batteries dying in 3 mins!?!?!!? please help

[weav6385]

Hey guys i have a summit which is mostly stock. Last week i had a problem i thought was a bad pack so i ordered two brand new traxxas 3000 packs. Charged them up and within a drive 20 feet to and from me they were already losing power. I drove it around full throttle to see what it would do. Only lasted another 3 mns maybe!!! I took the motor out. The motor and drivetrain all spin freely... what could be the issue??? Never seen this in 20+ years of rc exp. Thanks everyone!!!

[TQi]

could be a number of things, if all the servos work fine it has to be the ESC or motor maybe.

you should be running lipos anyway with 20+ years RC experience

[JimmyNeutron]

NiMh or LiPo?
What are the voltages of the pack?

[Crock]

If your having difficulty with all your packs I would suspect charger. I had a new charger that said it was charging packs to capacity but had the same issue as u. Borrow a charger and try

[weav6385]

Thats what i thought abiut the charger. I just got a new one as it is getting a mamba monster max in june. So thats y no lipo yet lol. I was out of electric for long time. I had a baja 5b and a t maxx i was wrapped up in. Anyway they are nimh and i will update you after the new charger gets done charging:-) thanks guys

[Crock]

May need to cycle them a few times to get them back

[JoelRobbo]

Is the LVD on? Because with Nimh and LVD they will only last a very short time

[TQi]

Yeah make sure your ESC light is red for Nimh batteries

[weav6385]

I charged my new batteries again with my new charger. They are 3000mah nimh 8.4v packs. Pluged them in and now the esc is blinking red and green. No matter what i do it wont stop blinking. Holding it for any length of time does nothing. Steering and lights work. No motor... what is going on!?

[JimmyNeutron]

What is the actual voltage of the pack?

[larry0071]

Your in lipo mode I bet.

Sent from a Galaxy Note 2, far far away.

[JimmyNeutron]

If that is the case try following this video:

[weav6385]

I actually wateched that already lol. I tried unplugging the batteries several times and the button still does nothing!!! I believe when i was charging the display read a little over 10v

[larry0071]

I actually wateched that already lol. I tried unplugging the batteries several times and the button still does nothing!!! I believe when i was charging the display read a little over 10v

Then your likely in lipo mode and your getting a charge that is to high to be a 2S but to low to be a 3S. The ESC thinks you are plugging in a 3S battery that is dead and is going directly to low voltage protection. Most of my old NiMh packs do the exact same thing. The tough thing is that you need to get that voltage up enough to get out of LiPo mode. Charge a 7 cell pack and let it set an hour. Put it back on the charger and then let it ready again. Do it a third time. Let it delta peak to shut off each time. This should push your voltage up enough to get low voltage protection to not immediately come on so that you can get out of LiPo mode.

Sent from a Galaxy Note 2, far far away.

[traxxasdeathwish]

dude it sounds dumb........ but put fresh batts in your controller. i had this problem 2. lol may help.

[weav6385]

I did leave it on for a while lol... if thats it i will feel like an idiot...

[weav6385]

I called traxxas and he said right away for sure it a bad servo that is pulling power and messing with the esc and killing the batteries. I have to email him which one it is and he is going to send me a new one for free:-) this is why i buy traxxas!! Where do you find a company who stands by their product so much??? Thanks everyone for all the replies i will update you with the outcome:-)