Triton Build

[electric]

Starting on a build of a Triton that I bought in the swap shop(Brand New). Right now, I am building the back piece using wood and a layer of carbon fiber I had laying around. I like the look of the carbon fiber better than just raw wood.

I was able to get the inside pieces from Joseph Toth the builder of the boat and the boat stand. The funny story is I was emailing him back and forth and I told him there was not a good way to pay him since it costs 30 dollars to do a wire and he does not take paypal. His reply was to the effect of "I will ship you the parts". Something got lost in translation. I checked back with him and he had indeed shipped the parts, but we had not yet figured out how to get paid! I ended up paying someone else in another country who did have paypal and is a part supplier for him. Chuckle.

I took some pictures of all the parts on hand for the build(all bought from Steven). I should get the bulkhead epoxied in tomorrow night and will start installing the hardware over the course of this week and next.

[electric]

I am pondering where I will set the motor. I have seen where the mount point is on a Triton that comes almost ready to run. That is like the picture I have where the motor is closer to the stern of the boat. I am contemplating pushing the motor forward in the boat. What this does, is enable me to be more flexible on my batter placement and even potentially get a battery mounted up against the water chamber. Getting enough weight for the roll over is an issue. On the other Triton I have(bought it used in the swap shop) I had to put lead weight on the water chamber to get the roll to work. Would like to avoid that if I can. I am looking for input on this. I think I can still get the CG worked out because I can shift the battery on the other side forward as needed or mount it up in the bow as I have seen on other examples. I had read somewhere that the ideal CG for this boat is about 8.5 inches in. My father in-law was kind enough to hold the battery while I took the pic.

[electric]

As you can see in the previous pics I have two different motors to pick from.
1. 1515/1Y 2200 Kv
2 1521/1.5D 1860Kv 8mm Shaft

I am not going to really race this boat so I am leaning toward the milder 1521. Not sure though. I will be using a Turnigy 180 for the esc running 4s2p.

[Rumdog]

Yep, use the 1521. You could run 5s2p on that motor as well. Tritons Rock!

[BHChieftain]

I have a syncron with a flood chamber running a neu 1515. That motor is perfect for my boat, I thing you are gonna want the 1521 for the triton.

On battery placement, I put one pack as far back as I can along the flood chamber (on edge), and the second pack goes in the nose on the left-side floor. It'll roll without any additional weighting that way.

Chief

[CornelP]

I think it would be better to have the motor as forward as possible, this way you can install two batteries vertical against the wall. I ended up doing a different motor support (narrow) so one of the batteries can be mounted between motor and wall. The more weight on that side, the faster it flips...

[BHChieftain]

I have a syncron with a flood chamber running a neu 1515. That motor is perfect for my boat, I thing you are gonna want the 1521 for the triton.

On battery placement, I put one pack as far back as I can along the flood chamber (on edge), and the second pack goes in the nose on the left-side floor. It'll roll without any additional weighting that way.

Chief


Here's a picture,
Chief

[electric]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am concerned about placing the motor foward and then discovering that somehow I have messed up the handling of the boat in turns. Chief, thanks for the pics. I wish I could fit the battery to the side of the motor like yours in the synchron, but since I am using a 14.4 volt battery (4s2p) it is twice as thick as your example and will not fit.

Cornel, interesting on the thinner motor mount. I am going to take a another look and see if that gets me enough room. I am gathering you did that on a Triton with the larger pack size and it fit? That would be the best of both worlds if it works. I do have an Etti motor mount that I ordered a few days ago that might work better.

[CornelP]

It's not a Triton, but a hull with similar size and space (my Wasabi 650). See the pics for ideas.
I can now fit one 4200 4S pack or two 5000 2S in series, without issues. It is a lot better to run with two packs against the wall, the 4S pack takes the weight back to the center, having a longer time to turn the boat...

[electric]

Trim Tabs. If you notice the comparison of Joseph's fiberglass insert and my carbon fiber one you will see that mine completely covers the back of the boat. The reason is, I wanted a good mount point for the trim tabs. I believe the original design does not have trimtabs and thus there is no need to beef up both sides of the boat to mount. I am thinking of leaving the trim tabs off to start and then adding them later if needed. Not sure if any other Triton owners have some experience with this?

[electric]

It's not a Triton, but a hull with similar size and space (my Wasabi 650). See the pics for ideas.
I can now fit one 4200 4S pack or two 5000 2S in series, without issues. It is a lot better to run with two packs against the wall, the 4S pack takes the weight back to the center, having a longer time to turn the boat...

Wow. now that is a "skinny" motor mount. Where did you get that?

[CornelP]

I made the drawing in Corel, sent it to and engraving shop and they cut it for me. I just added a few holes and threads.

[electric]

I made the drawing in Corel, sent it to and engraving shop and they cut it for me. I just added a few holes and threads.
I was afraid that would be the answer. Chuckle. Well, when I get home tonight I am going to play around with it and see if it is even possible to get the motor next to the battery from a space perspective. Otherwise, it looks like I will push the motor further up the hull and make the room that way.

