CASTLE XLX2 WARNING: KNOWN ISSUE

[ARRMA-GET’M]

Interesting approach. I think I know how to affect similar changes on my 7PXR. Nice one!

With the 7PXR transmitter, have you been experiencing the same rev-match problem till this day?

 

[Diem Turner]

With the 7PXR transmitter, have you been experiencing the same rev-match problem till this day?

Yup. Ever since I installed the XLX2. As it happens around 10-15% throttle I've just gotten used to going past that point when I get back on the gas and it hasn't been a huge issue. It might be down to the fact that I speed run an Infraction and am over geared with pinion gears as big or bigger than the spool which, for one, greatly reduces the effectiveness of brakes (even with everything at 100% there's no possibility of locking up the wheels) and as such the effect of the rev matching isn't particularly noticeable. At first I thought there was something going wrong during calibration but after doing it half a dozen times I just accepted it as "part of the deal".

 

[ARRMA-GET’M]

Yup. Ever since I installed the XLX2. As it happens around 10-15% throttle I've just gotten used to going past that point when I get back on the gas and it hasn't been a huge issue. It might be down to the fact that I speed run an Infraction and am over geared with pinion gears as big or bigger than the spool which, for one, greatly reduces the effectiveness of brakes (even with everything at 100% there's no possibility of locking up the wheels) and as such the effect of the rev matching isn't particularly noticeable. At first I thought there was something going wrong during calibration but after doing it half a dozen times I just accepted it as "part of the deal".

Yes I know how that all too well lol. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it

 

[Diem Turner]

Yes I know how that all too well lol. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it

So here's an observation from last night/this morning. Judging by the video and the attached sensor wire, am I correct in assuming that you're running a Castle motor in sensored mode? Yesterday I dropped a TP 4080 2022KV motor in my infraction...and I no longer noticed any issues with rev matching. If this has already been addressed, apologies. But is it possible that this is a "feature" that only rears its head when running a sensored Castle motor?

 

[ARRMA-GET’M]

So here's an observation from last night/this morning. Judging by the video and the attached sensor wire, am I correct in assuming that you're running a Castle motor in sensored mode? Yesterday I dropped a TP 4080 2022KV motor in my infraction...and I no longer noticed any issues with rev matching. If this has already been addressed, apologies. But is it possible that this is a "feature" that only rears its head when running a sensored Castle motor?

I tried running my 1717 without the sensor wire and it didn’t change anything except for not as smooth of operation at very low throttle. That’s great news about with the TP motor! It explains all the people who didn’t know what I was talking about when I asked if they knew how to help me with the issue I explained. The only discrepancy as of now would be.., is it a Y wind vs D wind thing? Because that was the case prior to the firm update. I haven’t had any experience with a TP motor yet so my knowledge stops here.

 

[Diem Turner]

I tried running my 1717 without the sensor wire and it didn’t change anything except for not as smooth of operation at very low throttle. That’s great news about with the TP motor! It explains all the people who didn’t know what I was talking about when I asked if they knew how to help me with the issue I explained. The only discrepancy as of now would be.., is it a Y wind vs D wind thing? Because that was the case prior to the firm update. I haven’t had any experience with a TP motor yet so my knowledge stops here.

In my case the TP motor is indeed a delta wind and I don't have any plans of purchasing a wye wind TP (I do have a 5680 on the way but that one is a D1440KV). Perhaps someone else following this thread has wye and delta wind TP motors to confirm or rebuke the hypothesis.

 

[Moirae]

I have a tp 5670 1270 kv wye wind with xlx2 in my k8s and I've never experienced it.

 

[Diem Turner]

I have a tp 5670 1270 kv wye wind with xlx2 in my k8s and I've never experienced it.

So this would put a point on the board for being an issue that affects sensored Castle motors. I'm not saying this is proof positive but I would submit that we might be getting a step closer to a resolution.

 

[LoveRc]

I just bought my xlx2 in April 2022 and the positive coming out of the xlx2 is turning my connectors black and I've already gone through 2 qs8 connectors.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Its likely a bad ground or connection. It did loose power a few times before manually bending back and forth the positive wire from the esc to regain power.
Does anyone know a quick fix without loosing a month of time sending it into castle?

 

[Armarookie43]

I just bought my xlx2 in April 2022 and the positive coming out of the xlx2 is turning my connectors black and I've already gone through 2 qs8 connectors.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Its likely a bad ground or connection. It did loose power a few times before manually bending back and forth the positive wire from the esc to regain power.
Does anyone know a quick fix without loosing a month of time sending it into castle?

You have to make sure that the male connector is properly open evenly so that you have the best connection possible. I use a Phillips screwdriver carefully ad once it looks like the connector is open enough properly and evenly, I make sure that it's a very tight connection. Now, are you talking about the bullet that goes into the ESC board? That is not repairable. I was talking about the male QS8 connector from your ESC. I used to not do that, and that makes the connector turn black, since it starts having too much resistance. That has to be done on the motor side too where the male motor bullets connect to the ESC. That has to be inspected after every run

 

[LoveRc]

Yes the bullet connector coming out of the esc is black and charred.
That makes sense I do remember my last run the connector being loose and disconnecting after a few landings. I never tried opening the prongs.
However now after the charred connector its like they are extremely hard to remove and pitted on the inside of the female connector.
Hmmm... I suppose once this happens do the qs8 connectors need to be replaced or cleaned and adjusted with the philips screwdriver?

