This Video is sooo helpful you cannot explain better than this and this guy actually will reply and explain in full honesty. I'm glad we have people like this to advice
Awesome videos. This is super helpful. I converted my kids 24V grave digger to run off 2x 18v Rigid batteries with an in-line fuse. It has so much torque so I want to follow your upgrade here with the variable speed pedal, but I also want to, and maybe more importantly, follow your low-voltage-cutoff diagram from your LVCS video as i've fried 2 rigid batteries to date. How would i work your LVCS diagram (with 2x daisy chained rigid batteries) into a diagram like this. At first i thought maybe just a bigger terminal strip to account for the ESC wiring, but the brake pedal/resistor/shifter are throwing me off. and the Grave Digger has a 3-gear shifter which is probably another speed bump.
To use a LVC board, on the ESC diagram use a bigger terminal strip or a 1 in/ 3 out snap connection with a positive and negative going to the LVC board and then the relay portion will go before the ESC. On the LVC diagram, just think of the PWM as the ESC and you will be good to go! For the 3 speed shifter, just follow the wire from the stock pedal that goes to the shifter and replace it. FYI, you will need 2 relays (36 volt/ 40 amp) for your setup
My daughter has a 18volt conversation. It's a 4 wheeler. Already has a pedal no room for another one. Do the make a handler bar brake lever that would work? Also what if both are pressed at the same time?
Ive upgraded by daughters car to an 18v Ryobi battery and in the winter we are tearing it down to upgrade to a 24v setup with 775 motors. Definitely going to use this ESC upgrade. My plan was to run it on a 6ah 24v Kobalt battery. What are some of the disadvantages to using a Kobalt battery vs something like a 6s lipo?
Overall, I would say there’s no disadvantage to using the 24v Kobalt over a 6s lipo. I’ll only use lipo if it’s a drag race and I know they won’t be using the car for more than a few seconds. I’d never would want to see a lipo battery burst into flames when it’s under a kids seat
I follow along until the last minute of the video in regards to replacing the white power wire with your own. Where does the new wire connect to? I assume to the fuse ? Please elaborate
@@PeterSiekiera after that video clip, you can pause the wiring diagram. The new red wire runs from the 30 (out) from the relay to the shifter connection that I showed.
(Willing to pay for your time) I have a hurricane with an East Coast EZ ESC setup that died, so I replaced it with your video.. No brake pedal for now to keep it simple. Seemed doable enough (connect 2 motor wires, 2 battery wires, 3 pedal wires, and jump the 2 power switch wires) YES! I Finally got the thing running! Low speed ✔️ High speed ✔️ But REVERSE... NADA. Tried with 2 different shifters. *********** Any idea what I f'd up?
A few questions for you. 1. With a 4x4 UTV (4x350w 775 motors) and using 20v DeWalt batteries, would I need to use 2 ESC (one for the front and one for the back)? Does that also mean that the 12ga wire coming from my DeWalt battery adapter isn’t thick enough? 2. With a 20v DeWalt battery, won’t the LVC in the 24v ESC cut off the battery too soon? 3. What size 24v to 12v buck converter would you recommend for the lights and radio? Does it need to be 30A or 40A or can it be less?
The 12 AWG wire from the battery adapter is fine, only 1 ESC is needed and then you can split the “power out to motor” connection from the ESC to run to the front and back. Yes, the 24v ESC needs a minimum voltage amount of 20 to 21 volts, which is why you will want a 12v ESC if you are using a 18v or 20v battery
@@DadHacksDo you have an email address you would be okay with sharing? You could delete the reply after I shoot you over a quick email. It’s just a couple pictures and a question regarding wiring.
@@DadHacksDo they make an ESC that is 12v and can handle 4x350w motors? I can’t find anything that is 12v and even close to the 1500w that I would need.
Great video! It's helping get a plan together for adding ESC to my son's 24v Grave Digger. Can you explain what the relays function is in this setup? Your diagram looks a little different than most 5pin bosch relays, so I just wanted to make sure I wire it right. I'm guessing it's for the braking system? I noticed in another comment you mentioned needing another relay if you have 2 motors which his truck does? So would I just run 2 sets of wires from your diagram to 2 separate relays, 1 for each motor? Oh, also... I assume this will work the same for dual motor vehicles with hi and low? Just run the blue and yellow wires to the motors the same way the factory setup is through the shifter, so they will run in series for low gear and parallel for high? Can you elaborate a little on the wiring from the esc into and out of the shifter? Thanks for posting this and taking the time to answer questions. It's a big help and will save me money and time just doing trial and error!
I'm looking at your wiring diagram a little more and think I'm figuring it out.... so does the relay basically just reverse the polarity to the motor to act as the "brake"? And that's why with 2 motors you would need 2 relays? I would think you could run 2 sets of wires out of the 1 relay to each motor, but that would probably draw too much current for 1 relay to handle?
