SkrapIron

Fans of the Novak SS series of sensor based motors, take heart! No longer do you have to live with less than stellar performance from your rig,

Novak has released and endbell and rotor kit, to wake up the otherwise sleepy motor and bring back some WOW!

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLHC4&P=7

Available at Towerhobbies, this kit is a godsend!

The endbell update includes a signifigantly larger pinion shaft bearing, over the stock one. The benefit is longer service life at higher RPM's, with NO rotor vibration ( as was common with older Novak SS series motors ).

The rotor update contains a much improved and stronger neodymium magnet. The main benefit of this upgrade is a much more powerful magnetic field than stock, which translates into more power.

Installation was a breeze, and took less than 15 minutes start to finish. Before the upgrade, my SS-4300 would top out at a respectable 29.7 mph. After the installation, the same truck reached an impressive 31.3mph. Both runs were done with freshly peaked IB3800 cells @ 75* ambient temperature.

The SS-5800 saw even more improvement. The sleepy little motor went from a sedate 34.2mph to an impressive 36.3mph! Not a bad improvement for a $30.00 investment. Runtimes have NOT been affected since the upgrade. The 4300 is still averaging 20minutes, and the 5800 is averaging 16minutes!

If you have an older SS series motor, it is a product well worth the try!

bIGmiK

Thats great to hear that they havn't forgotten about these motors, makes one alot more apatising knowing I can make it faster than normal

Skrappy, would you get a Novak 8.5 system with this new upgrade ($210 + $30) or a LEP Neo / Sphere 1 star ($260)?

SkrapIron

The upgrade is ONLY for the older SS series motors. As far as I know, the 8.5 system already has the upgrade in it. I'll check at the pro shop when I go to practice tonight, and verify that...

bIGmiK

Thanks skrappy Ummm but the 8.5 is the SS5800... That's an SS motor isn't it?

gunnut

If I bought my SS+5800 in January from Tower, do you think it has the update on it?

sleepy23

My Feedback: (1)

wow skrap, i had not seen you post in a while, wasnt sure if you were stil around.

raz54

That's really good to hear. I was looking at that upgrade but no one could say for sure what it would do and if it is worth the money. Thanks for posting this.

capone12

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for this review man, I saw it was available on tower and I was about to PM you about it because I remember you saying that you were going ot write a review about it when it first came out. I think I might jus have to order it though once I get the Jordan 7's that come out on Saturday (the cardinals)! Seems like a good upgrade for such a relatively cheap price. Performance should be better since Im going to be using 7-cell batteries. Thanks for the review, although I have only one question.

Since I have NEVER taken apart my motor, Im kind of reluctant about doing it. How hard is it to install for a completly newbie at brushless motors? I would really hate to mess up my motor because I didnt know what I was doing. Also does it come with good directions?

SS Pede

The 8.5 motor is identical to the SS5800, so the upgrade is NOT included. The 8.5 system just comes with the SS+ speed control instead of the regular SS. That's the only difference.

SS Pede

Hey SkrapIron, what vehicle are you using and did you change the gearing at all? Other people with the upgrade have said they lost a bit of speed (RPM) when they installed the upgrade but had more power otherwise. They had to gear up a bit to get their speed back, at which point they still had better torque than before.

Capone - It is not hard to disassemble the SS5800. There are just the three allen head screws in the endbell. Unscrew them and the whole endbell slides off. Keep track of the spacers on the rotor shaft and the paper insulator inside the endbell and you will be all set. I do not have the upgrade but it must just slide right in like the normal SS5800 rotor. The upgrade is a direct fit.

SkrapIron

Still here, Sleepy!

I've just been averaging 84 hours a week at work, so there's not alot of 'me' time.

SS Pede,

That observation is correct. I should have made note of that in my original post. The test vehicle is my RC10T3, with 87/17 gearing, running Proline Gladiators. The rotor upgrade has signifigantly more power than the stock rotor. The drawback was I lost top RPM. When I ran my stock Vs. upgrade speed tests, I dropped about 1.2mph, but accelerated signifigantly faster. After 2 minutes of testing, I measured the can temperature, and recorded a reading of 115*f.

Running that cool, allowed me to switch to a larger pinion. With a 19t pinion, I recorded my highest speed, and my motor temps remained in the low 130* range.

Overall runtime was unaffected. I may have lost a few seconds, but it was not noticible.

SS Pede

Cool SkrapIron, sounds fun! I love how you can get more acceleration AND the same or better top speed. It's good that run time isn't affected much. Sounds like a win/win/win situation!

NitroEddie

Let's here some more real-world reviews of this upgrade!

gunnut

Hey Skrap, I've got the upgrade on my stampede right now and your speed numbers seem right on. I have no way of proving it (no radar gun)-- But it seems to have a decent gain in top speed and some more torque. I noticed the motor sounds different too(better). I wonder if my old rotor had that vibration or balance problem? Either way-- I'm happy with the upgrade.

SS Pede

I believe the larger front bearing is supposed to reduce the vibration that is common with the original endbell. Your observation seems to make sense.