ZZSE Power Switch Move + DC Mod Switch

[codesuidae]

I fixed my ZZ speed tester tonight and put a second gen SE with blue gears and purple motor on it. With a fresh battery charge it clocked in at 7.0 MPH (about 450 sMPH).

With FET mod only it clocks in at 4.7 MPH, so, with this particular setup, a 50% increase in speed. I did not test with super cap, or large battery, so I'm not sure if its being restricted by the current capacity of the battery, or if thats just the best that motor can do. This car also had the wide tire kit installed, with lots of axle shake (it would benefit from the JB-Weld mod), so I'm sure a good portion of the top speed was lost to the flopping axle.

With a supercap and smooth running axles I would not be surprised to get as much as 8 or 9 MPH (510-575 sMPH) out of it.

I took a few pictures of this install because I put in a switch that can be used to turn off the DC mod and run with the FET mod only. This was a fun mod since it involved a little bodywork to rebuild the old switch position.

I removed the old switch mounting and replaced it with a blob of epoxy putty. I then milled out the putty and old switch mounting plastic to form a pocket for the new switch. Next I drilled and filed new holes in the side of the body for the existing power switch as well as a second switch for the DC Mod board enable option. This option allows the DC mod boost function to be turned off so the car can run with just the standard FET upgrade (or bone-stock if the DC Mod is installed without FETs). After creating the new switch holes, I mounted the switches with a dot of super glue to hold them still while I packed fast-drying putty epoxy around them. This allows them to support the sheering load they'll see from being turned on and off. The original switch recess was filled with epoxy putty and sanded down with several grades of wet-sanding paper. I hit the epoxy with a Sharpie so it would better blend with the regular body color.

Milling out the old switch mount and the blob of epoxy to form a new switch pocket:


Here are some images of the installed switches. Please excuse the mess of dust in the images, I didn't do a good job of cleaning the dust off before taking the pictures.




It works pretty well. The power is really hard to control with stock wheels, I much prefer it with Lego or Hot Wheels Tunerz wheels.

[crazydave]

Man, if I had a working SE, I'd be all over that DC mod of yours.

I'll tell ya about the SE cells, I've been using them in bits and OG Zips, and they seem to punch fine. Of coarse they are much lighter than a standard dual cell, giving them a vastly superior power to weight ratio, but I have a feeling the results might be similar in an SE, and that being that any slight gain you might pick up in torque would not compensate for the increased weight.

[codesuidae]

The SE cells do fine under most conditions, but in my not-very-complete testing they are limited to about 800mA of drain current. Depending on motor (or motors for dual-motor setups) and gearing its not hard to exceed the current capacity of the battery particularly when it is discharged.

For the most part this isn't a problem, but if you are drag racing and can get the necessary traction, the extra current capacity a supercap can supply can provide an edge without the weight of an extra battery.

Supercaps charge much faster too

[CaboWabo]

That's fuckin cool - I'm a sucker for switches
Now you got an excuse for a pit stop if your setup is a little too fast for the track, flip the switch. It's all in the timing. lol