petricek
06-30-2010, 02:31 PM
:ThumbsDown01: I came to rc boat world from off road vehicles ( Traxxas and Losi products). Here is my honest evaluation of RIO ep.
For about $160 it is not much a boat ( I bought it for $139 from Tower ). You will get a flimsy plastic hull, kind a Dannone yogurt cup plastic, ESC, which in my case literally melted down second day running on first 7 cell NiMh pack. I took ESC apart, just because I was curious what happened, and discovered that one of transistors melted completely down and turned into brown, stinky liquid. After that I installed Traxxas XL-5 even though I received new ESC promptly from Hobby Services.
Battery holder started to crack after second pack installed and I never tied down battery straps too much. That plastic holder is maybe good for lightweight Lipos but not for heavy NiMh.
A motor mount is a joke. There is a rubber strip glued to it and it melts down slightly when motor gets warm which looses up because of that. By its cheap design it also doesn't cool the motor at all.
Plate which holds receiver and servo is piece of cheap Chinese plywood. I made me new one from aluminium and aluminium hardware bought off ACE Hardware.
Driving impressions : contrary to cheap materials used, I thing that boat drives awesome. If I am not mistaken it was designed by Grimracer and it shows. I was driving it lately for two days on the bumpy ocean down to Florida and it was one of biggest blasts I lately had with rc. Until boat broke. The battery holder broke completely off, and motor "mount" is no longer able to hold motor tight. Boat's hull was also flexing a lot when it hit a wave and because of that, boat was taking a lot of water.
Next steps to make boat more durable and reliable:
- make good battery mount
- change motor mount for good one ( from Offshore electric )
- cover flimsy hull in fiberglass or carbon fiber to make it rigid.
- lately, install brushless system.
In my opinion, RIO Ep will be chosen by many new to wonderfull rc boat world but I thing after cheap materials experience they may not to go with Aquacraft again.Traxxas product are much better choice for hobby and entry level. They have superior products and costumer service.
For about $160 it is not much a boat ( I bought it for $139 from Tower ). You will get a flimsy plastic hull, kind a Dannone yogurt cup plastic, ESC, which in my case literally melted down second day running on first 7 cell NiMh pack. I took ESC apart, just because I was curious what happened, and discovered that one of transistors melted completely down and turned into brown, stinky liquid. After that I installed Traxxas XL-5 even though I received new ESC promptly from Hobby Services.
Battery holder started to crack after second pack installed and I never tied down battery straps too much. That plastic holder is maybe good for lightweight Lipos but not for heavy NiMh.
A motor mount is a joke. There is a rubber strip glued to it and it melts down slightly when motor gets warm which looses up because of that. By its cheap design it also doesn't cool the motor at all.
Plate which holds receiver and servo is piece of cheap Chinese plywood. I made me new one from aluminium and aluminium hardware bought off ACE Hardware.
Driving impressions : contrary to cheap materials used, I thing that boat drives awesome. If I am not mistaken it was designed by Grimracer and it shows. I was driving it lately for two days on the bumpy ocean down to Florida and it was one of biggest blasts I lately had with rc. Until boat broke. The battery holder broke completely off, and motor "mount" is no longer able to hold motor tight. Boat's hull was also flexing a lot when it hit a wave and because of that, boat was taking a lot of water.
Next steps to make boat more durable and reliable:
- make good battery mount
- change motor mount for good one ( from Offshore electric )
- cover flimsy hull in fiberglass or carbon fiber to make it rigid.
- lately, install brushless system.
In my opinion, RIO Ep will be chosen by many new to wonderfull rc boat world but I thing after cheap materials experience they may not to go with Aquacraft again.Traxxas product are much better choice for hobby and entry level. They have superior products and costumer service.