BLX185 won’t go into program mode

[bicketybam]

I am having a few issues with the BLX185 in my Kraton. I picked it up in July, so it’s not terribly old. The first issue is I can’t get it to go into program mode. I turn it on with the set button pressed and it goes from flashing green to flashing red and that’s it. Doesn’t matter how long I hold the set button, no beeps and no green light.

The second issue is the fan seems to be varying in speed. You can hear it surging. At one point it just turned off. Is that normal?

The last issue is kind of odd. Twice now upon landing a jump, the esc has shut itself off. Like the on/off switch is in the off position when I take the body off to see what’s going on. Has anyone had that happen to them?

I’m afraid my BLX185 is about to give up the ghost. Thoughts?

 

[joostin420]

contact arrma and review your problem; maybe they will replace it.

 

[Mr.Duke]

I've had the switch jolt to the off position twice on hard lands from big jumps

As for the ESC not going into program mode, just make sure the transmitter is off, which from the red blinking light sounds like it is. Other than that, it appears to be an internal issue with the ESC

 

[bicketybam]

contact arrma and review your problem; maybe they will replace it.

What is the best way to contact them?

 

[Paultro84]

I had that problem with the on/off switch. Re-mount it so it's facing the left and right side of the truck instead of facing the front and rear. Running the max6 and having a push button on/off was nice. As far as the fan, sounds like it s**t the bed. Arrma might be able to reprogram the ESC for you. But they might have it for a while. If you end up wanting to buy a different ESC, I suggest the Max6. It was great in my Outcast.

 

[joostin420]

You can try email: https://www.arrma-rc.com/support/contact

I always prefer telephone first if possible horizon hobby telephone number: (217) 398-6300

 

[bicketybam]

I tried to reset the esc and that didn’t work either. I have sent an email to Arrma support. Hopefully they will get back to me in a reasonable time. I have other trucks I can run so I don,t mind waiting for a repair/replacement. I’m also not adverse to upgrading the ESC as well.

 

[joostin420]

I have a new hw max6 I may swap into my redcat be6s and pull out the max8. I just picked up another hw max5 for senton project. I have been very happy with hw so far. I have castle stuff also though.

 

[slick2500]

Do you have access to the Hobbywing program card by chance? Just to see if you can program it through one of those.

If you are wanting an esc upgrade and want to save some money over the Max6, the Max8 also makes a great upgrade.

 

[bicketybam]

I am looking at either the HW Max6 or the Castle Mamba Monster X. I like that the Castle is sensored, not that it helps me with the stock motor. But if/when the stock motor goes, I would like a sensored replacement. Both are about $150, so there really isn't a price difference. Max 6 can run up to 8S which is kind of cool. I do see that it states the Max6 should be running 1500Kv or less. So that kind of rules out using it with the stock motor, no? Another reason I am leaning Castle MMX.

How would this combo work in my Kraton? http://www.castlecreations.com/en/mamba-monster-x-1/mamba-monster-x-sm1515-2200-010-0145-03

I am thinking I would have to gear it down due to the higher Kv.

 

[olds97_lss]

I am looking at either the HW Max6 or the Castle Mamba Monster X. I like that the Castle is sensored, not that it helps me with the stock motor. But if/when the stock motor goes, I would like a sensored replacement. Both are about $150, so there really isn't a price difference. Max 6 can run up to 8S which is kind of cool. I do see that it states the Max6 should be running 1500Kv or less. So that kind of rules out using it with the stock motor, no? Another reason I am leaning Castle MMX.

How would this combo work in my Kraton? http://www.castlecreations.com/en/mamba-monster-x-1/mamba-monster-x-sm1515-2200-010-0145-03

I am thinking I would have to gear it down due to the higher Kv.

I'm not sure how well it would work. On warm days running 4S in my savage flux, the MMX overheats on me. I had to gear it down a bit to be able to spend much time in the grass on 4S. I also have the 2200kv sensored motor.

I really need to weigh my trucks somehow to see how much they differ.

 

[bicketybam]

Well I’m pretty sure I found the culprit. The switch wire was pressed between the ESC and then Voltage Hobbies aluminum servo mount post. All the jumping caused it to rub and damage the wire. I’m probably SOL with warranty.

