ML Boatworks PS295 Build (Jedi Masters - No. 8).

[Jedi Master]

"Coppertop"

Got the final touches done this morning. Fitted an aerial up front and installed the receiver. I'm using a Spektrum land receiver, which I know many of you advise against, but I've used them in all of my boats and never had any issues. I do ensure that the small aerials get maximum height and are away from the main power cables, which may be the reason that I don't suffer any issues.



I've also added some small strips to the main hatch cover. When taping up I found that I couldn't get a great seal on the sides of the hatch as the thin ply bends inwards. The addition of the small strips gives me something to push against to ensure the tape seals well without risking damage to the ply radio box;



The paintwork has been added to the rear of the sponsons;



When making stands for my boats I normally head off to the plumbing store for a pile of UPVC joints and bends, which I then use to put together something that works right. This can end up pretty expensive so I put together a simple stand from pool noodle and nylon cord. It works better than any other stand I have. Typical! LOL!!



Some thicker cord makes a perfect carrying handle;



The noodle stand also provides a way of protecting the rear lower unit and prop assemply;



"Coppertop" is off for its first run tomorrow, and is now pretty much complete. The whole boat has had a layer of clearcoat added to keep the decals and pinstriping in place. I'm just waiting for the decals for the screen from Monojeff; cool!

[F1 madness]

Nice Job
good luck with maiden.

[ron1950]

looks great...will u be videoing the maiden?

[Jedi Master]

looks great...will u be videoing the maiden?

Possibly.... I'll be on my own so that may be a bit challenging. I may be able to work something out

[ron1950]

just out of couriosity did u use the 4mm bullets or change em to 5.5's.....i had the 4's and they got warm enough that i got a bad joint so i changed to the 5-5's but that was a soldering prob on my part.....

[Jedi Master]

just out of couriosity did u use the 4mm bullets or change em to 5.5's.....i had the 4's and they got warm enough that i got a bad joint so i changed to the 5-5's but that was a soldering prob on my part.....

The motor still has the standard bullets on, but my batt leads are 5.5's. Once I've ran it a few times and am comfortable with the setup I'll probably solder the motor wires directly.

[Jedi Master]

Got up early this morning and headed out for the maiden run. Being on my own, and with no rescue boat, I was slightly worried about potential issues which may have seen me drifting. There was no wind at all, which was great for the water conditions but would be of no help to me if I did get stuck.

Anyway, I dropped in my batts and powered up; all systems green! Reduced my steering throw and checked the other settings on my KO Esprit III. I'd used the SR300 receiver on another model so needed to make sure that all elements were back to factory settings.

The venue that I run at has a huge lake which is drained at the moment so I used the adjacent duck pond. It's not ideal, but would serve the purpose for todays outing, albeit I knew that full throttle was never going to be a reality.

With a couple of slow circles to gauge the throttle and to sort out the trim, I was instantly amazed at the incredible handling characteristics. Although this is my first tunnel hull I've seen plenty of others that hook and spin and behave very differently at various speeds. I ran some laps increasing the speed in an attempt to find the 'breach point' whereby the my driving style would need to adapt.......it never happened!!

No matter how slow or fast I ran it, the handling stayed completely stable and predictable. I haven't checked my COG and my 1/2 degree positive outobard angle was only set 'by eye', but the boat's handling was flawless. I have to say, the PS295 corners like its on a tether!!! It gets on the plane at very low speed and rockets along with very little effort!

I continued to run the pond and enjoy the speed/handling, when I suddenly realised that I'd lost track of time. Just as I turned to bring the boat in, the power cut out! Yikes! Had something blown or had the LVC kicked in? I didn't see the 'stutter' so assumed something had gone wrong. Strangley the steering was still fully active so by using the lower unit as a sculling paddle I managed to crawl it back to shore.

I quickly opened the hatch to be greeted by a rush of steam. One of the 5.5's on my batt's was very loose and was very hot. Looks like the heat had condensed on the immediate area and produced the steam. I was using brand new Lipo's so was worried that I'd got a faulty one, but both packs were only warm and had no signs of puffing at all. Very strange! I checked the cell voltages and all four were sat at 30%, so no issues there. Worried that I hadn't spotted the stutter I checked my transmitter settings again.....and was shocked to discover that I'd not reset the throttle EPA. I had only been running at 65%!!

Wow, this hull is going to be super quick!!

