My Spartan had it's first flip/sink expirience this weekend...

[Checkmateguy01]

And it was my bad driving that did it! Actually heres what happend. Our neighbors dock sticks out much further than ours, and as i went by i just bumped their dock while turning and it barrel rolled! I expected the hull to be banged up and damaged but much to my surprise it's completly fine, not even a scratch!! It did however bend and tweek the port side turn fin a little bit. Problem is, i can't get one of the screws out to take the fin off, it turned out half way and now won't come out any further, but it's still really tight! I'm gonna try vise grips, turn and pull and see if i can get it out. I wanted to upgrade to better turn fins anyways, guess now is a good time! The boat did fill completly with water, went nose up, i dumped it out and took the reciever cover off just to make sure it didn't take on any water. There were a few drops in the reciever case, but i don't think enough to hurt it, i will range check and probably send the boat out with not so fresh batt's just to make sure. Anybody have radio issues after a sinking?? Also, i took the whole pod out of the boat just to dry everything out, but now i'm having trouble gettin it back in correctly. I've had it out before with out problems, but now it doesn't want to seat in all the way at the motor end. I can't seem to figure it out, it won't go back any further towards the transom. But, all in all, I am glad the so called "cheap junk plastic hull" held up, i really love this boat and have had a blast with it on the lake!

[dag-nabit]

I ripped the port side turn fin half off of mine in a collision with my daughters spartan. I just took the turn fins off, the boat seems to handle the same without them. Something you can try if you want before replacing them.

The screws binding/stripping out on the Spartan is common. Lubricate any screws that thread into the plastic with a non-petroleum based lubricant when you replace them.

http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?22820-Bolt-Binding&highlight=stripped+threads

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w71/daidavies/RC%20Boats/b9c0e64c.jpg

NOTE: DON'T use linseed oil, it oxidizes and dries, so not so good for this application.

Kevin

[LarrysDrifter]

Maybe the hull is tweaked from the barrel roll? Being the hull is plastic.

[Checkmateguy01]

Maybe the hull is tweaked from the barrel roll? Being the hull is plastic.

No, i lookeed at the hull really well, i can't see any tweaks or twists at all, looks fine! I was off the throttle and all it did was bump the dock with the side and roll over, was not anywhere near full throttle which probably would have been ugly! Boat is still up to the cottage at the lake, i didn't have room for it to bring it back home this week, i'll have to mess with it friday when i'm back up to the lake.

[rinski73]

well i had the same problem this past weekend but mine flip at high speed when a large gust of wind came through and she lifted flew about 15 feet and then barrel rolled three times before stopping took electrics out threw in a bowl of rice and all is well no hull damage at all and yes {my junky toy} held up very good:hug1:

[rinski73]

and the next run out my esc blew a cap:censored: and rusty water came spewing out and system got very :flammes-09:so now i will replace the caps and seal them before running again a lesson learned:doh:

[Rumdog]

If the module has been out and back in before... and iNOW it wont go back in after the wipeout, obviously something got tweaked. (the hull)

rinski, what do you mean rusty water came out? From where?

[rinski73]

from the capacitor:w00t:

[JPriami]

I had problems getting bolts out of the plastic on one of those Spartans as well. In my case it came out a little then would just turn and not come out anymore. I placed something behind the head of the bolt and applied pressure outward while turning the bolt at the same time. It then came out.

If the tray isn't going in all the way. Try looking at the stuffing tube and make sure it isn't binding or hitting against something where it goes thru the transom. Also make sure the two bolts and wedges on the front are not catching on something. Also the back catch of the tray that's black gets captured by the white hooks near the transom can sometimes get misaligned and make it not want to seat right.

[Checkmateguy01]

I had problems getting bolts out of the plastic on one of those Spartans as well. In my case it came out a little then would just turn and not come out anymore. I placed something behind the head of the bolt and applied pressure outward while turning the bolt at the same time. It then came out.

If the tray isn't going in all the way. Try looking at the stuffing tube and make sure it isn't binding or hitting against something where it goes thru the transom. Also make sure the two bolts and wedges on the front are not catching on something. Also the back catch of the tray that's black gets captured by the white hooks near the transom can sometimes get misaligned and make it not want to seat right.

Yeah I got the screws out, and the tray back in ok. But, my ESC is fried! I plugged in the batts and the steering servo worked fine, but no throttle! Red light came on, and blinks off when you hit the trigger on the transmitter. I thought the ESC was water proof?! I unplugged the batts and then re connected them and now ESC won't come on at all! Dilemma time, send it back to Traxxas for a new one, or say to hell with it and go with a turnigy/seaking 180, maybe a new motor. I dunno, now I'm a little ticked, guess the esc's aren't waterproof! How long is the turn around time from traxxas?

[dag-nabit]

Yeah I got the screws out, and the tray back in ok. But, my ESC is fried! I plugged in the batts and the steering servo worked fine, but no throttle! Red light came on, and blinks off when you hit the trigger on the transmitter. I thought the ESC was water proof?! I unplugged the batts and then re connected them and now ESC won't come on at all! Dilemma time, send it back to Traxxas for a new one, or say to hell with it and go with a turnigy/seaking 180, maybe a new motor. I dunno, now I'm a little ticked, guess the esc's aren't waterproof! How long is the turn around time from traxxas?

I didn't check the Traxxas website before posting below, so flame away if I'm wrong......

In my experience I have noted when shopping for the electronic components for RC boats that most are described as water resistant, not water proof. They will take a splashing, maybe even an occasional drenching, but if submerged, all bets are off.

Kevin

[1truckerdan]

The new Traxxas ESC uses the latest MOSFET from Infineon -- a really kick-butt ultra-low RDSOn part. Expensive, but worth it!

It's a large footprint to keep everything nice and cool. Comes with a 5A switching BEC built-in, and integrated 5.5mm bullets to flow power smoothly.

It's fully epoxy encapsulated, using a very low viscosity epoxy applied by some new robots that Castle built for our in-house potting line.
This is from Patrick at CC
Daniel

[dag-nabit]

Well, I was wrong about the Spartan ESC (the original one at least). Taken right off Traxxas site it describes it as waterproof. Guess they'll have to warranty it.

The Turnigy T180 however is described as having the electronics coated in a water resistant lacquer.

30+mph out of the box, 50+mph on 6S LiPo!
36” deep-V hull for stable high-speed performance
Water-cooled, waterproof VXL-6s Marine speed control
6S LiPo compatible with built-in Low-Voltage Detection
Traxxas High-Current Connectors
Velineon 540 XL high-output brushless motor with highflow water-cooling jacket
Quick-release Power Module integrates power system, waterproof electronics, and stuffing tube
Adjustable battery trays with hook-and-loop straps
Blue-anodized aluminum rudder support, rudder, and drive strut
Stainless steel turn fins, trim tabs, and hardware
TQ 2.4GHz High-Output radio system with Traxxas Link™
Includes two 7-cell Power Cell battery packs
Waterproof high-torque steering servo
Sleek design with factory-applied graphics
Ready-To-Race®
Traxxas factory support

Kevin

[JPriami]

I am robot. I generate words like: traxxas, Spartan and then apply them to words like: sucks, liars, albatross, and poo. Also I've added to my vocabulary: fire, what's that smell, and damn you chinewalking.

[1truckerdan]

Traxxas has not updated the information on their site......go figure:sarcasm1:
Daniel

[wilsta67]

i like coming to the traxxas section of this forum i get a laugh i really do.:roflol: but i know i wasnt laughing when i owned one.:ThumbsDown01::doh: