Granite Granite 4x4 mega brushed cutting out & damaged plastic

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Legit Wizard

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Hello all, new person to the hobby since yesterday. Got myself a Granite 4x4 mega brushed. Unfortunately, I Ran into my first issue sooner than I would have hoped- the 2nd day of having the new car. First day went well, but today having issues with the car cutting out despite having fully charged batteries. Hoping someone can help.

Today, after a good 15 or so minute run with the bundled NiMh battery, I switched the ECU over to LiPo mode and put my LiPo battery in. After only 2 minutes of using the 2S Lipo the car started to run slow. Turned it off, and on again and was fine for 30 seconds until it cut out completely. This would now happen with both batteries fully charged. After each time it cuts out a red light would flash on the ECU. Again, worked when turned off and back on but I get at most one minute before it shuts off again with the flashing red light no matter what battery I used (and ECU set to the correct battery type each time).

Could it be overheating? According to the manual, if its flashing red its an overheating safety mode. Only thing I can think of.

After noticing the red light was flashing on the ecu then after that I also noticed the damaged plastic pictured. I've also noticed it 'slipping' under acceleration which I can only assume is related to the damaged plastic as it cannot get the power down.

My question is, is the cutting out and ECU flashing red light related to the damaged plastic? Or do I have 2 separate issues? Should I send it back to wheelspin models? Doesn't seem right to have it cutting out on day 2?

I purchased the car from wheelspin models and went with the lipo upgrade package pictured.

Any help is greatly appreciated ?
 

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I should add I’m using it on grass, it’s pretty short and dry grass. Could this be causing too much strain on my granite?
 
Your slipper clutch looks destroyed. That red plastic nut is supposed to tighten the spring and hence the clutch. That nut looks mangled.
I should add I’m using it on grass, it’s pretty short and dry grass. Could this be causing too much strain on my granite?
Yes! And the 50c 2s is going to definitely explode your motor! I did the exact same thing!

It's too much juice and the battery discharges pretty fast: that's the 'c'

Also: major heat in motor because you need lots of torque to drive in the grass.
Looks like that nut is mangled and no longer holding the clutch in. That might be one problem. Looks like your wheels didn't want to spin and the motor kept going.

We found our slipper clutch was a bit tight from the factory.

Also you have a 5000 mah battery I think! Runs for a long time! Lots of runtime equals greater heat build up.

The temperature thing is for the ESC and won't help if your motor and tranny are on the verge of exploding.

The slipper clutch assembly and the stock gear replacement parts are cheap and there are good videos on how to take apart the power module: the motor mount / gearbox.
Running those two batteries back to back like that could definitely cause thermal issues.

We did a lot to our car, but until we got parts and stuff we stuck to just running the stock Nimh.

I strongly encourage you to take the power module out and see what's up. You just need a good set of Allen keys.
 
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Like the spring was just sitting there and the drive shaft was going flat out?

I wonder if it got loose from bashing in the grass.

There is definitely 2 problems tho.

An electronic thing and the mangled slipper.
 
Your slipper clutch looks destroyed. That red plastic nut is supposed to tighten the spring and hence the clutch. That nut looks mangled.

Yes! And the 50c 2s is going to definitely explode your motor! I did the exact same thing!

It's too much juice and the battery discharges pretty fast: that's the 'c'

Also: major heat in motor because you need lots of torque to drive in the grass.
Looks like that nut is mangled and no longer holding the clutch in. That might be one problem. Looks like your wheels didn't want to spin and the motor kept going.

We found our slipper clutch was a bit tight from the factory.

Also you have a 5000 mah battery I think! Runs for a long time! Lots of runtime equals greater heat build up.

The temperature thing is for the ESC and won't help if your motor and tranny are on the verge of exploding.

The slipper clutch assembly and the stock gear replacement parts are cheap and there are good videos on how to take apart the power module: the motor mount / gearbox.
Running those two batteries back to back like that could definitely cause thermal issues.

We did a lot to our car, but until we got parts and stuff we stuck to just running the stock Nimh.

I strongly encourage you to take the power module out and see what's up. You just need a good set of Allen keys.

Awesome man thank you so much for taking the time to answer me in detail.

Clearly a lot to learn, but this is why I wanted to get into RC in the first place - a place to learn, lose myself & tinker around :)

Looks like I got some work to do, and will definitely only run it on the stock NiMh from now on. Wheelspin models probably shouldn't offer the combo pack of this car with these batteries to be fair then in my opinion, impossible for beginners to know :(

Didn't realize you couldn't/shouldn't run 2 batteries back to back - is it good standard practice to let the car rest for a while between packs then? It was quite hot yesterday, that probably didn't help either.

I bought this car to share with my 5yo daughter, to have something to do together - I also have my own granite coming on Monday, the faster BLX 3S - is there anything else I should know before I wreck that one too?

I have these batteries coming with the 3S BLX https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/321462/ - Now i'm super paranoid, will these also destroy the 3S BLX Granite? Can I use my now redundant 2S in the 3S?

I went with the Arrma Granite after some research as people generally say that they are tough & easy to work on. I bought a hobby grade off road monster truck with the assumption that it would handle off road, is there such a car that handles tough dry grass easily? I live near some huge fields, which is where I would like to be able to have good runs on for hours on end if possible.

Thanks again!
 
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I have the power module removed but cannot figure out how to get this plastic nut off, it's on there tight. How are you supposed to remove it?
 
The nut has threads so it just needs to be unscrewed.. problem is it got very hot and is most likely melted right to the spline.. try tightening it first then backing it off.. put in a warranty claim with horizon hobby they will send you the new clutch parts and possibly a motor/esc..
 
