Carbon shocker build

[kfxguy]

I've been having this for quite a while. I started on it a while back and it's almost done but I never started a thread on it. It's not meant to be a blingy type boat....just fast, cleanly laid out and strong. Here's the plan:

Neu 1530 (on order, 1527 for now)
8s
Mbp collet
.187 flex
Sf300 lite esc
Custom motor mount sides
Custom cnc battery trays
Bby racing fiberglass canopy for gps runs
All hardware on the outside courtesy of speed master
Grossly overpriced spektrum servo that was given to me lol
Integy billet servo arm (I love these things!)
Honey comb carbon inlay

Here's the beginning. This is the part that I absolutely hate! Sanding and then doing an inlay. I'm afraid I won't get it straight one day and I'll have to rip it out. It's gonna happen. I know it.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/C03A1583-29C6-467F-BFE5-CAD8C61674D0.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/C03A1583-29C6-467F-BFE5-CAD8C61674D0.jpg.html)

Inlay turned out quite nice I must say...


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/A6528BF4-DC4D-4FF0-A50C-E36CF8ACD91B.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/A6528BF4-DC4D-4FF0-A50C-E36CF8ACD91B.jpg.html)


And in an attempt to get as much as I can....I went as far as I could....

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/511E43CD-1C05-4DA4-91DB-C26B7DBB9930.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/511E43CD-1C05-4DA4-91DB-C26B7DBB9930.jpg.html)

Trust me it wasn't easy following all these curves.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/02F9E06E-52D5-41BB-A422-0D5D3EBE669D.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/02F9E06E-52D5-41BB-A422-0D5D3EBE669D.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

So I had my buddy Monojeff cnc cut me some battery trays and longer side plates for the motor. The 1527 and 1530 neu's are pretty long motors and I thought it would be better fitting to support them more towards the rear. The trays were a big help and time saver too. All of it came out perfect!



http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/8C7F6C1F-10CE-4538-9F1B-E97DE6B4B12A.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/8C7F6C1F-10CE-4538-9F1B-E97DE6B4B12A.jpg.html)


Kind of a mockup just so see how things will fit. I have a couple different power setups that will be run in it.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/01BD0825-800D-4C05-9E8D-465D9B2659BE.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/01BD0825-800D-4C05-9E8D-465D9B2659BE.jpg.html)

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/2126DB7A-0E26-4160-869E-C4D5BD99E0DA.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/2126DB7A-0E26-4160-869E-C4D5BD99E0DA.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/061B859F-0D55-4E12-A67C-0E638748B5B9.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/061B859F-0D55-4E12-A67C-0E638748B5B9.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

So I just could not make up my mind how I wanted to do the esc mount. I still haven't. So I make this for now and I just siliconed it in so I can change it up later. But this is what I have for now...
O and the motor mount is in....


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/476CF291-AC5C-448E-B3C5-850DF93AB52F.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/476CF291-AC5C-448E-B3C5-850DF93AB52F.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

So the transom seam pretty much sucked. It did not line up worth a poo. Pretty much the norm it seems with tenshock made hulls anyway. Yuck. So I block sanded it flat and then put a coat of clear west systems epoxy back on it to seal it. Much better. Not sure if you can tell in this pic....

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/09E01294-5D44-4499-8775-099ABB745EDE.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/09E01294-5D44-4499-8775-099ABB745EDE.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

This is the original strut I bought from speed master. It's a .187 stru and I was going to drill it for ball bearings. I chucked it up in my lathe and the way it's machined, the hole would not center. I only have a 3jaw chuck so I'm ass out there lol. I ordered the 1/4" version which just so happened to fit the bearings perfectly.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/5E118BF7-397F-4311-BA9E-A62B3D1FBE19.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/5E118BF7-397F-4311-BA9E-A62B3D1FBE19.jpg.html)

So here's the 1/4" version. I was able to devise a method to cut a snap ring groove. One of my customers had his bearing come out with me using just loctite so here's my solution for now on. I've since machined his strut too free of charge so he no longer has that issue. I don't like problems!

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/3CFC02A6-1DD5-449F-AD5F-5C8F286195A9.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/3CFC02A6-1DD5-449F-AD5F-5C8F286195A9.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

Here's the strut bracket mounted up. I was so back and forth on the hardware I was going to use. I didn't want an offset type strut assembly because at low speeds the bracket drags and causes a pull. I decided to do something different that I was used to, use a seperate rudder and strut mounted in different locations. Also I've been using mostly tfl hardware. While it's decent stuff, it has lots of slack that's more work for me to remove it. Monojeff sent me a speedmaster rudder and I was amazed at how much better the quality is and has noooo slack and smooth as silk. That's what I'll be using when I can for now on!

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/1E6C68D0-AE92-4301-885D-372CB595DC52.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/1E6C68D0-AE92-4301-885D-372CB595DC52.jpg.html)

Here I had to mill a half moon in the bracket for my linkage rod to pass through and line up. I wanted as straight as I could linkage rod...

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/C513F6CE-0ABB-494F-981F-192B704FAF90.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/C513F6CE-0ABB-494F-981F-192B704FAF90.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

Mounted the rudder. Had to machine a fitting for the rubber boot to go on. I also am trying something different on the linkage this time. I want no slack whatsoever so I ordered some very hard 1/8" stainless rod and turned the ends down a touch so I can thread it for 4-40 heavy duty rod ends. This setup is the stiffest I've done yet.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/E9F996C8-AA12-4584-A0AC-51C887AF6737.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/E9F996C8-AA12-4584-A0AC-51C887AF6737.jpg.html)

[shua]

Fantastic build Travis with a lot of new innovations. Excellent !!

[kfxguy]

Fantastic build Travis with a lot of new innovations. Excellent !!


Thanks. I'll post some more pics tonight. I didn't have any current ones.

[srislash]

WAHOOOO!!! Go Travis looking good

[kfxguy]

So I have no idea why I did this other than its ugly and I needed it waterproof lmao.

Here's my hv bec unit encapsulated in epoxy and topped off with a .010 piece of carbon


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/0437BB35-4507-4FEF-A725-79199CA03BAC.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/0437BB35-4507-4FEF-A725-79199CA03BAC.jpg.html)


Wires and cooling line run. Servo in place. Getting close.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/A4002F2E-3ADD-4744-878B-6D8245C31218.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/A4002F2E-3ADD-4744-878B-6D8245C31218.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

I think I'll make the servo cross bar out of carbon. Too much aluminum going on around the servo. Getting even closer. Getting everything hooked up.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/84224243-8446-477F-ADB7-535C3D3AB418.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/84224243-8446-477F-ADB7-535C3D3AB418.jpg.html)

Here's the pass through for the flex tube. I'll touch it up with some black epoxy for looks.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/41617A20-6D65-4BF8-88D5-422D9AA3AC75.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/41617A20-6D65-4BF8-88D5-422D9AA3AC75.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

Back end pretty much assembled. I need to make up the flex and a couple little odds and ends and it'll be ready.




http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/23AF4599-E012-4FE2-BC64-B08248D69F9C.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/23AF4599-E012-4FE2-BC64-B08248D69F9C.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

I was very much on the fence about going with Teflon liner or not. I figured the little bit of friction reduced by the Teflon would be offset by the bigger diameter tube dragging in the water (.316 vs .250) so I opted not to. I kinda wish I did tho because it seems like I'd have a less trouble free driveline. I guess maybe next time.


So I'm still on the fence about the esc mount. Maybe it don't look too bad with the esc in it. Any idea on what I could do to dress up the esc? I thought about copying the decal (deleting some unnecessary wording) with a green decal, apply it to a carbon plate and attach to esc. Thoughts?

[srislash]

I would tuck it under the deck farther and use nylon or CF braid on the wires. Snazzy enough? Just a top of head thing bro.

[iridebikes247]

Looks good, I picked up some speedmaster stuff last season and was blown away by how great the quality is, the struts were machined very well.

Have you run the new dynamite escs?

[kfxguy]

Looks good, I picked up some speedmaster stuff last season and was blown away by how great the quality is, the struts were machined very well.

Have you run the new dynamite escs?


Thanks! Yes they are very nice quality. I was surprised.

I've run the 120 in my voracity and smoked one before it had the current limiting programmed in it. Still a nice little esc. This other esc in the above pic I have not tried yet. I made room in this boat purposely for it because I will be doing some testing with it once I get a baseline on amp draw. It's rated at 160 and I don't want to exceed that. It is 8s capable so I may just prop it down to get my amp draw in that range do I can run it. The one major advantage I know they have is the throttle control is much smoother vs the swordfish. I'll report back how it works out. It looks like a very high quality unit and it's pretty large. Here's a pic for comparison



http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/7AB6C4CB-3F32-497A-BEF9-F115CC8AF62B.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/7AB6C4CB-3F32-497A-BEF9-F115CC8AF62B.jpg.html)

[srislash]

That is beefy. Much like the old t-180's correct?

[kfxguy]

That is beefy. Much like the old t-180's correct?


I'll post a pic later comparing but it's a bit larger. I like how the wires hook up too. It's also encapsulated in epoxy.

[srislash]

Nice

[kfxguy]

So she's pretty much done. I bench tested it. Works flawlessly. Steering is soooo smooth with this servo and new linkage setup. The only thing I have left is the hatch seal and hatch bolts. The epoxy is curing on the rail reinforcements. I'm pretty excited. Maybe a maiden next weekend. This would have happened this weekend but 1) it was raining all weekend from that storm moving in and 2) I wasn't home all weekend. Had to work and had a wedding to attend. So stuff gets pushed back as usual. I'm in build mode right now anyway so I'll be hammering out a few other builds I got going.



http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/511F0ADE-77CA-4F78-B7F1-3CA7671B2394.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/511F0ADE-77CA-4F78-B7F1-3CA7671B2394.jpg.html)


Here it is all wired up and plumbed. In working order in these pics.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/3F407BF2-43B3-487C-B98E-BF304D343383.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/3F407BF2-43B3-487C-B98E-BF304D343383.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/B1835267-252A-44F4-B7B1-B1080E56A718.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/B1835267-252A-44F4-B7B1-B1080E56A718.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/46167826-C9FD-4C57-923F-EA16CF9E581A.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/46167826-C9FD-4C57-923F-EA16CF9E581A.jpg.html)


Here's where the bec and receiver are hidden


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/4D09CFE9-7035-4C3E-95EF-0B412EF9149D.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/4D09CFE9-7035-4C3E-95EF-0B412EF9149D.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

So this puppy is done. Built this thing in record time. I think maybe three weeks. I'll apply this on my next builds. I guess I like taking my time on other peoples stuff because things have to be just right. On my stuff I know exactly how it's going to be done so I just do it. I don't have to second guess if my customer is going to be ok with it. Anywhooo I had to reinforce the hatch. I had me Randy at bby racing make me a custom fiberglass hatch and it turned out great. I added a 1" perimeter of carbon cloth (pita I tell you lol) and then I added two more layers of heavy woven glass. I forgot to take pics but it did turn out nice. I think I'll be adding two more layers however. It's still a little flexible and it's not heavy at all. Stay tuned for maiden this weekend. I can't wait!!!

