Vorteks Vorteks lipo cut off too early

[Nigel]

Good afternoon everyone im new to arrma and the forum, have recently bought the vorteks but am having an issue with the lipo cut off kicking in far to early , I use gensacearespammers 5500mah 50c 3s lipos I'm getting about 5 or 6 mins run time and thats it . I can then take that same battery and put it in my stampede and it will go for another 15 min or so ? Does this seem right ? Seems like only 2 settings for cut off on the esc lipo or nimh . Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Starfox2005]

It does not have to be a problem with the battery.
I just did my first run with brand new Big Rock v3 + new 2S LiPo 8800 50C.
After LVC ended running, I measured 3,79 V per cell in the battery.
(all run performed @ 50% power so I don't suspect system was overloaded/overheated)

Big Rock has BLX 100 ESC which has LVC=3,4 V according to spec.
Probably ESC in Vorteks is different, but looks like something is not right with Arrma LVC factory setting @ LiPo mode.

Battery's can have a lower voltage under heavy acceleration or load. Check the battery with a cell checker. Also after running your vehicle if you check the voltage of the hot or warm battery and then check when it has cooled the voltage will most likely be different.

 

[Puddlejumpernva]

Using adapters on battery connectors meant for 60 amps on a 100 amp system could affect the voltage the ESC sees as well. What's the connector setup?

 

[Starfox2005]

https://rogershobbycenter.com/how-to-maximize-your-run-time

If you treat the throttle trigger like an on/off switch, you’re wasting a lot of energy during acceleration (not to mention causing a lot more wear and tear on your vehicle than necessary). Just like your full-size car or SUV, being a leadfoot in the R/C world means less time driving and more time filling up. So train your trigger finger to access all the distance between neutral and full throttle and you’ll have plenty more runtime to enjoy!

This is coming from the article I put the link above. I find it absolutely true! Your rc is like a bike this is in the sense of it will require a lot of power from the motor and it will put a high load on the battery during acceleration. It would be less load if the vehicle is already in motion! After I read this I tried the method it gave me some more run time! Really trying to help you out!

 

[Nigel]

Using adapters on battery connectors meant for 60 amps on a 100 amp system could affect the voltage the ESC sees as well. What's the connector setup?

I do have a deans adapter on there but since its been fine on other trucks with 3s i assumed it would be ok , maybe thats causing an issue ?

 

[Puddlejumpernva]

I do have a deans adapter on there but since its been fine on other trucks with 3s i assumed it would be ok , maybe thats causing an issue ?

I don't have first hand experience with that but it's worth some consideration. Do you have access to a 3S pack with a EC5 connector to try out?

 

[Boomer]

I do have a deans adapter on there but since its been fine on other trucks with 3s i assumed it would be ok , maybe thats causing an issue ?

I'm sure I've read somewhere that this can be an issue. I think deans are only rated for about 60a so that's probably having an impact. Also, out off interest, are you using the speed pinion or standard one as that would but extra load on amps as well as heat.

 

[Starfox2005]

I'm sure I've read somewhere that this can be an issue. I think deans are only rated for about 60a so that's probably having an impact. Also, out off interest, are you using the speed pinion or standard one as that would but extra load on amps as well as heat.

I replaced the dean's connectors on my 2 2s batteries and kraton 6s. Swapped for EC5 connector's.

 

[GraniteFox]

If not the battery try resetting the esc. Also don’t use any adapters from the battery to the esc. LVC should be around 3.4 range. If your lipo sags under it could hit LVC.
Could also run nimh mode and just get a lipo alarm. They are pretty cheap.

 

[Kla912000]

I do have a deans adapter on there but since its been fine on other trucks with 3s i assumed it would be ok , maybe thats causing an issue ?

Definitely not ok. Your ESC puts out 100a and a Deans connector can only carry 70a. Switch battery plugs to EC5s.

 

[SFL_RC24]

So what you need to consider is the Voltage drop in a battery under load. The Vorteks is going to cause a battery to have a much higher voltage drop that a Stampede would as it has a much larger draw. That voltage drop will trip the LVC long before the battery actually drops to it's cut-off point. So if it isn't heat, it could very well just be the voltage drop in the battery. Two things can cause this to be an issue. An old battery with too much internal resistance or a battery with too low of a C-rating. Unless you are taking it from one vorteks and putting it into another, I would not rely on comparing the life of a battery from a Stampede to a Vorteks as an indicator that it is not an issue with the battery. I do not think you have an issue with your Vorteks.
And yes...ditch the deans plug. Deans will also create more drop as it is not rated for the power needed in the Vorteks. Probably won't fix this immediate problem, but it defintiely is not helping.

 

[Nigel]

I don't have first hand experience with that but it's worth some consideration. Do you have access to a 3S pack with a EC5 connector to try out?

No i don't, but thinking of changing all my battery connectors over to ec5 so i can ditch the deans adapter a few people have said about that now and it does make sense. Thanks everyone for input ,awesome .