1a) you can use any normal 24-volt, 5-pin relay. You are correct, the relay is used for the brake system. I would almost suggest just skipping the brake system on the “trial” run because the GraveDigger is so heavy, it will stop on its own pretty quickly. 1b) if you want to skip the brake, then in the diagram ignore the black wires running to the relay and the red wire running to the brake pedal. Then take the blue wire from the ESC and place it in the shifter, where the 30a red wire would have gone. (You can always go back and add the brake setup if the car rolls too much for your liking). 2) the 2nd relay was only needed if you are using a power tool battery and you are also using a Low Voltage Cutoff board. You are using SLA batteries, so no need for an additional relay. 3) The setup in the video was for a dual motor, low speed/high speed scenario like yours. In your stock setup, power from from the battery to the pedal, pedal to the shifter and then shifter to the motor. Well, with the ESC we aren’t using the stock pedal as an on/off switch, so we need to replace the positive wire that goes to the shifter. It’s kinda complicated from the 30,000 foot view but when you start assembling the setup, it will make more sense
@DadHacks awesome thanks for the info. I think I'm going to do the brake, not so much because it's needed, but because my 3yo is an absolute car nut and will love having a "real" car with an accelerator and brake pedal lol. I'm a mechanic, so I don't mind tackling the wiring and everything, it's just the electronics themselves that are new to me. The information your giving me is making it a lot more clear though, especially after looking at the wiring diagram a little closer. So basically when the relay is in its normally closed position its sending power from the ESC to the motors via the shifter. Where im getting a little lost is when the relay is opened (via a positive signal from the brake pedal). Looking at the diagram you are now connecting pin 30 (which was the power feed to the motors) to pin 87 which goes through the resistor and basically loops the positive and negative leads of the motor... is that the goal? On a side note, I replaced the factory sound and lights on his grave digger with custom headlights and custom soundboard. The soundboard has programmable pins triggered by ground received from simple switches. I rigged it up so one of the pins plays the sound of a real monster truck accelerating. To achieve this, I took the 24V positive signal coming out of the factory gas pedal and used it to switch a 24V relay that sends a ground signal to the soundboard. With this new ESC setup I'll have to change this because I'll know longer be getting a full 24V out of the pedal. Do you happen to know the lowest voltage the variable pedal will output? I'm not sure at one point a 24V relay will no longer open... I can't really swap it out for a 12V relay, because then at full throttle it'll be too much power. I can always rig up something else though.
I have a RS550 with a 10t pinion. Upgrading to the 775 won't be possible because the 5mm shaft doesn't give enough room for the small pinion. What other options are there for these small motors?
They make 5mm pinion gears, you just have to search hobby websites. But depending on the gearbox, it could be easy (Power Wheels brand) or hard (most other brands) to mount the 775 motor. You could get a 550 motor with more torque, like a 27t (turn) motor.
Would something like this work with a 4WD ride on? I have a 2WD/4WD selectable one - Blade XR 2.0 4x4. East Coast Power Up used to have a 4WD compatible ESC, but they're no longer in business it seems.
Yes it would work, you would just have to do a little rewiring. The worst case scenario is that you would lose 2WD and it would be permanent 4WD. I just haven’t seen the setup on those to know for sure.
@@liltayg53 on the stock wire harness, find the positive wire that runs to the shifter. That pin on the switch will need to be connected to the 30 pin on the relay
@@EzPzPropertyMaintenance the resistor is acting as a “soft brake”, it will slow the car down slowly, not abruptly. The 2 in/ 1 out connector is linked in the description of the video under Lever Wire Connectors
I currently jsut added a 24 volt battery which leads to an electric cut off then to a speed controller ( the type with the knob you showed). I would like to keep all that and add this after as to have the variable speed pedal and brake as well as a manual adjust top throttle it down. Would this work?
In theory, yes it should work but it also depends on how far down you turn the voltage. Because the ESC needs like a minimum of around 21 volts to turn on. You won’t see much of a reduction of “top” speed. I’d rather see you use 18 volt battery and use a 12v ESC and that eliminates the need for the speed controller with a knob
Unfortunately I had already bought the stuff for 24 volts. I think my daughter could handle it but I’d like a learning curve. What about putting the dual right before the motor? Would I need to do anything to make sure the radio on the jeeps doesn’t get harmed with the higher voltage?
@ClayCook-w3k you’re going to have to add a 24v to 12v step down converter. Can you do it, yes. But it’s going to be a some work. As for the knob voltage converter right next to the motor, it might work, but I’ve never tried it. It would be interesting to see if it works amzn.to/4izI3os
@@DadHacks @it worked great! now she has a 24 volt she can grow into and I can still govern it down until she gets there.I added the manual speed controller as the first connection comining out of the esc.
24 volt mod as per video but the shifter on the steering column is forward and reverse, I wanna make it have a hi/lo reverse shifter instead. any recommendations,?
Buy a Power Wheels shifter like the one in this link. amzn.to/4el97G3 and then search for Power Wheels wiring diagram. Just know, rewiring it is a pain
Thanks for the video! I Saw in one Of your videos you used an RC motor that said Titan on it, if i have a 12v car right now with 550 motors. And im currently using 18v battery adapter (which is running fine for now until the motors die from it) Could i maybe add this ESC, The speed pedal and then two Of those 550 Titan RC motors? Or would i need anything Else? I really feel like a video on that is missing on TH-cam, “just” a simple complete and safe speed upgrade for most Of the Stock 12v cars that people put 18v batteries in that end up burning the motors :)
Yes, you can add a Titan RC motor, but it should be at least 21 turn to 27 turn. You could do a 12 turn for more speed, but you’re at risk of breaking the gearbox. I have a few more video idea concepts that I’m working on for the summer
@@DadHacks Thanks for the reply, I just came back to this video, and started ordering the shown ESC. But then i realised you are suggesting a 12v ESC for using 18v batteries, how does that work? wont it burn out over time? :) Also, with the 12v ESC, Ryobi 18v battery, speed pedal and 2x traxxas motors. Do i even need the original 12v control board on the car? or can i just throw that part out?
