Senton Can the Senton Mega handle a 2S lipo?

[Senturion]

Looking at replacing a second brushed motor on my son's new Senton Mega. The second motor was put in just three runs ago. After the original motor went dead, folks at hobby store said a 2S is too hard on a brushed motor. But I used a 2S on a brushed Rustler 4x4 that I used to have with no issues.

What's the deal? Is this an expected result? Do I need to drop the lipo or is this just a bit of bad luck?

Details: the ESC selector/breaker was placed in the lipo position. In both cases, was running the car pretty normally and then lose all throttle response and no indication (noise) that the motor is doing anything. Still have steering and ESC still lights up with throttle input. Battery tests to have a charge. When plugging motor in directly to a battery, no response... dead.

What gives?

 

[Porschetech🇬🇪]

I thought a 2s Lipo would be the limit you could put on a brushed motor.

I’m thinking bad luck.

 

[drjim]

Works fine on my Senton. I changed the jumper on the ESC, plugged-in a pack from my 1/10th scale on-road car, and now I get 20~40 minutes run time.

 

[crimsonfancy]

Looking at replacing a second brushed motor on my son's new Senton Mega. The second motor was put in just three runs ago. After the original motor went dead, folks at hobby store said a 2S is too hard on a brushed motor. But I used a 2S on a brushed Rustler 4x4 that I used to have with no issues.

What's the deal? Is this an expected result? Do I need to drop the lipo or is this just a bit of bad luck?

Details: the ESC selector/breaker was placed in the lipo position. In both cases, was running the car pretty normally and then lose all throttle response and no indication (noise) that the motor is doing anything. Still have steering and ESC still lights up with throttle input. Battery tests to have a charge. When plugging motor in directly to a battery, no response... dead.

What gives?

I've run consistently a 2s lipo on bossman's son's Granite mega, brushed. Should be fine imo.

 

[suchtragedy]

Ran 2s/70c lipos on a mega for ages and had no issues.

 

[Porschetech🇬🇪]

Great user name btw ?

 

[Cheapbastard]

@Senturion I think you need to change your thread title to "Why can't my Senton handle a 2s lipo" based on the responses.

I haven't had much luck with brushed motors but I guess everybody else has. Put the Titan 12t 550 in it if you haven't already done so if you had luck with it in the Rustler. If you still burn through the brushed motor check all the bearings and check for any binding in the drivetrain something might be putting on extra strain on the motor somewhere (like the fixed motor mount holes).

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Unfortunately, the Arrma brushed motors have a pretty low life. And yeah, lipo makes them run harder, which builds more heat, which kills them quicker. If you want to stay with brushed motors, you can drop to a smaller pinion. You will lose some speed, but lower motor heat. Which should make it last longer.

 

[Jackjax801]

A few years ago, when I only had brushed motor RC's, I was reading about breaking them in. Something about running them at low speed in a container of water to wear the brushes in/shape them to the rod. The water was to keep it cool as well as remove the dust. While I never tried this, I wonder if something about your driving (speed runs, high ambient temperature etc.) is not allowing them to break in well. Could be something worth looking into when putting a new motor in your rig.

 

[mikeshandssay]

A few years ago, when I only had brushed motor RC's, I was reading about breaking them in. Something about running them at low speed in a container of water to wear the brushes in/shape them to the rod. The water was to keep it cool as well as remove the dust. While I never tried this, I wonder if something about your driving (speed runs, high ambient temperature etc.) is not allowing them to break in well. Could be something worth looking into when putting a new motor in your rig.

I have also heard this about breaking in new motors in water..... crazy.

 

[Senturion]

@Senturion I think you need to change your thread title to "Why can't my Senton handle a 2s lipo" based on the responses.

I haven't had much luck with brushed motors but I guess everybody else has. Put the Titan 12t 550 in it if you haven't already done so if you had luck with it in the Rustler. If you still burn through the brushed motor check all the bearings and check for any binding in the drivetrain something might be putting on extra strain on the motor somewhere (like the fixed motor mount holes).

Putting the Titan and a smaller pinion in it is an interesting idea... BUT, is there any reason to believe the Titan is more reliable than the stock Arrma or the Dynamite? The Titan is available locally and if there's concensus that it's better than its worth the extra $5. That, and a proper break in, might be what I need

 

[Cheapbastard]

Putting the Titan and a smaller pinion in it is an interesting idea... BUT, is there any reason to believe the Titan is more reliable than the stock Arrma or the Dynamite? The Titan is available locally and if there's concensus that it's better than its worth the extra $5. That, and a proper break in, might be what I need