The nut has threads so it just needs to be unscrewed.. problem is it got very hot and is most likely melted right to the spline.. try tightening it first then backing it off.. put in a warranty claim with horizon hobby they will send you the new clutch parts and possibly a motor/esc..

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Thanks man, managed to get the melted nut off and cleaned what I could around the spring with an exact blade. If I put the new nut on will it be alright? Or will I need a whole new section? Cheers
 
You should be just fine with the new plastic nut.. put some pressure on it.. they don't have the power to really snap anything so better tight than loose..?.. I would pull the spring though and remove that chunk of plastic still in the coils..
 
I’m in the same boat as you Wizard! Got my Granite in 2 days ago and keeps over heating quickly. I see from earlier comments that it’s likely due to me running a 100c battery!

Rather than buy new batteries, I’m thinking about just upgrading to an ESC / brushless motor combo. It looks like with most of the upgraded systems, the ESC comes with a fan for better heat dissipation.
 
Thanks a lot for the help guys, much appreciated!

I have the BLX 3S Granite version coming Monday, with these batteries: https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/321462/

Will they also be too powerful for the brushless 3S BLX?
I would think not! The overall construction of the 3s blx model is much better! You should be fine!

Monitoring temperatures is a thing though. I don't have an IR thing? But if I burn my finger on the motor it's too hot.

I think you'll be way happier with the blx. I wish I had bought one first or bought one after like you did instead of doubling down! I could have bought a 3s instead of upgrading my Mega for the cost and ultimately there are still a veritable ass load of parts I would still need to change before a total conversion would be complete.

I don't imagine you'll have thermal problems unless you change to a taller gear ratio.

Of course if you are going flat out on tall grass and push those two batteries back to back in 30+ °C ambient temperature in the sun? You might stress things out a bit.
Thanks a lot for the help guys, much appreciated!

I have the BLX 3S Granite version coming Monday, with these batteries: https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/321462/

Will they also be too powerful for the brushless 3S BLX?
You can use the 50c 2s! Your performance will be a little less? But maybe good for your little one.
 
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I’m in the same boat as you Wizard! Got my Granite in 2 days ago and keeps over heating quickly. I see from earlier comments that it’s likely due to me running a 100c battery!

Rather than buy new batteries, I’m thinking about just upgrading to an ESC / brushless motor combo. It looks like with most of the upgraded systems, the ESC comes with a fan for better heat dissipation.

Just going from experience you are definitely better to grab a 3s model. I will post an upgrade thread soon but dollar for dollar I could have bought another truck and almost the battery by now.

We put a comparable to the 3s blx motor and esc into the Mega and we haven't exploded everything yet. . Yet. The rear diff is on it's way out we think. . . Making some clacking noises.

The 3S is so much more than motor and electronics I am finding out! Well beyond drivetrain there are all kinds of other more subtle differences that make for a much tougher truck.
 
Yeah I originally ordered the BLX from Amain Hobbies but it was on back order forever and then they sent me a message saying that it would be at least until late September. They refunded my money and I got the Mega which was in stock. Like the little guy and it’s perfect for my son, but the 100c battery burned up the motor just this morning. So now I have to replace the motor anyway.

Better off to replace the factory brushed motor like for like and downgrade to a 35C battery, or upgrade to the Castle SW4 kit? Money isn’t really the problem - Availability is. I’m too much of a kid at heart to wait until late fall for the BLX to be available. Haha
 
If Money is no object grab a brushed motor and get back on the road! Yes! Get a 35c battery!

We killed a motor and spur gear in 2 days and we were on a 3rd motor by week 2 when we went brushless.

We got a hobbywing max10 sct combo. It took a while to find one locally because waiting for online orders sucks. Especially when Canada Post is involved.

I would not go smaller than the max10 sct. The 3660 size motor is almost identical to the stock blx and the 120A esc we figured is future proofing us up to 4S.

Where are you? I have a 550 motor and a brand new spur gear I can send you.
Just to get you on the road.
 
When the NiMh battery runs out, is it supposed to cut out and make the red light flash?

After around 20 mins this happened, in low heat and on tarmac with the NiMh battery.
 
I don't know exactly the codes for the ESCs. But that was roughly the performance and duration we got with the stock battery.

You can see the difference in performance with the Lipo, right? More voltage, more rpm and the longer run time all equal much much more heat and bad things for that brushed motor.
I mean: yeah that is probably low voltage or battery dead warning.

That's the other thing about nimh vs. Lipo

Performance will drop steadily as voltage decreases in the nimh over the discharge of the battery whereas the lipo will discharge consistently so you get the good voltage and hence performance until nothing. There's no like. . . Slowing down. It's full power until nothing.
 
I don't know exactly the codes for the ESCs. But that was roughly the performance and duration we got with the stock battery.

You can see the difference in performance with the Lipo, right? More voltage, more rpm and the longer run time all equal much much more heat and bad things for that brushed motor.
I mean: yeah that is probably low voltage or battery dead warning.

That's the other thing about nimh vs. Lipo

Performance will drop steadily as voltage decreases in the nimh over the discharge of the battery whereas the lipo will discharge consistently so you get the good voltage and hence performance until nothing. There's no like. . . Slowing down. It's full power until nothing.

That's what threw me off, there wasn't really any slowing down with the nimh I mean I got 20 minutes out of it but I didn't notice it slowing down.. It's just kinda, stopped.. Like I'd expect the lipo to do, with the flashing red light to match. Turning it off and on again made it run for a few seconds before cutting out again, much like how the other day went with the cutting out lipo.

To be honest I don't really notice the difference in performance with the lipo, both seem nippy to me.
 
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