I would toss the control board, this means you will lose sounds (if the car has any). But as for the 12 volt ESC, the reason why you can’t use a 24 volt ESC is because the minimum voltage needed to power on the 24v ESC is around 22 volts, and an 18 volt battery when fully charges is around 21.5 volts, so it wouldn’t never power on the ESC. Look for a 12 volt ESC rated for at least 500 watts, with 800 watts being preferable.
I've been having a hard time trying to get my kid's 4 wheeler up and running. (I've bugged you several times from a different account @pricenat) And I'm going to try to make a Short to show you the mess of wiring as you suggested but my "build" time is limited to nap time soI haven't gotten to that yet. In the meantime, Ive got a couple more questions for you. 1. Since it'll have an ESC and a variable speed throttle, Im guessing I no longer need the Hi/Lo switch on the shifter. In which case, I would only need to keep the fwd/R switch in the Shifter correct? If so, then I'm wondering if there's a way to use the switch from the Hi/Lo and turn it into an On/Off switch for the whole thing. Reason for that is because I don't want the ESC drawing anything from the battery if it remains plugged in while not in use. And now if you're still with me... 2. The Brute Force happens to be one of a very few models that has a 12V relay. Knowing nothing about what I am actually doing, I decided to just remove it and replace it with the 24V one linked in your description because otherwise, I have no clue where or how to attach it. Could this swap be the reason for why the motors are running slower despite the upgrades with an 18V Ryobi battery?
Answer for #1) you won’t technically need low gear anymore, but low gear can’t be used as an on/off switch either. If you want an on/off, you can wire a 2 pin on/off switch into the “power locks” connection on the ESC. Otherwise you will need to make a jumper connection or tie those connections together so the ESC thinks it switched into the “on” position. Answer #2) the relay shouldn’t be causing it to run slower
What size motors were you running with this ESC? I got the unit from your link dor the 24V system, but it dawned on me im going to be installing 775s and realized 800W may not be enough.
I’m running 550s. But for 775 motors, they are typically 300 watts so you might be fine. Try to see if you can find the wattage of your motors just to be safe
So I finished up the ESC (24V 1000W) and MLToys 775s install on my son's Bravo Grave Digger. Amazon ESC blew up after about 30mins of use (15min low gear full throttle break-in on a stand) and 10-15mins of my son riding around in high gear. Any thoughts on what could have gone wrong outside of just a bad unit? I still have power in and out of the ESC, but I'm no longer getting the ground signal out. The stock shifter switches were getting very hot too.
@DadHacks fuse is ok. I have a lot of relays for various things, and everything still has power. I have 26V into the ESC, and 26V out of the ESC to the shifter/motors. I have 4.9V from the ESC to the variable throttle pedal, and when pressed, I have 4V coming back into the ESC. What I no longer have is ground coming out of the ESC when the throttle is pressed.
@KevinCiccone it definitely sounds like the ESC. But I would just double check that the 3 wires from the variable speed pedal are still connected. The ML Toys 775 motors shouldn’t pull more than 600 watts, so it’s surprising a 1000w unit went bad
@DadHacks yeah I checked the throttle pedal. It has the typical red/black/green. I have good power and ground on red and black, and when I press the pedal wide open I get 4V on green. I'm fairly sure it's the ESC, I'm just wondering what the cause of the failure was because I don't want to throw another unit at it and have that fail too.
Will any 775 motor work for the upgrade? Or some better than others? It was one of the parts you didnt list a link to buy, so was curious (unless I didnt see it?)
Andy Mark 775 redline motors are great. The only thing is that you will need to buy a separate pinion gear, and that depends on what type of car you have www.andymark.com/products/andymark-775-redline-motor-1?Pinion=No%20Pinion%20(am-3775a)&quantity=1
@@DadHacks will I have to buy a new gear or an upgraded one needed? And while I have your attention, 24v relay will work fine if I'm going to run a 20v battery, correct? Also why do you need a relay? Just wondering
@Nick M if you are just running 20v, you can keep the stock 550 motor. Otherwise if you upgrade to the 775, you can’t reuse the pinion gear. The 24v relay is used as part of the braking system. (Yes, use the 24v relay for your 20v battery)
@@DadHacks thanks for your responses! I appreciate the input! I did what your other video told me not to do initially (before I saw the video) and just plugged in the 20v battery. I got lucky and only popped a capacitor. I'm definitely gonna do the hook up like you showed though. One last question, did you replace the first gear in the gear box with a metal gear when you installed the 775? If not, did it last and not strip the plastic gear?
@@nickm7394 no need to replace the first gear with a metal gear. Those usually break due to the harsh starting and stopping, the ESC eliminates that. If you need help figuring out the size of the pinion gear, just tell me what ride you have (brand and model) and I’ll see if I can help.