[CornelP]

If you look at Chief's picture carefully, you will see he actually cut the support to fit the battery. You can cut a bit more to make it flush with the motor on one side...

[BHChieftain]

If you look at Chief's picture carefully, you will see he actually cut the support to fit the battery. You can cut a bit more to make it flush with the motor on one side...

Wish I could take credit for that, but that's the way it came-- the motor mount is made from epoxy and one side is indeed cut away to make room for the pack.

Chief

[electric]

Here is an interesting layout picture I just found on the toysport site. That seals the deal for me, I am going to push the motor foward. Wish I could easily get my hands on some CF in Houston so I could do a bit more with the build.

[Rumdog]

You probably wont need the trim tabs. I'd go with the motor forward too. As long as the cg is right it won't effect the handling.

[Jedi Master]

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg241/Jedi_Master1/TritonFit-out.jpg

Here's how mine was laid out. The motor is now listed in the 'for sale section'.
I ran it on 6s with a large K-series prop. 60+mph and very stable.

I can't wait to get another. They are an awesome hull!!:rockon2:

[electric]

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg241/Jedi_Master1/TritonFit-out.jpg

Here's how mine was laid out. The motor is now listed in the 'for sale section'.
I ran it on 6s with a large K-series prop. 60+mph and very stable.

I can't wait to get another. They are an awesome hull!!:rockon2:

Too funny, I have your boat in the picture. Or should I say I have a second triton boat with the EXACT same paint job sitting in my garage. The insides are different. Hmm how is that possible? This explains why the finish is so nice, was your purchased with the paint scheme applied by the builder?.

[electric]

To show you, I just went out and took a few pics. Look.

[Jedi Master]

Yes, this finish is one of Joseph Toth's colour scheme's. It looks fantastic on the water!!

[electric]

Spent a great deal of time figuring out the right way to do the strut. After a lot of reading it goes like this.
1. Drilled out a 9/32 hole.
2. The 9/32 brass tube runs flush up to the stinger mount (but it will not go into it because the opening is 1/4")
3. The teflon Liner goes inside the brass tube and does come out of the hull and into the the strut. (goes in about 1/4" or more)

What you end up with is a nice set up where you can adjust the strut as needed (because of the flex tube) but you keep the water from flushing out the grease in the stinger.

I could have run 1/4 brass tube all the way through and into the stinger, but then the stinger would not be adjustable. This would also assume no liner being used.

This might be boring to most, but thought it would be a help to those who are new to it (like me) since this is only my second build.

The pieces needed are:
3/16 stringer strut
9/32 brass tube
.187 teflon tube
I believe I have that correct. Will check my numbers in the morning.

[electric]

Well, I was thinking over the battery/motor placement and I think I ended up with something good. I pushed the motor further up in the hull to shift more weight foward, but not as far as orginally planned. Because of this, I can still put a battery up in the bow if I want to. The Toysport designer is doing that on a limited edition set up for more stability and less blow over. The thing I hit upon was that I carved out some of the servo mount and fiberglass tube mount so now I have the ability to push a 4s pack of batteries all the way to the back corner of the boat. This will be a big deal for the boats roll over to work well.

I epoxied everything down tonight. Tomorrow I will be working on lining up the brass tube and mounting the motor.

I have a used Toysport rudder comming to me in about 5 days.

[electric]

Oh, I need to show a pic of my water jacket. While I was playing around with batter placement I guess some how the postive and negative terminals made contact with the aluminum water jacked and I essentially did a spot weld. Wow all that with 14.4 volts for split second. That should be an entertaining pic at my expense.

[electric]

Added a brace for the shaft tube since it stretches out a bit and I figured the batteries might knock it off center. You can now see how the batteries are really going to sit and I think I will put the esc. next to the motor. Pretty much done until the rudder comes in. I do have some soldering to do. Also take a look at the damage to the water jacket from that electrical arc I had last night.

[electric]

Well I have finished! All that is left to do is a leak test in the tub, check the placement of the second battery to ensure the boat rolls over correctly and then lay down the straps for that battery.

The last step is to also work out the decals and give the boat a nice look. I should be able to drop it in the water for a test run this weekend. I will hook the data logger up until I get the props figured out.

The hull came from Skunk Works , the rudder from Jedi Master(United Kingdom), the Neu 1521 1.5D from Boatman, the other Toysport parts came from Joseph Toth in Hungary, the strut and other hardware from Steven. You can definitely say this boat has parts from all over the world.

Next comes the testing....

[electric]

More

[BHChieftain]

Hi,
Great build thread! Does she roll over with your battery placement? (I tried that config on my syncron and she would not turn over).

-Chief

[Jedi Master]

Awesome, I soooo miss my Triton!!!

[electric]

It's amazing what somes stickers can do for a boat. Now I need to find/create some bold graphics to go on the side and some numbers on the bow.

