PDA

View Full Version : Gutted my Impulse....Here's what I'm doing!



ejimbo4
10-13-2011, 05:29 PM
I am new to FE Boats and have run 7 sets of packs through my Impulse and got the itch! Time to scratch! I have a second hull and my plan is to strip the hardware and gut the inside,lay Carbon Fiber, new motor/esc/prop, upgrade flex shaft,trim tabs and turn fins. So far I have removed the hardware and managed to get most of the wood out but have a couple questions. Here are some pics of where I am at so far...
My plan for the CF is to lay it from transom to the wood stringer in bow.......is that far enough forward? The bow seems stiff enough ...it is from the stringer back that has all the flex. I am leaving the stuffing tube box,esc mount and motor mount in but I am considering taking motor mount out and putting something different in there......any advice on that? The carbon fiber came in yesterday and the Seaking 180A Esc showed up today so now I am hunting a motor. I am wanting to run 5s2p or 6s2p in parallel for weight and run time and I just need to know if I am heading the right direction of thinking? My end goal is I want in the 50-60 ish range but want to keep cool temps.. I really do appreciate anyone that chimes in with some advice!

dana
10-13-2011, 05:45 PM
i would just replace everything including motor mount. leaving the stock stuffing tube would be ok and take out teflon and run 3/16, thats if it has 1/4 brass. i dont own this hull so i dunno. as far as motor? somthing in the 1700kv range i would think, which brand depends on your budget. make sure you sand the hell outta the inside awith 80 grit, then use finishing resin to put in the carbon =)

ejimbo4
10-13-2011, 06:57 PM
Cool, I will remove the motor mount and servo mount and get it all sanded down real good. I ordered a CF kit and it came with the resin and hardener. I have never worked with CF but I have done so much reading on here about how to do it that I feel like I have!

ejimbo4
10-27-2011, 07:46 PM
So I got rid of the motor mount (got one ordered from OSE) but left the servo mount,sanded it down real good and layed my CF.This is my first time working with CF or FG and it was intimidating. I think one place I screwed up was that I tried to lay it all in one piece and maybe it should have been in a little bit smaller sections.Also when I taped where I was going to cut I pushed the tape down pretty good and then couldn't get it off the weave and messed the weave up.I also should have taken my time a little bit more but I didn't really know how long I had to work with it and could have spent more time on corners and one bubble I got but it is small and on a edge so I should be all right! All in all I am hooked on the CF and can't wait to do some more! Can't tell the wife that or my credit card will come up missing :doh: So I have a couple questions....
Should I lay down a second layer or is one good? I read in someones thread that they said to lay down a few layers where the motor mount is going.....needed or overkill?
I was really amazed at how strong this stuff is.....I thought I had messed it up last night when I did it because it didn't seem to be hardening or anything by the time I went to bed but I went down to check this morning and WOW!


6285962860628616286262863

Make-a-Wake
10-27-2011, 08:01 PM
Looks nice so far!

I'd run something like this 4 poler on 6s.....the 3y version. I must be the only one that has tried one of these from OSE..................its a great motor for the $$.........and i always like a bargain which is why i throw these out here...................its easy to just start recommending Neu's and lehners...............

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=keda-4074

Other options:

3674 four pole for 5s - http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17735__XK3674_1650KV_Brushless_Inrunner.html

3674 four pole for 6s - http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17720__XK3674_B_1400KV_Brushless_Inrunner.html

ejimbo4
10-29-2011, 02:02 PM
I just ordered the Leopard 4074 2150kv 2y to put in this and run it in 4s2p. Hopefully that should do it......

tlandauer
11-07-2011, 11:53 AM
Hi Ejimbo4,
Wow,Looks good! I admire your courage! I have a few questions: do you have to dremel out the wood braces? Once you cut the CF I see you tape the edges. At which point do you remove the tape? Lastly? you kept mentioning ordering a CF kit, where do you order it?I have been searching...
Thanks,Tim

ejimbo4
11-07-2011, 02:40 PM
Thanx Tim! As far as dremeling I started with one and a dremel flex cable adapter but found that if you just makes cut where pieces tie in and down the long sections make a couple cuts and I used a pair of pliers and twisted and broke most of it out and then when back with a sanding wheel and smoothed everything over. Just be careful not to go through the bottom of the hull. I did just barely....but I still did! :cursing:
CF... I tape where I am going to cut then cut. Just don't push the tape down hard or you might screw up the weave and I pull the tape off after its cured. Don't think thats right because I have to pick at it and its a whole project just trying to get the tape up. :frusty:

This is the CF kit I got off e-bay and it is plenty! I have layed the hull with a double layer and I could lay another two if I wanted but I will reinforce my hatches for both my impulses and still have a bunch left over!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190450272975?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_500wt_1054

