HardWired - Upgrades and general build diary

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Couple of photos of HardWired 1 Evolution (as I'm referring to it now)




Having some issues with the drive cutting out when I'm driving it, not entirely sure what the cause is, but I do know that it's when I attempt to quickly reverse one of the motors to turn - I'm thinking it's either the motor stalling or the speed controller not liking it. Either way, it's going to require a bit of troubleshooting...

Other than that, I've found out that my wheels weren't designed for 4s LiPos and I've had my first burnout and tire explosion, so I need some new ones. It's looking good now though, may upgrade to 4WD and try to get a lifter on the front or a disc on the back still, but obviously getting it to run smoothly is the focus at the minute!

[plargen]

when it cuts out is it both motor or just 1

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Both motors do from time to time, it seems like they're just losing power until I return the stick either side to netural...

It's not both at once though, they're completely independent when they do cut out if you get me

[plargen]

i had a similar issue but it was due to not enough power being available as i was using nimh battery once i switch to lipo's it solved the issue, looking at the pics the only thing that springs to mind is that the wires from the battery to the esc are look a bit small and might be restricting the flow causing the BEC to cut out

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Ah, that makes sense - they are quite thin wires... I'll upgrade to thicker ones and see if that makes a difference - thanks!

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I've tried everything with these speed controllers and still absolutely nothing. After that flat out tragedy, I've decided I'm going to do it right and get myself a set of BotBitz hacked TZ85As (or hack them myself) and a 5s LiPo. And upgrade to 4WD.
Downside is that I might have already spent every last penny I own on the previous parts so that may be quite a while yet...

Until then, I'm going to get building this wood bot using drill batteries and the old, beaten up motors and speed controllers from HardWired. It's not going to be impressive in the slightest, but it'll make some nice splinters when it's done - might take it down to the next featherweight championships and pick a fight with 3 spinners like Tiny Toon did last year, for a bit of a laugh!

[plargen]

dunno if its worth a try but do you want to take a pic of the esc's board and i will see if there are any obvious component differences to the ones i have on the off chance there might be something you could just disconnect or adjust

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That'd be brilliant if you wouldn't mind! I'll take them both to bits when I get a minute, still need to take that switch off too... probably be tomorrow now, like, but that'd be a huge help - thanks!

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HardWired and all derivatives thereof have now been shelved for the time being.
Realised I simply don't have the knowledge, money or tools to even attempt to compete with other Featherweight machines at the minute, so there's no point wasting money trying to make things work. Going to start putting money aside for more expensive pre-built or custom made parts - my intention being that all I have to do is bolt it all together and drive it at events.

Does seem a bit of a cop-out, but I have zero engineering experience, and only a cordless drill and kitchen side at home with which to build these things, so it's my only hope really...

In the mean-time however, I'm going to be building an antweight out of some old parts and transparent acrylic I found the other week, it'll stand up to nothing, but it'll definitely look cool!

[Ellis]

But, how will you develop engineering experience without experiencing the act of engineering? I can relate to the lack of tooling, but perhaps the money you can save could go towards improving your tools situation, which gives you the whole second dimension of custom building your machines. Buying all off the shelf will get boring eventually, and if you spend your savings on expensive parts, you still won't be able build your own parts later down the line. Spending a bit on tooling up gives you access to both worlds.

Also for the record, the above images of Hardwired look as good as any first machine, please finish it!