Fusion Exceed 13.5 Problems!

Hi all,

To comply with the latest Mardave Circuit 'rules' I have recently fitted a Fusion Exceed speedo and motor combo (40A Sport (?) speedo and 13.5 motor) into my V12 car. I am running it on 1s LiPo (4600mAh, 35C) with an RCDynamics voltage booster. I have wired the booster and speedo into the reciever in the same way I did my HobbyWing Extreme Stock speedo - remove speedo red wire from its reciever plug, insulate it and replace it with the positive wire from the booster. The rest of my gear is a Futaba 3VSC handset with Spektrum module, Spektrum SR300 reciever and Savox 1350 servo.

On the bench it all worked fine - forwards, backwards, left and right and I was able to modify some of the settings via the program box.

On the track it was ok too, for the first two or three mins of each race that it. At about 3 mins into each run I got problems with speed and throttle. Sometimes the motor would seem to bog down at full throttle - the car would go at about 80% speed down most of the straight, lurch a bit and then go off like a scalded cat. Sometimes it would cut out completely (but only for a split second) and then resume play. Both these were under acceleration or full power, there was no problems when coasting, braking, reversing or steering at any time.

Back in the pits I got an error message via the program box - "Error R" which I believe means a problem with signal. I tried a different reciever (Spektrum micro reciever) and still got the same. I tried re-binding both recievers with my handset and then re-synching the speedo to get neutral, full throttle and brakes. All these went through fine on the bench but there was no joy on the track. I also moved my PT and even the reciever ariel to be as far away from eachother and all other electrics as possible, but still got the same.

The car drove ok (except when the sudden throttle cut-outs caused it to get unsettled big time!) and there was reasonable acceleration and speed under most circumstances.

I'm thinking it might be the voltage booster, or perhaps that the Fusion might not like booster voltages, but the fact that I never got issues with the steering or any other 'interference' type symptoms is confusing.

Motor came off each run at about 38-42'C, cells were arounf 4.1V and took 1300mAh to re-charge them so no problems with dumping cells, gearing or overheating.

I used the same handset to drive my other car (HobbyWing 1s speedo, Spektrum reciever and Savox servo) and there was not one single glitch. I am therefore guessing it was not the handset, handset battery power or transmitting module at fault.

Is there something obvious I have overlooked? Anyone else had this sort of problem? Any suggestions?

James

Does it need to be wired the same as the Hobbywing?

Have you wired the booster as per the instructions?

Booster's input wires are connected straight to the battery positive and negative power wires. I think this is normal.

On the output it seems as if there are two different ways of connecting the booster to the rest of the gear. Some speedos I have used in the past (namely my old Nosram Matrix for example) I left all the wiring unchanged and just plugged the speedo and booster straight into the reciever. And it all worked fine (as long as I kept the speedo switched off and just turned it all on via the booster switch). Some other systems (HobbyWing Extreme etc) seem to need the red speedo wire removed from the reciever plug and replaced with the booster positive wire, as I have done with the Exceed.

Both my Exceed and Hobbywing will FUNCTION with the wiring unchanged - ie. they both light up and the car goes forwards, backwards, left and right, but if I then try to connect the program box to either speedo the screen is sooooo dim it is almost impossible to see what you are changing! Swapping the speedo and booster positive wires about gives a brighter screen. This is really the only reason I have done it.

I must admit that I did not try racing the Exceed with the wiring unchanged, I only tried it on the bench, saw that the program box screen was very dim and then copied the Hobbywing wiring to get over this problem.

How do you wire up your booster and Exceed and how do you cope with the dim program box screen?

James

when you say error signal , i would guess the speedo is telling you signal from motor to speedo

i would try another sensor lead then try again the other thing is your gearing if it isnt right on a 40amp speedo it may be going into thermal protection mode and this could also cause the stuttering

hope that helps you

cheers Neil

I had this same problem with the gtb2 stopping for a split second and then carrying on when using an rcdynamics booster, turned out to be the booster in the end. I'm now using the TQ racing one and it is fine.

On the Program box there are four error codes it can choose from - "Error T", "Error S", "Error V" or "Error R". "T" is a problem with over-temperature, "S" is an error with the sensor cable, "V" is low voltage and "R" is signal error.