[kfxguy]

To add some excitement to it, this is my favorite video of my original shocker. This was one of the first boats I built. I regrettably sold it a couple years ago and then vowed to build a better one one day.


http://youtu.be/LXWY_DaJ10c

[srislash]

Nice Travis, good time. Look forward to seeing this ones potential.

I should be able to clean up my final details on Blown Away this weekend as well, this just some sun...

[kfxguy]

Couple more pics

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/AA3A6343-5C11-412E-B91F-7D8D56DB8135.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/AA3A6343-5C11-412E-B91F-7D8D56DB8135.jpg.html)

You can see where the carbon is lol. Gps can still work that way.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/41F3B3E9-150C-46A0-A222-C4091B9879C8.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/41F3B3E9-150C-46A0-A222-C4091B9879C8.jpg.html)

And now it's painted with just the base coat

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/512CB2CA-6FFD-429E-9E14-E1B2E6E4B5E5.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/512CB2CA-6FFD-429E-9E14-E1B2E6E4B5E5.jpg.html)


And I had the wife cut me out a carbon windshield. I had to trace it. Scan it and send to her. Not too hard

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/9E3E12D1-B028-45A3-9471-EE000B84B73D.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/9E3E12D1-B028-45A3-9471-EE000B84B73D.jpg.html)

[NativePaul]

Where did you get that water jacket from? Those coolers are by far my favourites, but I have never seen one in 39mm, only 28 and 36mm.

[kfxguy]

Kintec and I layed up the carbon that's wrapped around it. Just one layer so it's thin and flexible. Epoxied on and a nice epoxy seam at the bottom. Kintec is the only one who stocks these thin coolers unless you want one that says tp power on it. I did one of those and the carbon covered most of the wording and a black sharpie covered the rest. The tp coolers are a little thinner and I do like them. These hold more water tho. This is what that color looks like when clear coated..... If you haven't seen this boat


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/68A83E8B-89DD-4B9F-80F6-3C621FBD6FA2.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/68A83E8B-89DD-4B9F-80F6-3C621FBD6FA2.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

So I picked up a better mini hvlp gun. Whew. Good gun makes all the difference in the world when laying clear coat! This thing puts down a nice finish. Now I wish I would have prepped the top a little better. It's not bad, but not perfect. The clear however, is perfect. Looks beautiful!

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/0AEBFB67-8879-4A1C-8026-870F8DB0026B.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/0AEBFB67-8879-4A1C-8026-870F8DB0026B.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

I'm on the fence. I want to do something different other than plain carbon with a painted top. This is something I did to test on another boat. Thoughts? I'm getting a little better at painting so I'm not so nervous to do it now. I didn't do the other boat because I was scared I'd mess it up lol. Should I do this one?

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/4B7B8BF9-9A48-4FB1-895A-4D3BCE650B4A.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/4B7B8BF9-9A48-4FB1-895A-4D3BCE650B4A.jpg.html)

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/FC5295BC-CA0C-404C-98CE-91CC1103B81F.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/FC5295BC-CA0C-404C-98CE-91CC1103B81F.jpg.html)

[shua]

That looks AWESOME

[kfxguy]

Thanks!

[kfxguy]

Put the top on last night with the windshield decal. Looks like a copy of my Rivercat I lost. She looks sharp. I'm going to paint the rest of the boat this weekend. I have a trip out of town Saturday that I'll be running the boat where I'm going on its maiden. Not a big area but be able to test it on 6s at least.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/9076B872-BD97-4C69-ADD5-D0EE149D4898.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/9076B872-BD97-4C69-ADD5-D0EE149D4898.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

Something came in the mail too....

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/FF236A02-AF92-4C20-BE30-9FC44C8D05A5.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/FF236A02-AF92-4C20-BE30-9FC44C8D05A5.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/622855C9-70EA-49AA-948E-25A1EF377486.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/622855C9-70EA-49AA-948E-25A1EF377486.jpg.html)


Those aren't all for me. Actually got four of them in for builds but one ended up becoming mine for the labor on a build.

[iridebikes247]

The windings come out of the can it looks like? Few years ago I had 3 1530s the motor leads were 12-13 gauge and soldered to the motor.

[kfxguy]

The windings come out of the can it looks like? Few years ago I had 3 1530s the motor leads were 12-13 gauge and soldered to the motor.

Yes the windings come out the can. Notice the new rubber boots that protect the wires. The new motors come like this.

[kfxguy]

So to keep this thread updated and document my progress I'll post here some of my findings. I posted another thread with a couple videos so I won't repeat that.

The 1527 that was supposed to be a custom wound 1650kv version ended up being 2900kv. So the boat uncontrollable, I thought I'd start out on lower voltage (6s) which was way too much for that kv but would have been perfect on 1650kv. Called neu today and they are taking care of that. Also, drove like poo because the rudder I chose was too small. I wanted to go with speedmaster stuff but there was either way too big or just barely too small. Nothing inbetween. So I chose smaller because it would fit the transom. Well it would flip. Flip around. Quirky. You name it. Not fun to me to be dealing with the speed and the quirkiness. I've been talking to Harry over at speed master for a few weeks now and been ordering his struts and rudders here lately. Nice stuff. Monojeff turned me on to it. Anyway, Harry is sending me a rudder that I can make work and look factory still (I'm picky) for now. He's planning on making an inbetween size rudder during winter after we talked about it for a while today. That will fill a big void for 32" to 38" or so monos and cats. I will say that the rudders flow lots of water and are fast. So I'm sold. I'll update what I'm doing for rudder by the weekend. I also put the 1500kv 1530 in it to run it on 8s. I talked to mr Jim tonight and he was asking what props I wanted to try next. He's casting some new stuff next week so I'm getting him to do some 1916-17-45's and some 2015-17-45's for me to try out. Ought to be interesting as I've had lots of good luck with his props lately. Think the 1530 won't have a 2 stroke like power band either like the 1527 did. You could tell when it started to turn on and it would just flip the boat instantly. It didn't start turning on till it got to 90mph. Lol. That's not going to work. So I'll update this some more in the next few days.

[kfxguy]

Got some pics to post. Must admit, she's pretty even tho she's in some ugly water lol



http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/19ED5967-0F12-424D-8318-CEBD924912A2.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/19ED5967-0F12-424D-8318-CEBD924912A2.jpg.html)


My very first pass. More or less a functioning pass to see if everything was working properly. I did squeeze the trigger a little and then it died (killed a battery because the incorrect motor was sent to me)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/378D5ABF-AFC7-476A-8B8A-F8B66814A512.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/378D5ABF-AFC7-476A-8B8A-F8B66814A512.jpg.html)


After going home and getting another battery. Still could not get into it all the way. Was just too violent. Found out why later that evening.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/B6B4E314-6641-4A69-8A0B-08B85B4C7552.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/B6B4E314-6641-4A69-8A0B-08B85B4C7552.jpg.html)

Sitting pretty (still not done though, I have more paint work to do. I just had to get it in the water)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/F00786B1-71F6-41EA-9CE6-F1D4FE10D16E.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/F00786B1-71F6-41EA-9CE6-F1D4FE10D16E.jpg.html)


O man.....

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/A581223D-1864-4A3A-B44B-9C371FB02CFB.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/A581223D-1864-4A3A-B44B-9C371FB02CFB.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

That's a sexy rear lol

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/0F599DB3-ADDC-4836-B939-E3A5C0407DDC.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/0F599DB3-ADDC-4836-B939-E3A5C0407DDC.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/D7403263-87D5-4ED8-ACF8-BA1DCD7C3E37.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/D7403263-87D5-4ED8-ACF8-BA1DCD7C3E37.jpg.html)


1530 beast is in it

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/7767C587-6496-4D18-B77C-A7FBEC183767.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/7767C587-6496-4D18-B77C-A7FBEC183767.jpg.html)

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/88487CAB-7D1E-4FB7-B8EB-5FD505300487.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/88487CAB-7D1E-4FB7-B8EB-5FD505300487.jpg.html)

[zooma]

Hi Travis,

What receiver are you using? I am still having range problems with the Spektrtum SR410 in a CF Ariane 2 hull. My RX is right under the deck at the antenna mast. Are you using a separate BEC or RX batt.

[kfxguy]

Hi Travis,

What receiver are you using? I am still having range problems with the Spektrtum SR410 in a CF Ariane 2 hull. My RX is right under the deck at the antenna mast. Are you using a separate BEC or RX batt.

I always use a bec. Make sure antenna is out hull. I'm using a sr210 receiver.

[kfxguy]

Here's a video just because


http://youtu.be/VG1tZRG-5ME

[srislash]

You know, I really dig the green on CF. The tail on this one has sure worked out nice.

[kfxguy]

Thanks. It does look really good, especially in person. I need to finish painting it but I'm trying to find a font that looks right on the side. I did find one I really like but it's got too Much extra stuff coming off of it to trace and use. I want to paint "shocker" on it and I was going to cut a template to mask it off. Here's one of the fonts I like. I've been searching for something like this..no luck




http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/6DCBA5F8-F6E7-453E-8289-745D2DD9EEAF.png (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/6DCBA5F8-F6E7-453E-8289-745D2DD9EEAF.png.html)

[srislash]

That would look sooo good.

