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HOME ABOUT THE STAMPEDE PROJECTS & HOP-UPS USEFUL LINKS VIDEOS PICTURES REVIEWS Stampede Project has moved to StampedeProject.com |
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HOME ABOUT THE STAMPEDE PROJECTS & HOP-UPS USEFUL LINKS VIDEOS PICTURES REVIEWS Stampede Project has moved to StampedeProject.com |
Upgrade Philosophy
The Project
Stampede
The Project
Stampede Tri-Pede Three Wheeled Stampede |
Stampede Project has moved to StampedeProject.com Misc. Projects Since getting my stampede I have created numerous projects for myself, some good ideas, some not so bright...I'll let you decide.
Basic
Waterproofing Receiver in a bag/balloon trick - A longer term solution is to slowly cut a heavy duty zip lock freezer bag with a hot knife (soldering iron with a Exacto tip) to make a water-tight mini zip lock bag. After wrapping the receiver in the custom zip lock, and taping, I slide that into a section of mountain bike inner tube. This makes a much more substantial cover than a balloon.
"Here's a better way to waterproof ESC - Belker from the monster.traxxas.com forums. For the last year I've
waterproofed my ESC (Futaba MC330CR) by enclosing it the pastic box
(modified, of course) that it came in. Balloons never worked very well
for me. I now found a better box to modify. Option III - Although I have not tested this idea, it seems absolutely the best way to go. Someone posted this idea on the Traxxas Forums (sorry couldn't find the post for the credit) This option entails using the 3M
DP-270 Conformal Epoxy to basically encase the electronics (yes,
supossedly if you do it right you can still put everything back into the
receiver or ESC case). This is a special epoxy which is designed
specially for use with electronics. DO NOT USE REGULAR EPOXY - Due
to the very caustic nature of the regular hardware store variety
epoxies, there is a very high probability that you will corrode and
damage your electronics during the application and curing
process. So make sure you use the right stuff otherwise bad
things will happen. I am sure the 3M
DP-270 Conformal Epoxy is available
lots of places but instructions on how to are here.
You can buy it here
(page down a little) Option III - Mtroniks Waterproof ESC. Have one works great. Would recommend to anyone who likes to get wet.
The are a thousand and one ways to waterproof your Pede, but I think I have stumbled on the best method. After going to great extremes to
water proof my receiver, servo, and ESC, I was still faced with one very
big problem. The chassis is like a big scoop and you will
inevitably end up with water on or in something if you don't prevent
water and snow from initially getting into the chassis. As you can see I made a three piece custom snap fit cover for the entire chassis. I have even hosed the Stampede down after a mudding adventure. It turned out so good that I nicknamed it the Mili-Pede (Military-Pede). The design also allow me to fit the body over the top if I want (doing so adds some extra protection. I though this was cool enough for a Traxxas decal. and a custom made spoiler. At some point I will scan in the paper templates that I used for the nose cone and body cover, in case anyone wants to give it a try. I really get some of those "What the hell is that!" looks and always lots of questions. I have tested this extensively and the full length cover gives some room for the ESC to breath. Also when its 20 degrees, overheating is not a problem. I will be making a modified "Summer" version with ram-air scoops for the ESC.
