I just purchased a new slash to race @ medina this year. I plan to do the allowed mods (shock caps, radio etc..) I have seen much debate on the subject of the proper way to break in the motor. Some have said just run it - others have said run it submerged in water to seat the brushes ? any input on this?

Also - I need to purchase a lipo pack. I am not starting from pre existing equipment as I last ran nitro so I do not have a tie with old style packs that I spent a lot of $ on.

I am looking at the reedy 5000hv 2s 7.4v 30c pack and the max amps 8000hv 2s 7.4v 30c pack. the reedy is just over 100 bucks and the max amps is almost 100 more. I have no prob spending the money as I should only need one. I am wondering if these packs are worth the $ or overkill for a brushed motor?

Also - I purchased an aftermarket body painted like Ivan stewarts baja 1000 truck. Had to have it - looks like the real truck & is just way cool. It seems to be same size/dimension/weight as stock body, I wonder if Medina will let me run that body... as it is not the stock one?

Don't waste the money on the 8000mAh pack, it will offer no advantage.

It appears that the 5000 30c is about the most the motor gets an advantage from. I run the 5200 24c and can keep up on speed pretty good. any smaller and you will see a difference.

The best way to break in this motor is too run it at 2 volts for one hour in water. You will have to build a tent with a towl over the bowl because the motor has a built in fan that will spray water all over the place. I f you do this your motor will last a long long time i have a silver can tamiya motor that i have had for over ten ears that was broke in this way. If you do not it will not last long because the brushes are so hard they will wear out the com before you ever seat them.

I have also just purchased a Slash to race in a spec class. The last time I raced NiCad batteries were still in style. However, I do some equipment due to the fact that I still bash around with my son and our Losi XXX-t, mini T and evader. I need info on Lipo batteries. If I were to race them for the spec class what would be a good starting point. Charger, number of batteries needed and whatnot. I attempted to contact my LHS and was told that you cannot run Lipo batteries in the Slash. I know this to be incorrect because the rules state that you are allowed to run a 7.4v 2s lipo battery. Any help would be wonderful thanks.

Here is the deal. First off: Your LHS told you no Lipo in the slash to CYA. The speed control does not have an auto cut off for lipos - thats what that is all about. Just get an aftermarket cuttoff that plugs into your lipo balance connector or just limit your run time.

Next: Here is what I have found on Lipo packs... Keep in mind since doing this original post I have purchased two slashes and two lipo packs. One is a MaxAmps 6500 mah 30C and the Other is an SMC 5200mah 40C. I have raced in Columbus with my brother who runs a reedy 5000mah 20C Lipo. The conclusion after drag racing my own trucks and racing against my brother is....If you are running a stock slash ESC and Motor....then any lipo over 20C will NOT increase power or speed from a "C" rating alone. I may get some flack for saying that here but I have proven it to be true! The difference is the Mah rating. My 6,500mah 30C pack runs right with the 5000mah 20C pack of my brothers - the difference is mine lasts much longer. The advantage I do have by owning a higher mah pack is this - - I can now run a bigger pinion gear, giving me higher top end, but my battery has longer life at a sustained draw, that means yes I can then go faster longer.

All of this applies a little differently when u start talking about brushless but thats why I bought two slashes - just incase Medina runs a mod class (hint) anyways back to lipos.....If you are running spec class, and your race times are no more than 10 min, you should be very competitive with anything around 5000mah and 30C rating. If you want the flexabilty to run different gearing or run at a track that runs 15 min mains - or have any hopes of running brushless, I would spring for the highest mah rating and C rated battery you can possibly afford. Keep in mind this will give you no more "punch" than a 5000mah 20c pack - it WILL however give you the power to run more gear longer and go faster.

You should only need one pack if chosen wisely. I am using a Hyperion EO606i charger with much successs. Balancer is an integrated part of charger and it shows me the individual cell voltages when charging - has great protection measures to keep from melting things - and has storage mode to charge cells to the right voltages when not in use. I got this charger and the 6500mah 30C pack in a combo from MaxAmps for under 300.00.....I finished 4th in A main last weekend out of an A,B,C main and 36 slash entries and I havent raced RC in 4 yrs.......I hope this helps. This thing is a lot of fun! :wave:

Quinn. What LVC do you use? Currently there are none compatible with the stock XL-5 ESC...........unless something came out recently?