I have never had the Arrma 12t 550, but from what I have seen and heard it seems to be better. I have only had three different 550 size brushed motors a 15t 550 Dynamite, a Surpass 12t 550, a 19t Redcat 550, and the Titan, the Titan is the only one that is still alive. I'm not gonna say you won't burn it up as IMO brushed motors are a hit and miss as far as reliability. I don't think a brushed motor belongs in something as heavy as these are and trying to get speed out of them. If you gear down and run the Titan you shouldn't burn it up. If you gear down and run the Arrma motor you shouldn't either unless like I said earlier you have something causing an extra load on the motor somewhere. I ran the Titan in my (then) Mega Granite (had a 60a esc in it) on a couple of 2s lipo packs (not consecutive) with a heatsink and fan on the motor. I believe I had a 16t or 19t pinion in it (I slotted the stock mount holes don't have a 17t pinion) and although the motor was pushing 180F at the end of the runs the motor is still alive. I got my Mega as a brand new roller no electronics.

 

[Concordeacr]

What's the deal? Is this an expected result? Do I need to drop the lipo or is this just a bit of bad luck?

Like you mention it is just a bad luck. Lipo reduce life for brushed motor but it should work more than 3 times.
In the Arrma world it is possible that part hare new but defective.

Should try the Titan motor. Maybe at your local hobby shop they received bad new Arrma motor batch.

 

[Senturion]

Thanks, all. I am picking up a Titan 12t and motor fan this afternoon. I will also check for any drivetrain binding.

I also ordered an adjustable motor mount and will go with a smaller pinion. I know I could just drill a new mount point in the existing mount. But I am upgrading this car to brushless in two months for my son's birthday and going with MT tires so I want to be able to play with a few different pinion options.

 

[nino]

Get a Holmes trailmaster sport 12t. Cheap and cheerful. Buddy runs it on 4s, in a crawler, but still. I run brushed motors on 3s regularly. Even the tamiya 27t silver cans can handle it!

 

[Delivery Guy]

I have a Granite Mega I bought in February. I cooked my motor in about 1/2 dozen 2s lipo charges.

I figured out that the problem is the excessive heat from starting/stopping. My yard is about 80ft long with obstacles, so I drive my truck in very short bursts back and forth. This gets the motor so hot is literally smoked and died, exact same symptoms you listed. HOWEVER, if I take my truck to the park and run it in the field for long distances back and forth, the motor is only slightly hot after the battery goes flat.

Short bursts, aggressive accelerations on 2s = dead motor. Long high speed runs in a wide open area don't heat the motor up much at all.

 

[Redtux]

I have a Granite Mega I bought in February. I cooked my motor in about 1/2 dozen 2s lipo charges.

I figured out that the problem is the excessive heat from starting/stopping. My yard is about 80ft long with obstacles, so I drive my truck in very short bursts back and forth. This gets the motor so hot is literally smoked and died, exact same symptoms you listed. HOWEVER, if I take my truck to the park and run it in the field for long distances back and forth, the motor is only slightly hot after the battery goes flat.

Short bursts, aggressive accelerations on 2s = dead motor. Long high speed runs in a wide open area don't heat the motor up much at all.

I fried our Senton Mega today. We have a nice lip off our drive and I was going back and forth with a 2S batt installed. It died on me after about 3 min, and smoked up. But I do have to admit, I'm learning about this charging Lipo rules, and realized I was maxing my cells at 4.2v on a 7.4 batt. Should have been no more than 3.7 from what I understand. The battery was fine and cool, but the motor was scorching. I read up enough about these mistakes so I bought a new motor ahead of time. Installing tomorrow.

 

[Senturion]

I fried our Senton Mega today. We have a nice lip off our drive and I was going back and forth with a 2S batt installed. It died on me after about 3 min, and smoked up. But I do have to admit, I'm learning about this charging Lipo rules, and realized I was maxing my cells at 4.2v on a 7.4 batt. Should have been no more than 3.7 from what I understand. The battery was fine and cool, but the motor was scorching. I read up enough about these mistakes so I bought a new motor ahead of time. Installing tomorrow.

I picked up a Titan 12 turn motor which is the Traxxas brushed motor. About $5 more but the consensus is that they are better. I also installed a heat sink and fan. Unfortunately I was not able to install the fan directly on top of the motor/heat sink... Any time I would put the fan near the top of, or along the side of the brushed motor, the fan would cut off. I am guessing that it has to do with it being a brushed motor and a magnetic field interfering with the fan. I ended up building and installing a bracket to hold the fan at the end of the motor and it works. Also picked up a thermal/temp gun to track temps.

So far the Titan has survived and hasn't got above 135 degrees.

 

[Maponos]

A fully charged LiPo has 4.2V per cell. That's totally fine.

 

[nino]

Any brushed motor can handle 2s and 3s, even 4s, but they wear, basically throwaway items unless you get a rebuildable one. I recommend Holmes Hobbies for brushed motors, their 15/20$ sport line is great.