[dmitry100]

kfxguy: Why not twins?

Btw, what is 2 stroke like power band?

[dmitry100]

kfxguy: Why not twins?

Btw, what is 2 stroke like power band?

Also, are you using bearings in your speedmaster struts, or just regular bushings? Trying to find myself a nice pair of MTC struts ... wonder if speedmaster ones are just as good

[kfxguy]

I just like singles. My preference. Twin is cool too but more money. More trouble to build. I'll be building a 32" twin here soon. Already have most everything for it. Escs came in the other day and the hull came in a couple weeks ago.

Two stroke powerband. You never rode a two stroke motor cycle? Down low there's not much power but when you get the rpms up it turns on. That's how I can relate how this thing was running. It seemed to just start turning on as I let off the trigger. It would have easily passed 100 had I been able to stay in it longer. It did not want to stay on the water past 90. Part of it was due to the motor just started to turn on and the rudder was way too short. The rudder plays more of a part of keeping the nose down than some people think about. When you get into running shorter and shorter rudders it plays a part in it. I chose the wrong rudder for this build because I was trying something different. Would this rudder work? Yea I could get it to work but I still want decent turning ability so it's got to go. It would spin around too easily and get upset too easily. I don't want just straight line, I want to be able to drive it some too. New rudder should be here today.

Mtc is some really nice stuff. They have more selection of your building a twin cat. Speedmaster not so much for twin cats. I guess you could make something work, but I don't see anything that id use on a twin cat. I will tell you that it is very Nicely made stuff tho. No slack and very smooth operating.

Yes I use bearings in pretty much all of my builds. I bore the strut and then cut a snap ring groove.

This particular strut is for a 1/4 flex so the hole in it was already the correct size for bearings. I just cut a snap ring groove and made a tapered nose cone for the stuffing tube to slide into

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/3CFC02A6-1DD5-449F-AD5F-5C8F286195A9.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/3CFC02A6-1DD5-449F-AD5F-5C8F286195A9.jpg.html)

[Mxkid261]

This boat looks awesome lol. Whats the advantage of running the bearings in the strut? Do you drill it out with a drill press? Im starting to get a small bit of play in my flex in the strut and I think it could be causing a little vibration correct me if Im wrong

[dmitry100]

kfxguy: Any ideas where I can find measurement specs of their struts, etc? Their 1/4" Long Flat Bottom Stut, SPEEDMASTER 1/4" Long Extended Strut, SPDS-012-250F looks good but can't find anymore details about it...

[kfxguy]

kfxguy: Any ideas where I can find measurement specs of their struts, etc? Their 1/4" Long Flat Bottom Stut, SPEEDMASTER 1/4" Long Extended Strut, SPDS-012-250F looks good but can't find anymore details about it...

Your best best is to call and talk to Harry. Nice guy. He knows the measurements to everything off the top of his head.

[kfxguy]

This boat looks awesome lol. Whats the advantage of running the bearings in the strut? Do you drill it out with a drill press? Im starting to get a small bit of play in my flex in the strut and I think it could be causing a little vibration correct me if Im wrong


If your prop isn't balanced well that will cause it to wear quicker and cause a vibration. I feel the beatings last longer (when done correctly) and it's truer running, less friction and seals the shaft better from water getting in it.

[Mxkid261]

I bought it from funrcboats.com and had them balance and sharpen it maybe its time for me to learn how lol. What size bearings do you run in the strut if you dont mind me asking and how do you cut that snap ring groove? We are getting snow tonight into tomorrow morning but I want to try running the boat tomorrow afternoon LOL

[kfxguy]

Had a busy night last night. Got the new rudder in. Little more work than I thought to make it fit but no problem. Also got some work done on the cheetah and started rewiring an mgm 25035 into a cleaner setup. I'm going to post a massive build thread here shortly on several boats that I haven't mentioned and some other stuff. So check it out when you can. Here's the rudder I put. 1" longer and a tad thicker. Should do what I'm wanting. I cut 3/4" off it too. The thing was loooong. Lol

I made a 3mm carbon bracket to join the transom bracket and rudder together. Stiff but a little more flex than what I like so I ended up sandwiching two 3mm pieces together (not shown). Ill test strength tonight. Don't like it, I'll keep at it till I do.



http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/25BEEE08-A596-41FA-90BC-DDE72412C548.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/25BEEE08-A596-41FA-90BC-DDE72412C548.jpg.html)

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/AD2EA308-4AC9-427F-8E1F-E562A6C02969.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/AD2EA308-4AC9-427F-8E1F-E562A6C02969.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/C9CEEFBB-B4C0-47DF-90AA-D682453166D2.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/C9CEEFBB-B4C0-47DF-90AA-D682453166D2.jpg.html)

[dmitry100]

kfxguy: What do you use to outline/imprint your parts (like rudder, strut mount, etc) onto the hull before drilling? I'm trying to find some sort of sticky thin foam to make an imprint of parts on hull before drilling but was wondering if you use anything different.

Dremel for large stuffing tube holes, or regular drill bits?

Have you ever considered using spring steel (2.5mm - 3mm) to use instead of flex cables? Thinking about using them for a cat... but I'm unable to find a good supplier of them, along with 3/16 stubs to use with them.

[Mxkid261]

Never mind Travis, I found the bearing size in your lehner rivercat thread! I will order some from boca or avid

[dmitry100]

mxkid261: Whats the bearing size?

[Mxkid261]

Looks like 5/16 O.D. - 3/16 I.D - 1/8 Thick or R156 number

[Mxkid261]

Im assuming Travis has a lathe and a tool to cut the groove in the strut for the snap ring

[dmitry100]

Just noticed this one: http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/FC5295BC-CA0C-404C-98CE-91CC1103B81F.jpg

Love the color combo... looks sick.

kfxguy: Btw, are these speedmaster struts? http://s339.photobucket.com/user/tofly95/media/45%20Sniper%20Build/9C972C08-EEC7-4EE9-871D-BAA3F73FC6DA_zpsw1ypn5do.jpg.html

[srislash]

I see your trying a tapered rudder Travis. Just cause?

[kfxguy]

I'm
kfxguy: What do you use to outline/imprint your parts (like rudder, strut mount, etc) onto the hull before drilling? I'm trying to find some sort of sticky thin foam to make an imprint of parts on hull before drilling but was wondering if you use anything different.

Dremel for large stuffing tube holes, or regular drill bits?

Have you ever considered using spring steel (2.5mm - 3mm) to use instead of flex cables? Thinking about using them for a cat... but I'm unable to find a good supplier of them, along with 3/16 stubs to use with them.

Tape up area. Position. Mark holes with sharpie. Drill pilot hole. Then drill to size. Only one hole. Drill bit can walk. So I then keep checking by putting a screw in the hardware and go from there. I've also double stick taped hardware to hull and drilled the holes.

I prefer flexes. It's what I know. I'm starting to make my own. My bends are to much for wire anyway.

Stuffing hole. Mask off. Position motor. I have a .187 stub goes in collet. To help mark location. I have a large digital caliper to make sure the hole is in the centerline. I drill the hole within .002 of true center. Drill pilot hole. Remember the masking tape...incase you slip too. Then I have a tapered bit that is marked, I drill to the mark. Two holes. Connect the holes with a Dremel cutoff wheel. Then a small sanding roll on the dremel to finish it off. If it's not perfect don't worry epoxy will cover it. Then I have another .187 rod that goes in collet. Couple piece of brass sleeve that sides over to center everything.

[kfxguy]

Im assuming Travis has a lathe and a tool to cut the groove in the strut for the snap ring



Correct. Don't bother with a drill or drill press unless you have a fixture to make it perfectly straight. I made the snap ring groove tool. Took about an hour to grind a hss blank into shape lol. R156 bearings.

[kfxguy]

Just noticed this one: http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/FC5295BC-CA0C-404C-98CE-91CC1103B81F.jpg

Love the color combo... looks sick.

kfxguy: Btw, are these speedmaster struts? http://s339.photobucket.com/user/tofly95/media/45%20Sniper%20Build/9C972C08-EEC7-4EE9-871D-BAA3F73FC6DA_
zpsw1ypn5do.jpg.html

That's exactly how I'm painting this one except I'm leaving the fightercat head out. That will be a carbon decal. Much easier to do that way.

[kfxguy]

I see your trying a tapered rudder Travis. Just cause?

Well I'm not sure the effects it will cause me. In the pic on speedmasters website it didn't look as tapered. He's making some straight rudder for me anyway. I needed something longer and that's all I could font that fit. We shall see.

[srislash]

Well I'm not sure the effects it will cause me. In the pic on speedmasters website it didn't look as tapered. He's making some straight rudder for me anyway. I needed something longer and that's all I could font that fit. We shall see.

I have both for my 'BlownAway'. I'll be testing the difference as soon as I am used to it. Just figure it falls under the 'good to know' class.
I was just curious if you were doing the same.

[kfxguy]

I have both for my 'BlownAway'. I'll be testing the difference as soon as I am used to it. Just figure it falls under the 'good to know' class.
I was just curious if you were doing the same.


Let me know what you find. My comparison won't be fair as the rudder I had on it is about right for my Rivercat but not this boat.

[kfxguy]

Srislash, I ran the shocker today with that tapered rudder. It was much more stable although it was 10mph slower (much less kv motor swap remember). It stuck to the water. I had to keep giving some positive to the prop to go faster. I shortened it a little before running it but I'm about to take another 1/4" off and see. I made lots of passes and went through two sets of packs. It only went 74.1 on 7s so far but I found some issues that need correcting. The prop was so deep that it was going into a false lvc from time to time if I made a long pass. I'm not sure why but I lowered the lvc to 3.0v (I'll never run it to that because I check the voltage between passes). I pulled a log from it and my average amps under load is around 170-180 with a max (couldn't find the max point in the log though) of 219.1 amps. So I'm plenty safe at this point in going up on prop and voltage. I do like the fact that I can drive it around on 6s and 7s. Getting back to the rudder, I think it's a bit too long as it was bouncing at first. I think the prop is almost neutral right now, I didn't realize how much negative I had in it before in a effort to keep it on the water. I've got some new props coming that aren't even out yet for me to try. This one I have is a Dasboata that my buddy gave me and it's not sharp and the leading edge is pretty thick...had some decent prop walk at low speeds so I know I can sharpen it and get more out of it. It's a process as you know. But I guess I'll take 74mph as not too bad on tuning it in. I never gps my original shocker but this one looks faster already and I was happy with it....but now I'm chasing a number on a gps..... Lol

[srislash]

74 is respectable start Travis. You'll give her the ol' 'nip n tuck' and get her dialed. So my biggest concern with these hulls, how does it handle?
Mine sucked at first but I had one of the first ones and notice the runners different on my new one. Slightly tapered this time.

