Pros and cons, flex or wire drive

[Anbjorn]

Here is one for you experienced FE boaters.
What do you recomended on a high rpm or SAW setup?
Lehner 1950-5 HiAmp (KV=2508) on 6S
Wire drive or flex cable?
What is better and why?
Please give me some good arguments.
Thanks
Anbjørn

[Anbjorn]

Anyone?

[Simon.O.]

I run 6 wire drives.
All of them are .062" music wire and the most powerful setup I have is a 6XL on 4S in my big rigger.
This setup has the potential to push well over 2000W at over 32krpm. If that info is useful then I am glad to be of some help.

Wire can be fast, in fact it was in the fastest RC boat ever run (officially)
Once you get into high power setups then you need to go for .078" wire which I believe is close to 2mm.

The basics of wires is easy.
No compound curves, one easy curve from the motor to the strut.
I set mine so that the shaft lays straight to a point about 2.5"in front of the strut then the bend is made at the rear end of the wire.
I have borken a few but have run many hours with them setup this way.

Your intended setup is way beyond my experience but I believe that the fundamental basics are true and will work for you.

I will help more if I can.:thumbup1:

[Anbjorn]

Thank you for the input.
Well this one will probably be close in on 3400W and 54000rpm.
Yes 0,078" is 1.9812mm.
What I have been thinking is to use a 2mm piano wire inside a suitable size carbon fibre tube which is again inside a brass tube.
I am thinking that the carbon fibre will withstand the forces from the wire better than a teflon liner.
I will off course need to lubricate it too.
Anbjørn

[Simon.O.]

Thank you for the input.
Well this one will probably be close in on 3400W and 54000rpm.
Yes 0,078" is 1.9812mm.
What I have been thinking is to use a 2mm piano wire inside a suitable size carbon fibre tube which is again inside a brass tube.
I am thinking that the carbon fibre will withstand the forces from the wire better than a teflon liner.
I will off course need to lubricate it too.
Anbjørn

I do not run a liner at all.. Steel wire inside brass tube. Two of mine run the 062 wire inside a 1/8" tube. Yes that is a very loose fit but given the gentle bend the wire does not whip and infact only touches the tube in a very small area. I run the wire unsupported for about 4-5" after it leaves the hull tube to the strut. This is on my big rigger and cat. I'll sort some pics for you later if you like.

[Jeff Wohlt]

Biggest advantage...less resistance. Easy to maintain.

[CornelP]

I have a 2mm wire on a Feigao 540 10XL. Never broke one (except one due to my own stupidity :) )
No liner, just one 3mm brass tube (with a 2.2mm ID), 25mm long. The total length of the wire is 30cm and is super stable.
See
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showpost.php?p=99885&postcount=34
and
http://www.fastelectrics.net/drives.php
as a very good tutorial, excellent ideas throughout the site...

[Steven Vaccaro]

One good thing is octura now has a 5mm to .078 coupler.

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/prodimages/small__02_04_2007_08_19_octura-coupler-long.JPG

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=oct-ocfhe5mm078

[Jeff Wohlt]

Yep, and I asked for the next batch they do to be a slightly tighter. I tested the first unhardened test unit they sent me. I was surprised at how little I had to beg to get these in to production. Also the real unit has 2 set screws on it and not one.

[Anbjorn]

Great info here. Thanks alot:thumbup:
Anbjørn

[Steven Vaccaro]

Yep, and I asked for the next batch they do to be a slightly tighter. I tested the first unhardened test unit they sent me. I was surprised at how little I had to beg to get these in to production. Also the real unit has 2 set screws on it and not one.

Yes, when I spoke to Trudy, she seemed to be more open to new size couplers if needed.

[Jeff Wohlt]

Trudy will be the full owner when Tom moves it over. She sees more value in some things than Tom does. Trudy is a joy to work with.

[uncledirty]

Wire drive or flex cable?
What is better and why?
Anbjørn


What kind of setup did you choose? If wire: how long axle(wire) u use? Was there any difficulties or did 1950 motors fit nicely?