Luxon KG"Kick to the Gear"

Oooo, new bits.

RE-Xtreme DRB Typhoon Spec

I've decided to de-anodize and polish my DRB.  Code name RE-DRB Typhoon Spec

I've always had three levels of tune for my chassis sets.

Tsunami Blue/Silver, Samurai Red/Black and Typhoon Silver.
For now I'll use the Carbon Black chassis before I decide to get an overdose chassis or not.

I picked up a few things to aid the transition to silver surfer.

Overdose Spur Cover
Overdose Servo Saver Horn
Overdose Damper Adjustment rings
Overdose Antenna Holder

Active Luxon KG Heat Sink End Ball

Silver Wire Cover

Shortly after this shot, the blue wire tachyon was replaced with my silver one and all the wires were cleaned up.

For a transition it's looking good.

Next week I'll be starting the process.

Bling it.

D-Like RE-R - Under the hood! Part #6

Something I've been putting off for a while. No time.

With limited space and proper tools I got the Kawada BL mounts in. It really opens up the chassis.

Keyence TAO

Today I picked up a controller for my Keyence Tachyon ESC and Luxon KG motor setup.

I can gain access to more settings that the stupid button combinations on the ESC itself.

It just makes sense and its easy to use. Just connect the RX cable.

I got the SR (shine Red) because it should be easy to find in my RC box. Also came with a reflective strap.

Manual is here.

I'm going to be putting together an option set for purchase so stay tuned. The best from Japan!

RE-R Build Complete

Well, it took a while to get to this point. Take a look at the beauty!

This is the full normal RE-R.

Solid axles and equal distribution 1:1 drive. I don't know why it was sold this way, but until I save another 10,000 yen for the FCD conversion and one way pulley or diff, it's going to stay like this.

Issue # 1. These are the ball ends supplied with the RE-R. Obviously this was to overcome the situation that occurred with normal castor knuckles hitting the steering mechanism. But as I have 7 degree castor knuckles with the excess removed for more angle, guess what happened.

BANG!

Stop and think.... Hmmm. ok, I'll just invert the ball joint, but it means the end point on the steering servo will need to be adjusted... it should be ok.

You can see the angle on the servo ball. Not good at all but at least it runs under the bell-cranks

Issue # 2

In this picture you can see the second oddity. that Spur is high!!!!!

When you see people running chaser jzx 100 bodies, I know why. they are the only bodies that will clear huge spur gears required for these brushless motors.

DRB is the only chassis thats low enough for a good low body. Remember that!

Even if you wanted to run a small spur in the RE-R you couldn't! There's not enough room for the motor to go upward as the cutout is not round. You could get in there with the grinder I suppose, but that's not really the point of a CUSTOM chassis.

Issue # 3

The wheel base. The Drift Package conversion "should" use your Yokomo drift package components and body holes etc, but the rear suspension mounts are in a totally different position, so all my bodies were skewed. I was a bit, no a LOT frustrated by this point.

Luckily, I was able to get some TN racing spacers and get things in a better position, but I'll need to fine tune it again. If you had adjusted your bodies previously at a different point, this could remain an issue.

#4 Battery retainer.

There's nothing supplied to hold your batteries in place. so other than fibre-glass tape like the OLD days most people run these 100yen velcro straps. Now on a premium chassis like this, do you really want to run tape?

So, I still need to fix the curly wiring in time and play with the ESC settings tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to a test. I'm sure it's not going to match my old FCD dori-pake setup, for now, but we shall see what new frustrations bring.

One thing is for sure, it will be fast.

I guess it was worth it to find out what's involved in these packages, it's strange whether to recommend it at this stage or not, because it's not at the level I desired yet. If RE-Xtreme RC were to supply one to a customer, I know what to add in the box and how much the real cost of an RE-R is. The CER-D11 also has it's options so the real cost of those is also a lot higher. DRB needs about 80,000 yen to make a competitive chassis only so I'm still way under that. but recouping some cost through the sale of your original chassis may be the determining factor in choosing a premium chassis for most RC users when upgrading.

Street Jam Keyence Brushless

How Freeeeeeking cool is this!

I say very! Read the box. That's what it is. All my research led me towards Keyence. Japan's top brushless manufacturer and when I saw the is set in the exact spec I was after, it became cooler!

Now this has multiple brake settings and throttle initiations and all the good stuff.

But out of the box you will notice something strange. Now, high end products I understand are for people with a soldering iron and so forth but this is half baked idea.

1. The sensor cable for the motor is short. Maybe 5 cm. But the motor leads are long. about 15cm. 3x longer. and when you connect the motor as well they are about 20cm. Now if you want the long ones then you would need to buy another sensor cable. Not good. And if you only need a short one then you have to cut the others. That just sucks. Now most people run these Kawada connectors. So why not just fit them if they are the best.

2. The other thing is the battery connector. NOT in BOX. So of course I had to buy one of these also. Cheap but the thing is. when you spend a considerable amount, you'd like the small options to be included.
Maybe three different cheap connectors. Again the cords are long and you are obviously going to cut them off, so why solder the ends? Sometimes I'd like to slap some people. I would have loved to be in the business meeting for that one.

So the ESC is good, but it will take a little while to get it all in the final positions and the motor wiring will also require some work.    

Now the motor, is all good. It's a great black paint and machined version. I was thinking of the grey one and then buy a blue 1/2 case, but the finish on this is great.

7.5T is equivalent to a modified 11T brushed motor, so it's strong.
for comparison
13.5T is equivalent to a stock 27T brushed motor.

Once I wire it up, it will be perfect.

Brushed Vs Brushless Motors.

My head is spinning faster than these motors.

I don't understand. ?!?!?!?!?

