# Help with Traxxas Spartan Boat SLOW on 6s



## skipstritonboat (Feb 6, 2014)

I first clipped the Traxxas plugs and installed Deans connectors on the provided NiMH batteries and on the boat as my charger and LIPO's have Deans connectors. I charged the NiMH batteries and ran the boat. It last about 6 minutes and the batteries were so hot I could not touch them. The stickers on the batteries actually wrinkled. The boat seemed to go about 30 mph which is right for the stock batteries. I charged my 2 3s lipo batteries and set the ESC to the low voltage detection setting. The boat went even slower on 6s! They are brand new Turnigy Nano Tech 5500mah 35-70C. There is nothing wrong with the batteries. I also tried another set of 3s and it was still slow. Any ideas why the Nimh batteries got so hot and didn't last long? What would be the cause of it being so slow on 6s when it is suppose to go 50+mph??? This boat is brand new and I just got it yesterday.

Thank you.


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## BigStu (Jan 20, 2014)

NiMH batteries will get warm when you pull high levels of current on them. But hot enough to wrinkle the stickers isn't good.
It sounds like you have something in the drive train of the boat that is dragging and causing resistance against the motor. OR you have too high of a pitch on the prop, same effect as being over geared on a car...
Did you run at partial throttle at all or WOT all the time?

Are the NiMH batteries 7 cell?
You put two 3s packs in the boat and it was slower? How did you wire them up?

If you wired them in parallel, your 5500mah packs will still work like a 3s pack, only with 11000mah. If you wired them in series, you will have the equivalent of a 6s 5500mah pack. Sounds like they were wired in parallel... 

Remember, there are a lot of factors that go in to the speed of a boat. 
And just because the box says it CAN go 50mph, doesn't guarantee that it WILL go 50mph. Conditions on the water have to be perfect for the set up, etc...


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## skipstritonboat (Feb 6, 2014)

I checked the drive train for resistance and there did not seem to be any binding. I do have the batteries wired as a series or so both 3s make it to be 6s. I know 50mph is perfect conditions but the boat was noticeably slower on the 6s. It did not have any rip what so ever. Do the deans plugs not allow enough current to pass through?


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## BigStu (Jan 20, 2014)

With the higher voltage, the deans plugs should be just fine, as long as they are clean and soldered properly. 
Next time you try, get a temp gun and check the connector temp as soon as you are done doing a run. You'll know if there is a problem, they'll be hot. 

Did you check the motor temp?
If the NiMH batteries were that hot, I am willing to bet the motor was also hot. 
Might have damaged the magnets on the motor and weakened them.


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## skipstritonboat (Feb 6, 2014)

I felt the motor and it was warm but not hot. The esc was a little warm. When I ran the lipo's the motor was colder than with the NiMH. I made sure all of the solder joints were secure. I didn't know if the esc had some high voltage protection that had to be disabled.


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## Jayh (8 mo ago)

skipstritonboat said:


> I felt the motor and it was warm but not hot. The esc was a little warm. When I ran the lipo's the motor was colder than with the NiMH. I made sure all of the solder joints were secure. I didn't know if the esc had some high voltage protection that had to be disabled.


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## Jayh (8 mo ago)

Did you ever find out the problem with it running slow on lipos? Having a problem were it seems half speed. Problem started for mine after adding boatbitz upgrades. Tried adjust rudder and trim tabs with no luck.


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