Aveox question

[stoopideric]

How good are the RC7 motors and the L160 speed controls? Are there any reliability issues? Also what turn brushed motor can I compare the RC7 to?

[TheSteve]

The Aveox system is pretty old now but still works well assuming you have the car version of the L160. The biggest challenge is likely fitting the ESC into the car - also keep it clean and away from dirt and water. You should have no issues running the system on 6 or 7 cells but if you goto 10 to 12 expect it to get very hot, so watch temperatures. You can gear the motor with some pretty insane final drive ratios if you have the batteries to support it.(I ran 5.6:1 for a while) I've raced against brushed 7 turn motors before and kept up fine but you do need to adjust your driving style for the Aveox system as its not as smooth as a good DC controller.

[kufman]

The RC7 runs well on the U-force 75. The L160 feels very much like an airplane controller and can take some getting used to. This system can keep up but the gearing has to be extreme which really stresses the controller. The reliability is pretty good but you have to be careful of the output shaft on the motor. It is kind of soft and mine broke twice in the 2 years that I ran it. My mistake was filing a flat spot on the shaft for the pinion. It works just great without one.

[TheSteve]

kufman - did you use a L160 or an L160RC? I had a few Aveox controllers, one had airplane software, one had proper car software. The car software felt reasonable, the airplane software had the partial throttle braking much like the MGMs.

You can see one of my Aveox setups from 2000:
http://psycho.ca/sw

Back then it did 100kmh/60mph with 10 cells and mild gearing.

[kufman]

it was the L160RC, made for cars. It wasn't terrible, but it did feel weird at first. Do you still run that Street Weapon ever? That must have been fun with a brushless.

Here is a pic of my XX4 with the Aveox in it.

http://kufman.com/img/Stuff/car_pics/XX4_RC7_L160RC.JPG

[TheSteve]

The Street Weapon is long retired. I had 4 of them and they were all replaced with the xxx-s. The xxx-s is now replaced with a Jrxs. The only thing left that I still own of that original brushless car is the steering servo. The Aveox speed control was retired by the person I sold it to, but I believe the RC7 motor is still in use.

[stoopideric]

kufman- does that work okay in your xx-4 thats what I'm putting mine in

[kufman]

Yes, it works pretty good in my XX-4. you have to gear it pretty good, somehwere around a 23 pinion I think with the 84 spur (don't remember for sure). You will need to get some air to the speed control. The RC7 can really heat up the L160. Here is one thing I have noticed about gearing with this motor, if the motor is hot and the controller isn't, you are probably undergeared. If the controller and the motor are fairly warm you are geared about right. If both are really hot, you are over geared. The RC7 really doesn't like to rev out for very long. The instructions say not to run it without a load for more than 5 or 10 sec because it will get very hot ... this is very accurate. This is why it gets really hot if it is undergeared, yet the controller stays cool because there isn't too much current draw.

[TheSteve]

The guy that bought my RC7 system actually uses it in a XX-4, he retired the Aveox controller though and now uses a U-Force 75 with the RC7 motor.