Estimated run time

[Skaxis]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what they think the run time should be for a Fury BLS running the 8.4v NiMh battery? I was letting my sons buddy use ours this weekend at the track. He only manged to get in about 5 laps before the truck stopped moving. The steering worked but not the drive wheels. I noticed that the red LED was on solid, and the blue LED was flashing. According to the manual this indicates a low voltage protection condition. Surely a fully charged 8.4v battery should provide more than 3 minutes of run time, right? This is the first full battery charged we've run on this truck. I bought it specifically to let this friend of his run a truck on this day at the track.

Note: this occurred using both the new Arrma battery that came with the kit and a 3000mAh 8.4v NiMh Duratrax Onyx battery.

His dad was driving my Fury Mega that day. Two Furies on the track in beginner class.

 

[Dreadstar]

That almost sounds as if the ESC is in Lipo mode rather than NiMH mode.

 

[mrbelloso]

Read the manual and check the battery mode, it looks like it is on Lipo mode.

 

[Skaxis]

I'll check it for sure. If it *is* in LiPo mode, it'll have come that way from Arrma. I didn't make any adjustments to the ESC modes and it ships with a NiMh. I hope that's the problem though. Easy fixes are the best! Thanks fellas. I'll report back tonight after I have a chance to check it out.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

That almost sounds as if the ESC is in LiPo mode rather than NiMH mode.

This, X3.

My son's brushless Torment did the same. Only difference, the ESC shipped in Nimh mode. My first time to run Lipo, I put the ESC in Lipo mode, 3.0 cutoff. Second battery after the change (first was a lipo) was the Nimh's we had been running for months. The 7 cell 8.4v battery ran for about 1 minute before LVC, the 6cell 7.2 would LVC as soon as you went over 3/4 throttle... LOL

Is that Thornhill Jr?

 

[OrangeDRAGON]

Just double checking on some of the basics here:

Have you 'cycled' the NiMH batteries and/or been able to measure the actual stored capacity (vs. rated capacity)? Batteries that have been sitting on a shelf are misleading when charged up, at times I've only gotten about 50% of the capacity out of them until I've been able to wake them up with 5-6 cycles.

Also, according to the manual the factory config for the BLS ESC is no LVC, but you still may want to confirm those settings.

 

[Skaxis]

I'll put some time into the batteries this week but yeah, I did cycle them prior to the race day.

Arrma support emailed me back and agrees with you all that the ESC is in LiPo mode.


> This weekend I brought our new Arrma Fury BLS to our local race track. My
> sons best buddy was driving it. I was on the track performing marshaling
> duties. The longest run time we could get out of the Fury BLS was about 3
> minutes. We used the included 8.4v 3300 mAh NiMh battery and a Duratrax
> 8.4v, 3000 mAh NiMh battery. During practice time, qualifying runs, and the
> main, the average run time was just about 3 minutes. The front tires still
> turned under controller input, but there was no power to the drive wheels.
> On the ESC the red LED was on and the blue LED was flashing. According to
> the manual this indicates low voltage protection has been enabled. I assume
> this means a dead battery. Surely a 3000/3300 mAh battery should provide
> more than just 3 minutes of run time on a maintained, indoor clay surface
> track!

Thank you for contacting product support,
The BLS ESC comes from the factory in Lipo Mode, which will cut the vehicle off after it detects a certain voltage. This is to protect Lipo Batteries, the steps to change this setting is located in your manual for the vehicle. It should last longer than 3 minutes, and after this setting is changed, it should last longer.

 

[Skaxis]

OK, I have confirmed that the ESC is in fact in NiMh mode. Beep 1 > 2 Beeps.
I can also verify that according the manual (OrangeDragon posted the pertinent info above), NiMh is the default, factory pre-set battery mode on the ESC.

I'll fully charge a battery and bash the truck at a play park tomorrow. I'll time the run from start to finish.

 

[Skaxis]

The tech support for Arrma has suggested I send them my ESC and motor. The low voltage cut off should be disabled in NiMh mode, but obviously is not. So either it's not actually in NiMh mode but indicates that it is, or it's kicking itself back into LiPo mode.

 

[OrangeDRAGON]

have you tried putting it into LiPo mode and testing of any different? if not then switching back and testing once more?

 

[Skaxis]

So I'm going to publish my idiocy for the world to see right now and update this thread saying that the ESC was fine. The charger that I *thought* autodetected the cell count of a battery in fact, does not. So the 7 cell 8.4v batteries were being charged as a 6 cell 7.4v battery. Once i discovered my error and charged the batteries correctly, all was well with the Fury BLS. It's quite the beast actually. It won't give my Castle 3800 SCT combo equipped Fury Mega trouble, but as a loaner rig it's plenty beastly.

 

[OrangeDRAGON]

A free fix, is still a free fix! LOL

 

[mrbelloso]

Great that you find the problem @Skaxis.