Senton Senton 3s BLX

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Buglebasher

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Arrma RC's
  1. Senton 6s
Gotta think, that I got a lemon. My wife bought me the Senton 3s for Christmas. It's been in a state of constant repair ever since.
The front bumper failed within a few days. Replaced with a T-bone racing bumper, well worth it.
Couple weeks later, the motor starts cogging. Horizon sent me a new motor quickly, great customer service.
A few days after the new motor came in, one of the tires shredded itself, glue on inside of wheel came loose. Ordered a new set of tires, replaced the bad one only to find that 2 of the remaining 3 original tires also had the inside of the tires coming loose from the wheel. Removed and reglued. Spare set now.
Noticed the shocks were too springy, opened them up to clean and rebuild, only to realize that most of the fluid had leaked out. Ordered replacement big bore aluminum shocks. Much better, still not leaking.
Fast forward a couple weeks, the servo locked up, ordered a new one.
Finally, yesterday, after about 15 minutes of running, I hear the all too familiar sound of clacking plastic gears. I suspected the spur gear, only to find that was pristine. The bevel gears on the rear differential however, were shredded. Who thought it was a good idea to use plastic bevel gears?
After the rear diff failure, started going over the entire car. Every bushing on the various tie rods is extremely worn out.
This is likely the last arrma product I will own. Very disappointed in the part quality. I love the overall design of the truck, but using cheap materials on a brushless platform is unacceptable.
Especially since I am using 2s lipos and rarely use 100 percent power, as the small tracks that my friend and I have built in our yards, don't allow us to get to full speed before some S turns.

Are these issues common? Before my wife purchased it, I had really fallen for this truck. Online videos and reviews gushed about it's strength, speed and overall performance. I have to believe that all of those reviews were done by folks who only had the truck a very short time. Because, initially, I really thought I had found a great value.

In fact, my son was so impressed initially that he went and bought his own. Currently, he is awaiting a new ESC from Horizon, after he had issues. And three of his tires have also come unglued on the inside.

I think this could be a great truck if they used better material and better suppliers.

Rant over, wish I could get diffs with metal bevel gears ..
 

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Sounds like any car in the RC hobby. Sure all at once this seems like a lot, but to be honest, these are the types of pains that come with the hobby. Nothing is 100% out of the box without spending a huge premium. None of the Arrma cars will last forever bone stock. For $300 you don’t get an unbreakable rig. You get a starter kit.
 
Sounds like any car in the RC hobby. Sure all at once this seems like a lot, but to be honest, these are the types of pains that come with the hobby. Nothing is 100% out of the box without spending a huge premium. None of the Arrma cars will last forever bone stock. For $300 you don’t get an unbreakable rig. You get a starter kit.
Well, I agree to an extent, and I know lots of folks down Traxxas, however, my slashes, haven't had this many issues over the course of years not months. But, for 300, you're right, you get what you pay for...?
 
Gotta think, that I got a lemon. My wife bought me the Senton 3s for Christmas. It's been in a state of constant repair ever since.
The front bumper failed within a few days. Replaced with a T-bone racing bumper, well worth it.
Couple weeks later, the motor starts cogging. Horizon sent me a new motor quickly, great customer service.
A few days after the new motor came in, one of the tires shredded itself, glue on inside of wheel came loose. Ordered a new set of tires, replaced the bad one only to find that 2 of the remaining 3 original tires also had the inside of the tires coming loose from the wheel. Removed and reglued. Spare set now.
Noticed the shocks were too springy, opened them up to clean and rebuild, only to realize that most of the fluid had leaked out. Ordered replacement big bore aluminum shocks. Much better, still not leaking.
Fast forward a couple weeks, the servo locked up, ordered a new one.
Finally, yesterday, after about 15 minutes of running, I hear the all too familiar sound of clacking plastic gears. I suspected the spur gear, only to find that was pristine. The bevel gears on the rear differential however, were shredded. Who thought it was a good idea to use plastic bevel gears?
After the rear diff failure, started going over the entire car. Every bushing on the various tie rods is extremely worn out.
This is likely the last arrma product I will own. Very disappointed in the part quality. I love the overall design of the truck, but using cheap materials on a brushless platform is unacceptable.
Especially since I am using 2s lipos and rarely use 100 percent power, as the small tracks that my friend and I have built in our yards, don't allow us to get to full speed before some S turns.

Are these issues common? Before my wife purchased it, I had really fallen for this truck. Online videos and reviews gushed about it's strength, speed and overall performance. I have to believe that all of those reviews were done by folks who only had the truck a very short time. Because, initially, I really thought I had found a great value.

