RC car Tamiya Electronic Speed Controller faulty?

[AlexC1981]

Hi All,

The car is a Hornet re-release that I built 5 years ago, but never got round to finishing it completely.

Steering works fine, but I can't forward or reverse. When I bring the throttle back to centre, it will give a brief little burst of power to the wheels, but that's all it does.

The ESC is a Tamiya TBLE-02 S that can be used for brushed or brushless motors. The motor is a basic brushed one. I have followed the quite complicated instructions to set the ESC to brushed mode.

I don't remember if it was working 5 years ago, but unfortunately I had left the battery plugged into it although the switch was off. The only battery I have at the moment is an ancient NiCad one, so perhaps the ESC doesn't like the battery?

I have tested the battery in a car with a different ESC and using the same transmitter/receiver and it works fine, if not very fast. I have tested a different ESC in the Hornet (using the same transmitter/receiver and battery again) and that works fine too.

So in summary:

- I've set the ESC up wrong
- The ESC was broken from the factory
- I broke the ESC by leaving it connected to a battery for 5 years
- The ESC doesn't like the ancient battery I'm using for testing.

From the symptoms, anyone know what it's most likely to be?

Thanks,

[nigelpugh7]

Check the voltage coming out of the Nicad first.

I’m assuming it’s a 7.2V pack right?

If it’s low it probably won’t work as the speed controller will need to see a good voltage to operate.

I’ve got one of those controllers in two Tamiya models I haven’t yet built, I can test them out if you like, as I don’t have anything much better to do!

[300bhp/ton]

It's super difficult to say, what lights are illuminated on the ESC? Does it match the manual? What wires have you got connected?

Can you try the ESC with a different motor/Rx?

It could be faulty, but it is a process of elimination to work this out. But equally it could just be wired wrong or setup wrong too.

Are you planning to stick with brushed motors? These are good ESC's if you want a replacement:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electronic-Speed-Contro...

[AlexC1981]

Thanks for the help! Yes it's a 7.2V battery, but I don't have a way to test the voltage. I've been fiddling with it this morning and by disabling the low voltage protection on the ESC I am getting forward and reverse now!

Albeit only when the car is suspended in the air. The battery doesn't seem to have enough power to move the car on the ground. Funny though, because the same battery works ok in an old all analogue Fighter Buggy. The Fighter Buggy probably isn't moving at top speed, but it seems to shoot across the lounge carpet at an alarming rate.

I enjoyed building the Hornet so much that I bought a few tatty old RC buggies to restore. Then for one reason or another, it all ended up getting tidied away 4 or 5 years ago and didn't up out again until yesterday.

I think I'll wait for the new battery to arrive before I do anything else. I suspect that even with the low voltage cut off disabled, it still needs a certain amount to function and when the battery is under load it must fall below that threshold.

[nigelpugh7]

AlexC1981 said:

Thanks for the help! Yes it's a 7.2V battery, but I don't have a way to test the voltage. I've been fiddling with it this morning and by disabling the low voltage protection on the ESC I am getting forward and reverse now!

Albeit only when the car is suspended in the air. The battery doesn't seem to have enough power to move the car on the ground. Funny though, because the same battery works ok in an old all analogue Fighter Buggy. The Fighter Buggy probably isn't moving at top speed, but it seems to shoot across the lounge carpet at an alarming rate.

I enjoyed building the Hornet so much that I bought a few tatty old RC buggies to restore. Then for one reason or another, it all ended up getting tidied away 4 or 5 years ago and didn't up out again until yesterday.

I think I'll wait for the new battery to arrive before I do anything else. I suspect that even with the low voltage cut off disabled, it still needs a certain amount to function and when the battery is under load it must fall below that threshold.

Yep sounds like the battery then bud.

I’m sure a new one will have it all up and running properly when you get it.

Good Luck with it.

[AlexC1981]

Cheers, good luck with your two cars. Now's a good time to sit indoors and get them built!

[nigelpugh7]

AlexC1981 said:

Cheers, good luck with your two cars. Now's a good time to sit indoors and get them built!

I’m building the two Tamiya cars purely for the nostalgia, and one it to get my Son Tom into building them too.

I’m currently building two other cars as well, one for my local club which is indoor 1/12 scale pan car racing, and the other a 1/8 scale on road IC car.

I think I have shared links in here, let me see if I can find them.

[nigelpugh7]

This is the Tamiya kit I’m building with Tom.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[nigelpugh7]

This is the first 1/12 pan car build, now finished and ready to race when our local track opens up again.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[AlexC1981]

Very nice. Some people have done incredible paint jobs and extra decoration to the Fast Attack Vehicle. It's hard to tell the difference between a model an a real vehicle sometimes.

http://www.rcdriver.com/super-customized-tamiya-fa...