Don't know if you have layed CF before but I got all my info of this forum!

tlandauer
11-07-2011, 07:25 PM
Thanks ejimbo4! Thank you for your link and all the info. I should have done my home work a while back when I was reinforcing an old Delta Force 45 Sniper. In my case since the boat was built by someone else and the 5' wooden rails are so well epoxied on to the hull, I wasn't able to and should not rip them out. Therefore I wasn't able to lay the whole area with CF. I did piece by piece of FG cloth with 30 min. zpoxy. Just wanted to learn and really like what you have done! My next project I will follow your method !

ejimbo4
11-08-2011, 12:16 PM
Thanx man but I really am just getting all my info right here on OSE!!! A lot of reading and rereading and trial and error......

ejimbo4
01-12-2012, 06:06 PM
So I got my dams made up and the motor mount mounted.....

Make-a-Wake
01-12-2012, 07:05 PM
Nice work!:thumbup1:

ejimbo4
01-12-2012, 07:39 PM
Thanx, I'm learning!!! I saw properchopper had built some dams like that and figured i would give it a try...

veejo
01-15-2012, 12:13 AM
The hull on my mystic, which I think is made the same way as my impulse (yet to get into water), is that they glue the top and bottoms together, when it hits something, it splits along this glue line. It's good to reinforce the join between the deck and the hull with glass and resin. Carbon fibre ..... to get the real benefit it is usually moulded and set under heat .... you don't get the "carbon" benefits with just resin at room temperature, for just strength (tear resistance) kevlar would have been a better option. Also inject some expanding foam in the bow when finished, add almost no weight, makes it VERY rigid, and will stop it sinking. They put a bit in now from the factory, but not enough to fill the gaps (seems more for bouyancy than to add structural regigidity and strength.

I also have the bug, mystic (needs cracks fixed after touching the jetty), Impulse 31 (out of the box .... has broken dog pin for the prop), and stilleto is on it's way courtesy of USPS, god bless USPS for those of us who don't live the USA.

Looking at bailer options for my boats now.

ejimbo4
01-18-2012, 06:10 PM
So I am trying to order the hardware for the rudder assembly and unfortunately no one has any pics to go with the parts listing for this boat so maybe someone could help me out? I have a couple pics of what I have all ready and if I new what those two were then I could order the rest. Also here is the link to the parts listing....and thanx in advance for any info!

http://www.horizonhobby.com/products/impulse-31-deep-v-bl-rtr-PRB4250

6847368474

roadrashracing
01-24-2012, 01:07 AM
http://www.horizonhobby.com/pdf/PRB4250_PRB4200-Manual.pdfHere check out page 36 and 37:

ejimbo4
01-25-2012, 10:12 AM
I feel like a idiot :doh: I can"t even tell you how many times I have looked at the manual! LOL! Just figured out why I didn't see it though......I stopped reading when I run out of English!

ejimbo4
05-15-2012, 11:35 PM
Back again!It has been all most 4 months and all I can say is WOW! First off I have to say that when I tore this boat apart it had just come out and I feel that being new to this hobby(Boats I have been into trucks for some years)and the only reason for me doing what I did was to learn as I all ready had a perfectly good stock Impulse 31 that all I have done is a prop upgrade and it runs great! I just wanted to learn the basics of what alot of what yall do,which is everything from laying CF, alignment,painting,epoxy,motor choices,battery and pretty much everything with out starting out with a bare hull and I feel like I have a clue now! I tried to ask as few questions as I needed and when I did they were usually not the the best ones like which side of the velcro do I put down! I did all my searching right here on OSE and you guys really helped me out with out having to answer to many questions(THE SEARCH FEATURE DOES WORK) :bowdown: So I just want to say thank you to everyone and know that I am hooked! :banana: So here are some pics of where I am at and it has been tub tested and actually floated the first time!

This has a Leopard 2150 with dual water pickups to feed esc and motor individuallywith a T 180 and 4s2p powering it and a m445 prop . All advice is greatly welcome! Well here are some pics!!!
Next day or so and we will see what the real deal is!!!

ejimbo4
05-15-2012, 11:39 PM
Here are some more!

Bullwink
05-15-2012, 11:57 PM
Beautiful job!

ejimbo4
05-15-2012, 11:59 PM
Thank you! Now she just has to go forward with no smoke! LOL!

veejo
05-16-2012, 04:47 PM
I like the dual water pickup ..... thinking about doing that to a few of my boats ....... should make the bends on water tubes less tight. hope you put some buoyancy back in the front.

Darin Jordan
05-16-2012, 05:18 PM
WOW... that's a LOT Of work, but it turned out pretty nice! Love the paint!