In fact, my son was so impressed initially that he went and bought his own. Currently, he is awaiting a new ESC from Horizon, after he had issues. And three of his tires have also come unglued on the inside.

I think this could be a great truck if they used better material and better suppliers.

Rant over, wish I could get diffs with metal bevel gears ..
It would be nice if you could briefly describe what you were doing when each thing happened. Without it we're forced to imagine the context; I mean if all you did was run it up and down your street without doing any jumps or sends than I'd say those issues are not common and perhaps you indeed got a lemon, but if you are trying to send it 20ft in the air then yeah... that kind of damage is to be expected - especially if you aren't good at landing jumps or if you aren't great at avoiding obstacles. I'm surprised that you Slashes were comparatively more durable in your experience. That's the opposite of what I've heard from most hobbyists who've come over from being Traxxas Slash owners.
 
Primarily just running the track in my yard, flat track with s turns. I have used it on ramps, but not much. I didn't want to kill it. Never anything near 20 ft in the air either, maybe 6-8 ft. Again, I'm talking about that like maybe 15-20 jumps total. None in the last month.
 
Never imagined that the diff gear can strip on 2s. i have 2 trucks like this and i run 3s only and my diffs still look new. i assume either the screws for the diff holder wasnt tight or it just wasnt shimmed correctly.

shocks and bumper are a known issue, Tires will unglue if you diff out alot, servo is a common issue in RC, i personally didnt have an issue with the stock one, only it was slow.

This platform is new, it's the first version. The slash had few iterations already, i just hope that the issues you had will be fixed in the next iteration.
 
I was shocked about the diffs stripping out also. Hope they can get the issues resolved. However, I think in the future, I'll just build from the ground up. Looking at the Tekno 410.3 as the start point.
 
I am running the same diffs on 4S and 6S. I have bought exactly one spare set of diffs for my three 4x4 rigs. They still sit in the JRC bag unused. If you know me at all, I have broken almost every single part on all my rigs. Except diffs. I can’t explain it. Others have. ??‍♂️
 
Great to know they can hold up. One of the output shafts had some float in it, I think and hope that was the cause of the failure. The diff just shouldn't shred itself like that. Looks like the housing for the bearing was oversize. Not worn, just too large from the start. The bearings still roll smooth.
 
I too have done nothing but replace parts on my senton 6s. I have had mine maybe 6months or 10hrs total drive time. Spent more replacing parts than original cost. I know parts break but after every session(2 4sbatt packs) something needs replaced. Starting to make me hesitant to run the senton, wondering how much money this session is gonna cost. Prior to owning this senton I purchased the 1/18th wltoys a959b buggy for 60bucks. I've put it through everything and more then my senton. Only replaced gears from plastic to metal and new tire because original are bald. These items were 30bucks at most. I know these are 2 totally different cars but beginning to think arrma isn't so tough except on your pocket book
 
Wow, surprised the 6s also has a bunch of issues. Definitely going in the build my own direction. If I'm going to have an $800 sct, might as well do it with parts I choose?
 
I’ll admit, watching a bunch of YouTube videos of people doing insane stunts with Arrmas, and taking insane crashes with little to no damage, caused me to have an unrealistic expectation of durability for my first basher.

I too have broken front and rear bumpers in seemingly minor incidents, as well as shredding a tire, cracking a wheel, and seizing up a transmission bearing.

I have not had too many serious issues yet, but hanging around this forum has caused me to re-adjust my expectations.

The Senton gives a lot of speed, for a pretty fair price, IMO. It does not seem to be built to last an exceptionally long time without service and replacements though.
 
Hmmm,

I'll chime in but keep in mind I'm very new to the sport and don't have a fraction of the experiences as the other guys here, but I do have a Senton 3s BLX.

That said, my truck has been fantastic. I have upgraded a few things for fun, and have broken a few small parts due to my errors, but overall my truck as exceeded my durability expectations. I think a key aspect is my driving style. I'm trying to learn how to drive the truck as well as possible at speed, so I work 80% on very short dry grass, focusing on cornering and such. I do practice on pavement and some gravel fields, but I don't jump the truck. Never been to a BMX park with the truck and have no interest to do so, and I think that also plays into my truck's durability.