 

[bicketybam]

I'm not sure how well it would work. On warm days running 4S in my savage flux, the MMX overheats on me. I had to gear it down a bit to be able to spend much time in the grass on 4S. I also have the 2200kv sensored motor.

I really need to weigh my trucks somehow to see how much they differ.

I think I am going to roll the dice on the combo. That’s the largest 8th scale motor Castle makes and I want to stick with them for now. If it becomes an issue I can always put the stock motor back in and use the Castle in something else....like my Senton Mega 4x4, lol.

Have you data logged your runs in the Savage to see what’s going on? I love the data logging on my Mamba X and it is a big reason why I’m going to go with the MMX over the Max 6.

 

[bicketybam]

By the way, is there a way to replace the switch wire in the BLX185? If denied warranty I’d hate to junk it over that.

 

[olds97_lss]

For your switch, I'd just peal the wire away from the other 2, cut it clean, strip the ends a bit, then solder in a jumper. Then heat shrink the whole thing. Should still work fine.

I did check the MMX log, it was very odd when it was overheating. At first, it was stalling on me for no reason. The beep sequence was indicating loss of signal. So, I got a new OEM spektrum receiver. I was using the cheap orange ones I got from China for $8 a piece. I used them because they had a coaxial antenna, which tripled my range over the old single wire spektrum receivers, 300+ yards vs 75 yards. They seem to only last about 6 months though, then start failing in odd ways. I since found an OEM spektrum with coaxial antenna, my range issues I've lived with for years are still gone. Getting the log data is annoying though as you have to disconnect the receiver from the esc, then use the input line for the pclink or field card. I have my receiver in a balloon, ziptied and wrapped in 2 or 3 layers of foam. Taking it out and putting it in is a bit of an ordeal, so I have only downloaded the logs a couple times, but basically was really only doing so because I could, as I was adjusting the brake and punch settings. You'd think one of the largest companies that make esc's would figure out how to use the fan port like HW does for programming. They do offer another device that hooks in series that allows you to program/dump logs without disconnecting anything. For as infrequently I do that though, I didn't see the point in adding more electronics to it giving the potential of water damage and also more $ for something I would use so rarely.

Anyway, after getting the new receiver, I had bumped the pinion up to 21 vs 20 I was running. I had also gotten a set of proline 3.8" trenchers. I ran the tires first, it seemed fine for multiple sets of packs. So, I increased the pinion and then had issues with it thermaling on me, I think. I didn't get the beep signal for over heating, it would just "reboot" at random times. I asked castle about it and they asked for the data logs, then they suspected it was waster on the input plug block causing it to act goofy and reset. The data log showed repeated reboots, like I was turning it off and on. I blew it all out cleanly and ran it at the park in the grass again and it still rebooted on me sporadically. So, I dropped back down to the 20T and then it seemed ok.

Since the then, I also installed a super 5sc transmission which has a center diff. The gearing was a bit lower than the stock trans, so after a bash, I went back to the 21T and so far, it's been ok. However, my run times have shortened on average about 3 minutes. I'm assuming it's because with the center diff, I can actually use WOT now without ending up on my roof constantly.

I haven't run the savage or my ERBE in quite a while. Pretty much since I got the outcast.

 

[bicketybam]

Brought my BLX185 to the LHS and the guy there fixed my switch wire. I can now go into program mode I was still having an issue with the fan (not running at all) so I took the cover off to check it out. Turns out a fan wire broke off. Hopefully I can just order a replacement fan.

 

[olds97_lss]

Repairable if you have a soldering iron and steady hand. The wire just breaks from the solder joint on the circuit board of the fan. I've fixed a couple of these without much fuss.

These fit in the BLX185 fan housing:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0782RHV3T

But you have to solder your own receiver plug end on from the old fan.

 

[bicketybam]

Repairable if you have a soldering iron and steady hand. The wire just breaks from the solder joint on the circuit board of the fan. I've fixed a couple of these without much fuss.

These fit in the BLX185 fan housing:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0782RHV3T

But you have to solder your own receiver plug end on from the old fan.

I just backordered a fan from tower since this is a spare blx185. No rush