ESC with Reverse

[GearHd]

I bought my nephew a Duratrax Evader ST and it seems like the speed controller has been nothing but problems. What would be the best upgrade for that application? And also is the reverse feature bad for the motor, the Photon 20T turn engine didnt last more than about a week before it was junk. Thanks for the info.

[SteveK]

Reverse does technically increase wear on the motor, but it's not THAT bad for it. If you use it sparingly, just enough to get you out of trouble, it will be fine. You can use it a lot more if you want, you just have to watch the motor heat and wear.

What you want to get depends on what you want to do with the truck and what your budget is. Think ahead to the hottest motor you will want to use and find an ESC fits into that budget. If you are mostly racing, you might want to consider a forward-only ESC to save a little money and get slightly better performance. ESCs from Novak, LRP/Associated, and Futaba are all good.

[dalejrfan8]

The duratrax intellispeed esc's would be a good choice if you aren't racing. I have 2 of them and haven't had any problems with them. They also aren't that expensive. I don't know what could have happened to your motor.

[Cain]

After using it, I like the futaba MC230CR ESC. it will handle your motor and it also puts out 6V BEC to the servos which means it will have more power and faster transit times. If you want something that will handle hotter motors but still has reverse and is small, get the futaba MC330CR esc. I believe it will handle down to a 13 turn motor.

[SteveK]

I LOVE my MC20CR. The MC330CR is a great deal at about $65 for a tiny, smooth reversing ESC that can handle 13 turns.

[itdood]

I had a LRP Runner / reedy 17t in my b4, that held up just fine. It was working perfect when I took it out to upgrade to an LRP f1 pro/reverse and a reedy Kr 12t s. The pro has a much better brake than the runner. The pro won't allow reverse until the car is stopped which helps save the motor.

I had about 50 or 60 packs, many weeks of use on the 17t setup.

I have about 15 packs through the 12t / Pro setup and it still runs just fine. I do nothing but bash. I beat the heck out of it.