Noted. Sometimes my editing SW mucks with my levels and I don't catch it before publishing the video. :-( Thanks for the feedback.

In addition to just being solid ESC,s the new Cobra lineup has a lot more brainpower, so you have more advanced data logging and a LOT more configurability. If you don't need the extra features, these ESCs might not appeal to you, but those of us who are into that stuff are SUPER excited!

I feel you on the Bluetooth compatibility. I think it's on the way, but I have no idea on when. 🤔

That really depends on the health of your batteries, the quality of your wiring/connectors, and the overall current loads your system is pulling. The XLX2 has a large amount of on-board capacitance, but adding a good cap pack almost always improves ripple voltage, which makes your setup safer. If you are building an extreme setup, I'd plan on running a cap pack just to protect the ESC as much as possible. If you are on the fence about whether you want to run a cap pack, Here's a little experiment you can do to test your system. Ripple voltage is usually worst at ~50% throttle, so try performing some part throttle test passes with light gearing and inspect your logs to see how your ripple voltage looks. Then check your logs after each gearing (speed) increase to make sure your ripple voltage stays in a safe range.

Hmmm. That's a hard question for me to answer since I don't have an Outcast. Here are some things to look at, though. 20m Center Fluid pretty much locks the center diff, but that does not necessarily mean your rig will become a wheelie machine. Wheelies happen when you have just the right combination of 1) a lot of rear-wheel torque, 2) a lot of rearward weight transfer on acceleration, and 3) a "light" front end. If you find you have too much wheelieing, you have a lot of options to correct it. The simplest if just managing it with skillful throttle control. You can also adjust the torque/punch limits in your ESC programming (assuming you are running a Castle ESC), adjust your throttle Expo curve to better help you modulate power, go to firmer springs, changing the front and/or rear ride heights, add weight to the front end, or even add a wheely bar. You have a lot of flexibility. The real question is understanding how YOU WANT the car to handle. Some folks LOVE wheelie-machines. Some HATE them. I personally like my Typhon to feel really planted, but still have the ability to wheelie when I want it. I pulled that off by adjusting my throttle expo and ESC settings.

There's a simple box to turn it off in the settings, but I prefer to keep it on. It's a good indication that I'm getting close to a cliff in range.

Unfortunately, yes. Although this video is a bit dated these days. These days I would just drop a Castle Cobra 8 or Mamba Monster X 8S in to replace the stock ESC. They are both much stronger ESCs than the XO-1 shipped with but add a lot of great features that make them both much nicer to live with.

@RCPhysics ok so I did it but it won't calibrate idk y tried everything it just flashing and beeps

Servo turns I tried different controls different motors

@isaackshirley4695 if the transmitter will not calibrate, that is usually a sign that the throttle channel is reversed. Try reversing your throttle channel and do the calibration again. That should do it. If the car was running properly with the stock radio, you should not have to worry about reversing the motor direction in the ESC settings.

@@RCPhysics ahhhh ok il look at that how bout the motor wires I have a hobbywing 1650kv trying to pair that should that make a difference or just flip the controller to normal

Happy to be of service!

Thanks for the info!

I wouldn't put it past them, but the XLX2 is a more recent product. Still, Castle may see this as a way of adding more choices to their large-scale line-up. I'll be just as excited as you if such a product is in the works.

Yes I was looking at the mmx8s came out 6 months before the xlx2 so thinking we might see something after the summer in time for enough testing to be completed

You may need to tune the frequency for your Rx. I believe these Rxs are based on FRSky models and may need to be tuned for best performance. The other thing is to double check to make sure you are not in low-power transmitter mode. I'm pretty sure you would have noticed this, but I had to point it out as a possibility, just in case.

@@RCPhysics You are absolutely right. I was in low power mode. Thank you, brother.

@dennislilley5562 Happy to be of help!

I'm happy you enjoyed it!

the 1410 has been around for a really long time. The first versions were sensorless. This video was made around trhe time of the launch of the 'new' sensored versions. I still have a couple sensorless 1410s and they are still great performers. 🤩

@@RCPhysicsAwesome news. My friend gave me a new hobbywing 10BL60 quick run. Do you think that will work okay? It’s just a stampede with an aluminum gearbox I use to bash around and do a few laps at the dirt track. It is a sensor ESC, but the manual says it can run a sensorless motor fine.

Sensored motors will run fine sensorless. You will lose the low-end precision/control, but you probably won't miss that doing dirt track racing. 😎

@@RCPhysicscool! Dude you got me stoaked! I’m excited to get my old badger running again

@bassist21685 Let me know how it works out!

