Kraton Newbie's journey with a Kraton 4s

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ph47mf

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Arrma RC's
  1. Infraction
  2. Kraton 6s
Hello from the UK

I had a nitro HPI RS4 and a nitro HPI firestorm many moons ago and now I want to get back into the fold but electric this time and just want some advice please.

I did some research through the Modelsport website (seems like the only place to go in the UK) and with the criterias selected (4wd, waterproof, brushless etc), Arrma seems to be the best choice. I have further narrowed it down to the Typhon 3s because it's apparently a little bigger than others like Senton etc and can do both speed and off-road terrain.

It will be used in parks, open space, nothing too challenging yet, think Typhon is the best choice? Or for around £300, maybe upto £400, there are better options?

I will most likely go buy it tomorrow. Any advice appreciated. :giggle:
 
The Typhon and Senton are the same chassis, but the Typhon is a little wider in stance. Of those two, the Typhon would be my choice.
 
If you are willing to spend 400 then go with the 4s kraton or outcast. for the money you can't beat the quality speed and fun. The 3s line is good to start but the 4s line will get you a truck that you will be happy with for a long time. Also i have personally killed 5 blx100 ESCs and 1 blx3200kv motor, while i have yet to stop the blx120 or blx185 and corresponding motors. For a little more money you get a much better truck.
 
Thank you guys.

I went to the store and walked out with a Kraton 4s instead as all the staff recommended it. I've had a 1/10th before, this looks more like 1/8th, it's huge!

I bought everything else there as well and they gave me the wrong lead to charge my Lipo (4s 5000mah 50c) and didn't mention that I need a loop connector for using a single lipo so all the excitement on the first day but didn't get a chance to run it.

I had a little rant at the shop today and they gave me all the wires for free. Took it out on a plain field for about 15 minutes, it just stopped, I pressed the throttle I can hear the motor going but wheels didn't move.

Thinking battery is low, I charged it to full again and same thing happened.

I just went out to try again as soon as I turn the car on, red light flashes constantly. Wheels turn, motor spins when I use my remote but again wheels don't move. Tried the reset procedure, didn't make any difference.

Does it sound like I have to take it apart? It's only my first run!
 
It sounds like the spur gear is toast. It shouldn't happen that fast but i once had a revo 3.3 burn a spur gear while i was still running it in. If it sounds like the motor is spinning but has a little bit more whine than usual that's probably it. Sometimes they come from the factory without everything being tightened all the way. Ready to run doesn't really mean that it just means it has all the parts. Bring the car with you when you go back to the shop and they should hopefully do the work if you purchase the gear(if that is the problem). It should only be a few dollars for the gear but make sure you tighten the grub screw on the pinion because it probably moved. The kraton was a great choice tho i hope this doesn't sour your opinion of it i love my kratons.
 
Think it might be your slipper clutch coming loose. The spur gear is pretty solid so shouldn't break. The slipper can come loose and you hear motor spin without wheel movement. Try taking the centre driveshaft out and tighten the slipper clutch. Its on thr instruction manual that comes with the box
 
Something is loose for sure. Head back to the hobby store and I’m sure they’ll help you get it sorted.
 
Thank you guys.

I followed the manual and tighten the slipper clutch and took the motor out to make sure everything is alright and I found the pinion gear to be upside down (the round side on the outside with number 13 on it), quickly test it with a battery and it's all working again and seems to be much more powerful than before! Did the guy at the factory had a snooze? :unsure::LOL:

Anyway I have a couple of queries:

1) I use a SkyRC T100 dual charger and it lets me choose balance charge or just charge, instruction booklet is pretty useless, should I balance charge every time?
2) Say I go for a bash, when do I stop when the battery becomes low, as soon as it slows down or I can play till it's dead because it has a cut off point to save the battery?
3) Sometimes when I turn the car on, it flashes red and the controller gets like a 20 second delay before everything works again, normal?
4) The car is baked in dry mud at the moment, how often do you guys wash it?
5) how many Lipos do you keep with you when you go out for some fun?

Thank you guys, love reading the advice. ??
 
Thank you guys.

I followed the manual and tighten the slipper clutch and took the motor out to make sure everything is alright and I found the pinion gear to be upside down (the round side on the outside with number 13 on it), quickly test it with a battery and it's all working again and seems to be much more powerful than before! Did the guy at the factory had a snooze? :unsure::LOL:

Anyway I have a couple of queries:

1) I use a SkyRC T100 dual charger and it lets me choose balance charge or just charge, instruction booklet is pretty useless, should I balance charge every time?
2) Say I go for a bash, when do I stop when the battery becomes low, as soon as it slows down or I can play till it's dead because it has a cut off point to save the battery?
3) Sometimes when I turn the car on, it flashes red and the controller gets like a 20 second delay before everything works again, normal?
4) The car is baked in dry mud at the moment, how often do you guys wash it?
5) how many Lipos do you keep with you when you go out for some fun?

