More Failsafe issues

[MikeK1981]

OK so my failsafe has been kicking off every time I get my motor up to speed. I can drive fine but every time it is about ready to hit 2nd gear the failsafe kicks off and then resets by itself. Then I can drive again, until my mill spools up a ways and then BAM, nose dive and I'm on my lid again. New servo has the brakes working too well LOL! This is really frustrating. I took the failsafe off and had a runaway after about 10 minutes of running. The receiver and crystal set have been replaced and I'm still having the same problem with it braking every couple minutes. Do you guys think it might be my radio??? I called HPI and they are sending me a new radio to try and I'm going to exchange this Duratrax failsafe for a Futaba one when my LHS gets them in. If neither of those fix the problem I think I'm going to pull my hair out LOL! All electronics will have been replaced except the steering servo so I hope one of these two new things work and get rid of this problem. If they don't, do you guys have any idea why the engine/vibration would cause some mechanical interference that would cause this? It only happens when it is running and only when the motor starts to get some rpms on it. Weird.

 

[Keithv]

Have you checked the antenna wire for cuts or breaks? Have you tried different servos?
The AM/FM radios are susceptible to interference from the servos and the engine.
If you cant find the cause try upgrading the radio to a 2.4ghz system?

 

[frddyj]

OK so my failsafe has been kicking off every time I get my motor up to speed. I can drive fine but every time it is about ready to hit 2nd gear the failsafe kicks off and then resets by itself.

I took the failsafe off and had a runaway after about 10 minutes of running.

yep, as you described, your losing Tx to Rx signal, your fail-safe is working fine.

ive heard a similar problem with several different peeps using the stocker Radio equip, there are just too many things that can interfere with the signal.

a bud of mine, chris (dogbones1970 on here) finally upped his game to a specky DX3 ($169, free ship on the bay) after having probs for several months. Plugged it in, all was good. http://cgi.ebay.com/SPEKTRUM-SPM203...ries?hash=item3ef817ba23&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[Fx]

I had this problem a week or so ago. I could drive around slow but as soon as my truck got going the failsafe kicked in. Turns out my RX crystal was bad. I would almost put money down and say that is your problem too.

 

[MikeK1981]

Yeah but it did this before and HPI installed a new Rx and crystal set. What are the odds that both were bad? My throttle servo did have a crack in the plug but I was extremely careful to glue it perectly with only a tiny amount of glue. I'm going to have my LHS put a new plug on the servo, as well as replacing the failsafe and the radio, if none of that works I'm just gonna go 2.4Ghz sooner than expected. I had that money set aside for the Blitz but I might have to bite the bullet. Then that brings up the question, Spectrum or Futaba??? Do you guys think the plug could be causing this? You can't even tell visually that it was glued at this point and I didn't think the super glue would cause a funky connection but, maybe. What do you guys think?

 

[Keithv]

If there is any contact between the wires it could be causing the problem. Did HPI replace the receiver or just the crystal? The receiver could be bad. If you really want to find the problem just change one thing at a time so you can isolate it.
As for the radios. I use the Spektrum and Ive had no problems. Either one is good. Airtronics has a few decent radios too. I'm not sure on how good it is but Tower Hobbies has there own branded 2.4ghz radio very cheap. Might be another option so you can save up for the blitz.

 

[MikeK1981]

To answer your question, yes, the Rx and crystals were brand new. So, I had the wire on the servo replaced and put another set of new crystals in the the radio and receiver, and the truck ran perfectly fine for a half tank with the same Duratrax fail-safe and everything. Nothing was changed but the plug on the t/b servo and the crystals. Before, I couldn't even get it to hit second gear LOL. Next time I run I'm gonna try the other crystals as they were brand new as well. I'm thinking it was the plug on the servo that was causing the issue, if so I'll just throw the other set of crystals in my toolbox and I'm good to go. I brought home a Futaba 3PM Tx and R603FF Rx but the manual says to only use them with digital servos so I'm gonna hold off on the 2.4 system until I can buy them all at once. The guy was cool enough to let me take it to try out, so I haven't actually paid for it yet.

 

[MikeK1981]

BTW, thanks for the quick input everybody. HPISF ROCKS!!!!

 

[AllanQ]

Just a thought, but have you cut your antenna wire down, or did the ant wire get cut after the truck possibly sliding on its lid? Stock ant wires don't like to be cut down or shortened. Just a thought. good luck

 

[MikeK1981]

No, as I said earlier in the thread, the receiver and crystal set were replaced by HPI at their facility and the Rx had an EXTRA long wire I noticed LOL. They did not run the truck however because they sent me a set of the aluminum bodied shocks and a couple bottles of shock oil and I had to put them on myself. They started the truck but could not run it, due to it not having any shocks on. I have not run it a second time yet today but ran a half tank through it with no problems so I think the problem is solved. It was either the plug on the servo or the crystals. Now that the servo has a new plug on it, I'm going to test the other set of crystals to confirm whether or not it was the plug on the servo causing the problem. I had HPI channel 5 on it originally and they sent it back to me with channel 4 and had problems with both. Right now I have a crystal set in it that my LHS gave me to test it with, so I'll know if it was the previous crystals.

 

[Keithv]

When you glued the plug it may have been creating a short.

 

[MikeK1981]

That what I'm thinking was the problem. I hope thats what it was so I don't have the problem again.