Senton Newbie question- Upgrade Senton Mega to brushless??

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DP400

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Arrma RC's
  1. Senton 3s
Hi All
New member and first time poster here. Im new to the world of RC cars, having previously flown heli's and planes but Ive gone and bought myself a Senton Mega 4x4 "brushless ready" which ive not even run yet. In hindsight I think I should have upped the budget and gone straight to brushless but its too late for that now, and ive been contemplating selling the Mega as "unused" but at a loss to me and then buying something brushless instead.
So my question to you guys is can I simply buy a new brushless motor and ESC and run that with the 2S Lipos i bought when i got the truck and will that be a significant improvement over the standard brushed motor and ESC.
If its worth doing this can you recommend an ESC and Motor combo I can buy in the UK that is a simple swap for the brushed set up, and will I have to change anything else or just the motor and ESC?
Any help you guys can give to a newbie whos still learning the ropes will be much appreciated! :)
 
The hobby wing max 10 sct combo is a great brushless motor and esc. And you can run the 4000kv on 2s or get the 3200 kv if you plan for 3s. You might need a different transmitter and receiver but I’m not sure. If you do the dumbo rc has a real decent inexpensive one.

edit: I just looked it up and you should be ok w your stl3 transmitter it comes with.
 
Hey D, I'm new at this too but it sounds like we are doing the same thing. I have two granite mega trucks. I am piece by piece upgrading them, almost ready to try my first, after a new slipper clutch arrives. I am bumbling through this, so I am sure that others may know better. I am just using stock BLX parts from Jenny's RC.

Here is what I have run into so far.

-The brushless motor uses a 5mm shaft, the mega motor is 1/8", you will need a new 15t pinion, 5mm shaft size.
-The new pinion will not mesh with the existing spur gear. WAIT, don't buy the spur gear, it won't fit! you need the entire slipper clutch assembly for BLX level (brushless).
-a tip from a local guy - to set the space between the pinion and the spur gear you can use some cash register paper as a feeler gauge, gently crush it between the pinion and the spur gears the tighten the motor mounting screws. now check and you should get a nice little click as you rock the spur back and forth, good play!
-your battery most likely uses EC3 connectors. I bet your new ESC uses EC5. Just be aware. There are many ways to solve this. These from Amazon did the trick for me.

3pcs Male EC3 to Female EC5 Connector Adapter for Lipo Battery (BDHI-79)​


My humble suggestions so far...

While you have your motor assy out check your front and rear wheels to assure they roll freely. I found the front on one truck not rolling as free as the other. the diff in that truck was "not dry - not packed" so after packing the diff and careful reassembly the fronts roll nicely.

If you do start taking stuff apart be careful to not over tighten plastic parts. Check one before you loosen it. They are built with lots of play in places. If you crush everything tight, like a car, bad things will happen later.

If you push your plastic 14mm hubs on real tight, they can bind. They might loosen up on their own as you drive but I could feel them dragging. That and dropping those pins that always go to the secret place...I got the metal hubs with the set screws. They are cheap and stay put.

I'm not sure this is the cost effective way to go brushless, but for newbies like me the learning is just great! It's pretty clear already that if you don't like wrenching you won't like bashing. The old thing about "speed costs, how fast would you like to go today?" has never been more true.

Have fun! Hey post up what you run into please! Good Luck!!!

I am in the same boat as you. If all goes well I may be able to try out my upgraded truck today!!!
 
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You can find a 5mm pinion for the new motor in the correct pitch 48p that the Mega spur gear has, however honestly not sure how long the slipper will last. You (like me and my Mega) learned the hard way to just do it right the first time. Motor, motor mount, ESC, 15T 0.8Mod pitch pinion, and full BLX slipper assembly will get you fixed up. Not sure if a driveshaft support is needed for the Senton, but is recommended for the Typhon. If you have a V3, the rest of the drivetrain is already 3s ready. I will also be changing everything I have over to EC5 connectors so I can run 2s or 3s batteries.
 