Stampede Project has moved to
StampedeProject.com
I formed the body
as one piece and the ram-air and spoiler out of another and secured them
together with Chicago screws. The ram-air duct/cockpit turned out
to be a perfect carry handle and happens to be just about center of
mass. Although not a surprise the ram-air duct did keep the ESC cooler
during my bashing sessions. Because I removed the stock brace/body
posts, I also made a shock tower support/brace out of ABS to strengthen
the shock tower up. Snow-Pede
- Snow Skis on the Stampede (Part 1) Going back to my
ABS plastic stash, I formed a couple of 7" Dubro style skis with
side ribs and pop riveted on some homemade pivots. I used a couple of
stainless-steel bolts and nuts to secure the mount to the pivots and
used two safety-pins to provide the spring to keep the tips pointed up
and avoid the skis digging in. Snow-Pede
- Pro Version (Part 2)
Although my ABS
skis worked great, ABS plastic is not the best choice for points of
stress or load bearing situations, and my bolt on mounts broke because
of this. So we were back to re-engineering the front end for a
durable solution. Another problem was flotation and
propulsion. The front stock tires mounted on the rear with zip
tires worked pretty well and was super cheap, but there is a reason why
someone designed sand/snow paws, so I picked up a set of Proline
SandPaws. Ski Mounting – What seems to be almost bulletproof are some custom Polyethylene “Y” wishbones - Ski-Carriers that replace the bearing carriers and attach to the skis via Polyethylene half circles. By the way Polyethylene or HDPE (high density Polyethylene) is the same stuff as a white NSF plastic cutting board. I used an $8 3M .5x18x20 cutting board. Polyethylene is very strong stuff that can be cut and drilled just like wood. Polyethylene is also once of the toughest commercially available plastic products for load bearing situation, aside from Acetyl/Acetal and some custom blended nylons. I basically duplicated the bearing carrier height, and attachment, the set-up allows you to just e-clip them in place of the stock bearing-carriers and all the stock camber links attach as usual. To make the connection to the servo, I used some steel 106mm or 116mm Maxx turnbuckles, a worm gear screwed into the ski-carrier topped off with a rod end. I used something different in the pictures, but I ended up using some Traxxas shouldered screws passing up into the ski-carrier steering rod end in the Maxx turnbuckle ball. If anyone is interested, I made about 10 extra the ski-carriers and half moon ski mounts, some fit better than others and need finishing/trimming and don't include any of the the turnbuckles, screws, or other hardware. Although the spares are not plug and play ready, II'll be happy to send them out FedEx ground for $10.00. You will have to do some trimming and spend about $20 on the stock hardware and Dubro skis, but you should be able to screw Dubro Skis directly to to the half moon ski mounts. The Skis – The Dubro Snowbird Skis work great and are an easy solution. The 9inchers are probably the best choice (measure first), however the 8” ABS skis I made work great but are a little wider than the Dubro models. Now that I corrected the mounting, I can turn a very tight 1-1.5 ft circle. The skis do a great job of steering the vehicle (with the new mounts) and keeping on top of the snow, even the really light stuff. If the propulsion and floatation part was worked out these would be great. The Tires - The Proline SandPaws are outstanding quality. The fit and finish of the tires was first rate. I was a little disappointed that the tires had a smaller diameter and were quite a bit narrower than the stock tires. In trying to achieve more flotation, these tires were a little counter productive, but it did provide the traction for forward motion in up to 2" or so of snow. I would recommend using front rims on the rear. This will give you a little wider more stable stance. I also moved the shock mount up two holes on each arm to add a little more clearance. The Look - I was more anxious to get out an test the set-up so I haven't completed the finish work and dying of the ski-carriers. Once dyed in black, I think the Ski-carriers will look very cool and will last a very long time. Supplemental
Floatation - After some testing in 4" snow, I devised a
contoured 8"x8" ski that bolted to the under rear side of the
transmission support. Yeah, it was a good idea that kind of
worked, but the tires really had a hard time moving the vehicle forward
in that depth of snow. The set-up did easily float the
entire truck in 12" of fresh snow powder, but wouldn't move. Don't
bother on this idea. The only thing that will work in deeper snow
is a track system with huge paddles. I OK, the Skis look Trick, but so they work? Omaha was blanketed with over 30 inches of snow in Feb 2004 when I developed and tested this project. The snow has been deep and ranged from light and fluffy to wet to frozen to crusty. So say the least I did a lot of testing. The new
"Pro version" ski's I engineered with a wider stance do
work much better turn the truck great. The whole set-up also looks
really cool zipping around in the snow. Bottom line is that
although this is a really fun project, the Stampede is far to heavy to
"float" on top of soft fluffy snow even with dual tires
at the rear. When this happens, you will become very frustrated
very quickly. Even sand/snow paw tires will drill straight down on the
soft stuff. That relegates you to only running on harder packed or
crusty surfaces or in snow less than 2"-3" deep and at this
point skis have a very narrowly focused terrain use and is also
tough or impossible to back up. The
in-efficiency of basically running the motor wide open to keep the truck
moving in even 1"-2" snow will make shorter 10 minute or less
runs common, even with good quality 3000mh batteries. On harder
snow surfaces, studded, zip-tied (which work the best that I've found),
or chained tires provide the
grip the front wheels need to turn the truck. Yes, the skis work
and do a great job with keeping the front end up, and tracking in the
right direction, but again this is a moot point until a track system can
be engineered to support the weight of the truck. Tires are fine up to about 2-3” of hard crusty, wet or powdered snow. I have found that snow/sand paddles work best, even on the packed snow. The contact area of even dual tires or Maxx tires on the back just did not provide the floatation and forward motion that is required to keep the tires from just sinking in during acceleration on deeper or powdery snow. Soft powdery show has a surface tension of about 1oz./square inch. There is a reason they have specialize vehicles call snowmobiles that will outperform any other vehicle on snow. As a result a track system is required for snow deeper than 2-3 inches. The good news is that it can be done, and a couple of people already have, however you can expect to spend between $200-$400 for all the parts to make it work right at full speed. Although I have found all the appropriate materials, and have developed a solution in my CAD program with all commercially available materials, which will simply bolt on to the Stampede and E-Maxx, I think I would rather spend the money on something else. After all we only have decent snow about a month out of every year. The
Video-Pede -
Flying Mailbox - Video Cam Armor
Wet Mop
Stampede
Later in the morning I started thinking that I could probably attach a standard Swiffer head to the front of the Project Stampede using available spar parts. 2 each - front and rear bearing carriers, two front stock turnbuckles and some shoulder screws. Screwed the front bearing carrier to the Swiffer, and the rear bearing carriers to the RPM bumper. Roomba Smumba... Works great, and I can use the wet pads also. System has plenty of give in case of low speed accidents.
