Sprint Cat .40 Winter build

[Xfactor]

Finally got to maiden the sprintcat today. .........not what I was hoping for. I do have to say that the ice controllers smell very different than the hydras do when they burn.

LOL not that its funny but more and more the castles seem to have issues were all your connections tight? short in the motor leads will burn up an esc out the box.

[Raydee]

Yeah no idea why it smoked. Everything was perfect, even ran a small prop. The boat didn't go ten feet before it studdered and stopped.

[marko500]

That sucks Ray, everytime I'm at the pond I keep hearing this voice say "seaking" I've got that 120 but I've been on the lookout for a 180 for the Hydro. Maybe we need to throw the 120 into something and see how it goes. I was also thinking about the Ice for the data logging capabilities.

Mark

[Rumdog]

Do it! The 180s run flawlessly for me!

[Raydee]

[Raydee]

Pretty disapointed, I couldn't wait to run this hull today. ESC armed like normal, showed full throttle (solid LED) when I gave it full throttle. Threw it in the water, hit the throttle and it ran about ten feet, stuttered and then died. I am not sure if the motor was bad, ESC was bad or something else? I know guys are pulling huge amounts of current from these controllers with no problems. So hard to diagnose exactly what happened at this point, tried plugging in the castle link and it doesn't connect. Ohh well back to the drawing board on this one.

Only been to the pond 2 times this season so far and both times ended bad. This just might not be my year for boats.

[crabstick]

Gutting that you spend money on 'supposed' top of the line gear and this kind of thing happens..

[marko500]

Hang in there Bud, you've got some of the cleanest built, fastest running boats I've seen. You guys are one of the reasons I got into FE in the first place. You'll get the bugs worked out.

Mark

[Raydee]

Mark you know the funny thing is I was planning to take this season off from boating but I have been buying boat stuff like a maniac this season.....maybe this one will slow me down some.

On a side note I just remembered something from earlier today. When I plugged in my 6s packs the ESC didn't give me the "USUAL" pop or spark that I see every time I plug a big pack into the esc. Leads me to think that something was wrong and the caps didn't charge correctly.

[marko500]

I don't know Ray I've been around full size and small boats since I way about 4yrs old. Face it once they're in your blood its hard to stay away from them, even for a season!

Mark

[Bigmaxy]

On a side note I just remembered something from earlier today. When I plugged in my 6s packs the ESC didn't give me the "USUAL" pop or spark that I see every time I plug a big pack into the esc. Leads me to think that something was wrong and the caps didn't charge correctly.

Sorry to hear your story.

The lack of spark does sound like it could be a matter for concern, how long had it been since the pack was last plugged in? like overnight or 10mins. Just wondering if the caps might already have been charged.

When I have seen stuttering like you describe it has been from when one of the phases was not working, usually from a bad solder on one of the motor wires. I'm sure yours are alright though but you might want to strip back the heatshrink and have a look anyway. I bet it was the ESC though, the castles are not getting the best rep lately.

[Raydee]

THe pack hasn't been pluggeg in for days...probably 7 or 8 so i don't think the caps were holding a chagre.

I talked to Castle today and they said that they had a small percentage of Ice controllers that would burn within the first 60 min of use. They said that is is most likey due to a bad component or bad solder joint in the ESC. They are going to replace it ASAP. After talking with some other guys I am going to solder up another Ice 200 that I have and try it again.....the boat is already smoked out so I have nothing to lose.

[Bigmaxy]

Fair call, better to find out if the other one is faulty now while Castle are co-operating. Good to hear they are replacing the first one..

[Raydee]

I really am pulling for these Ice 200 controllers. Guys in other forums are saying that they are fantastic.....but we all know boats are extra hard on ESC's. I guess we will know for sure this weekend once I have the other one installed and ready to go.

[Xfactor]

Pretty disapointed, I couldn't wait to run this hull today. ESC armed like normal, showed full throttle (solid LED) when I gave it full throttle. Threw it in the water, hit the throttle and it ran about ten feet, stuttered and then died. I am not sure if the motor was bad, ESC was bad or something else? I know guys are pulling huge amounts of current from these controllers with no problems. So hard to diagnose exactly what happened at this point, tried plugging in the castle link and it doesn't connect. Ohh well back to the drawing board on this one.

Only been to the pond 2 times this season so far and both times ended bad. This just might not be my year for boats.

Ray I go all the time props fall off shafts break,set screws strip come on man its all good. Just tell castle to look out for you and go back to the drawing board. The turnigy stuff does seem maybe more friendly. I know thats a powerful boat but I do tub test to put a load on everything and see if something gonna trip. Doesnt always work but sometimes it let me know before I pack it all up and head for the lake