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You are here: Home / Cars / Young Kids in R/C – Training Mode

Young Kids in R/C – Training Mode

February 2, 2015 by justin 3 Comments

Since Jules was so excited to get out my radio control car from the garage, he was naturally excited to drive it. I failed to explain to him how fast it goes before turning the controller over to him. It was like the first time I shot a rifle with a hair trigger. As my friend had just begun to explain how sensitive the trigger is, I had already shot it. It went something like, “Now, you’ll want to – BOOM!”

Barack_Obama_shooting

“Barack Obama shooting” by Pete Souza – White House (P080412PS-0464).

We laughed then, but it was almost a nightmare for me to watch Jules pull the throttle trigger for the first time. ZOOOOOM! Straight into the curb at full speed :(

Upgrade and Slow Down

The car had been sitting in a box for 5 years, but I had previously purchased a brushless motor system for it right when those were the hot new thing. It was very fast, too fast for me, and waay too fast for a beginner.

But the rest of the electronics were a mish-mash of old and new. AM radio, NiMH batteries, and a brushless motor. It seemed to span 3 generations of R/C technology. With FM radios and LiPo batteries now the norm, I wanted to bring things up to speed, and at the same time slow it down.

To switch to LiPo batteries, I’d have to add a low-voltage cut-off to my first generation brushless electronic speed control (ESC). Remember what I said about using protection? The same applies here – you can’t let lithium batteries discharge too far or they’re dead for good.

Traxxas Training Mode

Rather than adding a low-voltage cutoff, I decided to get a different ESC. I switched to a Traxxas VXL-3s. Don’t let the MSRP of $220 fool you, currently they can be purchased used for just over $50. While my previous Novak controller was probably better in many ways regarding programmability, Traxxas has something the others don’t: “Training Mode.”

Training mode limits the throttle to 50%. Plus the Traxxas ESC will handle brushed & brushless motors – with or without sensors. It also has a built-in low voltage cutoff for LiPo batteries. Done and done.

Brushed motors can be acquired used for a song and I can put in a high-turn, slower motor for Jules to learn with. I could also change the gears to limit the top speed.

How we spend a "nice" winter day playing outside in Minnesota
How we spend a “nice” winter day playing outside in Minnesota

Jules told me the 3 rules to driving a R/C car are:

  1. Don’t crash into the curb
  2. Drive carefully
  3. Drive slowly

Words of wisdom we can all use when we’re driving our 1:1 scale cars.

Related

Filed Under: Cars, Electric On-Road Tagged With: 1:1 scale, brushed, brushless, ESC, kids, rally, training, Traxxas

Trackbacks

  1. Best First R/C Car for Kids - Meatball Racing says:
    October 8, 2018 at 10:30 AM

    […] I would occasionally swap out the radio for the left-handed Arrma ATX-300, put the ESC in “Training Mode” (50% speed) and let ‘er […]

    Reply
  2. Off-Road Racing in Houston - Meatball Racing says:
    December 2, 2019 at 10:28 AM

    […] was running at half-speed. The ESC was telling me it was coming up on low-voltage cut-off. I got a couple laps in at half speed and then had to pull it off the track during the race as it crawled to a […]

    Reply
  3. 1/18 scale studded tires - Meatball Racing says:
    March 9, 2022 at 9:06 AM

    […] the performance of the Prerunner (on 50% power aka “training mode” mind you) to my 2wd Monster Snow […]

    Reply

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