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Hitec Castle HSB-9370TH servo
We first reporter about these HERE back in 2011, but now they are officially ready for market, Hitec HSB-94xx and HSB-93XX series servo’s.

To make life easier on your BEC, Hitec teamed up with the Neu Castle brushless motor crew to produce new servos with all the power, but with less power consumption.

The Neu Castle brushless motors used in the new Hitec servos are more efficient than regular servo motors, giving you greater performance with very low current consumption. The Neu Castle Hitec servo’s also feature titanium gear trains and constant power output.

Specifications at 7.4 volts -

HSB-9360TH – .06 speed, 236 oz/in, $179 street
HSB-9370TH – .10 speed, 347 oz/in, $179 street
HSB-9380TH – .14 speed, 472 oz/in, $179 street

HSB-9465SH – .07 speed, 187 oz/in, $124 street
HSB-9475SH – .10 speed, 269 oz/in, $124 street
HSB-9485SH – .15 speed, 361 oz/in, $124 street

To get more information on everything Hitec simple click THIS LINK. To get more Hitec news right here on BigSquidRC, THIS is the link you want.

Castle Creations 0808 4 pole brushless motor for mini
Castle Creations has just announced a new 20mm brushless motor for your mini car or truck. For more torque Castle uses a 4 pole design and it is available in three different kv’s- 4100, 5300 and 8200. The 4100 and 5300 are rated for use up to 3S Lipo, while the 8200 is rated for 2S. The MSRP is $50 and HERE is the link that takes you to more information on Castle’s webpage. Click on THIS LINK for more Castle news on BigSquidRC.

castle creations sidewinder 3

A while back we posted that Castle Creations would be upgrading their Sidewinder and Mamba Monster line to waterproof versions. Well the Sidewinder3 and Mamba Monster 2 have been officially detailed and are ready to go. We aren’t sure what took Castle so long for their in house product line to catch up to their OEM line, since that’s has had waterproof versions for a while, but many people will be happy it finally showed up.

The Sidewinder3 can handle up to a 3s LiPO, is designed for 1/10th scale crawlers, short course vehicles and other similar sized stuff. The ESC alone is $79, and in a combo with a motor of your choice for only $129. (Motor choices are 4600kv,5700kv, 6900kv, or 7700kv).

The Mamba Monster 2 can handle up to an insane 6S, ideal for larger monster trucks, and is only $169! Castle does mention the fan is NOT waterproof, and recommends you remove it before running in water. You can also buy it in a combo with a 2200kv or 2650kv motor for $349.

mamba monster 2

Looking for other Castle Creations news? Hit this link.

Just found this ad for Castle’s final stab at World ESC Domination! After years and years of all of us hardcore basher types whining about not getting their Castle ESC wet, it seems like they are finally starting to get the hint. All the info we have so far is what’s in the Ad… Looks like there will be a new Mamba Monster 2 and a Sidewinder 3 coming soon!

For all sorts of Big Squid info on other Castle related items click on the ANY key!

Snappy RC Products Castle Speed Controller Mount for the Traxxas Slash 4x4
Are you tired of landing from a huge jump only to find that your double sided tape has given way and your speed controller is flopping around inside of your truck? Yes, us too. Luckily a company named Snappy RC Products is manufacturing durable mounts to keep our expensive speed controllers safely planted to the chassis. Shown above is Snappy’s custom mount for securing a Castle Mamba Max Pro in the Traxxas Slash 4×4. Some of the features are-

* Recessed switch mount
* Pocketed top and bottom plate to secure speed controller
* Does not block air flow
* Easy access to sensor port
* Made of durable plastic
* Room for motors up to 3″ long

Includes-

* One Billet Pocketed Plastic Top Plate
* One Billet Pocketed Plastic Bottom Plate
* Two Metric Hex ESC mounting screws
* Two Metric Hex switch mounting screws
* SnappyRC sticker

Street price is $16 and they are available right now. Hit up the official Snappy Website for more information.

Have you read our Slash 4×4 review? If not, take a look at it HERE.

BS-rcx-castle (3)

The Castle Creations booth with a lineup of their products including the Castle powered Funnycar from Traxxas.  Oh, and wouldn’t it be great if the motor in front of the Mini E-Revo was a new upgrade option?  Or perhaps we need a new project truck!

BS-rcx-castle (1)BS-rcx-castle (2)

Cubby

How’s it going? I’m in need to send my Schuamcher Fusion to shop to have it looked over. I would like to know if you could advise any to me?

Located in North FL
thanks
T.C.

Cubby- Hey what’s up TC, and thanks for the email.

So you want to send your Schumacher car into a shop to get it looked over. I guess you didn’t get the memo, but this is a hobby where you actually work on your own cars. Seriously, we are playing with toy cars, if you really mess one up just throw it away and buy another one.

So…. bust out your owners manual and start tearing that beast down. Clean everything and look for anything broken or worn out. If you find items that need replacement I hear A-Main Hobbies is the best place in the states to get Schu parts right now. After receiving new parts, re-assemble and take’er for a test drive. If it’s still messed up you didn’t pay close enough achtung to your owners manual.

But… let’s say you aren’t very mechanically inclined, the kind of guy that can’t even change a roll of toilet paper. Here are your options.