Thanks for all your advice. My new mega is apparently “brushless ready”. The Rc shop I bought it from said all I need to buy is the hobbywing ezrun max10 motor / esc combo which comes with the correct pinion and I’m good to go so I’m probably gonna go buy one tomorrow and see how I get on.
 
DP400 said:
Thanks for all your advice. My new mega is apparently “brushless ready”. The Rc shop I bought it from said all I need to buy is
Click to expand...
Yup, and that is why I typed all that. Basically that is correct, except for....

If you have not purchased yet, and you can get delivery there, Jenny's RC (thanks to the guys here I know about this) has great prices. You just have to be sure to order what you want and know what to do with it. They really reduce your project cost!

On that slipper/spur gear thing, the other thing I notice is how much deeper the teeth engage on the 57t set. Should be able to handle power better (IMO). The BLX slipper assembly is just beefier, 2 slipper pads instead of one, mine should be here soon! :)

I am seeing more videos of failed diffs after beefing up the power. I believe it! Mine looked just like the ones in the videos, a wipe of Vaseline looking grease in there with no gear lube. No wonder those little gears get all crunchy! I will be re-packing all my diffs now, before they fail.
 
Well I’ve been to the rc shop today and he fitted a hobbywing max10 combo with a 4000kv motor to the truck. He also tightened up the slipper clutch as he said that was necessary to cope with the extra power. Gonna try it on 2S first as the guy said on 3S it’s going to be borderline too much power to control.
Will let you know how I get on.
 
DP400 said:
Well I’ve been to the rc shop today and he fitted a hobbywing max10 combo with a 4000kv motor to the truck. He also tightened up the slipper clutch as he said that was necessary to cope with the extra power. Gonna try it on 2S first as the guy said on 3S it’s going to be borderline too much power to control.
Will let you know how I get on.
Click to expand...
The Max10, 60amp ESC, and 4000kv motor is actually a bit small for a 1/10 4x4 truck. Not enough torque to run properly and will heat up. Stay with a 2s battery, on 3s the 4000kv motor will heat up real fast. The Hobby shop should not have sold you that combo. There is a reason the stock Arrma brushless rigs come with a 100amp ESC and a 3200kv motor. The combo you bought is underpowered. Will seem fine at first but it is not the correct setup. Also, DO NOT RUN AN ADAPTER BETWEEN THE BATTERY AND ESC!!!! EVER!!! Will create too much resistance and could burn up your ESC. Solder on the correct battery plugs. If you can't solder the Hobby shop will solder the correct EC5/IC5 plugs on to your batteries. Or if you have XT90 plugs just make sure the ESC and batteries have matching plugs. DO NOT USE AN ADAPTER. Adapters are only ok for charging. That's it. Nothing else.
 
Kla912000 said:
The Max10, 60amp ESC, and 4000kv motor is actually a bit small for a 1/10 4x4 truck. Not enough torque to run properly and will heat up. Stay with a 2s battery, on 3s the 4000kv motor will heat up real fast. The Hobby shop should not have sold you that combo. There is a reason the stock Arrma brushless rigs come with a 100amp ESC and a 3200kv motor. The combo you bought is underpowered. Will seem fine at first but it is not the correct setup. Also, DO NOT RUN AN ADAPTER BETWEEN THE BATTERY AND ESC!!!! EVER!!! Will create too much resistance and could burn up your ESC. Solder on the correct battery plugs. If you can't solder the Hobby shop will solder the correct EC5/IC5 plugs on to your batteries. Or if you have XT90 plugs just make sure the ESC and batteries have matching plugs. DO NOT USE AN ADAPTER. Adapters are only ok for charging. That's it. Nothing else.
Click to expand...
Hi I believe it’s a 120amp ESC?

0A51DC62-6D59-46C9-8D21-FB7CA059D664.jpeg
 
DP400 said:
Well I’ve been to the rc shop today and he fitted a hobbywing max10 combo with a 4000kv motor to the truck. He also tightened up the slipper clutch as he said that was necessary to cope with the extra power. Gonna try it on 2S first as the guy said on 3S it’s going to be borderline too much power to control.
Will let you know how I get on.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you may want to find a different shop.
 
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