[electric]

I am very pleased with how this boat rolls over. The best decision I made during the build was to push the motor foward in the boat. The second was to trim the servo mount enough to get a 4s battery room to mount all the way back if needed on the flood chamber side. After several tests, the key to the whole thing is to have the battery on the non-flood chamber side in tight(1/2" - 3/4") to the drive shaft. This is not possible with the way the boat comes pre-built because the motor is mounted closer in and prevents the battery from being pushed closer to the shaft. It also prevents you from mounting a 4s battery against the flood chamber wall. I shifted the flood chamber side battery from the back to the front along the wall and the boat flipped over equally well. Being able to move the battery back and forth along the entire flood chamber wall will help me fine tune the Center of Gravity as needed. Having the motor pushed foward in the hull helps with that as well. If someone were doing this build again I would recommend pushing the motor another 3/4 inch foward to keep the battery away from the collet. I am going to do some work on that issue to ensure the battery stays where it needs to be on that side.

The last picture is the only one that would not roll. The battery opposite the flood chamber is to far away from the center point for the hull. All other configurations flipped withing 8 seconds.

[BHChieftain]

Do you plan to epoxy in some straps to hold down the packs? I'd hate to see the pack hit the collet if it came loose in a crash.

What prop do you plan to use?

Chief

[Jedi Master]

With all of the weight attached to the base of the hull, there is a tendency for the flood chamber to lift from the hull on the bottom side. I had this happen in mine and then I epoxied a brace that crossed from the motor mount to the flood chamber. It made the hull much stronger. I flipped at 60mph+ a couple of times and the flood chamber lifted on the second time. Just someting to bear in mnd, once you are set with your battery positioning.:thumbup1:

[electric]

Do you plan to epoxy in some straps to hold down the packs? I'd hate to see the pack hit the collet if it came loose in a crash.

What prop do you plan to use?

Chief

Without a doubt. They were just velcro'd in for the test. I now have the velcro and the straps epoxied to the bottom of the hull. I also placed a small fiberglass spacer off of the drive shaft mount to ensure that the battery never ever gets near the collet. Can you imagine a battery hitting the collet at full speed? ouch.

[electric]

With all of the weight attached to the base of the hull, there is a tendency for the flood chamber to lift from the hull on the bottom side. I had this happen in mine and then I epoxied a brace that crossed from the motor mount to the flood chamber. It made the hull much stronger. I flipped at 60mph+ a couple of times and the flood chamber lifted on the second time. Just someting to bear in mnd, once you are set with your battery positioning.:thumbup1:

Hmm. Not sure I understand. Are you saying that the flood chamber may seperate from the bottom of the hull and cause a leak? So I would fit in a piece a fiberglass brace from the mount to the flood and then glass that in?

[Jedi Master]

Hmm. Not sure I understand. Are you saying that the flood chamber may seperate from the bottom of the hull and cause a leak? So I would fit in a piece a fiberglass brace from the mount to the flood and then glass that in?

Exactly! :thumbup1:

I had an almighty high speed flip in mine and brought it to shore to check it out. Off came the hatch and I had a tiny bit of water inside. I couldn't figure out where it had come in from, until I noticed that the flood chamber had lifted where it meets the bottom of the hull. I was VERY lucky as the gap only really opened up when I flexed the hull, but it high-lighted the weak spot for me. I put a brace in and re-glassed the flood chamber all the way along the join. It never happened again after that.:buttrock:

[electric]

Went to the hobby store and rummaged around for more stickers. Pretty much done with the pics for this project. I am going to start testing probably tomorrow with an x442 prop and see how it goes. Should be nice and easy speed wise.

Thanks for the tip on the glass work needed for the flood chamber. A wreck at 60 mph is always a pretty crazy thing.

[electric]

First run went great. I got about 42mph in a small pond which is in the ball park of what I expected given the motor and that I have it propped down. I did notice that the boat was a little squirly. I did a second run with the strut down 1 percent. this actually seemed to not help at all, just caused a raising of the amperage(top speed about the same), did not corner as well this way. I am going to reset the strut next run and move the CG forward. But all and all I am please with my first time out. I need to find a bigger body of water to run in to really tune it. I am just basically excelerating all the way to the end of the pond and then chopping the throttle to make the turns.

The diagram shows amps and speed. I also should mention that the motor is awesome. Smooth and very cool.

[electric]

Well, I squeezed in one more short run this afternoon. I moved the CG forward about 1 inch and returned the strut to neutral. Wow. I have never realized how much CG has an effect on the boat. (No Trim Tabs) It was much more stable and did not feel as if it was going to take off. I also picked up another 2mph now at 44mph. I am going to leave it at that until I can go to my vacation home and get a bigger stretch of water to really run it. There is another lake here in The Woodlands that is certainly big enough, but I need to figure out a way to retreive the boat if it gets to far out to use that. I think I could get close to 50 with just this 442 prop and there is plenty of room for a bigger prop.