@@ilnikogo7034 you’ll need a voltage multimeter for both. On the pedal, just use the 2 pins that has the positive in and then positive out wiring. On the shifter, find the “positive in” pin and replace it with the wire you made that runs from 30 on the relay
@ is it normal that the relay shuts if I put 28 volts through it? It a 24v relay. It seems to cut off who I connect the batteries. I bought a 36 volts relay, just to try if that’s the problem.
@ it works. Multimeter says 30 volts. Because I have two 15volts batteries in series. The problem is, that the motors are extremely slow. Can’t figure out why. Even overvolted are slow. Seems a mistery
On the wiring diagram, the red wire will just run from the battery to the ESC, no wire to the brake pedal (because there won’t be one). You won’t be a relay either. The blue wire from the ESC will now run directly to the shifter, where the red wire that came from the “30” relay wire used to go.
The brake pedal will be more of a soft stop. In a normal Power Wheels, it’s either 100% Power or 100% brakes. With the ESC, when you let off the pedal, the car will roll on it own to reduce speed and then when you hit the brake, it’s easier on the gears because it’s not trying to stop at full speed.
After wiring everything together, when I plug the batter in, the motors start running automatically without the throttle pedal being pressed. Any thoughts on what I’m doing wrong?
@@DadHacks not sure what I did, but now I don’t have any power to the motors. My meter seems to be showing continuity through the whole circuit, and my battery is showing full voltage, but the motors aren’t running at all
Is the “power locks” (or maybe someone similar to that phrasing) pin connected. That basically an on/off connection, and the ESC won’t work unless that’s a closed circuit. The other thing is, what battery voltage are you using and what’s the ESC voltage rated for?
Okay I’ve followed your directions and despite my extremely limited understanding of electrical wiring, everything worked. But when I got my son’s brute force put back together, I found that it is significantly slower than when I had it hooked up to my ryobi 18v battery and all the rest stock parts. For the record, I bought all the parts on your list using your Amazon links and watched a few of your videos 87 times. Do you have any idea why adding the ESC and variable throttle made it slower?
I’m thinking that the pedal isn’t being pressed down all the way, which is limiting the voltage (and therefore limiting the speed). Are you running the ESC on the Ryobi 18 volt?
@@DadHacks Yes. I’ve got the 18v ryobi and I tested the pedal. It seems to be going the full reach. I’m wondering if I did the relay wrong. I had a pile of wires and no real idea for how to put them all together. I noticed a black box that looked just like the relays I bought but it said 12v on it so I swapped it with the new 24v relay. That was probably wrong I’m guessing.
@@pricnat if the car is working, then the relay is probably correct. Do you have a voltage meter to test how much voltage is leaving the ESC via the yellow and blue wires? Also, since the Brute Force is an ATV, you may want to consider a twist throttle like a real ATV. I’m not sure if this one will fit your handle bar, but if it does, it’s the same plug as the variable speed pedal. a.co/d/8LSG24u
@@DadHacks and thanks for your videos and comments on everyone’s questions. I’ve learned so much from you. I’m always checking back to see if you’ve done a new power wheels video. And just in case you’re taking requests🤞🏻, I’d love to see a video of the step by step wiring install because it turns out, I have no idea how to read and apply the wiring diagram. And then after that one, let’s do a 4x4 conversion. And then after that, can we convert a rear PW axel into a trailer with motors that can be hooked up to a PW truck or jeep? Just spit balling here…
Is that basically the same thing I would do to make the razor MX 350? electric mini bike, the mini crotch rocket and a mini Chopper variable speed? The crotch rocket is the only one that had any electronics on it when I got them for my "adopted" great nieces and nephew. They're 5-8 years old. Covid gave my a heart condition and I was put on SSI. I want my legacy to be teaching them to piss off, evade and elude the police. I'm building myself a razor mini bike with a 6.5 hp gas engine..... Wish me luck??? Lol. Thanks in advance
Yes sir, it’s the same setup as a MX 350, except the dirt bike has a larger motor (I think it’s 500 watts). The Razor stuff uses the same ESC, but a thumb throttle instead of pedal throttle, but same concept. If you aren’t set on gas powered, you could upgrade the motor on the mini bike and get like a 48 volt battery and let it rip.
This Video is sooo helpful you cannot explain better than this and this guy actually will reply and explain in full honesty. I'm glad we have people like this to advice
Thanks for the kind words! These comments make it all worth it
Install video would be awesome but this is very helpful. Thanks
Doing this project next week!!! This is good! Thanks!
how did it turn out ? Did you the ESC in his links ? any issues with parts ?
Thanks
Awesome videos. This is super helpful. I converted my kids 24V grave digger to run off 2x 18v Rigid batteries with an in-line fuse. It has so much torque so I want to follow your upgrade here with the variable speed pedal, but I also want to, and maybe more importantly, follow your low-voltage-cutoff diagram from your LVCS video as i've fried 2 rigid batteries to date. How would i work your LVCS diagram (with 2x daisy chained rigid batteries) into a diagram like this. At first i thought maybe just a bigger terminal strip to account for the ESC wiring, but the brake pedal/resistor/shifter are throwing me off. and the Grave Digger has a 3-gear shifter which is probably another speed bump.
