Kill switch/fail safe recommendation

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meowy84

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Greetings everyone. I'll be the first to admit electronics are my weak point and so I need some advice on what kill switch/fail safe to get for a 305A Rovan? I'll be using the stock Fly-Sky GT3B radio and electronics that come with the RTR. Ideally looking for something budget friendly, reliable and easy to install (remember electronics are my weak point...plug and play would be best). The name killer bee has bounced off my cranium more than once while doing some research on here but I'm sure there's others. All input is welcome.
 
Thanks for the replies gentlemen. It appears there's a consensus towards killer rc.

MonsterAir mentioned killer as well and the buzzer feature it has. Uh-oh, don't want to be the devil's advocate here but Murphy and his law has had it in for me all my life. In my experience the more bells. whistles and buzzers the more problems. Here's a cautionary tale from when I owned a mid 90s Cadillac with all the electronic bells and whistles, digital gauges, power everything. And nothing but problems. My next car was a base model with manual wind-up windows, no-power nothing except power steering. No more problems either. lol j/k

And now for something different. Anyone have good experiences with other kill switches? How about the kill switches listed on the rovan website? Since I'm going to be getting one of their buggies I thought I'd combine shipping and save a few $$. (Did I say already I was cheap? thrifty? skinflint?) In particular I'm wondering if anyone has used either the RV63035 ($27) or the PRPRE001 ($49)? What I don't understand is why the large price difference if both do essentially the same thing?

Ideally I'd like something uber simple that kills the engine when (a)either radio signal is lost (out of range) or (b)battery voltage drops below the minimum or (c)throttle servo fails suddenly in the WOT position.

Again, sorry for the long rant.
 
I like the killer rc unit, the buzzer is a nice feature as you can hear it if it’s active and it also reminds you to turn off the power switch when your done for the day so you don’t drain out your reciever pack
The Triton kill switch that Primal rc includes with the raminator seems like it’s a good unit so far, can’t.comment on the MOD kill switch as I have not used that one yet
 
MonsterAir said:
Your comparing the kr-rc to a 90s cadillac? My first car was a 92 Eldorado. Let me tell you, I've had much less trouble with my killer rc kill switch than I did with that Eldorado. 🤷‍♂️
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Not comparing directly, just saying that the more bells and whistles the more likely something will go wrong, in my experience. Also, truthfully, and this may sound really stupid but I'm not sure how the buzzer will add value since I'll be happy if the thing shuts down, buzzer or no buzzer. Also these 1/5 rigs are a bit loud as is so it crossed my mind that I might not even be able to hear the buzzer over the engine if in WOT runaway condition, which would make the buzzer a nice touch but... Anyways, I did say it was a stupid question. lol

However I nevertheless truly appreciate all the feedback you guys are giving me on this. Thank you so much.
 
I run the switchblade kill switches on my Baja and my truck, £35 each. Only had one failure and that was my fault and would of happened regardless of brand price point, a rubbed through cable due to incorrect routing.
I got my kill switch from RCModelz when I bought my truck, baja came with one fitted.
 
I have used many over the years. To be honest I just got my first killer this year for my 30dnt and that buzzer is a must. Problem I have been having is getting them. Ddm is where I got my first one and they say out of stock. Any suggestions?

I cnnt remember others, usually cheap ones and I did have a few problems.
 
I’ve got both Killer RC and Hilantronics. The Hilantronics is the best by far, the only down side is size but it has a screen. It can display revs and records max value it also has a thermal cutout, so you set it to what you want and if the engine reaches that temp it will cut it. Very well made but not the cheapest.

https://www.taylorrc.co.uk/product-page/ikilly-2-advanced-kill-switch-and-system-monitor
Had switchblades too and they’re good as well.

Don't get an unknown though. I’ve not heard good things about other makes than the 3 mentioned in this thread.
 
meowy84 said:
Thanks for the replies gentlemen. It appears there's a consensus towards killer rc.