Also, I work in widget manufacturing overseas and there are plenty of times we get a bad run of parts or a bad alloy, and it causes all kinds of grief in QC and some customer problems. We try to catch those before they make it out the door, but it happens. I always say the measurement of a company is not just the product the make, but the support they offer after the sale. As long as they stay on top of the problem and help you out, then I think your issues will get resolved. I can tell you that QC issues keep me up at night and I take it very personal when one of our products fails to meet the customers expectations. I'm sure there are people at ARRMA who feel the same way.

For sure there are lemons and bad part runs; it's just part of the game. I have told myself for years that these things are man-made, thus they will always have flaws; perfect is not possible. Some of our products we make go through a very strict QC process and utilize very fancy materials, but the price tag reflects it. For the $310 I paid for my truck, I'm astonished how well it's built and the overall parts quality.

If there is an external safety net for these trucks, for sure it's this forum. I read for hours and hours all the information on here and constantly learn new things.

Just food for thought.
 
Stuff gets beaten, parts break = excuse to buy better/upgraded parts. This is what the Lion King would refer to as The Circle of Life.

But on a serious note it sucks the 3s Senton hasn't live up to your expectations. I was considering getting one sometime as a more of a racer/speeder since it shares so many parts with my Granites I figure it's would be convenient. I probably still will get one because if I'm honest even if something breaks I don't mind fixing it because the parts that break are pretty cheap and the trucks are so easy to work on that I actually enjoy taking them apart and fixing them, almost as much as driving them. Maybe I'm weird.
 
Hmmm,

I'll chime in but keep in mind I'm very new to the sport and don't have a fraction of the experiences as the other guys here, but I do have a Senton 3s BLX.

That said, my truck has been fantastic. I have upgraded a few things for fun, and have broken a few small parts due to my errors, but overall my truck as exceeded my durability expectations. I think a key aspect is my driving style. I'm trying to learn how to drive the truck as well as possible at speed, so I work 80% on very short dry grass, focusing on cornering and such. I do practice on pavement and some gravel fields, but I don't jump the truck. Never been to a BMX park with the truck and have no interest to do so, and I think that also plays into my truck's durability.

Also, I work in widget manufacturing overseas and there are plenty of times we get a bad run of parts or a bad alloy, and it causes all kinds of grief in QC and some customer problems. We try to catch those before they make it out the door, but it happens. I always say the measurement of a company is not just the product the make, but the support they offer after the sale. As long as they stay on top of the problem and help you out, then I think your issues will get resolved. I can tell you that QC issues keep me up at night and I take it very personal when one of our products fails to meet the customers expectations. I'm sure there are people at ARRMA who feel the same way.

For sure there are lemons and bad part runs; it's just part of the game. I have told myself for years that these things are man-made, thus they will always have flaws; perfect is not possible. Some of our products we make go through a very strict QC process and utilize very fancy materials, but the price tag reflects it. For the $310 I paid for my truck, I'm astonished how well it's built and the overall parts quality.

If there is an external safety net for these trucks, for sure it's this forum. I read for hours and hours all the information on here and constantly learn new things.

Just food for thought.
Steve, appreciate the thought. I'm a mechanical engineer, and worked in design and manufacturing for 25+ years. I get it. My issue isn't support, Horizon has been great. My issue is the material issues, this many failures in less than two months is excessive. Again, I'm not at the bmx park jumping this 20 ft in the air. I'm running on a dirt flat track.
 
Steve, appreciate the thought. I'm a mechanical engineer, and worked in design and manufacturing for 25+ years. I get it. My issue isn't support, Horizon has been great. My issue is the material issues, this many failures in less than two months is excessive. Again, I'm not at the bmx park jumping this 20 ft in the air. I'm running on a dirt flat track.

Hmm, then I would have to say that I'm leaning towards lemon. I seem to be doing the same driving as you, and my Senton has been darn near perfect. Maybe see if they will swap the whole unit? The A arms are worth swapping out to RPM. I did mine because of a rock strike error on my part, but the RPM seem much better.

As an engineer, you know there is tremendous variation in polymer molding quality, not only in the batch runs but also in the base material and cure times. If I were at ARRMA, this would be an area of careful QC and spot checking. I spent a year chasing a bad run of 4130 chromoly and finally pinned down the problem to some bad pours by the foundry. Almost made me crazy before I stumbled onto the answer.

I wish you luck on this, and I'm bummed out you are having so many problems with my same truck model. Keep us in the loop.

s
 
Hmm, then I would have to say that I'm leaning towards lemon. I seem to be doing the same driving as you, and my Senton has been darn near perfect. Maybe see if they will swap the whole unit? The A arms are worth swapping out to RPM. I did mine because of a rock strike error on my part, but the RPM seem much better.