To use a LVC board, on the ESC diagram use a bigger terminal strip or a 1 in/ 3 out snap connection with a positive and negative going to the LVC board and then the relay portion will go before the ESC. On the LVC diagram, just think of the PWM as the ESC and you will be good to go! For the 3 speed shifter, just follow the wire from the stock pedal that goes to the shifter and replace it. FYI, you will need 2 relays (36 volt/ 40 amp) for your setup
hello! like your movies! good job!
My daughter has a 18volt conversation. It's a 4 wheeler. Already has a pedal no room for another one. Do the make a handler bar brake lever that would work? Also what if both are pressed at the same time?
What about using a handle bar throttle? Either like the one in the video or one like this a.co/d/7wbuMVc
Ive upgraded by daughters car to an 18v Ryobi battery and in the winter we are tearing it down to upgrade to a 24v setup with 775 motors. Definitely going to use this ESC upgrade. My plan was to run it on a 6ah 24v Kobalt battery. What are some of the disadvantages to using a Kobalt battery vs something like a 6s lipo?
Overall, I would say there’s no disadvantage to using the 24v Kobalt over a 6s lipo. I’ll only use lipo if it’s a drag race and I know they won’t be using the car for more than a few seconds. I’d never would want to see a lipo battery burst into flames when it’s under a kids seat
@@DadHacks I do have that fear. Fortunately her car has a frunk, so I’m going to be relocating the battery so that it’s further away
I follow along until the last minute of the video in regards to replacing the white power wire with your own. Where does the new wire connect to? I assume to the fuse ?
Please elaborate
@@PeterSiekiera after that video clip, you can pause the wiring diagram. The new red wire runs from the 30 (out) from the relay to the shifter connection that I showed.
@@DadHacksaaaaha - got it now
Ty kindly
(Willing to pay for your time)
I have a hurricane with an East Coast EZ ESC setup that died, so I replaced it with your video..
No brake pedal for now to keep it simple.
Seemed doable enough (connect 2 motor wires, 2 battery wires, 3 pedal wires, and jump the 2 power switch wires)
YES! I Finally got the thing running!
Low speed ✔️
High speed ✔️
But REVERSE... NADA.
Tried with 2 different shifters.
***********
Any idea what I f'd up?
@youtoobmeloob do you have a voltage multimeter to do some testing?
So you're putting all the power to the motors through the shifter?
A few questions for you.
1. With a 4x4 UTV (4x350w 775 motors) and using 20v DeWalt batteries, would I need to use 2 ESC (one for the front and one for the back)? Does that also mean that the 12ga wire coming from my DeWalt battery adapter isn’t thick enough?
2. With a 20v DeWalt battery, won’t the LVC in the 24v ESC cut off the battery too soon?
3. What size 24v to 12v buck converter would you recommend for the lights and radio? Does it need to be 30A or 40A or can it be less?
The 12 AWG wire from the battery adapter is fine, only 1 ESC is needed and then you can split the “power out to motor” connection from the ESC to run to the front and back. Yes, the 24v ESC needs a minimum voltage amount of 20 to 21 volts, which is why you will want a 12v ESC if you are using a 18v or 20v battery
@@DadHacksDo you have an email address you would be okay with sharing? You could delete the reply after I shoot you over a quick email. It’s just a couple pictures and a question regarding wiring.
@@DadHacksDo they make an ESC that is 12v and can handle 4x350w motors? I can’t find anything that is 12v and even close to the 1500w that I would need.
Great video! It's helping get a plan together for adding ESC to my son's 24v Grave Digger. Can you explain what the relays function is in this setup? Your diagram looks a little different than most 5pin bosch relays, so I just wanted to make sure I wire it right. I'm guessing it's for the braking system? I noticed in another comment you mentioned needing another relay if you have 2 motors which his truck does? So would I just run 2 sets of wires from your diagram to 2 separate relays, 1 for each motor?
Oh, also... I assume this will work the same for dual motor vehicles with hi and low? Just run the blue and yellow wires to the motors the same way the factory setup is through the shifter, so they will run in series for low gear and parallel for high? Can you elaborate a little on the wiring from the esc into and out of the shifter?
Thanks for posting this and taking the time to answer questions. It's a big help and will save me money and time just doing trial and error!
I'm looking at your wiring diagram a little more and think I'm figuring it out.... so does the relay basically just reverse the polarity to the motor to act as the "brake"? And that's why with 2 motors you would need 2 relays? I would think you could run 2 sets of wires out of the 1 relay to each motor, but that would probably draw too much current for 1 relay to handle?
1a) you can use any normal 24-volt, 5-pin relay. You are correct, the relay is used for the brake system. I would almost suggest just skipping the brake system on the “trial” run because the GraveDigger is so heavy, it will stop on its own pretty quickly. 1b) if you want to skip the brake, then in the diagram ignore the black wires running to the relay and the red wire running to the brake pedal. Then take the blue wire from the ESC and place it in the shifter, where the 30a red wire would have gone. (You can always go back and add the brake setup if the car rolls too much for your liking).
2) the 2nd relay was only needed if you are using a power tool battery and you are also using a Low Voltage Cutoff board. You are using SLA batteries, so no need for an additional relay.
3) The setup in the video was for a dual motor, low speed/high speed scenario like yours. In your stock setup, power from from the battery to the pedal, pedal to the shifter and then shifter to the motor. Well, with the ESC we aren’t using the stock pedal as an on/off switch, so we need to replace the positive wire that goes to the shifter.