Curious... WHY did you feel the need to rip and remove the interior, just to have to put all that back in (albeit different)??

When I designed this boat (keep in mind that it was as a Production boat that needed to be user friendly), it was designed to allow for these monster motor swaps, and you can fit about as much battery in it as you want, all nice and secure in a pretty sweet, and low/center-line mounted position??

Was there something that didn't work for you?

Consider your answer "market research"... Always looking for ways to improve the product.

ejimbo4
05-16-2012, 06:38 PM
Darin! Glad you chimed in! First off...I meant no disrespect by tearing up a perfectly good hull that you designed.The Impulse 31 is a awesome boat and not a flaw in it! It is my first boat that I got last fall and I have enjoyed every run with it! When I received my first boat it had a leak and come to find out it was a hole way up inside the stuffing tube box and I called Horizon,e mailed them some pics and a vid of the hole and it leaking and they sent me out a replacement hull(with hardware) no questions asked and told me to keep the hull I had!I can't say enough about Horizon...they go above and beyond! Well after some thinking, I squirted some silicone into a plastic drinking straw and blew the silicone up in the tube by the hole and managed to fix it so I still had my stock boat ready to go! The hull Horizon sent me had been used a little no biggie! I can't even tell you how much respect I have for you and the other guys on this forum for the knowledge,skill and craftsmanship that you guys display everyday with your builds and designs not to mention you all seem like really decent people! I am a RC truck junkie and am new to boats so I figured here I had a chance to try and get a idea of alot of the different aspects of building a boat and if I screwed something up there would be no real big loss. Sure a few dollars but knowledge gained! And man oh man have I learned some things!

Patience :blink:
How to sand (with a light hand and not with a dremal or you may end up with unwanted holes in the bottom of your hull) :frusty:
How to repair holes in your hull :doh:
How to lay CF and FG
How to mount a motor and make cool looking dams to go around the mount(thanks to propperchopper and a thread of his)
I learned about center of gravity and how you should lay everything out and double check before mounting
How to paint because this is definitely not like doing a lid on one of my trucks
electronics and soldering
Math (figuring it out slowly with all the calculations and what not)
Learning about props
The list is endless so I will stop now....

This was a great learning experience and I realize that it will not run as great as my stock Impulse 31 but I just want to see it go! Even if it don't I can move everything into the first boat and upgrade it or just get another Impulse hull and drop the electronics and hardware in it!End of the day....I had fun! So thank you very much to you and the rest of the guys on here!

P.S. NO improvement needed!!!

Make-a-Wake
05-16-2012, 08:38 PM
Very nice......................now we need vid!!:buttrock:

Rumdog
05-16-2012, 09:30 PM
Excellent job! Especially for your first one!

dana
05-16-2012, 09:35 PM
Excellent job! Especially for your first one!
Seriously. Thing came out pissah!

lenny
05-16-2012, 11:16 PM
Looks great,:tiphat:
Now lets see it get wet.:popcorn2:

SFC K
05-17-2012, 09:10 AM
It does look great and I like what you did to it. Love the paint scheme.

POWERS
05-21-2012, 11:53 AM
Thanx Tim! As far as dremeling I started with one and a dremel flex cable adapter but found that if you just makes cut where pieces tie in and down the long sections make a couple cuts and I used a pair of pliers and twisted and broke most of it out and then when back with a sanding wheel and smoothed everything over. Just be careful not to go through the bottom of the hull. I did just barely....but I still did! :cursing:
CF... I tape where I am going to cut then cut. Just don't push the tape down hard or you might screw up the weave and I pull the tape off after its cured. Don't think thats right because I have to pick at it and its a whole project just trying to get the tape up. :frusty:

This is the CF kit I got off e-bay and it is plenty! I have layed the hull with a double layer and I could lay another two if I wanted but I will reinforce my hatches for both my impulses and still have a bunch left over!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190450272975?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_500wt_1054

Don't know if you have layed CF before but I got all my info of this forum!

You actually don't need to pull the tape off before you lay it. As long as you plan ahead and make sure you only tape one side of the cloth, you just lay that side down. You will have perfect edges and no frays. I too learned a lot from the forums here on laying CF, and it is probably one of my favorite things to do, even starting to apply it to my car bodies.

ejimbo4
05-22-2012, 02:34 PM
Finally got to run her yesterday! Had to say I was a bit nervous of it just going up in a puff of smoke but all went well! So I ran a Leopard 4074,seaking 180,2 x 4s1p 4000mah 30-40c and a octura m445 (b,s,p by ice329(joey)) I met some new friends and they invited my wife and I out to test the boat on their private lake(second lake a little narrower up behind this one!)and we had a blast and they welcome us back anytime!!! Ran for a minute and checked temps...115* on everything! Ran it for a few more minutes with a flip/crash in between and temps stayed at 115*! Took on water even before the crash but luckily I waterproofed everything so it's all good! I need to add up run time from videos but when I checked batts they were both at 3.78.


http://youtu.be/sSr27FhBesc


http://youtu.be/nayGPQAXbf4


http://youtu.be/Va-6zBpXFGs


http://youtu.be/kfYHB6NmrH8

nokiaprinter
05-23-2012, 12:42 AM
Thanks for the videos, what a nice place to run your boat! you sure had fun there!