Stampede
Project has moved to
StampedeProject.com First off the question you are asking is "Why a 4.5R on a Stampede?" The answer is because no one else has done it, it brings just a stupid amount of power to the Stampede Project Ultra-Pede that makes it almost untouchable by a vast majority of electric and gas powered cars in almost any configuration, and it scares the living hell out of everyone at the track. One of the big reasons I choose Novak for a brushless system was because of my previous experience with their products and not so great experiences with other brands. My Novak Rooster still survives today after surviving jumps, over gearing, over peaked packs, and my general driving style which in short is just abusive. Support from Novak is also supposed to be some of the industry's best and when you are dropping some serious cash on electrics, you want to know it will work. To begin there are a couple things you WILL need to do and buy before you get
the full enjoyment out of I would also recommend applying tape over the un-used mounting holes on the motor to further limit dirt getting into the semi-sealed motor can, and be very careful with the fragile fan that comes with the system, mine was missing one blade by the second day. What do I think of the GTB 4.5 System? + Packaging is great as well as instructions. Novak is not some slacker manufacturer that just tosses stuff in a box and leaves you to figure things out. Complete instructions, warning sheets, configuration diagrams, and ESC setting guides are supplied with plenty of links to supplemental info on their website. The ESC and Motor is nicely nestled in formed foam in an easily open-able and reusable box. + Installation was straight forward however I would really like to see, Novak add paragraph or two about running power and signal wires separately along the chassis as I believe this reduces radio interference and is just good practice. - The need for a capacitor on the receiver thing really ticked me off.
Novak included everything except the kitchen sink with the GTB 4.5 kit,
such as nice little wire ties, double sided gel adhesive tapes and other
little niceties,
which were great touches and I think for the price they are expected, but
left out a part that seems to be a known issue. I feel at the very least,
this potential issue should have at least been noted in the instructions. + Do you need a wheelie bar? Yes, buy a good one like Swami’s.