It’s kinda complicated from the 30,000 foot view but when you start assembling the setup, it will make more sense
@DadHacks awesome thanks for the info. I think I'm going to do the brake, not so much because it's needed, but because my 3yo is an absolute car nut and will love having a "real" car with an accelerator and brake pedal lol. I'm a mechanic, so I don't mind tackling the wiring and everything, it's just the electronics themselves that are new to me. The information your giving me is making it a lot more clear though, especially after looking at the wiring diagram a little closer. So basically when the relay is in its normally closed position its sending power from the ESC to the motors via the shifter. Where im getting a little lost is when the relay is opened (via a positive signal from the brake pedal). Looking at the diagram you are now connecting pin 30 (which was the power feed to the motors) to pin 87 which goes through the resistor and basically loops the positive and negative leads of the motor... is that the goal?
On a side note, I replaced the factory sound and lights on his grave digger with custom headlights and custom soundboard. The soundboard has programmable pins triggered by ground received from simple switches. I rigged it up so one of the pins plays the sound of a real monster truck accelerating. To achieve this, I took the 24V positive signal coming out of the factory gas pedal and used it to switch a 24V relay that sends a ground signal to the soundboard. With this new ESC setup I'll have to change this because I'll know longer be getting a full 24V out of the pedal. Do you happen to know the lowest voltage the variable pedal will output? I'm not sure at one point a 24V relay will no longer open... I can't really swap it out for a 12V relay, because then at full throttle it'll be too much power. I can always rig up something else though.
I have a RS550 with a 10t pinion. Upgrading to the 775 won't be possible because the 5mm shaft doesn't give enough room for the small pinion. What other options are there for these small motors?
They make 5mm pinion gears, you just have to search hobby websites. But depending on the gearbox, it could be easy (Power Wheels brand) or hard (most other brands) to mount the 775 motor. You could get a 550 motor with more torque, like a 27t (turn) motor.
Would something like this work with a 4WD ride on? I have a 2WD/4WD selectable one - Blade XR 2.0 4x4. East Coast Power Up used to have a 4WD compatible ESC, but they're no longer in business it seems.
Yes it would work, you would just have to do a little rewiring. The worst case scenario is that you would lose 2WD and it would be permanent 4WD. I just haven’t seen the setup on those to know for sure.
@DadHacks - Is this the ESC you would recommend for the R/C conversion as well?
No this is a different ESC. This one does not have R/C capability
Ive got everything figured out im just confused with the shifter part
@@liltayg53 on the stock wire harness, find the positive wire that runs to the shifter. That pin on the switch will need to be connected to the 30 pin on the relay
what the resistor actually doing in this diagram? and what is a 2 in/ 1 out?
@@EzPzPropertyMaintenance the resistor is acting as a “soft brake”, it will slow the car down slowly, not abruptly. The 2 in/ 1 out connector is linked in the description of the video under Lever Wire Connectors
tutorial on installing sound engine boss
I currently jsut added a 24 volt battery which leads to an electric cut off then to a speed controller ( the type with the knob you showed). I would like to keep all that and add this after as to have the variable speed pedal and brake as well as a manual adjust top throttle it down. Would this work?
In theory, yes it should work but it also depends on how far down you turn the voltage. Because the ESC needs like a minimum of around 21 volts to turn on. You won’t see much of a reduction of “top” speed. I’d rather see you use 18 volt battery and use a 12v ESC and that eliminates the need for the speed controller with a knob
Unfortunately I had already bought the stuff for 24 volts. I think my daughter could handle it but I’d like a learning curve. What about putting the dual right before the motor? Would I need to do anything to make sure the radio on the jeeps doesn’t get harmed with the higher voltage?
@ClayCook-w3k you’re going to have to add a 24v to 12v step down converter. Can you do it, yes. But it’s going to be a some work. As for the knob voltage converter right next to the motor, it might work, but I’ve never tried it. It would be interesting to see if it works
amzn.to/4izI3os
@@DadHacks @it worked great! now she has a 24 volt she can grow into and I can still govern it down until she gets there.I added the manual speed controller as the first connection comining out of the esc.
Awesome!
24 volt mod as per video but the shifter on the steering column is forward and reverse, I wanna make it have a hi/lo reverse shifter instead. any recommendations,?
Buy a Power Wheels shifter like the one in this link. amzn.to/4el97G3 and then search for Power Wheels wiring diagram. Just know, rewiring it is a pain
Is there any way I can control this still with a remote controller?
You could probably wire it up to still control the steering, but you won’t be able to control the throttle
Thanks for the video! I Saw in one Of your videos you used an RC motor that said Titan on it, if i have a 12v car right now with 550 motors. And im currently using 18v battery adapter (which is running fine for now until the motors die from it)
Could i maybe add this ESC, The speed pedal and then two Of those 550 Titan RC motors? Or would i need anything Else? I really feel like a video on that is missing on TH-cam, “just” a simple complete and safe speed upgrade for most Of the Stock 12v cars that people put 18v batteries in that end up burning the motors :)
Yes, you can add a Titan RC motor, but it should be at least 21 turn to 27 turn. You could do a 12 turn for more speed, but you’re at risk of breaking the gearbox. I have a few more video idea concepts that I’m working on for the summer
@@DadHacks Thanks for the reply, I just came back to this video, and started ordering the shown ESC. But then i realised you are suggesting a 12v ESC for using 18v batteries, how does that work? wont it burn out over time? :)
Also, with the 12v ESC, Ryobi 18v battery, speed pedal and 2x traxxas motors. Do i even need the original 12v control board on the car? or can i just throw that part out?
