Crius

All I did on the hetzer was used two Y cables. One for throttle and one for steering.

tankme

I haven't had to make any changes to the Vantec to run LiPOs. I'm running a 6S 8000mAH LiPO in my KV-2. I wired it to run two in series for more capacity if needed. Your RDFR23 will run on any voltage between 5V-30V so a 6S LiPO is no problem. The only issue is that the Vantec does not have a LiPO low voltage cutoff. I use low voltage monitors on my batteries to ensure I don't drain my LiPOs too far. They emit a very loud squeal when the batteries hit the low voltage threshold I set. When they go off, it's time to stop playing and charge the batteries. Recently I did try to hook up the Open Panzer TCB with the Vantec controller with mixed results. Everything works great without the TCB. When the TCB was put between my new Frsky QX7 radio and the Vantec, I had one track that didn't want to go idle. It wanted to run all of the time. I recalibrated my radio, recalibrated the TCB, played with a bunch of the TCB settings, and tried to trim the movement out, but nothing worked. I'm thinking it might be an RF interference issue at this point. I have a bunch more experimenting to do to find the issue. There are some jumper changes I can make on the Vantec and do some testing directly connecting to the radio to find out where the issue is. I can't use my Spektrum radios with the TCB so I don't know if it's the radio or the TCB causing the track to move while the sticks are idle. I can also do some testing with my IFI Victor ESCs to eliminate the Vantec, but I need to get a signal booster cable for those to work with the TCB.

Crius

Tankme, are you sure you meant to say those two 6s batteries are wired in series? Wiring two batteries in series doubles your voltage. To keep the voltage the same and still increase capacity you want to wire them in parallel.

tankme

You are correct. That's what I get for responding to forums in between meetings at work... They are wired in parallel now. They were wired in series using the 12V SLAs to get the 24V I use...

Markocaster

RC_BobM

Marcocaster
Try switching the leads from the Vantec to motors. If problem now moves to other side (left side only runs in reverse) may not be ESC. Test motors with just a battery as well - do they both run forward and backwards ok (reverse black and red wires on battery) when connected to battery? Check connections to receiver - nothing loose. Can you test a different radio/receiver combo? Do tracks on both sides run smoothly with no snags or jamming?

Could be EMI (electronic noise) interrupting or creating spurious radio signals. Is receiver located near motors or ESC? Perhaps move away from motors if so. Check antenna of receiver (wires pointed correctly if it has external wire antenna).

I personally like the Sabertooth's ESC for ease of set up though. It wouldn't hurt to have a backup ESC to the Vantec.
Bob

RC_BobM

Marcocaster
I wasn't able to find the exact part number of the motor you describe, but found something close. This is a Yaskawa UGTMEM-03 type motor. See attached specs above. Your motors are rated for between 6.8 and 8.7Amps MAX. So I would fuse them at 6-8 Amps (each motor). The voltages are in the 21-24 V range which explains why the original builder wired the batteries in series to use 2X 12V batteries to get 24Volts. I can email you the Yaskawa manual or you can down load it.
Bob

Markocaster

RC_BobM

Do both motors run ok both forward and backwards hooking them direct to battery? It may be a ESC compatibility issue with the radio. You should be able to switch the Vantec from one stick drive to two stick control, not sure exactly how its done on the Vantec. With the Sabertooth its a simple DIP switch. Curious to see if that fixes it. Your speed controller is pretty old - it could be having trouble processing/interpreting the single stick inputs, but that seems like a stretch.

Ideally you want to isolate the receiver and antenna wires from motors - wood should help.

Not sure what the rating is on the IBU, but it sounds like Gary got it to work on the Hetzer. If you have the IBU2 or 3 - I would say try that before buying a Sabertooth. The Sabertooth is only a 2 motor controller, nothing else (ie not a multifunction controller). The IBU may be better /easier to integrate and get other features working (sound, gun traverse etc) as well as control the tracks.

