Best "Pit" Setup

[ten64]

Being new to running boats, and new to electrics, I was wondering if anyone could provide me with suggestions for the optimal "Pit" setup.

When you head to your ocean, lake, pond, river, creek, puddle, bathtub or sink . . . .

. . . . . . what do you bring to get the most out of your day.

If it helps, I have two Traxxas boats:

Villain EX - (Bought used, run for about 30 minutes total, learned the hard way to have extra props & shafts)
Spartan - Brand new, still in the box.

[NativePaul]

Needed are, boat/s, transmitter, battery/s, tape.
Also good are, spare battery/s, charger, deep cycle charging battery/generator, hex key set, 6" adjustable spanner, knife, needle nosed pliers, grease if you use it, pair of spanners to suit if you use collet style couplings, spare race numbers, marker pen.

I used to take the nearly whole workshop when I went boating, but now I just take the above when fun running or at local races and everything bar the boats and the deep cycle battery fits in a rucksack, at the nationals I camp and take a lot more. mainly camping stuff but also, spare flex shafts if I have them, my prop box, file in case I need to work a prop, spare bearings, pushrods and clevises, brass for stuffing tubes, spare booms, brass for boom tubes, parallel pliers, scraps of wood, epoxy&cyno, silicone tube, bearing oil, wd40 and more tape.

[siberianhusky]

Aside from the obvious I have a pit tool box and a repair box. The repair box hopefully stays in the truck, the other has all the tools needed for everything on the boat that can be adjusted. I could pretty much rebuild an entire boat from the repair box, spare motors, esc, flex cables, servo, glues etc.
Collapsable table, towel and paper towel, seat of some kind, hand cleaner, generator, chargers, power supplies.
Most important the retrieval canoe or boat of some kind! Do not swim after a dead boat, it is a hell of a lot harder than it looks. Tried it in a safe environment last summer, off a boat with a life jacket and throw ring ready, motor on the boat running ready to help if needed. I'm in pretty good shape but that kicked my butt pushing a boat back.
Wouldn't have done it if it wasn't about 110 out and the idea of a swim sounded good! Read about the horror stories had to test it out for myself in a controlled way.

[ten64]

Sorry.

My bad. I should clarify.

With the average battery run time being 15 minutes, and charge time 1 or more hours, do you bring, (pardon the pun), a "boatload" of batteries, or some other charging system?

(Hey, all the other information is helpful too, so keep it coming!)


Being new to running boats, and new to electrics, I was wondering if anyone could provide me with suggestions for the optimal "Pit" setup.

When you head to your ocean, lake, pond, river, creek, puddle, bathtub or sink . . . .

. . . . . . what do you bring to get the most out of your day.

If it helps, I have two Traxxas boats:

Villain EX - (Bought used, run for about 30 minutes total, learned the hard way to have extra props & shafts)
Spartan - Brand new, still in the box.

[pescador]

My truck is pretty packed when I head to a race, especially bringing nitro and FE gear. Like siberianhusky I bring a ton of stuff and get ribbed for it but they all come looking to me for spare parts and hardware. It was the same when I went fishing:laugh:
An EZ-up awning is pretty sweet in the rain or sun.

[desmobob]

Sorry.

My bad. I should clarify.

With the average battery run time being 15 minutes, and charge time 1 or more hours, do you bring, (pardon the pun), a "boatload" of batteries, or some other charging system?

(Hey, all the other information is helpful too, so keep it coming!)

My boat runs on a pair of 2S 5000mah batteries, and I bring six (three sets), plus a couple of chargers and a big power supply. I also started carrying a "plug splitter"... I don't know what you really call it; it's a short (1 foot) very heavy gauge extension cord that has one male end and a triple female end. When my buddies and I are sport running at certain docks, there aren't enough outlets for us all to plug our power supplies into. That splitter saves the day.

Take it easy,
desmobob

[siberianhusky]

One guy brings his generator, I regularly charge at 2c. 3 sets of batteries can keep me running as long as I want to, By the time I've made some changes, untaped the boat removed the old packs talked about the run. Decide which boat to run next etc. one set batteries will be charged and ready to go.
A power supply with some capacity and a high power charger are a necessity in my opinion, I ran nitro for far too long to wait for batteries to charge. The reason I never got serious about cars in the 80's, couldn't stand dealing with ni-cads. Didn't even think of electric boats until I saw one running with lipos.
And battery technology keeps getting better with higher charge rates!
John has a small Yamaha generator I think it is. It can power 3 guys charing needs and is pretty quiet.

[ten64]

So, help me out with this:

If I have NO power near water's edge, Could a system using a car battery as a source of power work?

If so, what type of charger would be recommended? (Would like to charge 2 batteries at a time)

[RandyatBBY]

If it is your car battery keep it running or it will be dead when you go to start it. I prefer a Honda generator nice and quiet good power. I have a old EU-1000.

[ten64]

If it is your car battery keep it running or it will be dead when you go to start it. I prefer a Honda generator nice and quiet good power. I have a old EU-1000.

I was looking to build a small cart with a good battery in it that I can recharge at the end of the day.

Anyone have a similar setup?

[RandyatBBY]

I was looking to build a small cart with a good battery in it that I can recharge at the end of the day.

Anyone have a similar setup?

Back when I was racing NiMH I did not have enough power from a car battery and went to a generator. But if you are only running one boat should be OK.

[desmobob]

I was looking to build a small cart with a good battery in it that I can recharge at the end of the day.

Anyone have a similar setup?

I started to go that route, but when I saw what a good deep cycle battery costs, I decided on a generator. I picked up a cheap, two-stroke 900W generator from Harbor Freight for $99. I used it a lot last summer, mostly at the flying field to charge LiPos for some of my airplanes. It is a screamin' bargain, IMO.

Take it easy,
desmobob

[cuppa]

I travel light - mainly because i lost my driving licence some time ago on medical grounds (had a stroke) and so have to get to the lake by bus. So if it does not go in a back pack it does not go at all!

Basically i take any tools I may need to make adjustments, boat stand and spare batteries - oh and a thermos of tea for my cuppa! (My wife calls me cuppa because of the amount of tea I drink)