I would toss the control board, this means you will lose sounds (if the car has any). But as for the 12 volt ESC, the reason why you can’t use a 24 volt ESC is because the minimum voltage needed to power on the 24v ESC is around 22 volts, and an 18 volt battery when fully charges is around 21.5 volts, so it wouldn’t never power on the ESC. Look for a 12 volt ESC rated for at least 500 watts, with 800 watts being preferable.
I've been having a hard time trying to get my kid's 4 wheeler up and running. (I've bugged you several times from a different account @pricenat) And I'm going to try to make a Short to show you the mess of wiring as you suggested but my "build" time is limited to nap time soI haven't gotten to that yet. In the meantime, Ive got a couple more questions for you.
1. Since it'll have an ESC and a variable speed throttle, Im guessing I no longer need the Hi/Lo switch on the shifter. In which case, I would only need to keep the fwd/R switch in the Shifter correct? If so, then I'm wondering if there's a way to use the switch from the Hi/Lo and turn it into an On/Off switch for the whole thing. Reason for that is because I don't want the ESC drawing anything from the battery if it remains plugged in while not in use.
And now if you're still with me...
2. The Brute Force happens to be one of a very few models that has a 12V relay. Knowing nothing about what I am actually doing, I decided to just remove it and replace it with the 24V one linked in your description because otherwise, I have no clue where or how to attach it. Could this swap be the reason for why the motors are running slower despite the upgrades with an 18V Ryobi battery?
Answer for #1) you won’t technically need low gear anymore, but low gear can’t be used as an on/off switch either. If you want an on/off, you can wire a 2 pin on/off switch into the “power locks” connection on the ESC. Otherwise you will need to make a jumper connection or tie those connections together so the ESC thinks it switched into the “on” position.
Answer #2) the relay shouldn’t be causing it to run slower
What size motors were you running with this ESC? I got the unit from your link dor the 24V system, but it dawned on me im going to be installing 775s and realized 800W may not be enough.
I’m running 550s. But for 775 motors, they are typically 300 watts so you might be fine. Try to see if you can find the wattage of your motors just to be safe
So I finished up the ESC (24V 1000W) and MLToys 775s install on my son's Bravo Grave Digger. Amazon ESC blew up after about 30mins of use (15min low gear full throttle break-in on a stand) and 10-15mins of my son riding around in high gear. Any thoughts on what could have gone wrong outside of just a bad unit? I still have power in and out of the ESC, but I'm no longer getting the ground signal out. The stock shifter switches were getting very hot too.
Can you check the battery’s fuse to see if it popped? You’ll have to remove the cover to access it
@DadHacks fuse is ok. I have a lot of relays for various things, and everything still has power. I have 26V into the ESC, and 26V out of the ESC to the shifter/motors. I have 4.9V from the ESC to the variable throttle pedal, and when pressed, I have 4V coming back into the ESC. What I no longer have is ground coming out of the ESC when the throttle is pressed.
@KevinCiccone it definitely sounds like the ESC. But I would just double check that the 3 wires from the variable speed pedal are still connected. The ML Toys 775 motors shouldn’t pull more than 600 watts, so it’s surprising a 1000w unit went bad
@DadHacks yeah I checked the throttle pedal. It has the typical red/black/green. I have good power and ground on red and black, and when I press the pedal wide open I get 4V on green. I'm fairly sure it's the ESC, I'm just wondering what the cause of the failure was because I don't want to throw another unit at it and have that fail too.
Will any 775 motor work for the upgrade? Or some better than others? It was one of the parts you didnt list a link to buy, so was curious (unless I didnt see it?)
Andy Mark 775 redline motors are great. The only thing is that you will need to buy a separate pinion gear, and that depends on what type of car you have www.andymark.com/products/andymark-775-redline-motor-1?Pinion=No%20Pinion%20(am-3775a)&quantity=1
@@DadHacks will I have to buy a new gear or an upgraded one needed? And while I have your attention, 24v relay will work fine if I'm going to run a 20v battery, correct?
Also why do you need a relay? Just wondering
@Nick M if you are just running 20v, you can keep the stock 550 motor. Otherwise if you upgrade to the 775, you can’t reuse the pinion gear. The 24v relay is used as part of the braking system. (Yes, use the 24v relay for your 20v battery)
@@DadHacks thanks for your responses! I appreciate the input! I did what your other video told me not to do initially (before I saw the video) and just plugged in the 20v battery. I got lucky and only popped a capacitor. I'm definitely gonna do the hook up like you showed though.
One last question, did you replace the first gear in the gear box with a metal gear when you installed the 775? If not, did it last and not strip the plastic gear?
@@nickm7394 no need to replace the first gear with a metal gear. Those usually break due to the harsh starting and stopping, the ESC eliminates that. If you need help figuring out the size of the pinion gear, just tell me what ride you have (brand and model) and I’ll see if I can help.
My brake pedal has 6 pins. It’s not helpful, and the gearshift has 6 pins too. Whew do I connect the red and black ?
