Just picked up a new to me traxxas villain ex boat. Looks in good shape has only ran a few times. It has the evx esc which is only capable of running Minh. Is like to upgrade the esc right away so I have the possiably of lipo. I'm wondering what a good esc upgrade would be.

I would upgrade to a water cooling set up before you even think of running lipos. Long consistent voltage run times cooks those motors.

Ok so cooling jackets, would it be a good idea to just gut the electronics and start again or is it worth while sticking with the brushed motors? I don't know a lot about boats lol

There is no need to buy another speed control to be able to use LI-PO batteries. What you need is LI-PO cut out which will shut down power so as not to drag down the battery voltage below the point of no return for the cells. Manny BEC units have the function built in them.

Originally Posted by Strikerbusa

Ok so cooling jackets, would it be a good idea to just gut the electronics and start again or is it worth while sticking with the brushed motors? I don't know a lot about boats lol

Like mentioned above you can get a lvc added so to not let your voltage drop down. There are cheap volt checker that have an alarm built in that you can set up to go off when it detects your preset voltage cut off.

That really depends on you bud, if you put higher performing motors I would look into beefing up the out drives as the plastic will break sooner especially if you run in choppy water a lot. A lot of people have modded the villain before do a Google or YouTube search and you will find tons of info

I didn't think the evx was lipo compatable, even the evx-2 says not lipo compatable. Is there a esc that I can run 2 beushless motors from?

Would this work for lvc?
https://www.dimensionengineering.com...cts/liposhield

To answer your question about the LI-PO cutoff, yes that will work.

As for can you run two brushless motors off one speed control? NO!!! You must run a separate speed control for each motor. Now you can control both speed controls with one channel on you radio with the use of a servo “Y” harness.

http://www.mackproductsrc.com/7212f_and_7212s.htm

I didn't think it was possiable to run 2 motors lol oh well. So I can either buy the lipo sheild and run 3s battery's or buy 2 cheap beushless setups. Hmmm lol

two 3s batteries will definitely fry that esc thats a 6s set up very hot set up. Get two 2s batteries and it should be fine.

I would just monitor the temps on the motors as they'll get hot on 2s. Not so much from voltage but from the long consistent run time.

That lvc works fine but something like this is wayyy cheaper and works fine
http://www.amazon.com/Integy-C23212-.../dp/B003Y6E6IE

The buzzer is very loud you should hear it just fine.

If I were you I would ABSOLUTELY get a water cooling set up, they're about 18$ on Amazon and I would get some spare universal joints or find the upgraded metal ones.

If you're dead set on a brushless set up you would have to get two brushless motors and two esc split into a Y harness.

Should be a fun boat, i had the villain iv years ago. It was my first hobby grade rc and I took that thing everywhere with me, i ran it in the ocean and everything

I have 2 2s 5000 lipos and also that buzzer you mentioned, I just don't want to chance destroying them both which is why I was looking at the lvc. As for cooling I'll either order some cooling jackets or just look at wrapping them in thin tube and making my own water jackets. I haven't ran it yet so maybe just seeing how the brushed stuff is would be an idea lol.

Originally Posted by Strikerbusa

I have 2 2s 5000 lipos and also that buzzer you mentioned, I just don't want to chance destroying them both which is why I was looking at the lvc. As for cooling I'll either order some cooling jackets or just look at wrapping them in thin tube and making my own water jackets. I haven't ran it yet so maybe just seeing how the brushed stuff is would be an idea lol.

I think brushed would get boring quick especially if you have other boats that are brushless. The villain is a sweet boat though, I've always wanted to restore one. I have always preferred the villains scale style vs 99.9% of boats out now that are the typical closed hatch.

First boat I've had, but I still think brushed will be boring after a while. But I'll run it first and see how it moves. I found some cheap boat motor esc combos on eBay

I had the original Villian IV many years ago. It is a fun boat in stock form but is not nearly as fast as a boat with a brushless setup. The outdrive U joints may not be able to handle the extra power of a brushless setup. There are many different mods that can be done to run her on brushless. Any "speed" setup is going to require water cooling. I put water cooling coils on my stock motors because they got a bit warm. The Villian hull is very sturdy and can definitely handle a hotter setup but the hardware is a bit weak. Consider using metal outdrive U joints and metal props. The plastic props will warp out of shape from the higher RPM's and change the pitch. This will lead to poor performance and a good amount of cavitation. The ESC that comes with the Villian rated for a 14.4vV input. 2 3S LiPo's would be the maximum limit I would consider using. Remember that the two batteries will essentially be hooked together to make one. To be safe, I would try 2S batteries first and then increase to 3S if there isn't any excessive heating issues.

Some people have actually gutted the hull and installed a single brushless motor and drive system with a rudder that is setup for water cooling pickup. Whatever you choose to do, be safe and show us the result!

I wonder if that esc will handle the 10 or 12 turn brushed motors from traxxas. It would be a very cheap mod and you wouldn't have make any major changes to fit them in there.

Water cooling 20$
10 or 12 turn motors 18-25$ a pop
lvc 18$

Assuming that esc will work it could really wake her up.