The boat runs pretty smooth n stable nice job there, may i ask your strut adjustment? did you raise it all up or down?

srislash
05-23-2012, 08:02 AM
Running sweet!I am envious of that test spot.Looks like nice country there.

ejimbo4
05-23-2012, 10:15 AM
Yes, me and my wife were stunned when we pulled up! It is one of clients property and about 8 months ago she had mentioned that she had a private lake that I could come out and run on and I didn't really think nothing of it and then on Monday I wanted to test the boat but the two lakes I usually run on were heavy with boat traffic so I figured what the heck I would give her a call and see if the offer still stood and she said "Come on to the house"! Her family is really good people and we hit it off and have a open invitation to come back any time!Plenty of big fish in there too!!!
Strut hasn't been adjusted yet. I just bolted it up and run it as she was....

G-UNIT
05-23-2012, 03:51 PM
The boat look great and I'm sure it will move along quite nicely with that set up, I'm guessing mid 50s ?

ejimbo4
05-23-2012, 04:41 PM
Only problem was took on probably 1/3 cup water on first minute run,I dumped it out after I checked temps and it took on probably a little more than that in second part of run :confused2: No leaks on my tub test and I checked my lines by blowing through them while I plugged the outlets and didn't seem to leak but I am going to use the search feature because I have seen a couple threads about pressure testing because I just have a feeling that's where my problem is at.
Srislash I am located in Georgia just north of Atlanta in the US and yes it is some beautiful country here!:Peace_Sign:

G-UNIT I am gonna GPS it next time out and will let you know but mid 50's is what I am hoping for!

Make-a-Wake
05-23-2012, 04:42 PM
Looks great, you gotta love those m445's...........same prop I run on mine.

If I may say, it seems to run a a tiny bit wet................do you have trim tabs? If so pull 'em both up a hair. Whats your COG?

ejimbo4
05-23-2012, 05:35 PM
Yep...Got trim tabs. Didn't do any tuning first time out. COG is at about is just a hair over 30% didn't leave myself any room for adjustment with batteries at the moment but I agree it is running a little wet but I haven't messed with trim tabs or the strut yet.

roadrashracing
05-30-2012, 12:01 PM
How is you paint holding up where the hatch meets the hull, I know its a tight fit and dont see anything but it getting scratched off.

ejimbo4
05-30-2012, 12:32 PM
That is exactly what is happening! Grrrr....:frusty: But the blemishes totally disappear at WOT!!! :banana:

ejimbo4
05-30-2012, 12:35 PM
My biggest problem is that it took on a bunch of water when I ran it so I let it dry out and then I got a large syringe and pushed water through it and then stopped up the outlets and tried to push water through and nothing...no leaks. :confused2: so I just about have my stock Impulse31 put back together so I will throw it back in the tub and test it again when I tub test my other one.

nokiaprinter
05-31-2012, 02:16 PM
tape the hatch, silicone/tight the screws on the back, make sure you grease the flex cable on every run. Also check the cooling tubes, sometimes its hard to see a tiny cut and that causes the leaking. i didn't run my impulse yet i hope mine doesn't leak but those are from the experiences of my mystic29. Hope it helps ejimbo.

ejimbo4
05-31-2012, 02:33 PM
Yes, I do all of that and like I said I pressure tested my lines and didn't see any leaks or have any water drip into the inside of the hull. I finally got my stock Impulse put together after painting it so I am going to tub test them both tonight and see whats up. I am thinking that the second water pick up I have mounted to the transom might be the source but that will show in the tub if it is.

ejimbo4
06-04-2012, 11:27 PM
Make-a wake...Ran her today after I pulled my strut up a hair and kicked the trim tabs up just a little and it rides like a beast now! I knew something was up with that monster rooster tail and the whole boat riding in the water. Now it's riding on the back third and getting it! Next time out I will throw a gps on her!

Make-a-Wake
06-05-2012, 12:32 AM
Make-a wake...Ran her today after I pulled my strut up a hair and kicked the trim tabs up just a little and it rides like a beast now!

Awesome!!!!!!!! More vid please!!!!!:buttrock: