2 pole is just too small, period for a 36" mono. They draw much more amps than a cat or hydro. go to a neu, or leopard 4074... 4 pole.

[Brushless55]

If it were my boat i'd go less kv and up the prop a tad. This is one of the Leopard 4 polers, more powerful as well as more efficient. Your stock ESC should be able to handle this motor...............isnt it around 80-100a rated? Run this on 6s.

http://www.nitrorcx.com/96m811-3674--1300kv.html

That would be a perfect contender in this hull
sweet spot kv

[Darin Jordan]

........

[Brushless55]

........

Any thoughts on this Darin?

[Darin Jordan]

Any thoughts on this Darin?

Nothing that hasn't already been considered or said before.

[T.S.Davis]

Darin.....ya coward. haha

A 4 minute Q mono that runs 50 right out of the box and doesn't burst into flames? Sounds like a perfect setup.

Any longer than that is unrealistic for an electric boat IMO. Especially one that's been marketed as ready to race. That's just me though.

How hot is hot? Do you have temps or is the speedo thermalling and dialing down the power? It could be that it's the voltage cut off after 4 minutes. My kids Slash drops the power when the voltage gets too low. If I run any of my Q sprint boats for 4 minutes they'll go thermal nuclear.

[Diesel6401]

Your untimes are too long. 4-5 minutes from what I'm presuming is 6s1p.. Cut the runtime down and check temps throughout the run. The REAL problem is a 540xl can in a 36" mono. It just isn't quite enough.

Doesn't Traxxas have a deal with CC, like they did with their e-revo's... They should have stuck a 1518 or 1520 in the hull from the beginning. Could have worked a deal with CC before they started the super discount deal to get rid of all the 1518's or 1520's. Just a thought. The plastic hull prob wouldn't have survived those motors though

[JimClark]

[Alexgar]

to small and not eff motor

[Grimracer]

[Jeff Wohlt]

Many times, running higher speeds mean less drag and better efficiency.

[LarrysDrifter]

I love the 40 x 82 1500 Leopard motor.I have 2 of them.One was in my 37" cat and the other in a 33" DF copy.Both boats ran awesome on 6s with way more than 5 minutes of runtime.I know a 33 isnt a 36,but 3" shouldnt matter that much with an efficient motor.This motor has my vote for the Traxxas boat.

[Rumdog]

But, then youre up to $500.00 for a cheesy plastic boat..

[LarrysDrifter]

Yep.I wouldnt do it either.Run the toy boat on the batteries it comes with and get an FG hull for speed and the build it your self experience.

[LarrysDrifter]

And Im a Fast Electric Adict now too!Previous post brought me to 1,000.

[Doug Smock]

Are you running the stock plastic prop? Is the boat running wet? Any video?
While I agree the motor is a bit small for a mono that size you can probably land on a prop that will make it happy.
Doug

[djmaincheese]

Hey Doug
Yeah still running the stock prop 42mm X 59mm. What do you mean by "wet" Water in the hull?

I only have some short clips of it running in training mode, I will try get a video from full charge to thermal shutdown and we will see how long she lasts. I may unplug the heat sensor from the rx and use a temp gun to get an actual reading!

What about a more efficient aluminum cooling jacket or that aluminum tubing that wraps around the motor. I don't think the rubber jacket they supplied does a good job of keeping it cool.
I guess it's just going to take a bit for some real world testing with different props, batteries and possibly motors to get this thing running great.

[Doug Smock]

By "running wet" I mean does the boat have a lot of wetted surface? The wetter the hull runs the higher your motor temps will be. A free running boat will be faster and run cooler. I'd wait on the water jacket for now. Have you verified that the water cooling is working?
We'd be interested in seeing some video of the boat running full speed back and forth in a straight line. Some transom pics would help too.
Try not to run it till it thermals.
Doug