1. Contact your local hobby shops and see if they repair used rc cars. So do, some don’t, but for those that do expect to pay around $20 an hour for labor.

2. Check Craigslist. In most larger metro areas there are guys advertising on CL that they fix broken cars. You’ll wanna be careful with these guys as most of them are working out of their house and they could very easily just keep your car and tell you to screw off.

3. Ship it to Wrench from BSRC. He’s the best there is at spin’n wrenches on an rc car, although his hourly rate is probably higher than what most new cars cost.


Okay, I’ll get straight to the chase…. on the charger shootout price page, there was a mistake. You said in the table that you used the Duratraxx Onyx
220 which you stated sold for $60. The 220 model only charges NiCd and NiMh, not LiPo. You used the 230, which sells for about $80 and charges LiPo batteries.

Also, I think it might be nice if you did a LiFe Battery shootout, just for fun. That and/or a 1/16 scale battery shootout, for the Traxxas 1/16 E Revo VXL (or other 1/16 traxxas models). The mini E Revo may be small, but in no way is it not for bashers. :)

Also, I stumbled upon some LiFe batteries while browsing the internet a week or so ago, and I’ve heard they’re much better than LiPo’s: They have more charges, they wont spontaneously combust if used improperly. :D But I haven’t found anything about the rate of charge for the batteries. Can you help me? I realize you are extremely busy, and I am in no way offended if you don’t respond to my newbie questions. :)

Thanks,
Ron

Cubby- Hey Ron, you are totally correct, we did shootout the Onyx 230 not the 220, thankfully I wasn’t the person that wrote that one up. :) BTW, it has been fixed since you wrote in.

Not that I don’t make a lot of mistakes, I certainly do, it’s the fact Brian keeps hiring people based on their chest size instead of their prowess of the English language to check over what we write around here. You have to suffer through our mistakes while we get to stare at large mounds of eye candy every day. The more I think about it, the more I think that’s an even trade-off. :)

About a battery shootout- yes, we desperately need to do one, but… there is a good reason why we haven’t done one recently- lack of hours in the day. However… you will be seeing a full review of the new 2S Dynamite 5200 mah 50C Speedpack in the next couple of weeks. I know that’s no shootout, but we’ll be posting all the discharge curves off the West Mountain all the way up to 60 amps.

About the charge rate on your mystery lithium iron phosphate pack- you need to consult the manufacture. As a “rule of thumb” most lithium based packs we use in the rc industry were designed from the ground up for a 1C charge, but…. there are lots of other industries out there, industries with much different demands than ours, industries where the max charge rate may be well under 1C. That isn’t really typical of LiFePO4 cells (typical is between 1-5C for the cells we use in rc), but could be the case, and better safe than sorry when charging any type of battery.


There is one more stolen out of Brian’s email box, keep reading… READ MORE

This cool little device from Castle Creations called the “CapPack” is designed for use in high powered electric vehicles, where batteries may suffer from voltage drop under severe load – this capacitor bank will give you that bit of extra go under accelleration. At $24.95, it costs a whole lot less than a new battery pack!

CC CapPack

Head over to the Castle Website for full details.

castle creations logo
Hey everyone, just saw that Castle Creations is recalling some of their larger scale ESC’s. The Phoenix Ice HV, The Mamba XL and the Hydra Ice HV. They are asking that customers cease operation of these controllers, and send them back to Castle for modifications. I know several people using the Mamba XL, so I thought we should help get the word out about this.

Castle Creations Recall Page for all the information and details!

Castle Creations rebuild kit

Olathe Kansas powerhouse Castle Creations is now offering repair/rebuild kits for two of their popular short course motors- the 1410 3800 kv which comes in their Sidewinder Short Course systems, and the 1415 2400 kv which comes with their Mamba Max Pro SC system.

The rebuild kit consists of a new rotor, new front endbell, two bearings, endbell screws and shims for the rotor. Both the Castle 1410 and 1415 come standard with 3.2 mm output shafts, but Castle is offering rebuild kits in both 3.2 mm and the larger 5 mm output shaft sizes.

Pricing on the 1410 rebuild kit is $49.95, and the rebuild kit for the 1415 goes for $64.95.

For more info hit the Castle Creations website.

hitec hsb-9380

We don’t have an official press release yet, but these new Hitec servos is making us drool! These are the HSB-9380 for Ultra Torque, HSB-9370 for multi purpose use, and the HSB-9360 for high speed! What’s got us drooling is the fact that they have Neu-Castle brushless motors on the inside! Now look who’s drooling!
We will post more info when we get the official press release, but expect to see these things to start shipping in July.

Make sure to stop by the Hitec web site for more servo options and info.

Castle Sidewinder v2 Just a heads up on the fact that the Castle Creations new Sidewinder V2 is now shipping! For all those looking for a cheap brushless system, you can now find it on the Tower Hobbies Website for $99!

This ESC/Motor combination is very similar to their Sidewinder SCT combo that we recently did a review of, so make sure to check that out also.

We just posted over in the RC Reviews section our review of the Castle Creations Sidewinder SCT Combo! A lot of people have been waiting on this latest ESC/Motor Combo, and it’s time to put it to the test! Click the pic or head over and check it out here!