Thank you guys, love reading the advice. ??
1) ALWAYS balance charge. ALWAYS!
2) Stop when it slows down. That’s to prevent damage to your lipo.
3) Thats normal for the stock radio STX2 which is a flaming pile of dog crap ?
4) With a hose. Don’t spray directly on the electronics tho.
5) At least two, but any more and you’re guaranteed to break instead. It’s an unspoken RC law.
 
You should balance charge your batteries but you don't have to every time if you are pressed for time or something. I spray directly into my electronics with a garden hose every time i use it. The bearings are more of a problem and will need to be replaced more often if you clean it like that. I rarely get thru 2 batteries before something breaks but for some reason i usually bring more. Change out the remote, the delay is normal but it is indeed garbage, you will probably notice some lag in the controls which is more of a problem than the wait when it turns in.
 
Yea definitely at least 2 lipos if you want to have a good time. I recently bought 6000mah lipos and find sometimes 1 lipo would be sufficient. I would recommend getting the flysky GT5 transmitter and receiver as its a heap better than the stock STX2
 
Took it out and had fun for about 10 min, pressed the throttle, all sound and no action again. Tried to tighten slipper clutch again and didn't do anything.

Before having to take it apart with tiny little tools again, got any suggestions? Why does it keep happening?

I can't refund it once used and my current feeling is I want to setup a very expensive barbeque. Durable they say, don't even work out of the box! 2 breakdowns in 2 days and I haven't even gone through half a battery both times yet. :mad::mad:
 
You're gonna have to get the tiny tools out. I would tighten the slipper clutch as tight as you can reasonably get it and if that doesn't solve the problem it might be that you spun the pinion gear. The teeth should be away from the motor with the grub screw between the teeth and the motor(hard to get at). It could be that the pinion is loose, make sure to add enough threadlock and let it set up for 24 hours. If that is it then use red threadlock and just heat it if you need to get it off. Im sorry you seem to have gotten a dud, i swear it's a great truck.
 
When I bought my Kraton 4S there was some sort of oil all over the slipper pads. I had to take it apart, clean it, and set the slipper clutch up properly. That solved my issue.
 
Thank you, I took your advice to take it apart and it is exactly what you mentioned a loose pinion gear. It seems the little grub is not tight enough so when the motor spins it doesn't.

I tried to tighten it to a point it's just enough to put the pinion gear back in though I don't have any thread lock and surprised it doesn't come with it out of the box and it has no lubrication at all.

I suspect the vibration will push the grub back out again so I will get some.

Just surprised 1) little grub is doing such an important job in the car, design flaw? 2) my friend bought the same car he hasn't got that issue at all.
 
Thank you, I took your advice to take it apart and it is exactly what you mentioned a loose pinion gear. It seems the little grub is not tight enough so when the motor spins it doesn't.

I tried to tighten it to a point it's just enough to put the pinion gear back in though I don't have any thread lock and surprised it doesn't come with it out of the box and it has no lubrication at all.

I suspect the vibration will push the grub back out again so I will get some.

Just surprised 1) little grub is doing such an important job in the car, design flaw? 2) my friend bought the same car he hasn't got that issue at all.
The pinion gear in my Kraton 8S is gigantic compared to the one you have in the 4S and it is secured with the same size grub screw. Get good tools that won't strip it out, use loctite and crank it down. Problem solved.
 
The hobby is more than buying a box and driving the RC. There’s also a fixing side. And tinkering. Get some tools and dig in. Take some pics as you pull stuff apart. Organize your screws so you remember where they go.
 
Oh I expected to repair something but not engine out kinda repairs on the first and second day of ownership of a brand new RC. :LOL: luckily it's quite easy to take things apart.

Do you guys know if they put threadlock in on the pinion gear at the factory? Because mine is bone dry, not even grease in there.

After my previous comment, I managed to have some fun for 10 minutes and you guessed it, pinion loose again. I won't touch anything until I've spoken to the shop tomorrow morning. o_O
 
You should have blue thread lock on the pinion, but no grease on any of the gears in the power module. If you use grease here it will live the slipper pads too, which would be a bad idea. ??
 
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