 

[Diem Turner]

Yes the bullet connector coming out of the esc is black and charred.
That makes sense I do remember my last run the connector being loose and disconnecting after a few landings. I never tried opening the prongs.
However now after the charred connector its like they are extremely hard to remove and pitted on the inside of the female connector.
Hmmm... I suppose once this happens do the qs8 connectors need to be replaced or cleaned and adjusted with the philips screwdriver?

Replace any black, pitted or charred connectors with new ones and make certain that they're a snug fit once fitted.

 

[MrWednesday]

I just finished talking with someone from castle, the issue I opened up with my xlx2 APPARENTLY is a wide spread and known issue with XLX2 ESCs, and they're NOT working on a fix right now. Basically the ESC is trying to match the rpm of the motor, and it's FAILING which will cause the vehicle to BRAKE once getting back on the throttle with the vehicle moving. DO NOT buy an XLX2 for bashing at least, because you most likely will experience this issue. I don't know why more people aren't talking about this, because my mamba x 8th scale ESC does not have this issue... Absolutely ridiculous... 500 dollars for a combo that isn't even ready after 10 months?! I can't recall the exact date it came out, but this is just ridiculous... I don't see it being an issue for speedrunning, but when you're bashing, you're going on and off the throttle a lot... So this sudden braking will cause the vehicle to jerk violently, it's just going to cause wear on the drivetrain. If anyone wants to see a video of what I'm talking about, I'll post one

Wow, thank you so much for posting this! Going Max 4 for that money now. Huge hassle savings! I wonder why they know of an issue like that and are just ok w it? Feels like a folding company, may be we will have a surprise bankruptcy or sale to another company coming up? I just can’t understand why they’re knowingly selling hot trash otherwise…

 

[Moirae]

Wow, thank you so much for posting this! Going Max 4 for that money now. Huge hassle savings! I wonder why they know of an issue like that and are just ok w it? Feels like a folding company, may be we will have a surprise bankruptcy or sale to another company coming up? I just can’t understand why they’re knowingly selling hot trash otherwise…

Considering I just had an xlx2 blow up on me I'm starting to think they're hot trash for anything but speed running.

 

[ARRMA-GET’M]

I just bought my xlx2 in April 2022 and the positive coming out of the xlx2 is turning my connectors black and I've already gone through 2 qs8 connectors.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Its likely a bad ground or connection. It did loose power a few times before manually bending back and forth the positive wire from the esc to regain power.
Does anyone know a quick fix without loosing a month of time sending it into castle?

Ohhh goodness.., I made a post about this. You could learn a lot from that thread. There’s a LOT of valuable information on that thread. I also have an XLX2 tutorial on my channel that shows you how to eliminate the “rev-match” brake/jerk problem. I miiiight have shared that video on here too..
https://www.arrmaforum.com/posts/768435/
That’s the link to my XLX2 post. There is more information in that thread than anywhere else about the xlx2 power terminals.

 

[LoveRc]

Replace any black, pitted or charred connectors with new ones and make certain that they're a snug fit once

Replace any black, pitted or charred connectors with new ones and make certain that they're a snug fit once fitted.

Thank you so much, well no matter what brand there is always much to be learned.
Thanks again!

 

[Diem Turner]

Thank you so much, well no matter what brand there is always much to be learned.
Thanks again!

Sure thing bro. One other thing to look out for is, when using bullets in conjunction with QS8s, always make sure to plug in the negative lead first. Otherwise you'll get arcing when plugging them in the other way around as this circumvents the anti-spark resistor in the QS8 connector. I'm not saying that this had anything to do with what you're experiencing, just a general heads up.

 

[ARRMA-GET’M]

Thank you so much, well no matter what brand there is always much to be learned.
Thanks again!

… it’s mostly legal stiff stuff, consumer rights, warranty laws, and discrepancies between advertisement and disclaimers️

 

[LoveRc]

Yeah man castle has an awesome power plant I just feel it will be a few years for all their claimed technology to catch up with the raw power from their motors. There's definitely a learning curve when you start switching to castle.
When talking on the phone with them sometimes I feel they don't even know why there systems are acting up...

 

[ARRMA-GET’M]

That’s the link to my XLX2 post. There is more information in that thread than anywhere else about the xlx2 power terminals.

Sure thing bro. One other thing to look out for is, when using bullets in conjunction with QS8s, always make sure to plug in the negative lead first. Otherwise you'll get arcing when plugging them in the other way around as this circumvents the anti-spark resistor in the QS8 connector. I'm not saying that this had anything to do with what you're experiencing, just a general heads up.

now that I’m reading

Yeah man castle has an awesome power plant I just feel it will be a few years for all their claimed technology to catch up with the raw power from their motors. There's definitely a learning curve when you start switching to castle.
When talking on the phone with them sometimes I feel they don't even know why there systems are acting up.

I think they DO know everything… they just need to be careful about what they say. Like for you…. When you talk or describe
“how it happened” or what your problem is, you only get one chance to say it right.