Brushless ESC/Motor Mix and Match? - RC10Talk (2024)

I'm thinking about re-powering my old LXT and JRX Pro SE with brushless power. But, other than the Le Mans motor/esc I just got for my Rocky (which I've not hooked up yet), I have no experience with brushless systems.

The big question I have is if brushless ESC's and motors are universal. As in, can I use any ESC with a brushless motor? Maybe going back about 10 years?

Reason I ask is I'm going to look for used motors and ESC's to try and stick with some kind of theme I haven't fully settled on, and also don't want to spend $350 on one of the systems I saw in a brief search.

One idea for a theme was to look for a Novak ESC and a brightly colored Trinity Motor, like you would find with Factory Losi's in the 90's. I'm favoring style with the motor because that was one of my favorite aspects of RC cars back when I raced; eye catching motors, and looks like most are black these days. And I don't need the most powerful motor to run my vintage stuff around for fun, once in a while. Wish I could get a Race Prep, but saw they didn't survive into the brushless years.

Here's one I was looking at: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Trinity-RevTech-17-5T-1-10-540-Sensored-Brushless-Racing-Motor/284036607421?_trkparms=aid%3D777001%26algo%3DDISCO.FEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200211172457%26meid%3D8565404abe644a0f81a427e31963397a%26pid%3D101213%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26mehot%3Dnone%26itm%3D284036607421%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26algv%3DRecommendingSearch%26brand%3DTrinity&_trksid=p2380057.c101213.m46344&_trkparms=pageci%3A2374cd6c-0a84-11eb-8d43-6678b8036b93%7Cparentrq%3A0f9e1a921750a77d3d12c48ffff5dc0c%7Ciid%3A1

Barring that, I may just settle for some ESC and a brightly colored motor that isn't as open framed as the newest ones are, even another Le Mans ESC for the reverse, and motor if they ever release the 480 by itself.

Thanks!

Losi LXT (JRX-T Conversion)
Losi JRX Pro SE
Kyosho Rocky
Parts-Car-to-Runner Kyosho Rocky
Yokomo YZ10 WCS '95 Pavidis
RJ Speed Spec10 "Chew Toy Mk1"
Redcat Lightning STK "Chew Toy Mk 2"
Kyosho Lazer ZX, ZX-R, ZX-RR

I am by no means an expert but first Trinity RevTech's do not have stickers. That was put on by someone else and seems to be a website ad.

Motors/Esc are pretty much mix and match, if you are going to run them pay attention to the amp rating of the esc. Higher turn motors draw more and therefore need higher rated escs.

There are also sensored and sensorless motors/escs, that is just a little 4th wire between the 2 that helps the run/sync more smoothly. They will still run without but may be more twitchy.

Again I am still learning myself so I am not an expert. Good luck

At least on the surface, it sounds similar to brushed ESC's and motors in the past, where you tended to pay attention to cell count.

I'm definitely staying in the "Stock motor" power range to save wear on my vintage stuff. I forget what a 24* 27x1 was equivalent to in brushless, but thought 17.5 was the hottest I would go.

Yeah, I saw others didn't have the label, but wouldn't mind one being on there. I actually didn't like Trinity motors when I raced; thought a lot of others were faster. At least the people that could find them were faster. But the shops usually didn't carry them. The last motor I bought was the Race Prep and only got that after a couple of shops came and went.

Losi LXT (JRX-T Conversion)
Losi JRX Pro SE
Kyosho Rocky
Parts-Car-to-Runner Kyosho Rocky
Yokomo YZ10 WCS '95 Pavidis
RJ Speed Spec10 "Chew Toy Mk1"
Redcat Lightning STK "Chew Toy Mk 2"
Kyosho Lazer ZX, ZX-R, ZX-RR

It's pretty much universal. A lot of escs have an unsensored mode, though most motors you would use in your Losi cars would be sensored. A lot of guys do buy non sensored stuff, but sensored has a little better control.

17.5 is probably closer to 19t at this stage. 21.5 is closer to the old 27t stock motors.

You don't need anything crazy for the esc unless you plan to run modified motors (like a 8.5 or something). A Hobbywing Justock esc would be perfect with a 17.5. They go for like 50-60 bucks, but are good escs.