That is an interesting question. The Mamba Monster X 8s is still a fairly recent product, so I'm not sure if they're planning to refresh it already. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they have something along those lines in the works.

There were some pretty hardcore crawler guys participating in the beta test. They made some really good recommendations that were incorporated into the new firmware which is being put into the Cobra 10 and Cobra 8. These guys definitely like its performance, so I will take their word that it rocks. 😁

@@RCPhysics I understand the r&d part. However I no longer trust review videos. Not your fault, just will take time to convience me.

There's nothing wrong with being cautious with your consumer dollars. Good products will prove themselves only in the hands of the greater public, so I'm not offended at all.

None of the beta testers reported having any problems with servos, so I think it's pretty safe.

Enjoy!

What did you do with the failed ESC? Warranty Claim? I'm just curious.

@RCPhysics I haven't sent it back yet I did nothing crazy it just stopped working after 1 6s pack no reason wasn't to hot just stopped sending power to motor ?

@BalaclavaCarpers Sometimes the wiring harness that plugs into the ESC comes loose, so the ESC can't talk to the RX. Try checking that. You can also call tech support. If it is dead, they will definitely send you a new one.

Mamba X is nothing to sneeze at.... but you might look at the store's return policy. 😅

@@RCPhysics I did so fast. "Unopened and unused"

It all depends on how you drive, whether you want to take advantage of a sensored motor, and how into tuning you are. SW4 is SOLID, but it has less power capacity and no data logging. Still, if it is good enough, it is good enough.

Yessir!

I'm sure you aren't the only person wanting this. I passed along your comment. They are in the process of revamping their product line, so I hope a 12S ESC is on their development roadmap.

I would love to be able to answer your question, but I sold my replacement unit on ebay right after I received it. I loved the features of this model, but I lost trust in it. I think it all depends on what the exact hardware failure was. If the failure was in the main control logic, the charger would be a total loss, but it's possible that the charger could still work on DC if the failure was in the internal AC power supply. I probably should have opened this charger up and figured out where the actual failure was, but I didn't want to void the warranty. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Thanks for watching!

@@RCPhysics No problem and thank you for the reply. Yeah I do watch your videos often..........lotsa great info from you. -Mike

I still love mine. I need to update to the latest EdgeTX release to see if it's gotten even better, though. 😎 Thanks for watching!

It's a really under-rated performance combo, especially since the 3800 Series II motor can be massaged to make about as much power as the stock V8.

Not quite. LOL!

It's running EdgeTX.

So, are you asking for an explanation of telemetry and how it could be useful?

@@RCPhysicsYes, a ‘how to’ for setup. I’m new to rec. And was interested in adopting the MT12 to my various cars. Also boats. Watched a couple videos previously and everyone assumes a much higher level of understanding. Just looking for help getting started.

This ESC wasn't designed with a switch in mind, so there's no way to incorporate one that won't hurt performance. However, the XLX2, which replaced this ESC, does have a switch.

Thank you ,

There are a few ways to potentially get that kind of mode, but the best one will depend on your comfort level doing ESC tuning, radio setup, and the rig itself. 1) ESC Tuning: You could change the throttle curve in your Castle Link programming interface to limit the max RPMs of your motor. That would basically re-map your throttle inputs to give you tighter control over a reduced motor RPM range. You could then get a bit fancier by using an exponential (expo) curve that lets you keep a REALLY fine control over the lower rpm range, but steps things up dramatically at the high end of your throttle input so you can "dash" when needed. I talk a little about this here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJjToKJ_bamLq5Isi=GnRI3NriJupsWlIp&t=2661 I use expo curves on most of my cars, but I tend to set it up though my transmitter... which leads us to... 2) Radio Setup: Most mid-to-high end radios let you set up a throttle curve in the transmitter so you can fine tune the feel of your rig while driving. This has advantages since you don't need to stop and plug into a computer to fine tune your settings. Some radios like my Radiomaster MT-12 even have the ability to set up different driving modes, so I can flip a switch and completely change the feel and performance of my rigs. This can get a little complicated to set up, but it is extremely powerful once you get it right. This also gives you the most flexibility. And lastly... 3) Gearing: Depending on your crawler, you may be able to go to a SUPER-LOW gearset that will give you a high-torque, low-speed setup. This could be extremely effective, but it will greatly limit overall speed of the rig. I'm guessing this is probably not your preferred method though since you specifically asked about ESC tuning. Do you think I should do a video diving into this?