The LVC I use does not have anything to do with the ESC. It plugs into the balance connector of the battery pack. It lights up and sounds an alarm if voltage gets too low. I got it from Max Amps when I ordered my batt charger combo. I am unable to run it with my SMC pack without an adaptor as the plugs are different. I dont even use it anymore. After racing a few times and checking the voltages afterward I have found: If I run anything under 15 min I am no where near the danger zone of over discharging the pack. (right around 3.5 - 3.9 v per cell after a long run) Keep in mind this is a 6500mah 30c pack. Both of my packs are fully charged at 4.2v per cell everytime. I have had no problems w either pack

I have yet to stress my 5200mah 40C pack anywhere near being hot or getting close to low voltage running 5 min qualifiers and races in Columbus.

BTW the LVC I run is from Novak and there are other manufacturers offering them as well - Like I said, it doesnt really cuttoff the motor - its more of an alarm than anything. I know I am a "bad boy" for not running a protection device in the circuit 100% of the time - but - I feal that just like any piece of equipment...if you pay attention to it, know your voltage ranges you are supposed to be in, and know what run times put you in what voltage ranges,,, then you should be safe


Now, of course when I change pinion gears that throws things off so then I will run the little alarm thing hooked up to the battery pack just to be on the safe side.....Remember - - if you can tell a loss of power in your truck...u have already damaged your pack. So, I am in no way suggesting in this thread not to run a protection device - I am just saying what I know

Who knows - maybe after I destroy a $120.00 battery pack I will sing a diff tune, but for now just keeping an eye on/taking note of things between charges has been fine.

You threw me because you said "Just get an aftermarket cuttoff that plugs into your lipo balance connector or just limit your run time." So its not a "cutoff", just a buzzer beeper right? How does it work? Do you trust it?

works good I do trust it. But as stated above, is it really neccessary?

That I will leave entirely up to you - they cost around 20 bucks and can be ordered right through maxamps - tell them the pack you are runing and they will wire a connector on it that will plug directly into the balance plug of your pack

it is a good little device to give a piece of mind for the non LVC having slash if you feel you need one

Spring is here - I am ready to race some outdoors!! :woohoo:

P.S. If you go to max amps web page and look them up it describes how they work

The exact same alarm type circuit board is available from HobbyCity under the name "MaxPro 2S" for $5.00. Even with shipping, it is less than the MaxAmps copy and if you get a couple buddies together to split the shipping, the cost drops further.

Excellent info! thats why forums are great...save people money...:-)

ta - Are you going to get one? Or not worry since we dont run that long of heats/mains?

ta - Are you going to get one? Or not worry since we dont run that long of heats/mains?
The reason I know about them is I already bought a couple. Nick Malinoski got some too so we split the shipping.

But I got them for playing around when I am alone - the alarm isn't loud enough to hear from far away, and who is going to pay attention to an LED when you are in the middle of a race fighting for position?

Then again, from indoors, we know the Slashes can run for 12 minutes on about 2400 mAHR, so there is no need for this with a fully charged 5000 LiPo pack in any race shorter than 20 minutes. From a practical point of view, the only time you need the cutoff is when practicing or bashing. I doubt anyone is going to dump any reasonable LiPo in a regular race.

So for racing: not worry.

"..............Next: Here is what I have found on Lipo packs... Keep in mind since doing this original post I have purchased two slashes and two lipo packs. One is a MaxAmps 6500 mah 30C and the Other is an SMC 5200mah 40C. I have raced in Columbus with my brother who runs a reedy 5000mah 20C Lipo. The conclusion after drag racing my own trucks and racing against my brother is....If you are running a stock slash ESC and Motor....then any lipo over 20C will NOT increase power or speed from a "C" rating alone. ........"

You're right on there. Reason for this on the stock Slash ESC is that peak forward amperage is limited to 100. It can't use anything above that.

Tweak

dang, im just gonna run my SMC 3200 28C in my slash for spec class, im thinkin that will b plenty, ill wait and see!!!