You will wheelie a lot with a Stampede but not on the Rustler. The
Rustler just jets off in a highly expedited manner. + Stellar support - see above fan issue. + Changing of profiles was a little tricky if you are a instruction manual skimmer vs reader. Have to read the manual to make it work. Follow the directions and all works great. I like the profile 5 with 20% brake, zero drag brake. The zero drag brake really seems to extend run times. + Long term testing and use has been great, I cannot think of a better setup for the Stampede. I would have however liked to see a broader cell input range so that I could drop 8 or ten cells on the system. Still very impressed with the power of this system. + So far I think I would do it again - the Project Stampede Ultra-Pede Lives, It's ALIVE!!!! - Installation Problems So I slapped that puppy in there and glitching problems galore. Initially geared 13/87 - which from the online threads seems to be a little undergeared. Da..da..da..da..daaaaaaaaaaaa.. Like it's attempting to send Morris code. I get Zero glitching and almost non-existent cogging (as advertised) when running with the wheels off the ground, however the moment the Pede hit the ground I get Glitching when attempting a full throttle take off. If I do a slow start no glitching then I can punch it full throttle without glitching. I also get some glitching at extended 20+ foot ranges. I also seem to only get a feel of the full power and speed when the wheels are off the ground otherwise when on ground it only seems to only have let's say about twice the power of the old Titanite. Attempting to move the antenna around to see if it was a antenna/power wire related issue, but did nothing. Tranny is packed with plenty of Lithium Grease to minimize radio interference. Dropped a new battery in and thought for a second that cured the issue but started glitching just as before. The ESC was set at factory default, with the exception of running Drive Profile 2 (100% F/R mode). But have tired other profiles with the some glitching results. Drive frequency is fixed in brush-less mode. The Solution from conversation with Novak Talked with Novak tech support. Their
recommendation was two fold. B. Purchase a 4700 or 5700Mf capacitor to plug into the battery pack slot on the receiver or use a battery pack. That should provide enough juice to to the receiver to get through the power hit on the battery during hard acceleration. What they say occasionally happens is that the is such a huge initial current draw that the receiver current drops low enough (a brown out of sorts) that you momentarily loose signal, then of course everything rebounds and the process starts over again and then the voltage pogos until you let off the trigger. Novak was correct in diagnosing my issue. Moving the cable did nothing, although I left them separated as it seemed like a good idea. The receiver was in fact experiencing a "brown out" during full acceleration and with the the addition of a Novak 5700Mf capacitor and the glitching issue was resolved. The day after update and the snap judgment April 2006. Well adding the cap worked. No glitching at all out to about 1/2 block
then everything goes nuts. Update 2 - Right now I am rebuilding a couple battery packs to see if that will make a difference in performance. Update 3 - OK boys and girls here is the GTB 4.5R update as of 5/19/06 Conclusion Novak is a great company and the support with the glitching and the fan replacement was first rate with no complaints. The system is reliable, fast as anything I have driven, and makes the Ultra-Pede just a blast to drive. Love it. Stampede
Project has moved to
StampedeProject.com The problem - Bought a GTB 4.5R - Had tons of Glitching So I slapped that puppy in there yesterday and glitching problems galore. Geared 13/87 - which from the online threads seems to be a little undergeared. Da..da..da..da..daaaaaaaaaaaa.. Like it's attempting to send Morris code. I get Zero glitching and almost non-existent cogging (as advertised) when running with the wheels off the ground, however the moment the Pede hit the ground I get Glitching when attempting a full throttle take off. If I do a slow start no glitching then I can punch it full throttle without glitching. I also get some glitching at extended 20+ foot ranges. Any ideas? I also seem to only get a feel of the full power and speed when the wheels are off the ground otherwise when on ground it only seems to only have let's say about twice the power of the old Titanite. Attempting to move the antenna around to see if it was a antenna/power wire related issue, but did nothing. Tranny is packed with plenty of Lithium Grease to minimize radio interference. Dropped a new battery in and thought for a second that cured the issue but started glitching just as before. The ESC was set at factory default, with the exception of running Drive Profile 2 (100% F/R mode). But have tired other profiles with the some glitching results. Drive frequency is fixed in brush-less mode. The Solution from conversation with Novak Talked with Novak tech support. Their
recommendation was two fold. B. Purchase a capacitor to plug into the battery pack slot on the receiver or use a battery pack. That should provide enough juice to to the receiver to get through the power hit on the battery during hard acceleration. What they say occasionally happens is that the is such a huge initial current draw that the receiver current drop low enough (a brown out of sorts) that you momentarily loose signal, then of course everything rebounds and the process starts over again and then the voltage pogos until you let off the trigger. Novak was correct in diagnosing my issue. Moving the cable did nothing, although I left them separated as it seemed like a good idea. The receiver was in fact experiencing a "brown out" during full acceleration and with the the addition of a simple 1000uf (1000mf) 35V polraized capacitor from Radio Shack the glitching issue was resolved. What I used was a 