Everybody’s Scalin’ – 3S or 2S?

One of the most common questions that I’m asked at BSRC is “Should I use a 2S or 3S battery?”

I’ve seen Cubby answer this several times in regards to bashing, but because it’s been a long time since I’ve broached this topic as it pertains to scaling, I’ll give it a go today.

Before we start the discussion, make sure that your ESC can handle 3S power. Most RTR scale crawlers are equipped with ESCs that can handle it nowadays, but not all. If it can’t, that should make your decision pretty easy.

Ok, so let’s assume you are good to go from an equipment standpoint. What should you do? Let’s look at it a few ways.

3S provides a killer boost in speed and torque over a 2S battery. If you have a relatively tame brushed system (like most RTR rigs), this can feel like a gigantic upgrade for the cost of a new battery. All that power comes with a trade-off though – a lot of heat and much faster brushed motor wear.

You have to be very cognizant of your electronics temperature, as it’s very easy to fry things. Stock motors are notoriously easy to smoke under 3S power.

Now, if you are using a nice brushless system with an ESC designed to handle that kind of juice, the risks are minimized quite a bit. You still do need to keep an eye on the temps though, especially if you are on a long trail run.

It should also go without saying that the higher wheel speed associated with 3S means that your truck will need to be built a bit stronger to hold up to the abuse, but that could be said about any kind of performance/speed modification.

So what do I do? I prefer slummin’ it on 2S. Sure, it’s fun to dabble in 3S if I’m at a designated crawling spot, but for long trail runs I always stick to 2. I run brushed motors in most of my rigs and I’ve just experienced too many issues over the years when running on 3. The heat always winds up winning.

As for when I want wheel speed? I just go with sensored brushless system and 2S. That way the motor does all of the work and temps stay cool enough for hours of play with minimal hassle. As for what systems I use, I have various ones I’ve acquired over the years from Castle Creations, Holmes Hobbies and Novak (RIP!). I should do a blog highlighting those sometime soon!

So that’s my take on this never ending discussion. There isn’t really a right or wrong answer here. What do you do?