[kfxguy]

74 is respectable start Travis. You'll give her the ol' 'nip n tuck' and get her dialed. So my biggest concern with these hulls, how does it handle?
Mine sucked at first but I had one of the first ones and notice the runners different on my new one. Slightly tapered this time.

It's not too bad once I figured all all the wrong stuff I had with it. I text mr Jim at abc props after I posted that last post and he had me send him the data log. He picked out something in it I didn't notice. It was surging. It did have a bounce to it and the rooster tail was not constant...it was erratic. He told me go check my strut angle and said it's too much negative. He was right. (I kept giving it positive but not knowing my last adjustment was still in the negative) I took a pic and sent to him. The he called me and we talked for over two hours. I think ive got it lined out now to go faster tomorrow. The motor is an issue though. It's supposed to be 1580-1600kv but it checks in at 1460-1480kv. I should be in the 70's on 6s and not at 62 on 6s. It should pick up to about 67 on 6s tomorrow with the changes I've made but I'm unsure. Not sure what I'm going to do with this motor now. I really didn't want to run it on 9s.


You've got to look real close and you can see how much it was still pointing down


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/DDA99AD5-E162-40C4-972B-44014C82D5FF.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/DDA99AD5-E162-40C4-972B-44014C82D5FF.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

74 is respectable start Travis. You'll give her the ol' 'nip n tuck' and get her dialed. So my biggest concern with these hulls, how does it handle?
Mine sucked at first but I had one of the first ones and notice the runners different on my new one. Slightly tapered this time.


What are you referring to? The sponsons? Yes these angle up toward the front. All my other boats sit flat. See if you can tell in this pic


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/843EFFBF-B48B-4C0A-9F2D-45F838D714A4.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/843EFFBF-B48B-4C0A-9F2D-45F838D714A4.jpg.html)



Also this longer rudder is what I ran today vs the shorter one shown. It didn't handle too bad but it had to prop walk due to a dull prop. I did shorten the rudder after this pic some

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/18D49E02-F5EC-4D35-A551-E43326228D11.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/18D49E02-F5EC-4D35-A551-E43326228D11.jpg.html)

[zooma]

I noticed that your rudder bottoms are tapered more toward the trailing edge. Do you do that or do they come that way? I just round the bottom, but not taper it. What is the best for handling?

[kfxguy]

I went run it again today. Ran much smoother and faster on 6s. Then went slower on 7s. Made some adjustments and seemed to pick up but batts were run down at that point. Tried 8s but it crashed. Not sure why. It didn't blow over. Just rocked one way a tad and went to flipping. Here's The flip



http://youtu.be/D2bha1vHmlk

[kfxguy]

Here's a 7s run




http://youtu.be/wDtwlPZyJzg

[kfxguy]

So I have some thoughts. This crash has been bothering me. I played it back in slow motion many times. It almost seems as it it hit something on the right side and the left side dug in. I dunno. There's no damage. The boat was driving so well and it was stable and turned well. The only other thing I can think of is the carbon extension I made (which was temporary) became flexible. The other piece of carbon was detached when I get the boat in. Could have happened and caused the crash or could have happened because of the crash. I did notice more of a gap between the two pieces but I didn't try to flex it. Teach me a lesson there.... The epoxy didn't let go though....it peeled layers of carbon. I dunno, this has to be the issue. No damage to the hull. I've never had a flip like this.


My next issue. The motor was supposed to be a higher kv. My checker which has been extremely accurate, says its 1450kv. My loaded rpm is only 32k on 7s and on 8s it's not gonna be where I want it. 9s is what it's gonna take but I don't like having to run that much voltage. At that point I feel like I'm just throwing voltage at it. I will say this, looking closely at my logs last night, it's pulling an average of 160-170 amps at full throttle so nothing is breaking a sweat at this point. I predict that 9s won't be that bad either. Should I just accept the fact it's not a 8s setup like I wanted and just move forward how it is or should I call neu and tell them I got the wrong kv, again? I bought a 1440kv tp 4070 to kind of tone it down later on so that was a waste. I'm not sure what I should do at this point.

[srislash]

These things change as we go Travis, just goes like that. I would think the weight/balance would be the bigger issue so adding cells may hurt you.

I would say the flip was the CF separating if no other anomalies were present. Odd though

[kfxguy]

These things change as we go Travis, just goes like that. I would think the weight/balance would be the bigger issue so adding cells may hurt you.

I would say the flip was the CF separating if no other anomalies were present. Odd though

Yea I really didn't want to add any more weight, but you know sometimes it's a good thing at high speeds to help keep it down. Not good at high speeds for enertia tho. I weighed the thing the other night. It weighed 10.97lbs with 7s batts. I didn't think that was too heavy as my Rivercat weighed 9.7lbs. It sits in the water nicely. Doesn't sit to low. Doesn't have a problem getting on plane and doesn't handle funky (it did at first tho...whew I didn't even like driving it). I drove it around in some circles yesterday and it was pretty fun to drive and nothing got hot. I may give neu a call at lunch and see what they think.

[kfxguy]

Update. Kinda lost interest in it and been running the Rivercat. Well I decided since it was windy today I'd run the "slower" but bigger boat. Last time I ran it I was highly disappointed in it as I couldn't even break 60 on 6s. Boo. I was running a x450 and a abc 1915 that Dasboata did for my buddy (buddy sent it to me because I damaged mine) and rounded the tips and I thing reduced the pitch. It was intended for the 57k rpm my buddy was turning so I guess my boat didn't like it. So I did me up another 1915 abc prop and tried it out. Boy was I surprised! The best 6s pass I could muster up before with a regular 1915 was 65ish. Today I went 76.6mph. Only thing I did (that I can remember) is change the strut position a little. Then on 8s it went 85.7mph but I couldn't run it out in this lake. Was too small and the wind and water was making me nervous. This is still the 1440kv motor. I have the originally intended 1650kv motor waiting to go in soon. Honestly I think this has 90 in it if I could stay in it.

My 6 year old was videoing and accidentally cut it off before the gps was shown (no biggie anyway) so here it is

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/1B749240-A6D5-4B02-B6C0-7D796F6167EC.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/1B749240-A6D5-4B02-B6C0-7D796F6167EC.jpg.html)


And here the video showing how I was only able to blip it. (Note, there's an island in the middle barely under the water that you can't see, I didn't want to hit it so I was very nervous about running it in this lake)
You can hear the wind too


http://youtu.be/TwtBT_hS14I

[dmitry100]

Hmm. Not sure what the point of the whole removal or rounding off the tip of those props was, but i'm sure current was greatly reduced using it. Perhaps you can compare.
Get yourself some proper logging already :P sounds like you might actually need it.

The shocker looked like it was a millimeter away from actually flipping if you kept going there... probably why it went so much faster too (wind must of been helping it air out ? lol)

Btw, in regards to going up in voltage -- why not go up to 9s or more to max out the motor's limit? Can't you just go with smaller packs as you're going up in voltage...
Besides I don't think half a pound or more of weight is gonna make much of a speed difference... It's not like you're drag racing.

[kfxguy]

Hmm. Not sure what the point of the whole removal or rounding off the tip of those props was, but i'm sure current was greatly reduced using it. Perhaps you can compare.
Get yourself some proper logging already :P sounds like you might actually need it.

The shocker looked like it was a millimeter away from actually flipping if you kept going there... probably why it went so much faster too (wind must of been helping it air out ? lol)

Btw, in regards to going up in voltage -- why not go up to 9s or more to max out the motor's limit? Can't you just go with smaller packs as you're going up in voltage...
Besides I don't think half a pound or more of weight is gonna make much of a speed difference... It's not like you're drag racing.


The prop was modded for another boat. Like I said my buddy sent it to me because I didn't have another 1915 after I damaged my original.

I have a sf300 lite in it, it has data logging. It's not even breaking a sweat where I'm at right now.

It was on the edge because that water was a little rough for those speeds and the wind was blowing pretty good. On smooth lake and no winds, it is more stable. I ran it in another lake right before that and it was more stable but I didn't notice some yahoo had his fishing poles stuck in the ground at the other end and had his line casted out. When I was checking for people fishing, I was looking for people and not just poles. So I ran over his lines, needless to say I stopped running in that lake. Also when I went 76 on 6s everything was more calm do its not the wind helping it

I'm thinking about stepping up to 9s but this motor isn't the one intended for this boat anyway. I might swap motors and not have to worry about 9s. I have a 1527 1640kv for it.

Only reason I ran this boat is I knew in these conditions my Rivercat wouldn't handle it (I confirmed it after this, it flipped 4 times so I put it back up). After the pretty lackluster runs I originally had with it, I wasn't expecting much but I ended up pleasantly surprised. It's been sitting on the shelf just looking pretty and I figured I'd get back to it another day. Now I know it's a great 6s setup in mildly rough conditions and I ran it for a while on 6s. It runs in the 70's and turns pretty decent. So I'm pleased with that aspect of it. I'll get better speeds out of it with more run time.

