# Which wires go where?



## speeddaddy (Feb 19, 2005)

I just bought a Castle Sidewinder Speedcontroler.The motor wires are,Black,Red and White. I have a Novak 17.5 motor with wires that are blue,yellow and orange. Which wires go together? Any help would be appreciated.


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## msave (Nov 1, 2008)

I'm suprised someone hasn't answered you yet. I have a castle sidewinder system, the only think I can suggest is to contact Castle tech. If you need a # or email, let me know. You might want to check with novak also. Someone's got an answer. I think someone at my local track runs castle with a novak, but I won't see him till Wed.


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## nutz4rc (Oct 14, 2003)

Novaks are designed to work with sensored ESCs. I doubt you will get the consistent performance with a Castle. The sensors help detect things like motor rotation and this prevents cogging. IMO


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## msave (Nov 1, 2008)

nutz4rc said:


> Novaks are designed to work with sensored ESCs. I doubt you will get the consistent performance with a Castle. The sensors help detect things like motor rotation and this prevents cogging. IMO


Is that why I tend to get a lag once in a great while? The sidewinder is sensorless? I thought they were still interchangeable though? Thanks for any info? I'm running a 5700kv with 3200 orion lipo, but for the track, I have the transmitter speed down, for my son.


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## ta_man (Apr 10, 2005)

speeddaddy said:


> I just bought a Castle Sidewinder Speedcontroler.The motor wires are,Black,Red and White. I have a Novak 17.5 motor with wires that are blue,yellow and orange. Which wires go together? Any help would be appreciated.


The answer is that there is no specific answer.

What I mean by that is that you connect the three wires together in any combination, calibrate the speed control to your radio, and if the car run backward when you give it forward throttle, switch any two pair of wires. The motor may have sensors but the sidewinder won't use them - it will run the motor in sensorless mode. In sensorless mode, the wire connections don't matter so long as the motor runs in the direction you want. Switching any two will change the direction (sensorless *only*).

That said, you will probably not get good results trying to run a 17.5 with a sensorless controller. I run a Novak 8.5 on a Castle sidewinder and it works good (I actually like it better than using a Novak sensored controller) but the 17.5 has a lower KV and the required gearing may not allow the sensorless controller to get it started reliably.


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## msave (Nov 1, 2008)

That said, you will probably not get good results trying to run a 17.5 with a sensorless controller. I run a Novak 8.5 on a Castle sidewinder and it works good (I actually like it better than using a Novak sensored controller) but the 17.5 has a lower KV and the required gearing may not allow the sensorless controller to get it started reliably.[/QUOTE]

What turn do they consider my 5700 sidewinder, and why do you like the sensorless better? The reason I'm asking is if I switch to a novak 8.5 with my sidewinder esc.
Thanks


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## msave (Nov 1, 2008)

msave said:


> That said, you will probably not get good results trying to run a 17.5 with a sensorless controller. I run a Novak 8.5 on a Castle sidewinder and it works good (I actually like it better than using a Novak sensored controller) but the 17.5 has a lower KV and the required gearing may not allow the sensorless controller to get it started reliably.


What turn do they consider my 5700 sidewinder, and why do you like the sensorless better? The reason I'm asking is if I switch to a novak 8.5 with my sidewinder esc.
Thanks


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## ta_man (Apr 10, 2005)

msave said:


> What turn do they consider my 5700 sidewinder, and why do you like the sensorless better? The reason I'm asking is if I switch to a novak 8.5 with my sidewinder esc.
> Thanks


They don't mention "turns" on the 5700.

I like the 8.5 on the Sidewinder better than on the Novak because it feels more like a brushed motor with the sidewinder than with the novak controller. That's weird, isn't it - but I like the feel of brushed motors over the Novak brushless that I have run. The novaks motors on the novak controllers seems to me very abrupt and hard to control on the loose dirt where I run. (I haven't actually tried running a Castle motor on our off-road track.) The Castle controller can be tuned with various parameters and that tuning capability lets me get the "feel" I like. I ran the sidewinder/8.5 combo in a XXX-T for a lot of practice sessions but ended up running brushed in actual races.


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