Barbwiire or MiniMono Stock - Advice for a Newbie

[Talan2000]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to RC in general and brand new to RC boats (first post!)...stepping up from a sad little Zig Zag Racer 3 whose motor is rusted and waterlogged but who still chirps away optimistically for a few minutes...anyway, as a newbie I've been lurking and reading and watching videos.

I know I would love to have a Revolt 30 -- eventually. But 300 is a bit too much right now - especially as one gets sucked into all these myriad upgrades and the headaches they bring to a newbie. And I really would prefer 10-15 minutes of driving around rather than 2-3 minutes of straight line speed then...recharging..

So - I think I've narrowed down my first real boat choice to ... the MiniMono OR the Barbwire (which I just stumbled upon in the forums). I like the idea of brushless motors and LiPo.

My usage will be on freshwater ponds varying from small (50x50yards) to medium size (100yds by 50yrds wide say). I'd love to be able to use LiPo instead of NIMH or other batteries to leverage my investment from RC car batteries.

which of these boats would you recommend given my usage goals? Or would you say save up for a Miss Geico 24 (or 17) or Mystic or Motley Crew or UL-1 (I read that poll survey of 1st boats :)

Thanks in advance - and any other advice about changing out the drive (?) in either option or other easy & cheap upgrades to Mini or Barbwire would be much appreciated (especially links!)

Gracias

Todd

[Gabe_k]

the barbwire is all you need, you will not regret it

[Gabe_k]

I have a MG 29, UL-1, Mini Mono and a few others, the barbwire is by far the best bang for your buck. (I drive it the most as well)

[jetskier]

Barbwire!!! Atomik hit the jack pot on this one.

[Talan2000]

Thanks guys. As is often the case in RC world. I ended up burning 300 anyways! Bought a blemished atomik whiplash for 149 and AFTER seeing your responses felt COMPELLED to buy the Barbwire! :)

[Talan2000]

As a follow-up (and cross posted in the battery section), what batteries would you recommend for the Barbwire and for the Whiplash 24? I'm getting confused by all these various connectors. I have traxxas connectors now on my Onyx 245 charger and want to use that charger. Is there some adaptor that goes from HT-60 ends of Zippy Batteries. Should I just get Venoms (@4x the price!) and what run times should I expect for recreational use from 1300mah or 2200mah 20/25 c batteries

[jetskier]

Barbwire comes with it's own battery 3S lipo 1300mAh w/universal adapter. I just bought 2 more of the same. they are good batteries and will work with any lipo charger IMO.

[Gabe_k]

have you never used a soldering iron? lol

[jetskier]

Smoked my 3rd ESC :doh: 2 on my first Barbwire which is now my son's, and this one on my new Barbwire. have to admit.. I run them hard during my lunch break, 3-4 batteries continuously. they replace 2 no question ask, we'll see about this one.

[Talan2000]

Wow. so not to be dense, but what exactly are you doing to fry these? holding full throttle for 5 minutes plus? And thanks for the tip Gabe, I'll look up this "soldering iron" you refer to...that said I think the point is how to standardize connections and which one to select, but thanks for the feedback.

[Gabe_k]

Wow. so not to be dense, but what exactly are you doing to fry these? holding full throttle for 5 minutes plus? And thanks for the tip Gabe, I'll look up this "soldering iron" you refer to...that said I think the point is how to standardize connections and which one to select, but thanks for the feedback.

full throttle is actually the easiest on ur esc.. its when you blip the throttle a lot that heats it up. I put deans on every single rc I own. I would never run stock connectors. Quality bullet connectors are best though.

[jetskier]

I run them full throttle and non stop except battery swap. I think what kills them is. When they sub the prop gets unloaded the loaded. Enough times and full throttle, They just craps out. Funny.. All 3 ESC happens differently. This one is the worst, it poped out of the water a d it stop. The first one, I remember I was on my 3rd battery, put the boat in the water, give throttle and it just died. They are so fun, you can't not abuse them. With my Revolt, I'm much more careful.

[Speedracer128]

I bought a barbwire for my 4 year old. It's awesome and he can have fun when we're out on our boats. The thing is so fun I use it myself and bought some plastic octura props but I don't know if they make much of a difference

[Speedracer128]

Has anyone seen one of these barwires moded besides changing the prop? I'm more than happy with its performance but I'm interested if anyone's tried any inventions with it

[jetskier]

1. I poked another hole on the steering servo horn closer to the shaft, it turns too sharp stock and was tired of the right turn sub. now it handles much better. 2. Sharpen the rudder and turn fins for cutting through weeds. 3. added a little more weight to the battery side and now it self upright 100% and also helps with not subbing on right turns. That's about it. thinking about bending the stuffing tube so the drive line is more straight and not pointing down, it's got a flex cable drive line anyway. oh..I also sanded the bottom. didn't really notice any speed increase.