[kfxguy]

Ran a new best again today. Water was still rough where I was but it wasn't windy so I was able to hang on to it. The batts were drained because I made the first few run up and back down the lake with heat shrink on the rudder (finger protection lol). Ran 74 with heat shrink on. Hahaha. Then I took it off. Cells around 4.10v and it went



It's got more in this setup but I'm swapping motors to the one I really wanted in it.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/9C4B76B1-C8B3-4CB6-9A99-0141F269E9F1.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/9C4B76B1-C8B3-4CB6-9A99-0141F269E9F1.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

Ran again today. Was still windy but water wasn't as rough. New best. I went up on kv by 200kv and it picked up 10mph. Sweet. All time new best for me. And I backed it up with another pass. Both passes went identical speeds. Now all I need is a little more prop. I'm gonna shorten the battery wires because when I did that on my Rivercat it was worth a couple mph before I make any other changes. And dimitry, I made no changes to the boat ride attitude, battery placement or prop. All the same as last weekend when you said it was on edge. I knew it wasn't the boat, it was bad conditions. It still wasn't perfect today but this boat isn't that picky.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/CB3FDBBD-F8FD-46E5-8F06-87A62D19D2E5_2.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/CB3FDBBD-F8FD-46E5-8F06-87A62D19D2E5_2.jpg.html)


http://youtu.be/yMRALDfnG9M

[kfxguy]

And here's a backup run. Yes I made sure I reset the gps. I hate hate hate that there is no decimal point on this gps. I'm going to start running both gps for now just to see. These passes were long enough for the garmin to catch it anyway. I think. That thing was frigging movin!



http://youtu.be/mXnPHsk3zQQ

[dmitry100]

Could the 10 more mph be due to the new gps? :P

[kfxguy]

Could the 10 more mph be due to the new gps? :P

I changed motors. You didn't read above I said I went up 200kv? I had a 1530 1440kv in it and swapped to a 1640kv 1527 which I believe has better top end power. I ran yesterday 88 with the 1530 and no changes from last weekend. Same conditions. Same temp. It went 72 on 6s yesterday with the 1530. Went 79 today with the 1527. I'm using the same gps. Once I verified that the garmin and this gps read the same I feel comfortable trusting this one. This one has less glitches too. The garmin has an anomaly every now and then and I have to reset it. I've had four of them and they all do the same thing. I'm about to lose 11" of power wire too. That picked up mph on my Rivercat. May swap to 8mm bullets on the motor also but one change at a time.

[kfxguy]

How bout this. Last weekend I hit 76 once on 6s with the 1530 and the garmin. Then the garmin started acting up (reading 7mph in my rigger) so I reset it. Made several more passes on 6s. All passes were 72-73 after the reset. So I take the 76 as being an anomaly or glitch. Yesterday I clicked off 72 mph on 6s with THIS dynamite gps. So the same as the garmin. Then I swapped motors. Ran today. 79 with new motor. I backed up the 98 twice. You can tell in the video it's moving.

[dmitry100]

Oh ok, I guess that would explain it -- thought you were running 4s or 6s or something still. So thats like a 55k vs 48k rpm difference unloaded @ 4.2v per cell.
How come you're not hitting 60k or so?

Surprised that you see that much difference in just shortening of wires. Perhaps you need more caps? You should look into trying out a parallel/series cap bank like in the Pre-Emptive Cap thread.

[kfxguy]

Oh ok, I guess that would explain it -- thought you were running 4s or 6s or something still. So thats like a 55k vs 48k rpm difference unloaded @ 4.2v per cell.
How come you're not hitting 60k or so?

Surprised that you see that much difference in just shortening of wires. Perhaps you need more caps? You should look into trying out a parallel/series cap bank like in the Pre-Emptive Cap thread.


4s is on my 32" cat. Two different boats I'm messing with. It went 96 on 4s.

I have an (8) 1000uf 50v cap bank. The batters as come from revo have super long wires with the connectors on them. It's worth a Little to shorten the wires. I'm cutting 2.75" off each wire (4 wires total) so that will be 11" off these batts. It does help believe it or not.

Actually it's not turning that kind of rpm. Under load it's definitely not 4.2v per cell like your figuring. Here's the log. Numbers of notable mention:
Temp was 107f max (75f degrees today and the water wasn't cold but it was fairly cool)
Max rpm was 42,039 but average through the run was about 41k
Voltage dropped to a low of 28.5v and averaged about 29.6v (which is the standard 3.7v per cell I figure my kv off of)
Max current was 281 but through the run it leveled off to about 190-200 and at the end at top speed it was only pulling 170ish amps. Means that next prop i go with isn't gonna make it break a sweat.


140671

[srislash]

Good going Travis. Knocking on the door again, with my fav hull this time. Tweak the rest out of it. Be nice if that wind would die down but you should have a little adversity to practise on.

[kfxguy]

Good going Travis. Knocking on the door again, with my fav hull this time. Tweak the rest out of it. Be nice if that wind would die down but you should have a little adversity to practise on.

Thanks! I'm not messing with it or selling it this time! Every time I get close I either mess with it, sell it or sink it. Lmao. I have a plan for next weekend. I lost 11" on my wiring last night and I plan on warming the lipos next time even though I don't like doing that.

[dmitry100]

kfxguy: 45*C ?

[kfxguy]

kfxguy: 45*C ?


Huh?

[dmitry100]

To what temp are you planning to heat up your lipos to? 45 degrees celsius is a good recommended temp.

[kfxguy]

To what temp are you planning to heat up your lipos to? 45 degrees celsius is a good recommended temp.

I was thinking about 100f would be good. Really shouldn't take much. It's been cold in my shop and I didn't warm them up before running yesterday like I should have. 75f today, too bad I have to work. I get off at 4:45 but takes me 45 minutes to get home.....still gets dark too early right now to get any runs in. I'm off this weekend so I'll just have to wait. Killing me over that 2mph lol.

[dmitry100]

Thought you built some of these boats for people-- for a living!

Check out these threads... apparently around 45*C is where the temp where the lipo runs at its best/peak.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2105184
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1459652&highlight=heater+box

[kfxguy]

Thought you built some of these boats for people-- for a living!

Check out these threads... apparently around 45*C is where the temp where the lipo runs at its best/peak.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2105184
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1459652&highlight=heater+box


No I don't build them for a living. If I did I would be poor!


I don't like to "cheat". Heating up lipos is akin to icing your intake at the drag strip on a car engine. Doesn't run with an iced intake on the street. So when I was into racing car I was never one to do that, cheeseball if you ask me. Anyway, I just wanted to warm the cells to simulate summer running as a few days ago it was 30 something and then all of a sudden it was 70 this weekend but still ice cold in my shop. I don't want to make warming batteries a habit. I'd rather things do it without that type of help. We shall see. I still can go up drastically on prop. My Rivercat gained a good bit going up in pitch.

***no offense to the people who warm batteries or ice their intake lol***

[dmitry100]

Lol well, the general idea is that you are "split testing" different things for any noticeable speed gains.

Either way, it's not like you're competing against someone as a sport or anything. I wouldn't say its cheating like using steroids in the Olympics... unless you're a bicyclist like Armstrong where everyone used steroids anyway.

But if you're at a SAW competition and just about everyone is visibly warming up their lipos for that extra "edge" (be it a few extra mph)... then might as well do it too at that point, you know.

[kfxguy]

Lol well, the general idea is that you are "split testing" different things for any noticeable speed gains.

Either way, it's not like you're competing against someone as a sport or anything. I wouldn't say its cheating like using steroids in the Olympics... unless you're a bicyclist like Armstrong where everyone used steroids anyway.

But if you're at a SAW competition and just about everyone is visibly warming up their lipos for that extra "edge" (be it a few extra mph)... then might as well do it too at that point, you know.

Well I must admit you have a good point.

[srislash]

I was warming mine in the early spring last year but just to a workable summertime temp as Travis states. A coupler 'magic bags' in a cooler with lipos for the duration of the journey to the lake is all I did. They warm up pretty quick in a couple passes.

BTW: that same 45 degree warming also takes from their overall life ( or so I have read).

[kfxguy]

I was warming mine in the early spring last year but just to a workable summertime temp as Travis states. A coupler 'magic bags' in a cooler with lipos for the duration of the journey to the lake is all I did. They warm up pretty quick in a couple passes.

BTW: that same 45 degree warming also takes from their overall life ( or so I have read).


I've warmed mine before a couple weeks ago when it was freezing temps but just barely warm. It's supposed to be 63 Saturday and cloudy. Sunday it's supposed to rain. Hopefully it's not windy so I can get out there and run this thing again.

[dmitry100]

Are you sure? Can you show me where you have read it?

The common conception seemed like It seemed like warming them actually IMPROVED their life span (if anything!) especially due to the fact that it lowers the lipo's internal resistance...

[srislash]

Sorry Dmitry I do not recall where I read it. I have been reading a lot as of late on batteries as I switched my entire work tooling to cordless.

[kfxguy]

Been racking my brain trying to think of ways to add 2mph without affecting the ride attitude or making the hull lift off the water. Picked up some ideas from a friend (sometimes the obvious can elude you) and I piddled a little on it. I don't want to foll with the strut or the prop so I'm splitting hair at this point. First thing is I later down the cooling line outside the hull. Wind resistance. At 100 every little counts I guess. I also got rid of the big antenna cap and replaced it with heat shrink. I'm sure this didn't do anything but it looks better lol. Then I decided I wanted to cut a little bit of drag, so I took away two of the six roller bearings in the strut. But. I found an issue. Two of the bearings had come apart. I know why. I've made the same mistake before, you'd think I'd learn huh? I have to barely polish down the stub so it will slide in and out the bearings as the cable contracts under load. Well I failed to do it all the way to the drive dog. When it fits tight on the bearing, the cable shrinks and forceably gets pulled into the bearings and then back out, ripping them apart. So that's taken care of now. I thought I had smoothed and polished the flex, well seems as if all my speed efforts here lately have gone to the Rivercat, so I smoothed and polished the flex on this one. Hopefully the attention to detail this go round benefits me. I can't wait till Saturday. O and I got rid of the green pool noodles and replaced them with black solid ones. Also added a couple pieces towards the front.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/08FA2439-679A-45CB-850D-D0013C7464DE.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/08FA2439-679A-45CB-850D-D0013C7464DE.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/9B7340C6-459C-4503-981A-30D31529E52D.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/9B7340C6-459C-4503-981A-30D31529E52D.jpg.html)

[PROP]

Please describe how you smoothed and polished the flex.

[kfxguy]

Please describe how you smoothed and polished the flex.