MonsterAir mentioned killer as well and the buzzer feature it has. Uh-oh, don't want to be the devil's advocate here but Murphy and his law has had it in for me all my life. In my experience the more bells. whistles and buzzers the more problems. Here's a cautionary tale from when I owned a mid 90s Cadillac with all the electronic bells and whistles, digital gauges, power everything. And nothing but problems. My next car was a base model with manual wind-up windows, no-power nothing except power steering. No more problems either. lol j/k

And now for something different. Anyone have good experiences with other kill switches? How about the kill switches listed on the rovan website? Since I'm going to be getting one of their buggies I thought I'd combine shipping and save a few $$. (Did I say already I was cheap? thrifty? skinflint?) In particular I'm wondering if anyone has used either the RV63035 ($27) or the PRPRE001 ($49)? What I don't understand is why the large price difference if both do essentially the same thing?

Ideally I'd like something uber simple that kills the engine when (a)either radio signal is lost (out of range) or (b)battery voltage drops below the minimum or (c)throttle servo fails suddenly in the WOT position.

Again, sorry for the long rant.
Click to expand...
You are essentially comparing products with different quality values.
Killer and MOD have a long standing reputation. Their product has a great track record and the product does what it is meant to do.

the other products you ask about may be good. On this forum there may not be a lot who have used those, so getting a recommendation would be hard. The issue with some of these other brands is that they are copies of other product... and there is a question on quality control. So you could be in a situation where you are comfortable thinking your fail switch will work and then it doesn't when you need it.... or its components have failed and not your motor will start unless you disconnect it.

Bottom line.... (I had to wrap my head around this) You WILL be spending a lot of $$ on your rig... even if you buy a starter Rovan for low dollars, eventually you will upgrade it to where you want and you will have "invested" money into this. SO, lets assume you have a modest $1k in your rig.... are you balking at spending $55 for a known good product (KillerRC ) ? do you want to risk that $1k by saving $20 or $30 ? Your mileage will vary obviously


As far as the second question/concern about something simple... I believe all the products mentioned have the same wiring principle... so there isnt one product that will be easier to install than the other. They will all be the same, with the exception of the mentioned ikilly (it has temp and rpm, so more hookups).
 
Pcwhiz said:
Largescalerc.nz have a failsafe second to none, the engine will Stop if the battery fails, you also have the ability kill the engine at any time via spear channel on your transmitter usually channel 3, they are also 100% waterproof.
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Your link isn't coming up to a legitimate site, I'm getting an error message. Do you have a screen shot or a proper link?
 
I've got the Killer RC and it's working like charm. Anyone of you knows whether there is a way to temporarily shortcut it? I mean I want to rebuild my engine and put it on a test bench for tuning. For that I don't want to remove the entire killswitch as my eletronics will be far away from the bench but I still want to switch on the engine. Short circuit the cable that goes from the engine to the transmitter maybe?
 
Just unplug the lead from the coil. Its the same principle as all killswitch 's when the 2 leads are joined together through the circuit board it kills the engine.
 
Nothing wrong with the Dynamite optical safety/kill switch. It's less expensive than the others, and only does what you want it to do. Kill the engine in case of power or radio signal loss, or you manually kill the switch. As for battery voltage sag, just set the failsafe on your radio. Any good radio system (Futaba in specific from personal experience) will have a failsafe option that includes battery voltage minimums.

Anyone who says one of these options isn't good, doesn't know much about electronics anyhow. Even if the Dynamite switch somehow gets damaged and lights on fire, it cuts off the engine because it requires a constant signal in order to keep the power gate in the 'open' state.

Don't need anything fancy ... and some of the other options here don't come with hard plastic cases. The killer Bee switch is one such option that is more like a 'home grown' option, and can trigger with moisture or other issues for no reason. It's not super likely, but that's my opinion.

The kill switch that the Raminator uses is decent as well as mentioned above, but the only annoyance with that is the brake throw is limited to under 85% ... anything over and it triggers the kill switch being connected to the throttle / brake input.

My 2 cents ...
 
thought id throw another couple more in the works!

if your from UK/EU like myself, these are good also kill switches..

Switchblade V2: https://www.rcmodelz.co.uk/switchblade-kill-switch-v2.html I used this in my FG's for many moons, no issues, simple to install setup & does what it says on the tin as they say :)

and this one is the one i recently bought for my Dibby, i was going to get the switchblade V2 but they don't sell that form the shop i bought my dibby from & i got a discount on this kill switch @ same time so thought id give it a go:
https://rc-car-online.de/en/product...itch-and-status-led-for-all-transmitters.html

As above, so far no issues, works great :)
 
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