Amp Rating on the Castle Creations ESC

[dag-nabit]

Not sure if this info has been posted previously or not, I haven't been very active on the forums during the winter months and may have missed it if posted previously.

When I purchased my new style hull a copy of the owners manual for the "new" Spartan was in the box. This is the first opportunity I have had to check the new manual to find out if the amp rating for new ESC is identified.

As per the owners manuals, the rating of the new ESC is identical to the old ESC. 80 amps continuous current and 300 amps peak current.

In the old OM the ESC is identified as VELINEON VXL-6S Marine.
In the new OM the ESC is identified as VXL-6S Marine.

Other changes noted in the Owners Manual:
Motor Connectors; 3.5mm old, 5.5mm new.
Motor/Battery Wiring; 12 Gauge Maxx Cable old, 13 Gauge Cable new.
(interesting that they increased the size of the bullet connectors, but went 1 gauge smaller on the wiring. Although the wiring may be better quality, with lower resistance)

This is pure speculation, but, even with Castle Creations likely manufacturing a better quality ESC than the original. The decision by Traxxas to increase the motor from 1600kv to 1800kv, but not increase the amp rating of the ESC on the new electrics, seems perhaps a bit misguided, and may explain why there are still several reported failures of the new electrics when running 6S setups.

Kevin

[Snowride]

I personally think castle made both the motor and esc from day 1 however, when it turned out to be a total disaster, they updated the esc and motor ever so slightly and traxxas gave castle a little $ to advertise the name on product/try #2 to make it all better. People really trust the castle name and I am sure this made a huge difference in confidence/sales of the type 2. After all, who in their right mind would have purchased a Spartan when they were all catching fire and pluming magic smoke. No doubt, the castle name did make a large impact on version 2 sales. Too bad they still did not get it right second time around however it is no where near the disaster of the original.

In all honesty, it is a real nice boat and the overall concept is innovative and well thought out. Just get a different motor and esc and have fun all summer long like I did.

I agree with you on the 1800kv decision, talk about newbie mistake!!!

[dag-nabit]

I too have been suspicious that castle may have supplied the original ESC. The shape and design didn't change much at all when they "upgraded" to castle.