I chuck it up in my drill, I chuck up the end that goes in the collet. You don't want that part of the cable smooth. Spin it in the drill and smooth it out with some 400 grit wet sand paper. Then I move up to 1000 grit wet paper. Once it's smooth (don't take long and I don't reduce the size of it) then clean it off and put a little mothers wheel polish on a microfiber rag up and down the shaft. Clean it. I repeat this another time or two.

[srislash]

I have not done this as of yet, I imagine my Fantasm ones have done themselves by now. But maybe I'll give it a shot after my first go out this year. You know I'll also be looking for anything more.

[PROP]

If you were using a Teflon liner would there be any point in polishing the flex shaft?

[kfxguy]

I have not done this as of yet, I imagine my Fantasm ones have done themselves by now. But maybe I'll give it a shot after my first go out this year. You know I'll also be looking for anything more.

Yes it does do it after some run in on its own. This boat has hardly any time on it. You know how a boat gets faster the more you run it even without messing with anything? I think this is part of the reason why along with the motor bearings loosening up. I've had boats with many runs and pull the flex and inspect it and there's polished areas. Now that I think of it, I changed the flex in one of my boats one time and it slowed down from the worn in flex.

[kfxguy]

If you were using a Teflon liner would there be any point in polishing the flex shaft?


Well I had the stuff to do a Teflon liner. And it may/may not be better. That's a big controversy, but I'll tell you why I didn't go with it.

1) to do it right and last (in my opinion) you need a thicker liner than the little cheesy thin stuff. So what that does is make the tube that the flex goes through a bigger diameter. More drag. That I think would offset the benefits. Having it in a twin because the tube doesn't drag in the water may be more beneficial.
2) turning the flex by hand in the liner feels like more drag to me that without it. I may be wrong or it may change when water gets in there or the Rpms are much higher, but I didn't want to chance it.


Don't want to start a controversy but those are just my opinions and I could be wrong. I will test it one day.

[PROP]

I've noticed the different opinions on liner vs no liner.
Have you considered changing your hatch thumbscrews for countersunk? I realize it's marginal but wind resistance at the speeds you're going may be worth another mph or two.

[kfxguy]

I've noticed the different opinions on liner vs no liner.
Have you considered changing your hatch thumbscrews for countersunk? I realize it's marginal but wind resistance at the speeds you're going may be worth another mph or two.


Actually I was looking at the boat last night and that stuck out to me, however, it would be a pain in the rear to have to use tools to unscrew the hatch every time. Something I'm not willing to do even it it is worth a mph or two. Might check into some lower profile thumb screws tho.

[dmitry100]

kfxguy: Where did you buy the black pool noodle... is it real pool noodle, or is it the stuff from like Home Depot for tubing insulation?

Have you ever tested the difference between regular strut bearing vs actual ball bearings? I'm sort of wondering if I should drill out some stingers I have... unloaded it'd be spinning about 68k rpm or so, so I figured with enough rpm it could be a big difference.

By the way, you might want to just switch out your 6 bearings for just 2 good (sealed?) boca ones... and use a spacer tube exactly the diameter of your bearing/strut inner diameter and tight enough so that it can hold the rear strut bearing (or you can maybe use thread locker). That way your prop shaft doesn't wobble around in the strut with those loose bearings and less overall resistance.

[kfxguy]

kfxguy: Have you ever tested the difference between regular strut bearing vs actual ball bearings? I'm sort of wondering if I should drill out some stingers I have... unloaded it'd be spinning about 68k rpm or so, so I figured with enough rpm it could be a big difference.

By the way, you might want to just switch out your 6 bearings for just 2 good (sealed?) boca ones... and use a spacer tube exactly the diameter of your bearing/strut inner diameter and tight enough so that it can hold the rear strut bearing (or you can maybe use thread locker). That way your prop shaft doesn't wobble around in the strut with those loose bearings and less resistance.


I haven't done back to back testing between a bushing or bearing. I mainly do it to keep water from going up the flex when using thin or minimal oil. It works well for that.

I have 4 good sealed (boca) bearing in there now. A piece of brass separated the two front and two rear. I'm doing that many for support. It's machined tight enough that there is no slack. No thread locker needed. A snap ring holds them in place. There's no wobble. Much more accurate than a bushing that has a little wear on it.

[dmitry100]

I'd imagine some good ball bearings would keep things at alot better tolerances than a typical strut teflon lead would... which I'd imagine would mean less vibration, etc? especially at higher rpm...

How did you manage to drill out your struts for the bearings anyway?

I have some drives that I want to drill out with my new drill press, but after drilling some tube I found that it can be trickier than it looks to make the hole straight because then the shaft and bearings would be spinning the prop at a different angle lol, and probably end up ruining the bearings if anything.

Where'd you get your black pool noodle, man? Secret store? :P

[kfxguy]

I'd imagine some good ball bearings would keep things at alot better tolerances than a typical strut teflon lead would... which I'd imagine would mean less vibration, etc? especially at higher rpm...

How did you manage to drill out your struts for the bearings anyway?

I have some drives that I want to drill out with my new drill press, but after drilling some tube I found that it can be trickier than it looks to make the hole straight because then the shaft and bearings would be spinning the prop at a different angle lol, and probably end up ruining the bearings if anything.

Where'd you get your black pool noodle, man? Secret store? :P


I have a mill and a lathe. I used the lathe for perfect alignment. I don't think I'd try it with a drill press.

[kfxguy]

I'd imagine some good ball bearings would keep things at alot better tolerances than a typical strut teflon lead would... which I'd imagine would mean less vibration, etc? especially at higher rpm...

How did you manage to drill out your struts for the bearings anyway?

I have some drives that I want to drill out with my new drill press, but after drilling some tube I found that it can be trickier than it looks to make the hole straight because then the shaft and bearings would be spinning the prop at a different angle lol, and probably end up ruining the bearings if anything.

Where'd you get your black pool noodle, man? Secret store? :P


I have a mill and a lathe. I used the lathe for perfect alignment. I don't think I'd try it with a drill press.

[Turbo Dan-O]

Where'd you get your black pool noodle, man? Secret store? :P

:popcorn2:

[kfxguy]

:popcorn2:

http://workoutz.bmobilized.com/?task=get&url=http%3A%2F%2Fworkoutz.com%2Fshopping%2Fproduct %2FPool-Noodles

If the link doesn't work it's workoutz.com in the aquatics section.


Also if you do two part foam you can mix epoxy dye in it.

[dmitry100]

The dye thing with marine foam is a good idea -- might be a good idea to make custom shapes out of.
I wonder if its possible to dye pool noodle though... Perhaps something like a permanent marker-- but more permanent lol.

Is 2 part marine foam as light as the pool noodle? seems as though it could be a lot more heavier...

Btw, with your shocker-- I don't know if you're having major blow overs just yet but have you ever tried blocking a bit of the tunnel with perhaps say... a pencil or something bigger?

[kfxguy]

Well I'm not having blow overs. I did just crash it badly just now. At 98mph it unsettled and bounced a little bit. Not sure why. It did the same thing a while back. And so did my mono. I'll post videos of those too. I don't think I'm hitting anything. There's never any prop damage or under boat damage. This lake does get a weird current or roll to it sometimes. It's not shallow where I'm running it either. It's 20ft to 40ft deep and the water was high today. I'm disgusted to be honest. It bent the rudder, rudder bracket, broke my hatch at one of the bolt holes, and broke the motor mount. Plus the esc doesn't work anymore. Now that I say that I'm wondering if it's the esc at fault because my mono did the same thing with this esc. I must mention that neu originally sent me a 2900kv 1530 by mistake and I ran that on 6s several times. I've noticed that it likes 6s, barely picks up (maybe 5mph) on 7s and screams on 8s (picks up 19mph over 6s or 14mph over 7s) which makes no sense to me. Here's the video and a couple of pics

O and it went from 79 to 81 on 6s from previous runs with the things I did to it.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/8845C08C-8F74-403D-9D99-C622E959989B.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/8845C08C-8F74-403D-9D99-C622E959989B.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/0DD15F63-1D72-4E88-837E-A8388FC1CA33.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/0DD15F63-1D72-4E88-837E-A8388FC1CA33.jpg.html)


And the video. Tell me what it looks like happened



http://youtu.be/KcOjPpFBzJI

[dmitry100]

After playing it a few times in slow motion and it appears to have done a barrell roll and then a hard nose dive. Maybe the rudder hit a fish, stick, or something like that?

Thats some pretty bad damage there... that sucks. So the Esc is done? No smoke, nothing? Just stopped working out of the blue afterwards?

[kfxguy]

After playing it a few times in slow motion and it appears to have done a barrell roll and then a hard nose dive. Maybe the rudder hit a fish, stick, or something like that?

Thats some pretty bad damage there... that sucks. So the Esc is done? No smoke, nothing? Just stopped working out of the blue afterwards?


Yea no smoke. As soon as the boat came up it didn't work. It's epoxy coated do it shouldn't be a water issue. But like I said earlier I think the esc is hurt. I've had some anomalies in my runs and the fact that it only would pick up 5mph on 7s vs 6s has me scratching my head. I have another one of these escs brand new in the box anyway. Just gotta fix my hatch and wait on another motor mount side plate. I had those custom cut longer for the long motor.

[srislash]

Didn't you have a similar incident before? Rudder wasn't it?

[dmitry100]

Why not try the SF300 instead ?

[kfxguy]

Didn't you have a similar incident before? Rudder wasn't it?


Yea, I watched that video again and it was very similar. The rudder bracket is bent. Not sure if that happened before or after. I'm not so sure that was my original issue. It's done this same thing three times on two boats. Almost like it lets off for a split second and then full throttle again upsetting the boat. I just went back and watched the video over and over. I don't know. It just got upset for some reason. The rudder has no damage (besides being bent) and the prop is unscathed. Not sure (scratching my head). I just put the Rivercat back together. I'll go see if I can make to break it too tomorrow.

[kfxguy]

Why not try the SF300 instead ?

What? Have you read any of this thread? Looked at any pics? Lol. I've only had a sf300 in it the whole time. I think I even mention it. You no pay attention do you? Lol

[kfxguy]

Yep. Esc died. I tried to pull the logs from it and nothing. Saying device open failure. I cut the shrink off and nothing is damaged or burnt. This one I evidently didn't coat but they do coat them lightly from the factory. Maybe I can get it fixed. I'll email them.

