Kraton Kraton v5 and a couple questions

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Crashngo

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I made a post and when I edited some typos, stupid autocorrect, it disappeared. Sorry if this ends up being a double post

Hello all, I am getting back into the hobby after a bit of a hiatus. I am a total noob to brushless and damn I wish I had gotten one sooner. I have still have a Revo and jato 3.3 that are begging for conversions. But back to the kraton. To preface I have 2 HRB 5000mah 50c 6s batteries to run in this beast.

The first question I have concerns motor temp. I notice after one pack the motor is too hot to touch for more than a second. You can touch the esc heatsink all you want. I am running the stock gearing. The 1st run was mostly on the street and short cut grass, so nothing that I would consider high resistance surfaces. Is this normal running on 6s? I am going to get a heatsink/dual fan setup for it. But I feel like it shouldn't be running so hot to begin with and I don't think it would need a fan setup to get the temps down on the stock gearing. But I am new to brushless so I could be totally wrong.

The second question is regarding steering. On my second run I was on gravel and I noticed that occasionally the steering would just drop out. I can blip the throttle and it comes back, but not always. After that run I took the truck inside and I noticed that there was a piece of gravel wedged towards the front of the chassis, near the front bulkhead between the body of the servo and the servo saver "tower." I know the stock radio gear isn't the greatest and is on my list of upgrades. But it just seems very odd that a blip of the throttle will give me steering again. Could that piece of gravel have damaged the servo? I have an old futuba 3pm that I need to dig out of my closet. Once I find it I will swap out the stock gear for it to see if that changes anything. I just wanted some opinions from people who know these trucks better than I do.

Thanks,
Crash
 
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I made a post and when I edited some typos, stupid autocorrect, it disappeared. My original post has reappeared please delete this.
Firstly Welcome to the forum.

Moderators have to review and approve all new members first few posts as a security measure. You caught me at dinner before I could save the first one but this will do just fine.
I’d recommend getting an inexpensive infrared thermometer so that you know exactly what temperatures your motor and esc are getting. There’s really no getting around it and you can pick one up for $15-20.
https://www.amazon.com/General-Tools-IRT3-Thermometer-Detector/dp/B01LWLE8QJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=15C2CC28CMGCN&keywords=infrared+thermometer+small&qid=1640650332&rnid=2941120011&s=industrial&sprefix=infrared+themometer+smal,aps,164&sr=1-4
Stay below 180F for the motor.

As for the rock and steering issues I’d say it’s a safe bet that the rock had a part in it acting up. Run if again and see if it does the same thing without the rock.
 
Ahh gotcha thanks. Sorry for all that.

I had a temp gun but I can't find it. Thanks for the suggestion. I will pick that up tonight.

Regarding the steering issue. I actually ran one pack through it today and that's when I noticed I get my steering back with a blip of the throttle. The run today is actually what prompted me to post today. I should have made that more clear.
 
Welcome to the forum!
Yes, get a fan, but also check your drivetrain for any binding or resistance. Motor heat is truly pending the surface you are on and personal drive style.
As above, get a cheap thermometer and don't trust your 'feelings'.
You might want to tighten your servo saver, might cause weird steering issues.
In your case, very likely a piece of gravel blocked steering.
 
Welcome to the forum, you're gonna find a lot of great folks here. I'm new to these as the last RC car I had was a LONG time ago, so the Kraton V5 has been a huge learning curve for me.

I can't comment on the steering other than see if it does it again. Mine has never had issues even when the truck is further away than it really needs to be. This weekend I replaced the bushings with bearings in the steering and added the 9/16" lock rings to the servo saver to tighten it and steering is at least 50% tighter now.

Motor temp is a thing. I'm on the stock gear and in even what I'd call mild 60°F air temps I've measured 150ish °F temps on with a digital temp gauge on the motor case. I'm definitely gonna need a fan setup here soon.
 
I ran the truck again today on my lunch break and the steering is still acting funky. What stumps me is that a blip of the throttle will bring steering back. This makes me think that it is a tx/rx issue. I would think that if the servo was damaged that steering would not work at all.
 
Try re-binding?
I will try that when I get home from work.

On a side note regarding the radio setup. I have an older futuba 3pm, it's at least 7 or 8 years old. I know it still functions as I have used it to run my slash a couple years back. I definitely want to upgrade the stock radio gear. Should I run that 3pm or get something like the radiolink rc6gs? The radiolink has a bunch of bells and whistles that the futuba doesn't. Plus having the extra channels would be nice to power any accessories. I just wanted to get some other opinions.
 
Re-binding won't fix those type of issues.

Personally, I highly dislike the 3PM menu section and wouldn't get it for that reason alone. It does have good range and is very reliable.
I am using the RC6GS and it's ok, better range than Spektrum, also reliable.
Spektrum for all my cars (DX5C) and RC6GS for boats.
 
Re-binding won't fix those type of issues.

Personally, I highly dislike the 3PM menu section and wouldn't get it for that reason alone. It does have good range and is very reliable.
I am using the RC6GS and it's ok, better range than Spektrum, also reliable.
Spektrum for all my cars (DX5C) and RC6GS for boats.
What do you think the issue is and what is the fix?

Regarding the 3pm I already own one. However, it's ancient, like I think it's one of the first versions. That's why I am looking into the radiolink. From what I've been reading it seems like you can't beat the RC6GS for the price. I will run the 3PM for the time being but I definitely want to get something that isn't a decade old lol
 
See post #6, if you have a Spektrum servo, that is the cause of 90% of all issues. Get a cheap one instead but stay away from Spektrum servos in this range.

Also, check all the wiring for damage, could easily be a dirty connection or damaged wire.
 
Oh gotcha the way I read that I thought you meant that as more of a proactive thing my apologies. Thanks I will look into a new servo.
 
Just a quick update. I had the chance to tear into the truck tonight. I didn't see anything that was broken. However, when I pulled the servo connector out of the receiver (thinking reseating might help) I noticed one of the pins is loose. The pin on the black wire, stock spectrum radio gear, can move a few millimeters. I can push it down so that the exposed little square is even with the other two. But it will not stay in place. I'm thinking this might be the source of my issue. It makes sense to me seeing as getting on the throttle will jostle the entire truck so it could be reseating the pin when that happens. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Crash
 
I'll give that a shot. But I'm definitely gonna pick up one of those cheapies. Sometimes I get caught up in wanted the latest and greatest especially when it comes to elections lol. But yeah thinking about it as something that will inevitably break it just doesn't make sense to go for the best in a a bashing rig. Thanks for all your help.
 
I'm still on my stock servo but did replace my steering bushings with some Fast Eddy bearings and put two lock rings on the servo saver. Helped a ton. Not perfect, but way better. When the stock servo bites the dust I'll pickup one of those 3235s and an upgraded server mount.
 
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