Senton Senton 3S slowed after running through the grass just fine.

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Dulb_D

Active Member
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Location
Twin Cities, MN
Arrma RC's
  1. Senton 6s
Hello,

During my maiden Senton 3S run I was hauling through my back lawn (going out around 100ft and back maybe 4 times) just fine and then it just like went to half power is the best way I can describe it. I turned it off to check the battery wondering if it had gotten low or something but it was fine. I went back out (cleaned off the leaves and grass clippings a little and started it back up and it was back to normal though I was now running it 80% in the street or driveway. Any idea what would cause it to slow down so much? I felt the ESC and motor and they didn't feel hot or anything. I was also afraid I maybe got a lot of debris in the drivetrain or something but it ran fine after stopping it and restarting it.

Any ideas?
 
My guess would have been heat, but it seems you have that covered. Check for debris in the drivetrain.
 
Hello,

During my maiden Senton 3S run I was hauling through my back lawn (going out around 100ft and back maybe 4 times) just fine and then it just like went to half power is the best way I can describe it. I turned it off to check the battery wondering if it had gotten low or something but it was fine. I went back out (cleaned off the leaves and grass clippings a little and started it back up and it was back to normal though I was now running it 80% in the street or driveway. Any idea what would cause it to slow down so much? I felt the ESC and motor and they didn't feel hot or anything. I was also afraid I maybe got a lot of debris in the drivetrain or something but it ran fine after stopping it and restarting it.

Any ideas?
It sort of sounds like the esc went into the limp mode before it goes into lvc, but it shouldn't kick in that quick. What batteries are you running? Are you running lipo I assume? What was the per cell voltage when you checked them? Is LVC set to auto on the esc?
 
It sort of sounds like the esc went into the limp mode before it goes into lvc, but it shouldn't kick in that quick. What batteries are you running? Are you running lipo I assume? What was the per cell voltage when you checked them? Is LVC set to auto on the esc?
I only have one battery so far. A Lectron 3S 5200 Mih 50C. I think max voltage per cell is 4.20. When I checked the voltage it had barely dropped as I had only run it for like 2-3 minutes. When i was done running it I had check the battery the cells were all at 3.86 volts. The ESC is set to LiPo (as opposed to NiMh) which is the setting that determines LVC but it's an On/Off setting and I think LVC is at 3.2v.
 
I only have one battery so far. A Lectron 3S 5200 Mih 50C. I think max voltage per cell is 4.20. When I checked the voltage it had barely dropped as I had only run it for like 2-3 minutes. When i was done running it I had check the battery the cells were all at 3.86 volts. The ESC is set to LiPo (as opposed to NiMh) which is the setting that determines LVC but it's an On/Off setting and I think LVC is at 3.2v.
If they were at 3.86v per cell after 2-3 minutes you have a bad battery or charger. No way you can burn thru that many mah in 2-3 minutes.
 
No, I'm sorry I meant after running it after checking it the first time. The first time I checked it it had dropped only slightly, then I ran it again to see if it was still slowed down and it was back to normal so I ran it for another 10 minutes and then after that the battery was at 3.86volts per cell. I could have described that better.
 
I noticed a bit of lost of power today and maybe a little smell when i was changing my baterry and noticed my esc fan was not fully plugged in bummer
I think everything is ok
 
No, I'm sorry I meant after running it after checking it the first time. The first time I checked it it had dropped only slightly, then I ran it again to see if it was still slowed down and it was back to normal so I ran it for another 10 minutes and then after that the battery was at 3.86volts per cell. I could have described that better.
I would still fully balance charge your lipo again, check each cell voltage. Run it with a stop watch to see how much runtime you get. Check temps of ESC, motor, and lipo when it stops running. Check cell voltages again. Report all of that back and we can help narrow it down for you.
 
Just an update, ran it in the lawn yesterday and it didn't slow down at all. I did set the punch setting up a level so not sure if that may have had any affect. The thing just wheelied across the lawn and didn't seem to have any trouble at all this time. I didn't check the temps as I didn't have an IRT and it didn't bog down but I do have one now so I can check if there is a next time.
 
Ok, another update, unfortunately I didn't have my thermometer with me (of course) but I finally took my Senton to a park for some more space and safer bashing. About 2 minutes into the run it went into limp mode. Was driving though gravel with patches of thin low grass. I shut off the car and felt the motor, ESC and battery and they all felt barely warm, definitely not hot or even very warm. i switched the car back on and voila, back to normal. ran for another 2 minutes and back into limp mode it went. Felt the internals again, definitely getting warmer but still not hot. Turned the car off then on again right away and again, it's running normally again. Ran again for another couple-few minutes and limp again... off/on and back to normal again. Eventually the motor and esc started to feel near hot and I wasn't sure how much voltage I had remaining in the battery so I called it a day... I only have one battery btw. When I returned home the battery meter showed 3.86v per cell. What could be causing my car to go into limp mode? I really don't think it's heat cause I am seriously only running it for 2-3 minutes and not through thick tall grass.
 
Ok... there are two things that can call for limp mode...