[Gabe_k]

34mm prop with different rudder w/ pick up for dual cooling. 2200mah bat

[Timmy]

nothing wrong with ht60 connectors and their a damn site cheaper too!

[Namba328]

Wow. so not to be dense, but what exactly are you doing to fry these? holding full throttle for 5 minutes plus? And thanks for the tip Gabe, I'll look up this "soldering iron" you refer to...that said I think the point is how to standardize connections and which one to select, but thanks for the feedback.

Talan the only reason he's blowing through speedos is 1 he doesn't let the esc and motor cool down after each run, 2 He's probably bumping the throttle a lot and being a goof ball with it which causes a lot of heat to develop in any esc and 3 the universal plugs that venom has on everything are all you need, they work excellent. Now before you get to thinking that ure going to blow spedos too, As long as you allow the esc and motor to come back to ambient after each run then you will be fine. If you want that to happen faster, buy a battery operated fan and use it too cool it all. That's what we used to use all the time back in the brushed days and *!***!***!***!** 90% of the time my motors were overly hot but they are still kicking today in my rc cars lol.

[jetskier]

I was a jetski racer..so let the ESC and motor cool down? NEVER!! I also tie-rap my throttle to full. just kidding. I really don't bump the throttle at all, once I pull the throttle, I don't let off till the end, pretty much full tilt even through turns and subs. I bring it back full throttle and chop it when it's close and maybe give 2-3 bumps to get it to me. I run my 3-4 batteries back to back due to my short lunch break so yes.. I don't let my ESC and motor to cool at all. Will be a little more careful when the warranty period is over.

[Speedracer128]

How long is the warranty on these. The first one I got had some issues. Atomik was going to send me out a new receiver but Cris from FD sent me a brand new one and swapped the whole thing

[jetskier]

electronics are 30 days I believe.

[Talan2000]

@Namba, thanks for the context on the ESCs. I figure I'll be a little kinder with mine and see how long I can make it last. Re: the HT-60's, so would you recommend converting the connector on the ESC from EC3 to HT-60 then? I still await the arrival of my boat on Tuesday but I did order 3 more 1300mah batteries from HobbyKing. Unfortunately I unintentionally ordered them from Hong Kong it seems so I wont be seeing them for a while! Another rookie mistake I guess. Anyway with only 1 battery I won't have to worry about the barbwire getting too hot! :)

[jetskier]

@Namba, thanks for the context on the ESCs. I figure I'll be a little kinder with mine and see how long I can make it last. Re: the HT-60's, so would you recommend converting the connector on the ESC from EC3 to HT-60 then? I still await the arrival of my boat on Tuesday but I did order 3 more 1300mah batteries from HobbyKing. Unfortunately I unintentionally ordered them from Hong Kong it seems so I wont be seeing them for a while! Another rookie mistake I guess. Anyway with only 1 battery I won't have to worry about the barbwire getting too hot! :)HK US is slow aready. HK Hong Kong.. you'll see it in about a month.

[Timmy]

Slow from Hong Kong? All my dealings with HK have been nothing less than professional and prompt. Most Asian postal systems are actually quite efficient. Often it is slow because of a failing of your local postal system or that the item has been held up in customs.:tongue:

[Gabe_k]

I was a jetski racer..so let the ESC and motor cool down? NEVER!! I also tie-rap my throttle to full. just kidding. I really don't bump the throttle at all, once I pull the throttle, I don't let off till the end, pretty much full tilt even through turns and subs. I bring it back full throttle and chop it when it's close and maybe give 2-3 bumps to get it to me. I run my 3-4 batteries back to back due to my short lunch break so yes.. I don't let my ESC and motor to cool at all. Will be a little more careful when the warranty period is over.

curious, what kind of ski did you race? Im into jetskis as well

[jetskier]

standups. Kawai then Superjet, now SXR800 rec only.
curious, what kind of ski did you race? Im into jetskis as well

[Gabe_k]

Nice, yup started out with a good old 550 reed, I just sold my sj..:/ I never raced, just rode surf and flat water... Art Gomez did all my motor work. Brappppola for days