As an engineer, you know there is tremendous variation in polymer molding quality, not only in the batch runs but also in the base material and cure times. If I were at ARRMA, this would be an area of careful QC and spot checking. I spent a year chasing a bad run of 4130 chromoly and finally pinned down the problem to some bad pours by the foundry. Almost made me crazy before I stumbled onto the answer.

I wish you luck on this, and I'm bummed out you are having so many problems with my same truck model. Keep us in the loop.

s
Update on the failed diff. Horizon sent me a new diff housing, input gear and yoke assembly. I had not removed the yoke halves, when I did, I found one of the output bearings had seized up. That melted the yoke housing enough to allow the misalignment. All back together for running today. Hope it lasts this time?.
 
I have an Arrma Senton Mega 4x4 Mega, which I purchased and then installed a Hobbywing Max 10 SCT ESC and 4000kv brushless motor 2 days later. I have broken a rear input shaft, shredded 4 tires and destroyed the spur gear. I have since purchased the heavy-duty input shafts and the 3s slipper clutch assembly, both from the Senton 4x4 3s. I also replaced the stock shocks. A couple of them leaked out the oil in a 2 week period. I replaced them with big bore, aluminum shocks. (My truck is only 3 weeks old)

I also discovered that there is a sharp corner on the forward edge of the front fenders that was slicing my tires while they were ballooned and landing after jumps. Once the tires got sliced, the foam would come out and destroy the tire. I have since cut the sharp corner off of the fender and that solved my tire shredding issue. I haven't experienced the glue issue yet.

I have also realized that how I drive the truck makes a huge difference on how often I break parts. I have learned to not smash the throttle all of the time. I don't usually give full throttle until I absolutely need it, and even then I try to ease into it rather than just pulling the trigger as fast as I can.

Also, after I get the truck wet, I oil the easily accessible bearings while I'm cleaning. This helps prevent the bearings from corroding, hence extending the life tremendously. My neighbor and I went to our LHS and purchased our trucks at the same time and he doesn't maintain his like I do. He has already seized up a bearing, from corrosion because he doesn't oil them. We bought our trucks 3 weeks ago! LOL!

In a nutshell, I have personally found that there is a big difference in, "playing hard" versus beating on the machine. I am very happy with my rig and my neighbor is very disappointed with his.

Real quick, does anyone know a good source for unglued tires? I took the rubber off of the rims of the 4 tires that were destroyed and I want to buy tires and glue them myself to save a little bit of money. If my wife only knew how much money I've been spending on repairs and upgrades, she would #$%@ my @%# and then stick her foot up my @*#!!
 
I have an Arrma Senton Mega 4x4 Mega, which I purchased and then installed a Hobbywing Max 10 SCT ESC and 4000kv brushless motor 2 days later. I have broken a rear input shaft, shredded 4 tires and destroyed the spur gear. I have since purchased the heavy-duty input shafts and the 3s slipper clutch assembly, both from the Senton 4x4 3s. I also replaced the stock shocks. A couple of them leaked out the oil in a 2 week period. I replaced them with big bore, aluminum shocks. (My truck is only 3 weeks old)

I also discovered that there is a sharp corner on the forward edge of the front fenders that was slicing my tires while they were ballooned and landing after jumps. Once the tires got sliced, the foam would come out and destroy the tire. I have since cut the sharp corner off of the fender and that solved my tire shredding issue. I haven't experienced the glue issue yet.

I have also realized that how I drive the truck makes a huge difference on how often I break parts. I have learned to not smash the throttle all of the time. I don't usually give full throttle until I absolutely need it, and even then I try to ease into it rather than just pulling the trigger as fast as I can.

Also, after I get the truck wet, I oil the easily accessible bearings while I'm cleaning. This helps prevent the bearings from corroding, hence extending the life tremendously. My neighbor and I went to our LHS and purchased our trucks at the same time and he doesn't maintain his like I do. He has already seized up a bearing, from corrosion because he doesn't oil them. We bought our trucks 3 weeks ago! LOL!

In a nutshell, I have personally found that there is a big difference in, "playing hard" versus beating on the machine. I am very happy with my rig and my neighbor is very disappointed with his.

Real quick, does anyone know a good source for unglued tires? I took the rubber off of the rims of the 4 tires that were destroyed and I want to buy tires and glue them myself to save a little bit of money. If my wife only knew how much money I've been spending on repairs and upgrades, she would #$%@ my @%# and then stick her foot up my @*#!!
Duratrax sells tires unmounted for the SC trucks.
 
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