After checking the temp of the ESC and motor (both only slightly warm) I stuck in a fresh set of batt's and dropped it back into the water. As I pulled away it cut out again and then I heard the ESC drop into set-up mode. Was this why I hadn't seen the stutter on the first run? Mmmmm. As I reset the ESC I pulled away a bit slower and off it went like a raped ape!!! AWESOME!!!! I only attempt WOT twice and scared myself senseless. The pond was just too small and the PS295 accellarates soooo quickly that I just couldn't risk wrecking it.

But, throughout the second run it cut out a few more times with the ESC going into set-up mode again! Arghh!

Assuming that I'd got a fault ESC or bad connection I brought it back in and checked everything. All connection were tight, no water in the hull, batt's at 50%+, it just didn't make sense. Then I realised what the problem was; the sprektrum receiver was cutting out. I'd suffered this issue whilst racing my 1/10 durango buggy. When using a powerful servo the amp draw can sometimes cause a drop in power to the receiver, which causes it to cut out momentarily. This is probably what had happened on the first run, but as I'd been out in the middle of the pond I hadn't heard the ESC beeps. Although I have a spektrum receiver voltage protector, I didn't have it with me this morning. Oh well, at least I've found the cause of the issue, and it's a simple problem to solve.

Overall, I am absolutely stoked with this hull. When considering the speed and handling that comes from this stock set-up, I can only take my hat off and bow to Mike for his incredible design......what a peice fo work; GENIUS!!!!

I can't wait to take her out again and will get some video next time. I hope that they refill my main lake soon as I'm hungry to open the throttle and let my PS295 stretch it's legs. Although I'm not new to FE boats, this is my first tunnel hull and I would recommend this hull to anyone who's looking to get an F1 style hull. It's fast, well designed, handles perfectly, and is built very, very well! It's great value for money too!!

Mike, well done on a fantastic hull design and thanks for making it available to the rest of us!

[Boaterguy]

Are you using a built in BEC or using a separate pack, some servo's can pull up to 7A, but BEC's are usually 3 or 5A

[Jedi Master]

Are you using a built in BEC or using a separate pack, some servo's can pull up to 7A, but BEC's are usually 3 or 5A

Hey Boaterguy, I'm using the stock UL-1 60amp ESC's built in BEC. This is the servo;

http://www.servodatabase.com/servo/hitec/hsr-5995tg

Its a very high torque servo, which I expect is pulling more amps than the BEC can handle and hence the reason that my receiver cuts out momentarily. In my other boats I use a seperate battery pack so its not usually a problem. I'll be adding a Spektrum Voltage Protector next time I'm out (SPM1600) so hopefully that will solve the issue.

[moonlighter112]

Ive used all stock UL 1 stuff for two years(the sameone) with a 7955 hitec no problems

[Jedi Master]

Ive used all stock UL 1 stuff for two years(the sameone) with a 7955 hitec no problems

Is that with a Spektrum receiver? I'm usng the SR300.

[Boaterguy]

maybe a big cap on the RX (i think that's where u put it) will help keep the current going when the servo want more juice.

[cybercrxt]

Glad you like it Jedi. Dick (moonlighter112) and I both use Futaba FASST systems so maybe the built in voltage handling of the Futaba stuff works better. Not sure as I have never had spektrum in my boats! Be sure to throw in a thank you to Dick Loeb (moonlighter112) as he and I both worked on this boat together. He designed the top side, I worked on the bottom and get it all on CADD. Keep us posted, and thanks for sharing your build with others. This will really help them out, and definitely save me some emails in the future! Mike

[ron1950]

i think its just that paticular reciver...i am useing a jr9000 servo on mine and a mr3000 spectrum and never had a problem like that.....that jr servo is a 300in/oz servo so it should be sucking down some juice

[Jedi Master]

Glad you like it Jedi. Dick (moonlighter112) and I both use Futaba FASST systems so maybe the built in voltage handling of the Futaba stuff works better. Not sure as I have never had spektrum in my boats! Be sure to throw in a thank you to Dick Loeb (moonlighter112) as he and I both worked on this boat together. He designed the top side, I worked on the bottom and get it all on CADD. Keep us posted, and thanks for sharing your build with others. This will really help them out, and definitely save me some emails in the future! Mike

My apologies for not including Dick Loeb in my thanks

To both Dick and Mike; Thanks for the hard work in creating a race winning hull and for sharing your talents with us 'knuckle draggers'!