Sunday 6 August 2017

Quick Mod: MTB Neo Rhino Prototypes

While visiting the guys at MTB, I was given prototypes of some new MTB motors, Neo Rhinos and Neo Hellcats. These motors have a different wind to the regular Rhinos and Hellcats, as well as fancy new motor cans and neodymium magnets. The Neo Hellcat prototypes I received are unfortunately lacking the neo magnets, however the Neo Rhinos had them so I threw that pair into my Bullpup RS to try out at yesterday's MHvZ.

The Neo Rhinos had no issues fitting into my Artifact red cage, or using my Artifact gen 2 plastic flywheels. I installed them the night before HvZ and ran them for most of the day's games.

Neo Rhinos and Hellcats are spec'd to spin at the same (no-load) speed as regular Rhinos and Hellcats, but with far higher torque. While these motors don't currently have torque specs, I do know their approximate stall currents. Neo Rhinos have a stall current of around 25A, while Neo Hellcats have a stall current of around 35A. That coupled with powerful neodymium magnets give these motors a far higher torque than their regular counterparts, though of course at an increased (to-be-determined) price.

EDIT 9/9/17: Some solid numbers on Neo Rhinos and Hellcats at stall:
Rhinos: 24A, 743gf.cm - more torque than regular Hellcats, almost as much as Fangs
Hellcats: 40A, 1260gf.cm - more torque than any other well known, Nerf relevant 100-type can motor

In my experience with Neo Rhinos, as expected I found them to spin-up much faster than regular Rhinos, and I believe they are comparable to, or even perhaps slightly faster than, Hellcats for spin-up time. This is based purely off ear however, so in the absence of actual torque numbers, take that with a grain of salt. I also found them to produce a much more harmonious noise than my old Hellcat pair, though that is likely just down to a bit of luck with motor matching.
Muzzle velocity wise, they produce around the same as my old Hellcats did, perhaps a little bit higher from being better matched. Chrono data is here.

Naturally, with such high current draw, these Neo Rhinos (and of course Neo Hellcats as well) can be expected to drain battery power much faster than regular Rhinos and Hellcats. Furthermore, significant heat generation may become an issue, especially with certain plastic flywheel cages that could soften and warp from the heat.

Neo Rhinos are so far proving to be a very good (but very power hungry) 130 motor, producing what seems to be an incredible amount of torque for its size (pending exact torque numbers). I am eagerly awaiting the opportunity to try out Neo Hellcats as well.

1 comment:

  1. Nice. Eagerly awaiting the full specs of both. So many new options coming out of late. What a time to be alive!

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