@@RCPhysics Yes I would love for you to do a specific crawler set up for the Castle Cobra 8 please 🙏 And thank you so very much for your knowledge well shared 👍

The developers are on the verge of a new software biuld which should be a little more attuned to the surface community, but you are pretty much dead on your assessment. I look at this as an early adopter tax. The system should only get better as more surface people enter the community. There are already people writing Lua scripts to improve the interface and add features that we surface people want, so it's only a matter of time before it gets a lot better. So maybe this isn't the right system for you now, but you should probably check again in a year or so.

I think you got a few things backwards. OpenTX/EdgeTX was and is developed to not have any arbitrary limitations but to be as open and configurable as possible. That is not bloated, that is just giving you all options you possibly could want. The learning curve for simple setups is not that steep, you don't need to use the more advanced features if you don't need them right now. But it will let you configure everything that you want and how you want later as it grows with you, as you get in to more complex models and setups. It's an investment that pays off later. Also it doesn't lack consistency or continuity, it works like OpenTX in the past, the setup is pretty much the same today as it was 6ish years ago when I started using an OpenTX radio, and all the skills from back then are applicable today, even across multiple manufacturers. I would say it actually way more consistant then everything else on the marked. I suppose too many people got sick from brands like Spektrum who charge an insane premium just to have 2 channels, and two switches more on a radio, or locking advanced features behind very, very expensive Radios, even tho the hardware is basically the same. And look to what it lead to. An open community which develops the firmware, manufacturers working with said community to bring cheap, but high quality fully fledged Transmitters to the market. It's a win-win.

Good points!

Price should be a part of this conversation. what even comparable at this price range?

My pleasure! Thanks for watching. 😎

Yup. 4S is "only" 16.8V so you are fine with a little margin for voltage spikes on braking. 25V Caps would work fine up to 5S.

That should be a pretty solid combo.

@@RCPhysics Yeah it should, but i'm planning to get a Losi 5ive-T 2.0 next summer or fall i'll start saving for it in July of this year. So it'll be awhile before i buy any other new expensive cars or trucks. But a Limitless would be an awesome car to build someday.

Thank you! Just remember to take your time at each step to avoid common mistakes. I much prefer doing it correctly the first time vs. having to redo it over and over again because I tried to rush things. 😎

@@RCPhysics Got her mostly rebuilt Wednesday and i'm loving how she's driving still sorting out her steering. Eventually she'll be getting new front tires, a new custom metallic red painted body i'll also be rebuilding my driveshafts. After that i'll leave her the way she will be for awhile. then i'll be moving on to my next on road speed project which will be either an Arrma Felony or Limitless V2 haven't settled on which one yet.

Very true.

I ultimately just used Velcro. 😎

No, this video is just a year old. I did do an unboxing video a few years back when I first got it. I'm actually thinking of using it for a few more videos coming up. It's still a solid drone, but it could be a useful teaching point for using older drones now that Remote ID is a thing. I have shared this in the karma facebook groups, but feel free to reshare it. There may be some other groups out there that I am not aware of. Thanks for watching!

@@RCPhysics thanks , I dropped it on my group (GoPro Karma Fixes) as it has some real value. My page is about finding fixes to issues like the pair issue that plagued people and then we create videos on how to repair them so people can fix problems themselves. We also have a discord server where people can ask questions and get assistance on the processes that we have created. Your video fits in really well with that, I saw it a while back and remember the Kp part of the app and wanted to share it with others.

@@bozmanx What are your links? I'd like to join/follow myself. 😎

My ESC was a pre-release model, so I'm pretty sure they are just including the Castle Link with the ESC. Let me know if yours includes one when you get it. Thanks for watching!

I think we sorted this out on FB. Good luck!

Hi! I just replied to someone who asked a related question. The MT12 4-in-1 is a great radio if you are running a supported Rx protocol. Unfortunately, most of the support (right now) for the 4-in-1 module is for the aircraft-derived protocols. The multiprotocol module devs are working to add more protocols, but apparently they are a small team. In the meantime, some DSM Rx's are supported, but you'd have to check around to make sure your Rx really is supported. I use Spektrum DSM Rx's in a lot of my aircraft, so DSM is definitely supported, but Spektrum has a lot of flavors of DSM, so I'm a little nervous about giving you a 100% guaranty that it will work for you. It might be worth investigating a different low-cost high performance Rx protocol. I run the FlySky 2A protocol. You can get telemetry capable Rx's for less than $20 USD. The ELRS version is good choice if you are starting from scratch or don't mind replacing all your Rx's. The Radiomanster ELRS receivers are pretty cheap and are available with built in main-battery telemetry for no additional cost. (I have to run a separate telemetry module with my FlySky setup to get voltage data on my radio.). I hope this helps.