 

[Wakko]

I'm having a similar issue with mine, I get about 4-5 minutes of run time before I get the low power mode. Batteries are 11.4 at cutoff, 12.4 at full charge. One week old Lipos with 5200mah and EC5s. Yes, that was hard acceleration, wires and esc were warm to hot. Is that normal?

 

[razorrc]

Mine ran down to 3.4v/cell last time out, with a cheapo Awanfi 2S 6500mah battery. It did run down quicker than I'm used to with other 3S Arrmas, I'm thinking the new Spektrum ESC draws more power for some reason.

 

[Wakko]

Is it normal for the wires to be hot with 3s cars? Seems to me that the wires are too thin.

 

[cheet]

Good afternoon everyone im new to arrma and the forum, have recently bought the vorteks but am having an issue with the lipo cut off kicking in far to early , I use gensacearespammers 5500mah 50c 3s lipos I'm getting about 5 or 6 mins run time and thats it . I can then take that same battery and put it in my stampede and it will go for another 15 min or so ? Does this seem right ? Seems like only 2 settings for cut off on the esc lipo or nimh . Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I got the same problem here and when i checked my battery voltage it was still at 50 percent and nothing was too hot, i think it was just the esc cutting off the voltage too early, by that I meant for the set up mode for the voltage cut off too early and they only have two mode lipo and nimh. They do not have low voltage cut off.

 

[Trin726]

So what you need to consider is the Voltage drop in a battery under load. The Vorteks is going to cause a battery to have a much higher voltage drop that a Stampede would as it has a much larger draw. That voltage drop will trip the LVC long before the battery actually drops to it's cut-off point. So if it isn't heat, it could very well just be the voltage drop in the battery. Two things can cause this to be an issue. An old battery with too much internal resistance or a battery with too low of a C-rating. Unless you are taking it from one vorteks and putting it into another, I would not rely on comparing the life of a battery from a Stampede to a Vorteks as an indicator that it is not an issue with the battery. I do not think you have an issue with your Vorteks.
And yes...ditch the deans plug. Deans will also create more drop as it is not rated for the power needed in the Vorteks. Probably won't fix this immediate problem, but it defintiely is not helping.

I reached out to Horizon technical help before I bought my Vorteks. They DO NOT recommend anything but the 3S - 5000 mah/50C battery or higher, 50C is that number you are looking at though and an IC5 connectors. I've only had my Vorteks about 3 days and the first day I was running it hard in the street and some slower burnouts, etc. and got about 15 minutes. Went to the park and did about 5 speed runs (short, about 200 feet) and then some on turf (about 150') and then drove around park, on/off throttle and then back to the parking lot jumping curbes (on/off throttle) and got just over 30 minutes and about 10 of those were when the controller was reading 1 battery light)...to me I think it's really a stadium truck at heart, meaning on/off throttle keeps the battery going much longer (obviously). sorry you are having troubles though).

 

[Velodromed]

It does not have to be a problem with the battery.
I just did my first run with brand new Big Rock v3 + new 2S LiPo 8800 50C.
After LVC ended running, I measured 3,79 V per cell in the battery.
(all run performed @ 50% power so I don't suspect system was overloaded/overheated)

Big Rock has BLX 100 ESC which has LVC=3,4 V according to spec.
Probably ESC in Vorteks is different, but looks like something is not right with Arrma LVC factory setting @ LiPo mode.

Yes, that’s what mine did on my granite couple months ago. Once cells hit 3.8-3.9 it stopped. I warrantied it.

 

[Lethalcobra2k3]

I have a new vorteks 4x4 and Im running a 3s 5000mah 50c and with the stock punch setting and on/off throttle and hardly any full throttle starts I get about 10 minutes. If I romp on it I get 6 to 7 minutes. If I put the punch setting on 5, I get 3-4 minutes until thermal shut down. Its 37 degrees out so the air is cold but Im still having heat and lvc issues.

 

[GraniteFox]

Two separate issues. Cold weather will degrade the performance of the lipo. This is a fact and can explain voltage sag and hitting LVC early. Thermal shutdown in 37 degrees tells me there is something binding in the drivetrain. Could be a bad bearing, gear mesh is too tight, or motor/esc combo is off for the application.

 

[Lethalcobra2k3]

Two separate issues. Cold weather will degrade the performance of the lipo. This is a fact and can explain voltage sag and hitting LVC early. Thermal shutdown in 37 degrees tells me there is something binding in the drivetrain. Could be a bad bearing, gear mesh is too tight, or motor/esc combo is off for the application.

Everything is stock out of the box, the motor and esc are oem. I saw a video about putting a piece of paper in between the gears to space them and that helped a little. I also set the punch down to level 3 and that completely stopped the thermal issue but its really hard to backflip off jumps now. Im thinking of switching the 14 mm studs to 12 mm and using a lighter tire and wheel combo because these stock ones are way heavier than the oem on traxxas rustler. Someone also suggested upgrading fans