[srislash]

If it locked up the motor even briefly that would cause the upset. I also had a very similar mishap with the Fantasm when I had an early MBP collet slip. You may recall it. You could see the one side come up at the rear and stuff the opposite sides nose in. A singly could easily do this as well.

[Turbo Dan-O]

Good lord, that was a hard hit!:scared:

[kfxguy]

If it locked up the motor even briefly that would cause the upset. I also had a very similar mishap with the Fantasm when I had an early MBP collet slip. You may recall it. You could see the one side come up at the rear and stuff the opposite sides nose in. A singly could easily do this as well.


Now that's possible and what I think was going on with that controller for it to do the same thing in two different boats with three different motors.

[kfxguy]

Good lord, that was a hard hit!:scared:

Whew was it! Dead stop from 98. I thought it was gone. Very surprised the hull isn't hurt or split. On my fast builds there will be some motor mount changes for now on. The parts where the brackets slide will be reinforced. I think I'll be doing it on this boat too.

[dmitry100]

Okay, so you weren't using the castle esc with this shocker... The issue is with SF300 then?

I dunno man, you keep switching between threads and your boats look exactly the same... its a bit hard to keep track of what you're doing to them lol.

[kfxguy]

Well I don't talk about the other boats in different threads, only about the boat the thread is pertaining too. The shocker has a green top, Rivercat has a white top. I HAD a river at with a green top but it sank.

Only thing I said about the Rivercat in this thread is I was gonna go see if I can break it too, today. You'll have to read the 4s rivercat thread to find out what happened.

[Beaux]

nice , looks fast, did you use the touch up gun.

[kfxguy]

nice , looks fast, did you use the touch up gun.

Yes I used the small hvlp touch up gun. I'll have to repaint it now that I broke it.

[kfxguy]

Here's where I'm at on the repair. That a piece of carbon plate flush mounted into the top (top is pretty thick). I'll repaint it when done


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/7F43DE86-8338-47C6-AA16-6C275F35606C.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/7F43DE86-8338-47C6-AA16-6C275F35606C.jpg.html)

[srislash]

That should work, did you back it with cloth?

[kfxguy]

That should work, did you back it with cloth?

I am adding a couple more layers to the underside. The way I fit that was I grinded a square recess and then sanded the carbon plate a little thinner and to match the curve of the hatch. Then roughed both surfaces up a lot and even put some little divots for the epoxy to grab. Taped it up and let epoxy flow into the recesses. I had to fill a few little pin holes last night. Tonight I'll sand again and then add two more layers of glass to the underside (inlay) and add some more carbon cloth around the perimeter for more strength.

[srislash]

Sounds good. Should be as strong as it was.

[Beaux]

is that the water base green it looks like it feather edges ok, im gonna try some on this f1 i need to repaint. later.

[Beaux]

the boat you sank , was it in a river or a pond? i lost a chopper in a pond and recovered it with a cast net.

[kfxguy]

is that the water base green it looks like it feather edges ok, im gonna try some on this f1 i need to repaint. later.

Yes it's water based. I'm not sure just yet if I'm painting the whole thing again. I probably should. Here it is after sanding flat and a few coats of primer.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/79FDC8DB-4D50-4418-BAF6-016E5381BB9C.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/79FDC8DB-4D50-4418-BAF6-016E5381BB9C.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

the boat you sank , was it in a river or a pond? i lost a chopper in a pond and recovered it with a cast net.

In a lake about 40ft deep where it's at.

[Beaux]

WOW, your repair came out nice! Yea that might be a little deep for the net idea.

[kfxguy]

WOW, your repair came out nice! Yea that might be a little deep for the net idea.

Thx. Once it's painted you won't be able to tell. I think I'll just repaint the whole thing.

[Beaux]

what do you have all taped and clamped in the back ground? got my out board together on 18.5 volt haven't run it yet but i'm fixing to go to the boat launch.

[kfxguy]

what do you have all taped and clamped in the back ground? got my out board together on 18.5 volt haven't run it yet but i'm fixing to go to the boat launch.

That's a cheetah I'm finishing up. I epoxy carbon plate to the underside of the rails for the threaded inserts I rivet in place for the hatch bolts.

[Beaux]

where do you get the threaded inserts ?. just got back from the boat launch , man crazy fast.

[kfxguy]

After close inspection, I did find where the seam cracked, about 7" long. Not sure how or why because there's carbon inlay there and I couldn't get it to open up. It was in a section that the hull halves weren't lined up well anyway (ever had a shocker then you know they aren't the cleanest or nicest assembled hulls). Anyway, I sanded it down some and cleared a trench in the crack. Then put some west systems over it.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/68AC4CCC-76FE-4FEA-8D5D-87673516E862.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/68AC4CCC-76FE-4FEA-8D5D-87673516E862.jpg.html)


Here's after epoxy. You won't even be able to tell when I'm done.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/29F7F395-1D8B-4286-AB5B-BAA95B202D16.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/29F7F395-1D8B-4286-AB5B-BAA95B202D16.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

And I've made major progress on the hatch. I don't have a picture the last coat (had to leave and bring my son to the e.r. Because he fell off one of those stupid hover boards and hit his head badly) but the repair came out awesome. You can't even tell it was ever broke.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/DCE5E3E5-79A1-4B06-B5D6-16BDA0C70576.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/DCE5E3E5-79A1-4B06-B5D6-16BDA0C70576.jpg.html)


I layed a layer of Kevlar just for added insurance.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/128EE491-9856-45E8-AE5B-28E9DA9FD086.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/128EE491-9856-45E8-AE5B-28E9DA9FD086.jpg.html)


Here's the first coat. Speeding up the drying time in my powder coat oven on low heat.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/622C07F0-2AF0-48A4-BB67-808004C19937.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/622C07F0-2AF0-48A4-BB67-808004C19937.jpg.html)

[Beaux]

nice, set that hover board on fire yet? Ihave an oven just like that.

[kfxguy]

I also got the esc almost done. I epoxy coated it because the last one got wet and (may) have caused it to fail. Better safe than sorry. My buddy got his wet yesterday and his went out too. So the coating that comes on then ain't worth a poo.




http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/06362913-5B12-43A1-8728-E9194DF1380E.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/06362913-5B12-43A1-8728-E9194DF1380E.jpg.html)

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/FFA60522-D8D2-4E26-8B1A-FB9E915E00A1.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/FFA60522-D8D2-4E26-8B1A-FB9E915E00A1.jpg.html)

Finished with clear shrink, insulated piece of Carbon (I have some very high heat tape that I made a layer between the carbon and esc just to be sure there's no short)

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/21206E99-82C8-4190-9D6C-3DF999410356.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/21206E99-82C8-4190-9D6C-3DF999410356.jpg.html)


Check this out tho. Had I not cut the shrink off, think thing would have failed in short order! It was kinked badly.

Btw this was before I added the epoxy I did to it

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/6BE75E32-E8C4-4459-8BB6-F1A737836277.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/6BE75E32-E8C4-4459-8BB6-F1A737836277.jpg.html)



And here's a comparison to another normal one


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/C4E37179-EAC7-47CB-9646-5A330A6C933A.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/C4E37179-EAC7-47CB-9646-5A330A6C933A.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

nice, set that hover board on fire yet? Ihave an oven just like that.


I was against it. He used his own saved money to buy it. Now I want to toss it in the trash. We are waiting in a er room right now to see if he's gonna need a cat scan.

Edit. He checked out ok. Rather safe than sorry.

[kfxguy]

where do you get the threaded inserts ?. just got back from the boat launch , man crazy fast.

They are called rivnuts. I get them off eBay. Works just like a rivet but threaded.

[Beaux]

how's the son's noggin? I hope ok. might be time to invest in a brain bucket. Thanks for the info.

[kfxguy]

how's the son's noggin? I hope ok. might be time to invest in a brain bucket. Thanks for the info.

He's fine. Just a little scare. I was at work when it happened so I didn't know how bad it was. He's had a headache since so I just wanted to have him checked out. Thanks for askin!

[srislash]

Glad the son checked out Travis. Precautions should be taken when learning on them things. Just had a friend of mine have a near miss on one of those hoverboards. Trying one of those at 40 years of age!!! What was she thinking :doh:! :beerchug:, MAYBE!!

[kfxguy]

Glad the son checked out Travis. Precautions should be taken when learning on them things. Just had a friend of mine have a near miss on one of those hoverboards. Trying one of those at 40 years of age!!! What was she thinking :doh:! :beerchug:, MAYBE!!


I tried it for a short time. After feeling how dangerous it was, I got off of it and I'll never try it again. Eff that. Lol

[srislash]

Y'know, you really should bring that to their attention. The watercooling tube on the Swordy I mean.

[kfxguy]

Well finally time to get this thing back together. My buddy Monojeff cut me some more side plates. For those of you that didn't read the whole thread, I had him make me some custom longer side plates for longer motors so they would be supported properly. With me doing that and I broke one on my last crash, I couldn't just order more from kintec. I did end up going one step further tho. They are normally cut out of 2mm plate but after seeing what can happen I decided to step it up to 3mm plate. Going to be a slow process if it's going to be done correctly but that's the only way I fly. I also rep are the top and repainted it. I had my buddy order some upol uv resistant clear in a spray can. Bout $22 for a can so I hope it's good......you tell me...

So here's the new mount compared to a regular one.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/BEFEA4F4-B547-41A7-B2F8-488EEED4B8D3.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/BEFEA4F4-B547-41A7-B2F8-488EEED4B8D3.jpg.html)

Here's the length difference

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/BFC7348C-5DBD-4DC8-A251-7016633CA41A.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/BFC7348C-5DBD-4DC8-A251-7016633CA41A.jpg.html)


Time to get started. Gotta get the epoxy grinded out. Stray hand, air die grinder and a 5/16 ball burr


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/C1698769-6E91-468A-BB32-2CC1FC1639B8.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/C1698769-6E91-468A-BB32-2CC1FC1639B8.jpg.html)


Mocking up

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/3B0DE1DB-67CB-47A2-980D-9732DA944B00.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/3B0DE1DB-67CB-47A2-980D-9732DA944B00.jpg.html)

Here's the hatch after clear. It probably looks a tad better in the pic because it has a slightly dry spot but I'm going to wet sand and buff it. A dang insect flew in it too. Ugh.