@@ilnikogo7034 you’ll need a voltage multimeter for both. On the pedal, just use the 2 pins that has the positive in and then positive out wiring. On the shifter, find the “positive in” pin and replace it with the wire you made that runs from 30 on the relay
@ is it normal that the relay shuts if I put 28 volts through it? It a 24v relay. It seems to cut off who I connect the batteries. I bought a 36 volts relay, just to try if that’s the problem.
@ilnikogo7034 no, that’s not normal. Are you sure it’s the relay and not a thermal breaker ?
@ it works. Multimeter says 30 volts. Because I have two 15volts batteries in series. The problem is, that the motors are extremely slow. Can’t figure out why. Even overvolted are slow. Seems a mistery
Send me a link to the batteries you are using
How will i wire it if I don't wish to add a break pedal.
On the wiring diagram, the red wire will just run from the battery to the ESC, no wire to the brake pedal (because there won’t be one). You won’t be a relay either. The blue wire from the ESC will now run directly to the shifter, where the red wire that came from the “30” relay wire used to go.
Will having a brake pedal run the gears? Or does the break pedal slow down to a stop? Instead of an instant stop like I'm assuming
The brake pedal will be more of a soft stop. In a normal Power Wheels, it’s either 100% Power or 100% brakes. With the ESC, when you let off the pedal, the car will roll on it own to reduce speed and then when you hit the brake, it’s easier on the gears because it’s not trying to stop at full speed.
I ran 2x 100w 1ohm resistors instead of just 1.
What is the most effective way of making this type of electric cars faster and what is the max speed you can achieve, anyone?
You’d have to go up to 775 motor on 36 volts with this ESC setup. That’s about as far as you can push these cars without going to a chain drive system
After wiring everything together, when I plug the batter in, the motors start running automatically without the throttle pedal being pressed. Any thoughts on what I’m doing wrong?
Is this for the ESC setup? If so, check the pedal’s 3 connections and make sure the colors match up, if not try switching them around
@@DadHacks the pedal is red/black/green, the ESC is red/black/blue. Connection is red/red, black/black, green/blue
To troubleshoot, unplug all three pedal wires and see if it still runs. If not, switch around the pedal wires to see if anything changes
@@DadHacks not sure what I did, but now I don’t have any power to the motors. My meter seems to be showing continuity through the whole circuit, and my battery is showing full voltage, but the motors aren’t running at all
Is the “power locks” (or maybe someone similar to that phrasing) pin connected. That basically an on/off connection, and the ESC won’t work unless that’s a closed circuit. The other thing is, what battery voltage are you using and what’s the ESC voltage rated for?
Okay I’ve followed your directions and despite my extremely limited understanding of electrical wiring, everything worked. But when I got my son’s brute force put back together, I found that it is significantly slower than when I had it hooked up to my ryobi 18v battery and all the rest stock parts.
For the record, I bought all the parts on your list using your Amazon links and watched a few of your videos 87 times.
Do you have any idea why adding the ESC and variable throttle made it slower?
I’m thinking that the pedal isn’t being pressed down all the way, which is limiting the voltage (and therefore limiting the speed). Are you running the ESC on the Ryobi 18 volt?
@@DadHacks Yes. I’ve got the 18v ryobi and I tested the pedal. It seems to be going the full reach. I’m wondering if I did the relay wrong. I had a pile of wires and no real idea for how to put them all together. I noticed a black box that looked just like the relays I bought but it said 12v on it so I swapped it with the new 24v relay. That was probably wrong I’m guessing.
@@pricnat if the car is working, then the relay is probably correct. Do you have a voltage meter to test how much voltage is leaving the ESC via the yellow and blue wires? Also, since the Brute Force is an ATV, you may want to consider a twist throttle like a real ATV. I’m not sure if this one will fit your handle bar, but if it does, it’s the same plug as the variable speed pedal. a.co/d/8LSG24u
@@DadHacks thanks for the advice. I’ll check the voltage after I google how to use the voltage meter that I bought.
@@DadHacks and thanks for your videos and comments on everyone’s questions. I’ve learned so much from you. I’m always checking back to see if you’ve done a new power wheels video. And just in case you’re taking requests🤞🏻, I’d love to see a video of the step by step wiring install because it turns out, I have no idea how to read and apply the wiring diagram. And then after that one, let’s do a 4x4 conversion. And then after that, can we convert a rear PW axel into a trailer with motors that can be hooked up to a PW truck or jeep? Just spit balling here…
Is that basically the same thing I would do to make the razor MX 350? electric mini bike, the mini crotch rocket and a mini Chopper variable speed? The crotch rocket is the only one that had any electronics on it when I got them for my "adopted" great nieces and nephew. They're 5-8 years old. Covid gave my a heart condition and I was put on SSI. I want my legacy to be teaching them to piss off, evade and elude the police. I'm building myself a razor mini bike with a 6.5 hp gas engine..... Wish me luck??? Lol.
Thanks in advance
Yes sir, it’s the same setup as a MX 350, except the dirt bike has a larger motor (I think it’s 500 watts). The Razor stuff uses the same ESC, but a thumb throttle instead of pedal throttle, but same concept. If you aren’t set on gas powered, you could upgrade the motor on the mini bike and get like a 48 volt battery and let it rip.