1) It would be heat as we all know, thermal shut down at the specified temps

2) (and this could be your answer) your battery! 5000mah 50c is literally the bare minimum that should be run.. so you are barely over the threshold.. I'll have to do the math but I'm pretty sure your battery equals out to somewhere around a 2 sec. Dump before the amperage starts to fall drastically... repeated draws like that can kick the lvc long before the battery is dead.. this limp mode is the same as the thermal.. (they react the same)
 
Ok... there are two things that can call for limp mode...

1) It would be heat as we all know, thermal shut down at the specified temps

2) (and this could be your answer) your battery! 5000mah 50c is literally the bare minimum that should be run.. so you are barely over the threshold.. I'll have to do the math but I'm pretty sure your battery equals out to somewhere around a 2 sec. Dump before the amperage starts to fall drastically... repeated draws like that can kick the lvc long before the battery is dead.. this limp mode is the same as the thermal.. (they react the same)

Edit: 10 sec. Dump
 
Ok... there are two things that can call for limp mode...

1) It would be heat as we all know, thermal shut down at the specified temps

2) (and this could be your answer) your battery! 5000mah 50c is literally the bare minimum that should be run.. so you are barely over the threshold.. I'll have to do the math but I'm pretty sure your battery equals out to somewhere around a 2 sec. Dump before the amperage starts to fall drastically... repeated draws like that can kick the lvc long before the battery is dead.. this limp mode is the same as the thermal.. (they react the same)
He's running a 3s Senton with a 100a esc, 5000mah x 50c* = 250a, how is he at the bare minimum? Bare minimum is a 5000mah 20c* Lipo. Not saying that his batteries can't be defective however, I have heard of people having bad experiences with Lectron Pros.

*C rates are a made up number and do not mean anything really, buy the highest C rate battery a company makes as that will be their highest performing battery.
 
He's running a 3s Senton with a 100a esc, 5000mah x 50c* = 250a, how is he at the bare minimum? Bare minimum is a 5000mah 20c* Lipo. Not saying that his batteries can't be defective however, I have heard of people having bad experiences with Lectron Pros.

*C rates are a made up number and do not mean anything really, buy the highest C rate battery a company makes as that will be their highest performing battery.


Haha, damn time to check the eyes or get some sleep.. I literally thought he did write 20c for some reason. lol..
Then I wrote 50c lol... wow, time to sleep for sure
 
Haha, damn time to check the eyes or get some sleep.. I literally thought he did write 20c for some reason. lol..
Then I wrote 50c lol... wow, time to sleep for sure
I kinda think it is his batteries though. But no way to really test without a different battery.
 
I know the misunderstanding has been resolved but the manual says: 2S-3S LiPo (7.4-11.1v) 35C 5000mAh Minimum. I have a 3S 5200mAh 50c battery. I am planning on picking up a second battery today ( maybe from another brand, if Lectron aren't great - though I've not really heard until now) as I would want one regardless and I'll go for another model and as high a spec as I can afford. I just hope it's not a bad battery as I really don't want to deal with pushback on warranty or return as the car has only been run 3 times and is being properly balance charged every time and put into storage charge after every run.... Not sure how most hobby shops handle or diagnose situations like defective batteries - is there a load test or something that would confirm an issue?
 
I kinda think it is his batteries though. But no way to really test without a different battery.
I spoke with my LHS where I purchased the car and battery and they are skeptical about the battery being the cause and said to bring it in and they'll take care of it... but would setting the punch level down to the lowest setting and running the same battery serve as a test of sorts if the idea is the battery draw when punching it may be dipping below the threshold triggering a LVC? I did increase punch level before the run and it seemed to go into limp mode more this time than the previous two times so this may be the issue.

If this is a battery draw issue, I'm going to be pretty annoyed that this wouldn't have been explained to me by the LHS rep so I'd at least have had the option to just spend a little more to get a battery that would be able to handle the draw. This is supposed to be a good basher afterall... :cautious:
 
I spoke with my LHS where I purchased the car and battery and they are skeptical about the battery being the cause and said to bring it in and they'll take care of it... but would setting the punch level down to the lowest setting and running the same battery serve as a test of sorts if the idea is the battery draw when punching it may be dipping below the threshold triggering a LVC? I did increase punch level before the run and it seemed to go into limp mode more this time than the previous two times so this may be the issue.

If this is a battery draw issue, I'm going to be pretty annoyed that this wouldn't have been explained to me by the LHS rep so I'd at least have had the option to just spend a little more to get a battery that would be able to handle the draw. This is supposed to be a good basher afterall... :cautious:

Lipo alarm pick one up hook it to the balance lead and run it. The alarm will go off if it goes below the voltage you set which will tell you if the battery could be tripping LVC. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8S-2-in1...215787&hash=item5922b4ef7c:g:KE0AAOSwuHdchqQ2
 
Picked up a second battery an 11.1v 7500mAh 75C today and will try it with that. Also ordered a low voltage alarm/meter and will start using that thing as they have to be just generally nice to have. I'll test tomorrow and update with the results. Stay tuned.
 
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