Maybe I'll just stick to brushed. They are super cheap these days! Who cares about changing the brushes and maybe the whole engine when they cost $15 in Japan. Who bothers to cut the commutator? Not me anymore.


But New tech is good. so let's GO GO Brushless!

From what I can gather. I should just consider the new technology and forget trying to campare to what I have. Brushless have different RPM and torque and therefore need different gearing for similar performance. They also can be changed by a controller in terms of Torque @ specific RPM if you have sensored versions.

What does this mean for me?

I need a range of Pinion and Spur gears as well as the Motor and ESC which are already quite expensive.

1. New Motor.

Engine Turns.
   Lower Turn = Higher Top End/Less Torque

   Higher Turn = Lower Top End/More Torque
   This is basically irrellevant on its own because now the world adds kV as a measure also

Race classes.
   Stock (27 Turn Brushed) ---> (17.5T Brushless)
   19T Spec (19 Turn Brushed) ---> (10.5T or 13.5T Brushless)

   Unlimited (Any amount of turns)
  Who knows??

I found this juicy comparo chart that totally contradicts this..

Castle Creations CM36
brushless / brushed equivelent:

S7700 (7,700kV) = 6-turn
S6900 (6,900kV) = 8-turn
S5700 (5,700kV) = 10-turn
S4600 (4,600kV) = 16-turn

LRP Vector
brushless / brushed equivelent:
X-11 3.0 (11,400kV) = 3-turn
X-11 3.5 (9,800kV) = 3-turn
X-11 4.0 (8,600kV) = 4-turn
X-11 4.5 (7,800kV) = 5-turn
X-11 5.5 (8,100kV) = 7-turn
X-11 6.5 (6,900kV) = 9-turn
X-11 7.5 (5,900kV) = 11-turn
X-11 13.5 (3,350kV) = stock 27-turn

Novak SS/EX/Velociti
brushless / brushed equivelent:
3.5R (10,500kV) = 3-turn
4.5R (9,000kV) = 5-turn
5.5R (7,400kV) = 7-turn
6.5R (6,400kV) = 9-turn
7.5R (5,800kV) = 11-turn
8.5 / SS5800 (5,000kV) = 13-turn
10.5 / SS4300 (4,200kV) = 19-turn
13.5 (3,300kV) = stock 27-turn

Reedy Neo-One
brushless / brushed equivelent:
4-Star (7,400kV) = 7-turn
3-Star (6,400kV) = 9-turn
2-Star (5,800kV) = 11-turn
1-Star (5,000kV) = 13-turn

Yokomo Sensored Range 6600yen
Zero 6.5T (7400kV)
Zero 7.5T (6100kV)
Zero 8.5T (5600kV)
Zero 10.5T (4500kV)
Zero 13.5T (3500kV) = Stock
Zero 15.5T (3100 kV)



Why the confusion about what translates. Well thats because the RPM, TORQUE delivery and max power can be varied.

2. New Electronic Speed Controller.
(My reverse is not working anyway.)
Brushed -> Brussless ESCs are not compatible, so you need a new one. But
Some Brushless to Brushed ESCs are compatible. so if you want to go back you can just change engine. Maybe. These are usually the more expensive PRO models.

It also should be noted that unless you are a smooth driver, like me. You need to get used to being more controlled with trottle application.

An ESC's specification is the lowest number of turns that it can handle. So a 8.5T ESC can be used from 17.t to 8.5T brushless motors.

Because of all this custom specification in engine braking and accelleration and off throttle zone and reverse. It gets quite difficult for a beginner to work it all out.

So lets look at the Yokomo Brushless starter combo.
I'll probably end up with this Yokomo setup for Drift Meeting.

A Yokomo Zero 13.5T Brushless (stock 27T equivillant engine) and the BL-SP which is capable of an 8.5T brushless motor in the future.
It only has control over Max power setting, Brake and neutral range settings which is a good thing for a beginner at new tech.

3. New Gearing

According to this cobmo chart you should be able to work out new gear ratios.
I've highlighted stock settings for Drift Package.

Yokomo Brushless engines (as above)

Zero 6.5T (7400kV)
Zero 7.5T (6100kV)
Zero 8.5T (5600kV)
Zero 10.5T (4500kV)
Zero 13.5T (3500kV)
Zero 15.5T (3100 kV)

Motor 1/10Touring    1/10Off     2WD 1/10 Off    4WD Drift

6.5T         1:8.5            1:10.0             1:10.5              -
7.5T         1:8.0            1:9.5               1:10.0              -
8.5T         1:7.5            1:9.0               1:9.5                -
10.5T       1:7.0            1:8.5               1:9.0              1:6.5
13.5T       1:6.5            1:8.0               1:8.5            1:6.0
15.5T       1:6.0            1:7.5               1:8.0              1:5.5

So what pinion and spur is that? I need a calculator. Arrrgh!

Can I still use my Nicads. Yes. Maybe won't last long though.

Heat Seeker

With new batteries I've been running longer so I picked up this heat sink. 1. because it was cool. and 2. beacuse it was about 500yen. Seems to work well.

It's from EXA RC - It's the Yeah Racing 540 Motor Heat Sink.

Tamiya Super Stock TZ

As another part of my initial purchase I got this TZ tamiya motor. Its a 23T for more torque and servicable. Not that I have yet.

In the states these are about $50 but almost all basic motors in Japan are about 3000yen. Cheap

Tamiya says

Super Stock Motor TZ

A high performance motor for electric radio control car use.
A high torque motor designed for endurance race or low speed track.
Can be disassembled for maintenance.
Blue anodized end bell with brush dampers.
Features terminal heat sink and detachable chip capacitor.
23 turn motor
Usable voltage: 7.2V
R.P.M. at best efficiency: 26,500rpm (7.2V)
Torque at best efficiency: 500g-cm (7.2V)
JRM certified motor.