Crius

Just to be clear, I'm using a 6S LiPo battery to power a 2 by 32 sabertooth which also provides 5 volts to my receiver. The ibu2 pro and the Sabertooth are both plugged into the same channels on the receiver with Y cables. The ibu2 has its own power supply from a 2 cell lipo. I have so much room inside the hetzer that having separate batteries is not a problem. I also have a 12 volt, 3s lipo, that runs the entire fpv system. I could have used step downs to run everything from the 1 6s lipo but like I said, there's so much room in there it doesn't really make a difference. I run an LVA on all three batteries to make sure there are no ruined batteries.

Old MSgt

I would just switch the two wires on the side that's going in reverse. Swap the same motors' wires with each other.

But I'm an idiot when it comes to electronical things (and a LOT of other stuff!!!)

Mike

Markocaster

Old MSgt

Hi Mark. Sorry to hear about the 'burnt smell' cause I've did it too.

You can order a Sabertooth 2X12 RC for $65. Sabertooth ESCs are GREAT and easy to wire to the motors. I use Sabertooths in all my large tanks.

And a while ago, when I was doing some wiring and was trying to figure out where to put the fuse breaker, I asked my brother (the ex-F15 electrician) and he said put the fuse between the hot battery lead and ESC.

Mike

RC_BobM

Marco
Sorry to hear about that. There could have been some defective components in the ESC which caused it to fry. Overtime (especially 20 years) components can go bad. Buying something used we have no idea what kind of life that ESC had - it coulda been sketchy with original owner as well.

The Sabertooth ESC have thermal and over current shut offs built into the design - so they don't get fried from heat or too much current. They also have the following advantages - have lipo low voltage shut off built in, use regenerative braking - as you slow or reverse the model it recharges batteries. Also they can power your receiver - no separate battery pack. It think Mike is correct the 2X 12 RC will get you back in business for $65.00.

A fuse is not absolutely necessary using the Sabertooth, but if it helps you sleep at night it is cheap additional insurance - its better to have redundant protection in place.

Markocaster

Old MSgt

Good Morning Mark!

All my heavy tanks are using 2X25 Sabertooths with 2X5 ESCs for their traverse/elevation and they're happy. The 222 car weighs about 70 pounds, takes off and stops FAST, is 24v, and it has a 2X12 RC Sabertooth that's working great.

I think all the Sabertooths are the same and will handle low volts up to and well over 24v but are just made for different amperages. If I was running/battling a 'Battlebot' robot I'd get a big ESC but driving a tank around ain't a problem for'em.

Mike

Crius

I got mine from dimension engineering and for some reason the 2x25 and the 2x32 are the same price, so I went for the 2x32. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

https://www.dimensionengineering.com...sabertooth2x32

RC_BobM

It doesn't hurt to have extra amp handling capability in the ESC - esp at same price. I'm using the 2X60 in my Stuart which is probably overkill - but it has been flawless performance wise. I figured this was about right if my motors can take a max of 80amps. I use a 2X5 RC for the turret rotation. I ordered mine direct from DE. Their support is very good for their products. The last number is approximately the steady state amps, in my case "60" not the voltage. As long as the ESC will take an input of 24V you should be fine. It will output the voltage and amps needed to run the motors.

One last thing get the "RC"version if you get the Sabertooths, it is simpler than the standard version, and slightly less in price. They all set up and operate the same however.

Markocaster

Markocaster

RC_BobM

Marco
I think 50A is too much. Your motors run around 5A, with a Max of 8-10A, So I would fuse your track motors about 8-10A

As for the Sabertooth it has overcurrent protection built in. But if you want to put a breaker for it I would try 15-20A. Maybe 25A max. I can't tell on the Bussman if its resettable. You want a resettable type breaker.

Painting: a little brown and green would look great. Some of Schw PzJager Abt 654 early Jagdpanthers used on Normandy were just dunkelgelb yellow however. Later JP's in this unit had green, brown schemes.

Markocaster

Crius

I use those same blade fuses in the Hetzer, but mine are in individual holders. I'm using 30 amp fuses, but I have some pretty beefy Motors in there that draw a lot of current.

Markocaster

Jarhead2005

Here's an idea if it hasn't already been tossed around. Being paintball is too big, what about airsoft? I'm sure you can retrofit an airsoft barrel inside the existing barrel then just connect it up as if it were a 1/16 perhaps?