1000uf 35V Axial-Lead (polarized) Electrolytic Capacitor . What Capacitors do for your RC car: Caps store energy, like a battery, so think of a capacitor as very short term battery backup for your receiver or ESC. They can be used on the ESC or the Receiver whichever needs it. I found one article which indicated that your should have a cap on both your ESC and receiver as a standard piece of equipment to prolong the life of each which is typically shortened from continuous voltage fluctuations. Think of it also as a power conditioner for your electronics. How do I make one of these things: I thought a simple Google search would turn this up, but it took some digging. What I found was that sure the more expensive 4700mf caps available at Towerhobbies.com will work, but so will the $2 ones from radio shack. The key is that it needs to have arrows on the label of the cap (a polarized capacitor), be of decent quality, 10+ volts (35V is the norm) and be at least 1000uf (same as 1000mf). The bigger the number the more current it stores, but keep in mind there is a point where bigger is just bigger, on the big side the Novak caps at 4700uf (4700mf) are plenty huge. The arrow on the cap. points in
the direction of current flow (from + to -) so the tip of the arrow is -
and Scrounge a spare receiver jack and solder the red (+) lead to the + end of the capacitor. And the Black (-) lead to the - end of the capacitor. I also picked up the variety grab bag of Radio Shack shrink wraps and shrink wrapped everything up so no sparking could occur. I also put a nice big shrink wrap over the whole cap for protection - gee looks just like the Novak on the ESC. Then plug it into the spare battery slot on receiver, the same one you would use if you were using a battery pack on your receiver. That's it. The capacitor will charge from the power supplied from the ESC as needed and will discharge when current drops suddenly. Crude picture but you get the idea of how to solder it together. Make sure you shrink wrap everything well. Capacitors can spark. Also note that Capacitors generally don't last forever, so if you get a year or two with heavy use you are doing great. The glitching issue was history after this very minor upgrade. I tucked the cap around the front of the
receiver. The esc is mounted in standard placement with the power wire
side of the ESC on the left (antenna side of the Pede) and the receiver
and wire harness bundle is on the right. This points the blinky ESC lights
forward and allows the two seperate groups of wires to go around each side
of the rear shock tower. I also twisted each group of wires to shorten
them and hopefully cancel out any potential other interference problems.
That process in itself did not relieve the major glitching issue but may
reduce any other issue that may have occured - i,e, still need a
capacitor. Just covering all the bases in advance. RC Antenna Replacement Resources I have replaced my antenna probably 2 or 3
times at this point and never really had a problem previously, because I
had it written down before. This little issue just recently reared it ugly
little head during what should have been a routine antenna replacement on
the Ultra-Pede. This last time I sheared off my antenna on the Ultra-Pede
I had the craziest time finding the right length. Antenna Length Calculator if you so inclined (using this just tended to aggravate me)- Tamiya Antenna Length Calculator Calculate the exact "usable" antenna length for optimal reception. Usable antenna length does not include the approximate 1" of antenna that runs from the entry point into the receiver to the solder point. The general rule is 27 inches of wire for 27 MHz. If you're receiver operates in the 75 MHz range, you'll want to use around 20 inches. Don't forget to add about 1" for mounting. Go about an inch longer initially than you need then trim back to length after soldering and remounting the receiver. For example my "Traxxas Red" 27.045Mhz chip set the the optimal
(usable) receiver aerial wire lengths should be: Please note: The longer the aerial wire the better the reception (in theory). Google - Find a Metric to English Converter or use this one. but it didn't work right, so I started
with a 55" antenna and started trimming 1/4" at a time. If you seem to eat antennas on a regular
consider an internal antenna such as
this.
Buy I haven't had much luck with internal antennas. Everyone says
they don't affect your range, but I am either doing it wrong or their
statement is incorrect. MisBehavin RC How To replace and antenna The Stampede Project Squirt-Pede (Practice use - flower watering) Pretty simple project and recipe for fun. 1 - TQ3 Three channel Transmitter and Receiver Install receiver on vehicle as usual. Velcro servo to squirt gun, fashion servo horn to a zip tie and that zip tie to another one going around the trigger. Velcro the squirt gun assembly to the bady and plug in servo. Typically nets 5-6 foot range. NOTE if you have a smart dog as mine is, he will run in fear as soon as it squirts just once. Let it be known that all manner of devices will don the Ultra-Pede. Now where is my air horn and paintball gun...
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your new 4.5R system. First this system is
a current hog, big time (read below), so you will need to buy a Novak
4700mF capacitor and wire it in as described below to eliminate potential glitching.
Second, you WILL need either very high quality battery packs that have
soldered connections between cells, or you will need to rebuild them (
drive, that in my opinion is just not the
case with the Novak system. Just a smooth but huge roll of power from top
to bottom. This would be an stellar racing setup.
Aside from the power wires routing one side of
the rear shock tower and the harness and signal wires the other and the
capacitor, everything else was left in stock placement. I may attempt to
move the antenna to see it that helps with long distance glitching. 
the back of the arrow is +. 