But you cannot tell where it was broke!

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/C373EBE7-FFEE-4CD7-9C39-0CAB9DF29CB4.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/C373EBE7-FFEE-4CD7-9C39-0CAB9DF29CB4.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

The plan it to do one side at a time. Takes a couple nights to do it that way but it may be done for Sunday. Or maybe Saturday. We shall see. But to keep my perfect alignment that's how I want to do it.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/E3233673-8CB2-483B-922F-2ED73F74510C.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/E3233673-8CB2-483B-922F-2ED73F74510C.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

I almost forgot. I changed the rudder setup to a much nicer and better looking one. I had to put this together with the help of Harry at Speedmaster. I had to bush the control horn and ream the bushings a little. For now on he's gonna offer it to me put together for future builds. Sweet! Check it


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/DEDC456D-FB40-4C8B-8D5A-1F1C3480423F.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/DEDC456D-FB40-4C8B-8D5A-1F1C3480423F.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/CF71AA50-E1D8-47A9-A328-F512C85F6C4B.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/CF71AA50-E1D8-47A9-A328-F512C85F6C4B.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/CABD6A0B-CF36-4CEA-9D46-8436DD1C4272.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/CABD6A0B-CF36-4CEA-9D46-8436DD1C4272.jpg.html)

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/9A77959E-9B37-4E65-AB2A-2D57289C47DF.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/9A77959E-9B37-4E65-AB2A-2D57289C47DF.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

Peeled tape at the 35 Or so minutes mark. I usually wait an hour or more but I wanted to see how it would come out. No problems


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/CE62358A-0089-4E49-9826-CBD52D8B7388.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/CE62358A-0089-4E49-9826-CBD52D8B7388.jpg.html)

[srislash]

Nice, I like the 90 on the rudder. I wonder if I can sneak that onto the dual feed on the BlownAway?
I have had the odd issue myself with the 2mm motor mount rails. That should be the cure Travis.

[kfxguy]

Nice, I like the 90 on the rudder. I wonder if I can sneak that onto the dual feed on the BlownAway?
I have had the odd issue myself with the 2mm motor mount rails. That should be the cure Travis.


I'm sure they will fit. How close are the holes together on the rudder?

Yea I think I like this setup in 3mm a lot more and for now on they will all be 3mm. I've got a 34" mono I'll be building soon that will have them.

[srislash]

They are close, threading both in is just not gonna happen. I think it is fine how I have it .
So what do you think of the U-Pol? It is better when warm. Guess that doesn't matter much in Louisiana ;-)

[kfxguy]

They are close, threading both in is just not gonna happen. I think it is fine how I have it .
So what do you think of the U-Pol? It is better when warm. Guess that doesn't matter much in Louisiana ;-)


They swivel so you use a flat head screwdriver to tighten them, you don't twist them in.

The upol...,well I didn't realize how humid it was last night. Every cost was coming out foggy or satin instead of gloss. Then I layed a coat down and stuck it in my powder coat oven at about 120f and it started turning out better. It's going to need wet sanding and buffing

[Beaux]

Coming along quite nice.

[srislash]

They swivel so you use a flat head screwdriver to tighten them, you don't twist them in.

The upol...,well I didn't realize how humid it was last night. Every cost was coming out foggy or satin instead of gloss. Then I layed a coat down and stuck it in my powder coat oven at about 120f and it started turning out better. It's going to need wet sanding and buffing
I see the screws now, where are they from Travis?

[kfxguy]

Kintec. They are 10/32 thread.

[kfxguy]

Whew. It buffed out to perfection! Very impressed with this clear.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/2007A128-0B61-4D00-B913-B3DC2204D86F.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/2007A128-0B61-4D00-B913-B3DC2204D86F.jpg.html)

[shua]

Boom! Good as New!

[Beaux]

that joker is slick. Is that still the water base color?

[kfxguy]

that joker is slick. Is that still the water base color?

Yes water base. That's what I've gone to on most everything. You mess up, wash it off and do it again. Just better get the clear right. Lol

[kfxguy]

Wooo hoooo! Got this puppy done. Like it never happened! Better than before too. The black glue looks even better.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/E0FA3D52-D795-4825-B52F-30ECC797D46F_2.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/E0FA3D52-D795-4825-B52F-30ECC797D46F_2.jpg.html)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/1C9A89A3-4C13-45BF-81E6-2E45C9BAE377.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/1C9A89A3-4C13-45BF-81E6-2E45C9BAE377.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

Went run it today. It was basically a function test because it was way too windy and rough but it still went (on 6s)


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/9A3301C5-A265-48E3-AB55-8B8F64F9E77C.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/9A3301C5-A265-48E3-AB55-8B8F64F9E77C.jpg.html)

[kfxguy]

Update. Haven't touched this boat in over three months. Partially due to my surgery and because I crashed it and been a little apprehensive about running it fast again. I decided to dust it of (literally was full of dust lol!) and run this puppy this weekend. I was impressed and disappointed all at once. It looked super fast, faster than my Rivercat doing 98-100 but it only went 96. It was a lot closer to me than the Rivercat so that may be why. I worked another prop to try in hopes of going faster but it went a lot slower. No idea why but it didn't like the extra pitch. First video was a 1915 and second video is a 1916 abc.

The boat 96 because the rudder is longer than when it ran 98 mph. I had to start over with the rudder assembly because the other one got damaged. That's why it's a couple mph slower than it was.


https://youtu.be/0-nFD_SlehQ

This video looks so slow but it's 90mph believe it or not. It looked like 70 lol


https://youtu.be/BeB32za9sL8

[TheShaddix]

That's very stable for a single motor cat! You have definitely perfected that. 96 to you isn't much anymore, but to 99% of us here it's still really impressive. The most I've ever hit is about 95, i think, with a twin hpr cat. And I'm quite happy with that. I see a lot of guys who try to set records aren't really happy anymore with just running the boat unless they beat their previous speed, all stressed out about it too. It's easy to forget to enjoy just simply going to a lake and playing with the boat.

[kfxguy]

That's very stable for a single motor cat! You have definitely perfected that. 96 to you isn't much anymore, but to 99% of us here it's still really impressive. The most I've ever hit is about 95, i think, with a twin hpr cat. And I'm quite happy with that. I see a lot of guys who try to set records aren't really happy anymore with just running the boat unless they beat their previous speed, all stressed out about it too. It's easy to forget to enjoy just simply going to a lake and playing with the boat.


Thanks. Have you seen the video of my 32" single powered 4s cat? It's just as stable but even faster. It did 99.9 and 100.xx a couple weekends ago.


I'm guilty of that too. I've gotten stressed about going slower. I made changes on my Rivercat and it went a couple mph slower than the weekend before and it bothered me. I have some boats I can just go run and have fun but here lately I've been focusing on my three fast cats along with a rigger for someone I just built. Hopefully I can get some play running in this weekend, we are going camping. I can run the shocker on 6s but it's kinda fast in that trim. Maybe back down to 4s or 5s

[TheShaddix]

well, if you feel like you've reached that point where you only have fun if you're going fast, then give it a go with a 45" or even a 55" cat. There is just something special about larger hulls that smaller ones just don't have. I'm glad I never had this need to go faster. 80-100 is plenty and looks really scary to everyone else watching, has the wow factor every time. I think you're also chasing speed due to the fact that you run alone on a big lake, so even 100 mph doesn't seem too fast when the boat is so far. I totally get that. I think for your lake you should build a 55" mhz, it would be the perfect boat! You can see it better from a distance and maybe just have more fun overall with driving it instead of pushing the limits.

[kfxguy]

well, if you feel like you've reached that point where you only have fun if you're going fast, then give it a go with a 45" or even a 55" cat. There is just something special about larger hulls that smaller ones just don't have. I'm glad I never had this need to go faster. 80-100 is plenty and looks really scary to everyone else watching, has the wow factor every time. I think you're also chasing speed due to the fact that you run alone on a big lake, so even 100 mph doesn't seem too fast when the boat is so far. I totally get that. I think for your lake you should build a 55" mhz, it would be the perfect boat! You can see it better from a distance and maybe just have more fun overall with driving it instead of pushing the limits.


Well I am building a 41" twin powered cat right now that should crush the speeds of all my other boats. I dunno why, I just enjoy these smaller boats. It seems like a fun challenge to make these small boats go fast.

[dmitry100]

kfxguy: I guess you'll have someone to challenge those 41" speeds against :P

[kfxguy]

kfxguy: I guess you'll have someone to challenge those 41" speeds against :P

Maybe so

[kfxguy]

Went made another go at it with a 1/4" shorter rudder. It definitely helped. Here's the result. Why me???? Lol




http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/2C9AB27D-90F3-467E-8992-FB43E1EF8969.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/2C9AB27D-90F3-467E-8992-FB43E1EF8969.jpg.html)

[Mxkid261]

Are your cooling lines tucked up under the side? Looks real clean also where do you get your steering fittings for the 3mm rod?

[kfxguy]

Are your cooling lines tucked up under the side? Looks real clean also where do you get your steering fittings for the 3mm rod?

You see the lip the hatch sits in? Well right under there I silicon some brass tubing that I run the hoses and wires through.

Those green steering fittings I got off eBay. Heavy duty versions. I now have started using some awesome 3mm mbp billet rod ends (available in the ose store) and they are high precision. No slack. Love them and they are cheap. Check em out.....

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc243/ltzguy/27E5F2D3-C605-4B19-8B34-B8D4921FBC68.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/ltzguy/media/27E5F2D3-C605-4B19-8B34-B8D4921FBC68.jpg.html)

[Mxkid261]

Awesome found the mbp rod ends thanks, looks like a jam nut is not needed with them?

[kfxguy]

Awesome found the mbp rod ends thanks, looks like a jam nut is not needed with them?


I recommend using one unless you bottom the rod out. eBay sells a pack of them cheap

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111104687477?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT