5 replies to this topic

[oddron]

TLDR - Amazon had a sale last week, and I picked up a new Mega Mastodon. I replaced all three motors with Hellcats, and now it doesn't work because the pusher motor is too fast.

The Mastodon requires 6 D batteries. How am I supposed to indulge my megalomaniacal fantasies of world domination when I'm being held back by the bulk of a bunch of D batteries? It's just not fair.

I never actually installed D batteries.  In fact, I don't even own any D batteries.  Instead, as soon as my Mastodon showed up, I took it straight to my laboratory to be dissected. The stock motors are wider than Hellcats and similar in length, so I decided that all 3 motors would need to be upgraded. To make Hellcats fit in holes that are too large, all I needed to do is make a few adapters.



I also traced the wires. The Mastodon contains 2 safety switches and 3 functional switches: the dart check, the jam door lock, the acceleration trigger, the main trigger, and the pusher switch. Once the dart pusher starts to extend, the pusher switch forces the pusher motor to keep running until the cycle is complete and the pusher is retracted.

Rather than try to replace the 3 functional switches with high-current versions, I decided to add 2 relays. The result? This mod includes more sins than I care to confess.



Much to my dismay, the Hellcat pusher motor is too fast for the rest of the blaster. When I press the trigger, the blaster fires one dart and then the drum fails to turn. When I release the trigger (but not the acceleration), the pusher fails to stop firing. I strongly suspect the problem is that the pusher is not retracting fast enough. Since the pusher uses a return spring to retract, I could try upgrading this return spring, but then I might have to upgrade the thin rubber shock absorber at the back of the gearbox.



Now that I have cut the original motor mount and added an adapter, I cannot easily go back to the stock pusher motor. I could try to replace it with a slower 180-size 12V motor. Another possibility would be to make the pusher motor run slower by supplying it with a lower voltage.

It looks like my fantasies of world domination will have to wait another day.

[DjOnslaught]

Why not just print an adapter for the original motor to be usable? The only way it might work would be with fewer teeth on the one gear since that gear is what controls the pusher going forward.

[MAV13]

I'd also wager the stock motors on 3S would perform better than Hellcats (more torque, similar FPS), and the stock pusher is no slouch at 3S either. Sometimes motor upgrades aren't worth it haha

[Draconis]

Sometimes different motors are not "upgrades" at all.

[Montymarks]

You like hellcats, don't you?

Could you post a link? Thanks

-Montymarks

Edited by Montymarks, 16 August 2016 - 07:04 PM.

[oddron]

You like hellcats, don't you?

Could you post a link? Thanks

-Montymarks

Here you go. http://www.containme...t-category/mtb/

I chose Hellcats based on the motor database archive and other research.
 

Why not just print an adapter for the original motor to be usable? The only way it might work would be with fewer teeth on the one gear since that gear is what controls the pusher going forward.

Good news - The original motor doesn't need an adapter. It was a press-fit, secured in the holder by a circuit board.  I was able to press-fit the original motor, with a little etape wedged along the side for an extra-tight fit.
 

I'd also wager the stock motors on 3S would perform better than Hellcats (more torque, similar FPS), and the stock pusher is no slouch at 3S either. Sometimes motor upgrades aren't worth it haha

Sometimes different motors are not "upgrades" at all.

Stock motors on 3S would be worth testing, however I found that the stock pusher motor on 3S immediately produces a distinctive odor while running. The other issue is that the stock FWC does not seem to provide a means to remove the flywheels. I didn't see any access holes, and I was unable to pry the flywheels loose with a screwdriver. Ultimately, I pried them off with brute force, which left a ring of stress marks around the axle.  I strongly suspect that if I try to remove the flywheels again, they will break.
 
The only things left for me to do are to (1) add a fuse to protect my lipo (for when the pusher motor burns out), (2) carve out some plastic from the battery tray to make space for the lipo, and (3) bring it to a war for field testing.