@@RCPhysics hey.. thanks for the info appreciated much, and more more power to your channel.

The MT12 4-in-1 is a great radio if you are running a supported Rx protocol. Unfortunately, most of the support (right now) for the 4-in-1 module is for the aircraft-derived protocols. The multiprotocol module devs are working to add more protocols, but apparently they are a small team. There is a multiprotocol module group over on the RCGroups forums that a few devs monitor. You could try posting over there and see what answers you get. In the meantime, it might be worth investigating a different low-cost high performance Rx protocol. I run the FlySky 2A protocol. You can get telemetry capable Rx's for less than $20 USD.

You are actually touching on 2 separate issues. 1) Good usages of accelerometers and 2) Warranty issues. 1) From a purely technical perspective, there is so much tuning potential that you can tap into by using the simultaneous accelerometer and power data. Using this data, a good tuner can "walk into" a great setup that gets the most out of their setups without cooking their motors or ESC. 2) Castle will totally honor warranties of ESC that fail from defects in "normal" use. The problem is that competitive drag racing and speed running is NOT "normal". Here's what I mean. In order to get the most out of a setup, you HAVE to take it right up to the edge of what it can do. If you don't, you are leaving performance on the table. This is great if you can walk right up to the line of performance, but inevitably, you WILL sometimes fall over the line and you WILL break equipment. Sadly, that is a cost of the game. NASCAR & NHRA racers blow up equipment ALL THE TIME, but that's a cost of going fast. The reason Castle ESCs can deliver so much raw performance in extreme "pro" use cases is because they were "over designed" to give a lot of performance margin in "extremely fun" use cases. That margin means the ESCs can handle the average users' "fun" with an "acceptable" failure rate. However, if you routinely take an ESC to 90-99% (or 105%), the electronics accumulate exponentially higher levels of internal stress which dramatically increases the part's failure rate. I've blown up / destroyed expensive equipment doing dumb stuff. It's really frustrating, but I understood that I was doing something dumb and didn't blame manufacturer for it. That said, I've also had equipment die in general use. Companies that are good to work with and honor their claims usually earn my long-term business. In fact, some of my first person-to-person interactions with Castle came through me filing successful warranty claims. I completely get the frustration some guys have with Castle and voided warranties. Their ESCs are NOT cheap, and no one likes the feeling of seeing a project they poured their blood, sweet, and tears into go up in smoke. That said, there are methods tuners can use to find the bleeding edge of performance without "just sending" it into the abyss.

I can not understand why a company will void a warranty if one use full throttle for about two seconds in drag racing and about five seconds in speed runs when most escs are capable of high Amps for about ten seconds. The same escs are also used in marine boats which are under load most of the time and with full throttle which is much worse! This is something that Castle should be considering regarding drag and speed runs because it is absurd in my opinion!

@@josephcaruana9165 It's not a "full throttle" or "under load" thing. It's actually a gearing and current draw thing. Batteries and ESCs don't "push" power. The motor "pulls" current based on the mechanical load it is experiencing. RCs that are set up to run at wide open for long periods (like boats and planes) are set up with props or gears that will give them a reasonable load at max RPM. A good example is a circuit racer that will be at 100% throttle for most of the track. Those RC are running wide open... at 30 or 40mph (ish), so they are generally only pulling one or two horsepower (on average). I beat the snot out of my Typhon basher, but it maxes out at ~5hp at the beginning of a power pull then falls off to ~2hp for the rest of the run. Try as I might, I rarely see more than 150A current draw on that car. This happens at the beginning of a power-pull ant then the current falls of to 60-80A. This is because it's "only" geared for ~50mph and has a very efficient drivetrain. At that load level, I could probably run flat out for minutes at a time with no issues. The problem is well-tuned speed and drag cars are geared MUCH higher, so they have exponentially higher current draws. It's pretty common for these cars to see current draws of 400-500A. That's more than twice the current of many 240V welders. waste heat in a circuit increases with the square of current, so the same ESC will produce 100X more heat in a 500A draw than during a 50A draw. Poorly tuned cars (or EXTREME builds) can pull even more current. If the system doesn't have enough cooling, all that waste heat will can destroying the ESC, motor AND batteries. This doesn't just affect Castle. TP motors recently made a post on their FB page giving tips to not fry their motors. Many high-performance batteries only warranty batteries for a few weeks and then just for workmanship issues.

