Help on 4-cell mod?

ruddfan · #1 05-12-2003, 04:21 PM

Going to perform a 4 cell mod tonight. Any tips or tricks out there. I would like this to go well, unlike my wheel and chasis extension mods on my bit! Been a little hesitant to do this but want the speed!!!

ruddfan · #2 05-12-2003, 10:31 PM

WOW! I did the four cell Mod and I love it! If I turn to quick I just barrel roll!! I love the speed! Thinking of 5 cell now! Need another battery though!

2G2SILVERSTRAT · #3 05-12-2003, 10:44 PM

how easy was it ? do you have any specific instructions you care to pass on?

chelboed · #4 05-12-2003, 10:51 PM

CAUTION!!! Some people have fried their ESC doing a 5 cell mod on an Epoch. I have heard of more than one instance. I personally have a 5 cell Spec 2, and love the snot out of it. I was on a concrete basket ball court this evening and was doing 180' outs and super-powerslides. This may not sound too terribly difficult, BUT my car has 2 sets of the super-soft aftermarket rear tires all the way around. The a'market soft rear tires are not only tons softer than the stock grips, they are much wider. Traction is fantastic, that is until I put 'em on my 5 cell car. This thing smoke's the crud out of them.

ruddfan · #5 05-13-2003, 07:42 AM

Maybe I'll wait on the 5 cell for now! I dont want to fry anything yet, of course I could always order a replacement esc and have it ready, extra boards are inexpensive.

I would say it was a little time consuming with all the SMALL parts and screws. You really have to be careful, especially not to lose those darn little screws! It was alot easier than I had thought though, and this coming from a guy that messed up a Ms trying the big wheel mod and a chassis extension. As far as specific instructions, mainly take your time. I followed instructions on microcenters epoch forum. They are good detail with pics! A couple of times I needed a little reference pic to put the little thing back together.--Sorry Tiny--I checked here first but could not find a thread with detailed pics on this mod-- You have to have patience when doing this mod, trust me! But I'll say this, if I ever get another one, I will do mod this first!

chelboed · #6 05-13-2003, 08:17 AM

Look at the top right corner of your screen. See the "Articles" link? Under that is a "adding a 4th cell to an Epoch Spec 2". I like the layout here better than the way they put it on MRC.

ruddfan · #7 05-13-2003, 09:47 AM

I looked under tips and mods and the epoch forum but never went to the "articles" link. That is very nicely done and MUCH easier to follow than MRC. I figured tiny had it, just didnt look good enough. So here is my advice, take your time and follow the articles link for adding a 4th cell. Thanks chelboed, could of used that last night though!HAHA.

I have trouble running on my hard wood floors, there is so much power that I do alot of spinning. I really need the soft tires and springs now. However, I now run at a good speed on my carpet, well it could be faster but it is better than stock, and it is much more fun to drive around. I get probably 6 mins of full throttle action and another 4-6 mins of slower action-still runs decent but cant full throttle. That is a big improvement over stock. I double charge it at 9V 600ma.

chelboed · #8 05-13-2003, 11:31 AM

I used to double charge mine at 9v 800mA. I got about 9 min run time. Now I have a 5 cell and I triple charge at the same v and mA. I get at least 10-11 min.

With 5 cells, I used to have a hard time with spinning out at full throttle take-off's on sticky lanolium. Now I have soft tires and I can do full throttle take-off w/o spinning off course. The tires still spin, but not outta control.

ruddfan · #9 05-13-2003, 01:24 PM

Chelboed, are your motor gears noisy? I didnt really notice this noise before the 4-cell mod. It really doesnt seem to be affecting anything but I figured I'd ask you since you've done the 4 and 5 cell. I wasnt sure if it was from more power = more noise or something might be wrong. Mesh seems fine. Just wondering?

2G2SILVERSTRAT · #10 05-13-2003, 09:50 PM

HOW DO YOU GET A 9VOLT OR 12 VOLT CHARGER ISNT THE CHARGER A 6 AA CELL?

chelboed · #11 05-13-2003, 10:05 PM

My gears were a teeny bit noisy, but I used some tri-flow and lubed them up a bit, now it's quiet and even faster!!!

2G2SILVERSTRAT: 6 AA's = 9 volts. If you want a more effective 9 volts, use an A/C adaptor. I use a Radioshack 3-12 volt 800mA power supply. I got the right adaptor to plug it into the charging dock. I usually do a 9v triple charge for my 5 cell car. I tried a single 12v, but it got my charging dock really hot and my run times were poor.

If you have a 3cell car, I'd do a 7.5v double shot, or a 9v single shot. If you have a 4cell car, I'd do a 9v double shot. I MUST do a 9v triple shot for my 5cell car.

Just helpful hints.

BTW 5 cell is kinda wild but fun. Since it has a differential instead of a posi-track rear end, it tends to pull to one side now and then under full power. I got the squishy, wide rear tires for it and it is cured for the most part. I still notice a lack of control now and then. For all intensive purposes, I would stick with a 4 cell car. If I hadn't already done the 5, I would stay with a 4. I may buy another car and leave it as a 4 cell car, not sure yet.

Happy racing!

2G2SILVERSTRAT · #12 05-13-2003, 10:08 PM

SO I SHOULD A 4CELL AND NOT A 5?

chelboed · #13 05-13-2003, 10:16 PM

5 is fun, but you have to be really disciplined with your finger not to over throttle, or you'll go outta control and run into the wall like I do. It's tons of fun, but I think 4 is better for cornering and control.

Still, 4 is 430scale mph. Pretty dang unbelievable.

Ya know it's just like my bits. I had so much fun with them when I didn't know any better than single cell. I just ran them around and had a good time racing. When I added cells, they became more and more uncontrollable and I wasn't terribly satisfied with running single cell cars anymore. I just stopped messing with them. I got so into tuning them, I didn't race much anymore.

I need to learn to be satisfied with the speed of a 4 cell Epoch and just have fun racing. It will last longer, and I will hit fewer walls. You hit a wall with an Epoch at 14 mph, and it makes ya cringe.

Peace.

2G2SILVERSTRAT · #14 05-13-2003, 10:51 PM

I CAN SOLDER LIKE A MOFO so the 4 cell seems good....hey man thanks for answering all my questions. im oredering my epoch as soon as a decide what body to get......i had a mini-z with a 6x2 fet stack so i ve had the speed but exploded many bodies indoors

should i get the impreza ,lancer ,or rsx? are tehy all set up teh same chassis height just s different body?

chelboed · #15 05-14-2003, 11:20 AM

Yeah, they're all the same chassis. Just the shell is different.

Hey, I'm getting a Z for my B-day. On your 6x2 stack do you just solder the FET's feet/tabs vertically in-line? Like set them on top of each other and solder the tabs together up and down?