Arowana Build...

[electric]

Ok. Here is the other one I found that is actually in stock.

http://www.nitrorcx.com/99b-10004-620-ep-kit.html

and..if you have given up on flood chambers...this one will roll over without even a flood chamber

http://www.minicatracingusa.com/vmono.html

Also, I am going to run my boats this weekend, I will try and remember to get you some video or photo's of the boat in action to show what it looks like in the water.

[slappy]

Thanks for the links electric. I think if I do build another boat it will be a slightly larger hull with a little more room and without a flood chamber.

I have a thin layer of epoxy on both sides of the flood chamber wall that completely seals it from water as I was worried it would swell in the water. I used hockey tape over the hatch and antenna hole, the only place it could get in I can think of is the servo grommet or the bolts for the rudder mount? If its upside down in the water for 10 seconds, it takes on about 60mls (two shooter glasses) of water. Seems too fast to be bolts or grommets. Im wondering if its not the joins between the two casts?

Ill give it a run today and see how it goes. Ill add a third row of weights on the off chance its enough to make it roll.

Hopefully it stays the right way up!

[slappy]

UPDATE: The performance out on the water is pretty good.

Looks like it may be worth trying to stop the leaks and iron out the bugs. Ran a pretty aggressive prop (Prather 220) and everything stayed nice and cool, top speed was decent too.

Drive shaft kept getting getting loose, is this due to the prop being a little big for this boat? Might have to invest in a beefier collet.

[electric]

Good hear....see, it looks kinda fugly sittin' sideways in the water, but once you hit the throttle it really runs nice. I figured if you just saw it run, it would get you to work on it a bit more. Once you get the "issues" sorted out, it will then be just something you run and run without much work.

Fixing leaks in any boat can be maddening, just have take your time and ellminate the sources. We have four of these and have not encounted a leak at the seam, however anything is possible.

Usually I do the following
1. Set it in the tub with the lid off and see if there are any leaks from the back. You can press it down to get the servo part as well. (Silicone is your friend) By the way, I always take each screw out in the back one by one and put a dab of silcon in there and then screw it back in. No more leaks where the screws go on. (I would just test it first on this boat because that would be a pain)

2. Tape up the exit holes for the flood chamber. Then go to sink faucet and fill up the flood chamber. Any leaks?

3. I have never had a seam leak, but you could set the boat on its side in the tube and push it in far enough on each side to see if anything comes in.

4. The other thing I do is I drilled a small hole in the bottom of a big plastic cup, put a copper tube in and (epoxy). Then I use this to attach the water line from my boat to it. I fill up the cup with water and then run the water though the system and watch for leaks around the motor cooler etc. I actually do this test with every boat I build, so keep the cup for later use.

The props I am running now are a x437(3prop) and I think I had a really small Grim Racer prop that worked great. You have to watch the diameter of the prop, to big and the torque roll will get you sideways. Think small diameter, big pitch.

Do you mean the collet was getting loose? If so, you need to put a drop of loctite on the set screw and then tighten it up and that should fix that.
Loctite® Threadlocker Blue 242® Nut and Bolt Locker

Be sure to get the "blue" strangely enough it comes in a red bottle. The reason is the other version PERMANTLY "locks" the item you screwed in...

I am going away (to a river) for the easter weekend and will let you know my boats run. I have some bigger boats that go 60mph that are fun, but last time our, I ran my Arowana forever with my son. The thing never heats ups so you just go and go. The good news is, if you can stick with it and find the leak, usually you are done and it stays fixed.

Good Luck

[electric]

Well I have one less Arowana after today. My son impaled his boat into the side of a floating dock. He hit it so hard that it buried the nose about 6 or 7 inches into the styrofoam float. I walked out (shallow river) and had to tug on the boat to get it out! I will get some pics posted after the weekend...

[slappy]

Wow! I was feeling hard done by for losing a drive shaft and prop halfway across the lake. That sucks but its easy to do, especially if it was a left turn he was trying to make.