Some professional drag racers do not even use any fans or cooling fins to reduce weight, but they only make race that it will only take about 1.5 seconds on full throttle, which should not damage the esc or motor because there would not be enough time to heat the components although they use around 400amps. One of the things that I noticed is that the wires on Mamba are thin and it have seven capacitors, but still, when it is geared high, the ripple goes up to around 4v on 6s which is quite high so extra capacitors are needed. For example, the XLX2 haven't got capacitors, but wires are much thicker, and with the same gearing, it only makes around 1v of ripple on 7s, so it doesn't need extra capacitors. Hope that Cobra escs would be much better!

I'll walk though this in my next MT12 video. 😎

@@RCPhysics awesome great to hear.

Thanks for watching!

Unfortunately, Venom went under a while ago. You can still find their batteries on Amazon.com, but there is no one to honor the warranty now so I can't recommend buying them anymore. That said, they are still high quality batteries and they may not be a bad deal given how poor warranties are on a lot of other battery brands.

I started speed running about 10 years ago. Most of the runs on my channel are from back when I was helping to organize the RUN DMV events in the DC area. Actually, the speed pass in the first few seconds of all my recent videos is my Slash 4x4 doing over 100mph during a Run DMV Event. That's how I caught Castle's attention and started working closely with them. I post most of my current build photos in my FB page or IG. You can see photos of my fleet there. Two of the speed cars are featured in my FB Banner photo. facebook.com/rhouse21RCPhysics I stopped posting speed run videos after the Run DMV Crew went our separate ways, but I'm planning to start running again this spring now that I've found a new suitable location near me. I currently have 5 Speed cars and enough parts on hand to build a couple more. The current speed fleet consists of... 1) An ARRMA Limitless with a Castle XLX2 ESC, Sensored 1717 motor, and one of my custom Cap Packs, This is my newest build. I bought it on a whim a few months ago, so it's still coming together. kzbin.infoVp_xZBPXmFo 2) A Traxxas XO-1 with a Castle XLX2 ESC, Sensored 1717 motor, and one of my custom Cap Packs. This car was actually used in the Beta Testing program of the Castle Mamba Monster X 8S and XLX2 ESCs. It's the orange XO-1 all over my FB and IG feeds. I never published any videos of this car doing speed runs because I wasn't trying to break any records or anything. I just having fun with it and use it as a testbed for the custom parts I build/3Dprint. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnK8fnV5iq6MnZY 3) A modified Slash 4x4 On-Road Build (the other car in the banner photo of my FB page). I posted in-car footage of this car going 103 mph 7 years ago with a Castle MM2 ESC, a sensorless 1717 motor, and one of my 1st custom cap packs. I also used it to help do Beta Testing for Castle. It currently has an XLX ESC and its OG 1717 motor (keeping it old-school), but I may swap in an MMX-8S for better durability when I start doing runs again this spring. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qV7ZiaNqhLGjmKMsi=AYccA5XpUEQbAMql 4) A Team Associated Apex 1:10 Scale speed build. This car has a Mamba X powering a sensored 1406 5700kv. It's very similar to a 4-Tec speed build, but I'm using a modified Slash 4x4 driveshaft to handle the power of the motor better without "hula hooping". kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZuVfoOHfcaXiJYsi=pOslFE7mbhLm12CG 5) A "70mph Club" Rustler custom Aero work. This isn't technically a 100mph car right now, but I recently re-built it with a Mamba X and sensored 1415 to see how close to 100mph I can get. If it doesn't make it, I'll swap in one of my sensored 1515s and see how that turns out. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4K7d4mlj9qWhMk I've got a couple MMX-8S ESC on hand and some Castle15-series motors, so I'm debating building a Slash 2wd drag car out of parts I have on hand, but I haven't made up my mind.

Does it give any audio alerts or play tracks? It's possible the speaker came unplugged. If that's not it, you may have a bad unit and might need to do an exchange. 😕

@RCPhysics no audio at all and won't play the wav tracks, starting to think maybe the speaker is at fault, don't want to take it apart just yet as I've messaged the seller see what they say...thanks for your help👍

It sounds like you need to contact radio master. You probably have a bad radio. Chances are the audio cable to the speaker just came unplugged, so if you feel comfortable opening it up to check, that might be the solution. If you're not comfortable opening up your radio, then you just have to have them send you a replacement.

@RCPhysics will do, thanks for your help 👍

Just had this back from radiomaster and it worked, hope this may help someone else........We found this problem, cover the SD card rubber cover, if the plug is too tight, the SD card will be a little deeper, resulting in poor contact with the SD card and can not play audio files, you can open the rubber cover, eject the SD card to reinsert, rubber cover SD card position do not press too tight, you can solve the problem.

They are 10 AWG. That's about right for this ESC since it's designed as a replacement for "200 Amp" ESCs. That said, it can peak MUCH higher than that for a few moments.