TOPIC:

I bought the new "Re Release" of the Sand Scorcher and had a good time building it. Problem I ran into was the Electronic Speed Control (ESC). When I hooked it up to test it the servo was operating erratically. It would not move smoothly. Tried several servos and receivers all with the same results... Tried a different ESC and everything worked fine.

Has anyone else had these issues with the supplied ESC from Tamiya? Could it be the voltage from a 6 cell battery?

Thanks

The TEU-104BK doesn't have a BEC so it could well be that the voltage is too much for your other gear.
Most of them would be 5V. Hope you didn't kill anything...

What Edou said; 7.2v (or up to 9v if the battery was fresh off the charger) will disagree with radio gear unless it has a BEC itself ... most receivers from around 1986 to 2011 will have the letters "BEC" (battery eliminator circuitry) on them, but it seems to be out of fashion on newer ones

Assuming your RX is without BEC, Look for a "UBEC" if you want to try the Tamiya ESC again

Edou, the TEU-104BK has BEC but it's a weird ESC. Remember? I had this ESC and it doesn't stop bleeping all the time, driving under top speed.
Many guys had problem with this one. I've send it back to the shop and now i'm waiting for LRP Combo.

It's not confidence inspiring, is it?

Next time I buy a new Tamiya kit I think I'll be looking for a retailer that will supply it without the ESC for a bit of a discount

Big Tamiya fan here but not so much the electronics.
There seem to be more issues with this ESC...

Finkindemup, the controller has a low voltage cut off for lipo but according to Tamiya USA it doesn't have a BEC...
Tbh, I feel not having that isn't quite of this era.

I have the same kit and ESC. It works fine with the flysky radio and electronics I installed but it's true. Full voltage from the battery goes to the receiver.

The cutoff isn't really suitable for liposuction since its designed for lower voltage life batteries which I believe cut off at 2.8 to 3v per cell. Where Lipo is usually 3.2 and up.

Sent from my SGH-I897 using Tapatalk 2

Antmax, you are correct. Reading up on this ESC and viewing the instructions, there is mention of a low voltage cut off but this is not meant for Lipo batteries. So I wouldn't advise anyone (anymore) to hook them up. They might be killed that way...

Before we all go jumping down the "It's the ESC at fault" route, can we just check that the radio isn't 27MHz AM & getting interference from an ESC without built-in motor suppression?
Can we also be sure the main run battery is properly charged & putting out enough voltage? (Low battery voltage will cause servo jitter &/or RX shutdown with some ESCs, particularly cheap or high-torque servos).
& check the obvious - are the battery, RX, servo connections all secure, ie could it be that by changing the ESC the new connection is now more secure, or you've disturbed a dodgy connection & you're kidding yourself thinking the actual ESC's at fault?
Plugging a good/charged battery straight into a non-BEC receiver normally results in heat, smoke, death, but no servo jitter (Sometimes they'll go full scale & buzz after the RX dies).

I think I've said somewhere else that I've never had any problems with Tamiya ESCs, all the "jittery servo" problems I've had have been related to rubbish batteries, cheap or high-torque servos, or loose/dirty connections. There have been a few servos with dirty/worn positioning pots that exhibit the jitters, but they do that whatever they're plugged into if that's the problem

eddrick wrote:

Before we all go jumping down the "It's the ESC at fault" route, can we just check that the radio isn't 27MHz AM & getting interference from an ESC without built-in motor suppression?
Can we also be sure the main run battery is properly charged & putting out enough voltage? (Low battery voltage will cause servo jitter &/or RX shutdown with some ESCs, particularly cheap or high-torque servos).
& check the obvious - are the battery, RX, servo connections all secure, ie could it be that by changing the ESC the new connection is now more secure, or you've disturbed a dodgy connection & you're kidding yourself thinking the actual ESC's at fault?
Plugging a good/charged battery straight into a non-BEC receiver normally results in heat, smoke, death, but no servo jitter (Sometimes they'll go full scale & buzz after the RX dies).

I think I've said somewhere else that I've never had any problems with Tamiya ESCs, all the "jittery servo" problems I've had have been related to rubbish batteries, cheap or high-torque servos, or loose/dirty connections. There have been a few servos with dirty/worn positioning pots that exhibit the jitters, but they do that whatever they're plugged into if that's the problem

Here's where I'm at so far...
Main battery is a standard 6 cell that is fully charged (I have tried a couple of others to rule them out)
Radio system is Spektrum DX3s and an Orange RX receiver (I have also tried my Spektrum SR300 RX)
Servos tried Futaba S148, Traxxas 2018, HPI SF-10W and a Helion standard servo... All with the same jittering.

Only thing that made a change was using a different ESC.