I always get "Error R". I have checked all the reciever plugs and contacts as well as the airel wire for both recievers. All seem fine. I would guess that if there was a dodgy contact it would give problems right from the off rather than its usual game of glitching mid-way through the race? I have not bothered to check the sensor cable as I do not get an "Error S" message, but I'll try it next meeting just in case.

If it is the boooster then that is a pain in the butt - I only bought is a few weeks back! I think I still have one of the Mardave/MTroniks ones knocking about someplace, I might swap it for that if the sensor cable does not do the trick.

Thanks for the suggestions...

PS, GTB2 on order soon? LOL

Ginnna - may I ask why you run any sort of booster with the GTB2? I was under the impression they would work on 1s LiPo and not need a booster at all?

Or have I been mis-informed?

James

If you use the GTB2 on 1s lipo it feeds the same voltage as your 1s lipo to the receiver (just measured it at 4.17v).

For this reason I run a booster to push the voltage going to the receiver up to 6v as I can't stand slow steering! As long as you use either no pt or one of the new amb pt's you shouldn't have any trouble not using a booster on a GTB2.

The novak stuff is great though. I got mine from amainhobbies.com as it's $99 as opposed to the uk price of £110.

Karl

karl your wrong on the gtb2 dont need a booster

its 1s compatable

i ran the gtb2 with timing all the way up on a fusion motor and a high spec savox servo with my own PT never missed a lap and never suffered from slow steering

dunno what you were doing wrong

I never said it did NEED a booster Neil. The GTB2 does not have a built in booster (see the novak gtb2 spec sheet). Hence the reason that when you measure the voltage going into the receiver it is the same voltage as your lipo (4.2v peak voltage). Every servo will be able to cope on this, but if you test it back to back like I did you will notice that the steering servo loses speed and torque.

The reason I mentioned the PT thing is that I am aware some people have had issues on some of the older Amb personal transponders as these operate at a higher voltage.

like i say no probs with speed and no missed laps

other speedo i would have liked to have tryed was a hobbywing extreme stock should be a good esc , as the hobbywing 1s i am using in my 10R5 is awsome !!!

Yeah I tried mine without a booster and it didn't miss any laps or anything, It was just that the steering was too slow for my driving style as I tend to drive it like I stole it!

I was going to get the Hobbywing extreme stock but the Novak was the same price so I thought I'd go for the one that people had tried. I still might get a hobbywing to try actually... they're cheap enough. I have heard that the 1s ones are insane!

I know this is now rather off topic from my first question but...

I've just read some online specs for the GTB2 and it states "BEC of 6V DC and 3A". Is this the output for the receiver and servo? Surely you should get more than 4.2v output? Now I'm confused dot com...

That's the way I read it as well !!

Hmmmm... The plot thickens!

I was able to test the Fusion again tonight. I tried another sensor lead (used) and even a brand one and no joy, it still started to stutter and cut out about 2 mins into each race or test session.

I also tried a borrowed Mardave/MTroniks booster and still got the same!

My final resort was to strip the Fusion out and replace it with an LRP SXX from my other car. Joy of joys, it all worked beautifully! No stutters, no cutting out just oodles of speed and smooth driving :-)

I'm therefore guessing it is the speedo unit at fault. It is going back first thing tomorrow morning!


As for the Novak GTB2 I telephoned 12 (yes, 12!) model shops today and specifically asked them about if it would work with no booster and still give a properly functioning servo, PT and reciever. Unfortunately, no one could give a definite 'yes'. Most just quoted direct from the website which did not really clear things up. One interesting comment from one shop was that the 'BEC 6V' bit means it will drop a 7.4v pack to a 6v output to protect the reciever, not boost a 3.7v LiPo up to 6v. I'm still on planet confused dot com...

I have emailed Novak directly to find out once and for all. As and when (if?) I get a reply I'll post it on here. Until then I'll stick to my SXX or Hobbywing 1s and just turn off all the boost... Such a shame the blinky mode is not accepted.

James

UPDATE: Fusion ESC and motor sent back. I also returned the prog box in the hope that I can get a full refund rather than a replacement.

Still no news from Novak regarding the GTB2. Keeping singers crossed still...

J

my fusion exceed runs fine without the voltage booster and tbh there seams to be little difference in servo speed