Stock TFL Zonda

[Xrayted]

Seaking ESCs aren't "rebranded" Hobbywing ESCs...they ARE Hobbywing ESCs...made by Hobbywing, sold by Hobbywing, and sold AS Hobbywing.

Almost all of my on-road & off-road race vehicles have, or have had, HW ESCs...and, except for one I had installed in a TLR 22 5.0 AC buggy, for which the 'problem' was that it was defective, personally, I've have never had any problems with HW ESCs.


~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

Yes, you are correct, and maybe the word "rebranded" wasn't the best choice. My point was that many may not realize its just another name used by the brand, and that brand has well known limitations by those of us who have used it for years.

I'm also a heli guys and have used many of them over the years in my models, and they have worked well, BUT, its well known in the heli world as well that LVC MUST be disabled due to false shutdowns, and that the over current shutdown is overly sensitive compared to other brands. I fly 150+ mph speed competition models pulling big currents for seconds at a time, very similar to boats, so the fact that someone else says they "never had any issues" only means they aren't pushing it hard enough to have one. I had to replace that models ESC with another brand of the exact same current ratings for the same reason, which is too much over current sensitivity. The other brand has never shut down.

[Notoriousone]

Are you doing speedruns? IMO most likely the batteries are the issue, or just the fact that hobbywing esc's cut out to protect themselves if you get on the trigger too fast and hard. If your trying to get to top speed than nothing is more important than a smooth progressive trigger pull no matter what equipment you have. My Zonda has Seaking 180's that dont cut out as I specifically pay attention to doing a progressive trigger pull with no jerky movements. Its harder to do than it sounds, as once near full throttle almost everyone has a tendency to just jerk the trigger back to get to full throttle, but that generates a spike in the current/amps and thats why the cut happens. As others said, disable LVC on the esc and that should help also

[stiks]

Sorry, took me a while to get back here... We finally got back out on the lake after the holidays and i did some more video. I attached a small clip here to give everyone an update. As directed i tried removing the red wire (power) from one of the ESC's that i have connected to the Y. As you can see in the video i am still getting cut-out when try to go full throttle. The batteries are in good condition and i have run them in my other boats with no problems like this.

But there is now a new "curious" wrinkle to the problem.

I had my Pro Boat Miss Geico with me but forgot to bring the TX for it. It is all stock so the TX/RX are the stock Spektrum equipment. So i decided to use the FlySky setup i have for the Zonda. I pulled the Spektrum RX out and used the FS RX and the existing model (cat for cat). There was a "pairing" that needed to occur because when i first powered up the Proboat the esc's did not "sync". One of the other guys performed the sync pulling the trigger on startup to get the esc's to "sync". So long story short i sealed up the Proboat and ran it and it did the same thing as the Zonda....the motors cut out when attempting to go full speed. So it seems like the TX/RX might be the issue, now seeing that the Proboat did the exact same thing as the Zonda... BTW, the Proboat had a fresh set of batteries in it.

Anyway, i going to take my spare Spektrum RX/TX that i have from an older boat and try it on the Zonda this coming weekend. So i will post an update after that.

[jkflow]

Get a new buddy , 'full trigger to sync' is utter BS, it will give you overcurrent which result it cut-off as you experienced.
Whatever happens, look at the LED blink code, it will tell you what happened.

I do not recommend Spektrum for this at all, range is about 3-400 feet before it cuts, probably less if you have an internal antenna, really depends on your area though. It is ok if you are in the right location i.e. middle and you can run left and right.

[Xrayted]

I'm assuming the ESC "sync" he is describing is the just the throttle endpoint calibration that is required when switching TXs with any ESC. Pull full throttle and then power up the ESCs and get a max endpoint tone, let go and set the low throttle endpoint. Its the normal required HW ESC calibration, and the boat motors aren't even running during the process.

The OP still hasn't said if he ever used a program box to disable the LVC like was suggested long ago, and the HW ESCs are definitely going to keep shutting down if not. The ProBoat also comes with HW ESCs, and will shut down all the same for the exact same reason no matter what TX/RX combo is being used. I tossed in a couple HW 180s into my Miss Geico twin, and they shut down at full throttle just like the 120s did.

Agaian, Ive never used a HW ESC in ANY RC vehicle including my helis that didn't shut down randomly unless you disabled the LVC. They are over sensitive to both LVC and over current shutdowns, and most times my telemetry voltage values didn't get anywhere close to the set values, yet they still shut down. They may be great for lower load setups, but they are too sensitive for high power applications, sometimes even with LVC disabled because there is no overcurrent setting that can be disabled

I haven't had a single issue with my Castle ESCs under the same circumstances

[stiks]

Still working through this issue. Xrayted, i did use the programming card to disable LVC but it is still cutting out. On another note, i have another twin Horizon boat that came with all the spektrum gear. The transmitter stopped working at the the lake so i did a quick swap with the Flysky rx/tx and it does the same thing as the Zonda, cuts out at full throttle. The other boaters think it has something to do with these closed hull boats. Anyway, tomorrow (sunday) is another day at the lake so i will try to get some better video and will document the steps we take to try to resolve the issue. I was going to buy a Futaba TX/RX but i feel like the flysky should be up to the job. I will post after tomorrow.