Im going to try your list out this weekend to try and seal mine up, thanks for the ideas. It looks like the fact it doesn't completely right itself wont be an issue as the torque roll will do the rest :)

Looking forward to seeing the pics (morbid curiosity sorry).

Also makes me think, maybe I should keep one of mine as a spare and build the 32" version as my second boat. This setup on 3 cells would fly.

Since the SV27 collet keeps losing the flex shaft I have ordered one of these collets from kinetec racing and also some flex shafts with a solid tip. Hopefully these will let me keep my props.

[electric]

For your entertainment....the damaged Arowana. The sticker job was done by my son with no help. Can you tell?

The battery was damaged in a seperate SV27 race where I was broadsided by my brother. He punched a hole through the side of that boat and into the battery pack. Would have been spectacular had it caught fire. Chuckle.

Oh..AND I broke a shaft on my Insane FE hydroplane which is my fastest most reliable and expensive boat. That one is on another thread seeking advice. It was a fun, but very expensive weekend.

Good luck with the new collet, that one is very good that you bought and should solve your problems. The copper fitting provides a good grip on the shaft. Do not be shy about really tighting it down good with wrenches.

[ray schrauwen]

I would not store that lipo indoors. In fact I would Euthanize it.

[slappy]

Thats not as bad as I was expecting, was any hardware damaged? These are obviously more rigid than the SV27 hulls! My super vee only needs a sideways glance at the bank and its mince.

Kind of like the stickers, looks tough like a wounded nascar.

So will you build another arowana now?

[electric]

All the hardware was good. I stripped all of that out of it and tossed the hull last night.

I might look around for another boat to try out with the hardware. I started searching for the 100th time for a good boat that will roll over with no success. I wish someone made a reasonably priced (excludes the synchron from toysport) rollover boat that was roughly the size of a SuperVee. If you found any other examples of this type of boat let me know.


In the end, I might end up just buying another Arowana since they are so cheap.

[slappy]

I nearly bought a hull from etti marine.

The Mono1 Chaser "WE" says it has a flood chamber but doesnt seem to be in the pictures. its $109.00
Length: 640mm
Width: 175mm
Height: 90mm

They have some other interesting hulls too.
http://www.etti.com.hk/index.php?cPa...gaubh9t20koij5

[Travis]

Hi guys,

Just bought one of these after reading this thread, quite a nice little boat although i'd probably prefer it without the flood chamber.

Not real keen on the prop angle but I'll give it a go how it is for now.

Quick question, and I know this is always a touchy subject, but considering the short length of flex cable, did you run any gap between the drive dog and tube?

Cheers,

Travis

[slappy]

Hey Travis,

I cut 5mm off the supervee stuffing tube (prop end), this gave the flex shaft the right length to reach the collet nicely. Just be sure to round off any burrs.

Cheers

EDIT: I do have a few mm between the drive dog and the stuffing tube :)

[nordwest]

Hi,

I just received the same 22" Arowana boat. How much weight you needed to put in to make it spin? (Battery + lead?)

I plan to use a BL2845 / 2700 kV on a 150A ESC (got it cheap from ebay - for 37€ it might be a good idea for a first try.

Second choice is the XK2850B (maybe better choice?)

Battery: I have a Zippy 3S 5000mAh lying around - it´s around 412g - is this enough weight or do I need some lead in addition (got it from r2hobbies but no lead was included)?
I tried to flip it today with 3S 2200 (first one then added another one - but not enough space in hull and no flip - need to sort this out).

What battery pack would you recommend? (4S seem to be a little bit too big, 3S... well, lets give it a try, 2S 4000mAh are the ones you used - a 2S 5000mAh might work also and saves me from adding lead into the flood chamber??)

Could it be an option to put the ESC on the left side but more in front of the boat or do I miss the CG then? (I come from planes and multicopters )

Sorry for lots of silly questions guys - please bear with me, it´s my first boat which is not RTR

Peter

[slappy]

I had to put a lot of lead in, a strip from front of flood chamber right to the back.

Kind of defeats the purpose and it lists badly when stopped in the water. If you put a decent amount of power through the rear prop it will still be a fun boat. I think in future I will stick to regular hulls :)