Hydra 120

[SJFE]

Either was I untill the first temp check on my cat. I had never seen 130 on any of my esc's to date. I was pretty suprised and alarmed. The motor even got up into the high 120s. All this on a k42..witch I considered to be a smaller prop. I also have never ran a hull over 36 onches..so this is all very new to me now. Thank god I remember the basics and brought her in after 30 seconds for a check. A burn out on the inside of this hull would be most upsetting.

[ReddyWatts]

Aaaaah, maybe that is the difference. The larger hulls and weight we are running now.

Does it matter if the power (hp) / speed effeciency is coming from higher amps or volts in the motor???

Are the smaller props more effecient at transfering power for hulls with more drag from weight and size???

[SJFE]

Yup I believe 100% it's the bigger hulls, weight & increased voltage. I had never run anything over 27 inches untill now. My setups have allways been very conservative. I was under the assumption that this setup was going to be the same..I was way misstaken. If the weather allows me I am going to prop down to a k40 and then try the grim 3 blade 40mm. I will be running the DPR again and will post this runs data against the last one.

[properchopper]

Re :

SJFE has brought up an important and often overlooked situation : weeds and/or driveline drag. I burned some FET's on a tried & true Hydra 120 by trying to throttle some of the famous Legg Lake weeds off ! [ too lazy to row the Leaky Tiki rescue rowboat out ]. Too much goo on the cables could also contribute to excessive drag -[ Hmm.. I just re-bushed , re-cabled, & re gooed both boats - gotta check this before running today - Thanks SJFE !] While on drivelines : make sure the drive-dog/strut clearance is adequate to allow for cable windup ; I watched the new cable on the Drifter compress while spinning in free air ; with the torque induced by the prop spinning in water this has got to be more pronounced. I use a thrust bearing on the motor & plenty of clearance between the dog & strut.
IMO that this is a really constructive thread ; thanks guys. It was once said : "We teach best what we most need to know ! " :) :) :)

Signin' off, packin' up & headin' to the Lake !! 10-4 !

[ReddyWatts]

Your temps might be higher because the KB45 motor can handle a higher wattage. Are you running a higher wattage with this setup than before? Higher wattage produces more heat.

[SJFE]

You are welcom Chopper:). I was unaware of the cable compressing... . It doesent apply to me now with the wire drive but with the new mono on it's way that is a huge peice of info. THANKS!. I am kind of bumbed there are no 6mm thrust bearings avalable for the big KB motors @ the moment. I am sure Steven is working on that. While reading this thread I am reminded of the fact I am still employing aircraft esc's in my boats. It is somthing I have been trying to escape for some time now. While my Hex 120's have been reliable in the smaller boats..In the big cat..It gives me pause & raises concern. I have what I think to be slight coging from about 0 to 500 or 600 rpm(if I had to guess). Witch tells me it is time to buy the correct controllers now. I am about to invest in my Neu lipos in a month. I am going to cut the number of packs I buy in order to pick up a Hydra 240. It's long over due.

[SJFE]

Are you running a higher wattage with this setup than before?

Well the dpr tells me 645 watts. The only other data I had ws from the Blackjack with an 11xl in the same 16 IB3600 cells..& hex 120. I memory serves I am running alot more. Now if you hit the Jolly cat thread I have the dpr data posted. What I am unsure of what the dpr was set to in regards to recording. I have a sneeking suspition that the numbers posted have to be doubled. I was running the dpr in parallel..low voltage setting and not in series. So voltage and maybe amps (not sure there) are only half of whats shown. If thats the case with the amps I was spiking @ 160..I am astonished it didnt blow that thing sky high.

[spicedcrab]

i also had a hydra 120 burn up after about a minute just yesterday. 4 cell lipo, x437 prop, 7xl motor, 25 inch mono. 1st run 30 seconds, checked everything and all looked great no heat anywhere. ran again and about 30 seconds later total meltdown. i have had no problems from my cuda 125's but i wanted to try the new hydra 120 in this one. i guess i just got a bad one. i will call castle in the morn to see what they say, hopefully they will make it good.

did i see that someone was allowed to upgrade from the 120 to the 240? maybe i will ask that also when i call, cant have too much safety cushion i guess.

[Jeepers]

SJFE on 19volts with that kb45 I would go to something like a x438, also a 40 mm 3 blade will have more load than a 40mm 2 blade.

being a "newbie" also, the best advice I can give is pick a prop that will move the boat well but not heat up equipment, then tune the hull to match the prop, on the 3 race boats I have I now turn nothing larger than a 42mm prop and all are 4 series octura props, can I keep up with Jay Turner or Brian Buass (spelling?) NOPE! but my boats are very competetive in the Rocky Mountain Thunder Boats club, and I have not burned up any equipment since then!:D

[KevinR100]

Thanks all.
There are so many things that boaties need to be aware of. Some of my experience comes from full size marathon water ski racing (unlimited class) but I am over the hill for this now but it does teach you to be race prepared & check everything...
properchopper -
We clean the weeds out of our pond. Cable grease is changed weekly (mostly we use a thin film on the cable & a mixture of vaseline & a bit of WD40 injected through a nipple in the outdrive). Clearance, dogs etc. are checked along with driveline resistance (next to none) & smooth control link operations & charged rx batteries etc.. First up on race days, we take about 1 min. run & then check heat (pinkie in the appropriate places). Races are usually 5 laps around 100 meter + course - 2 straights & 2 sweeping turn ends. One lap is around 30 secs.. btw water pickups are dead flush with the bottom of the hull - off the shelf two pickup nylon. They do work as water can be seen coming from the dual outlets.
fluid,
Some of your comments were answered above. The boats are 29" titans with outdrive angles slightly up to allow for the running attitude of the boats + a little left for torque. No long run times or 'hooning' as we value our boats & customers...
From now on we will be using 240amp hydras & if that does not do it I will take up flying again
kevin

[properchopper]

Re:

Kevin, Looks like your best shot is to trade up to a 240. I applaud your thoroughness in prepping for running ; looks like you've got all bases covered. Having just emerged last night from a soldering marathon, I'll say that soldering leads on a 240 takes a lot of time, patience, and most of an entire tube of Dean's solder ! Go for it ; the peace of mind from the increased headroom will be worth it. :)

BTW, what's " hooning " ?

[Fast Guy]

I have had a Hydra 120 since July. It has been working great until today. It arms properly but when I try to apply the throttle the motor just chatters and turns very slowly. It acts like this in both forward and reverse. I tried the motor in another boat I have and it works fine. I have the Castle Link and it connects and programs properly. I don't see anything externally wrong though when I connect to the battery I get a very strong electrical spark at the connector that I don't remember getting before. I'm running an AMMO 36-56-1800 on 14.8v with the timing set to low and the BEC disconnected. I have an Eagle Tree logger and the amperage has not gone over 90a on a full throttle start and runs at 50a to 60a on a full throttle pass. I'm waiting for a reply from Castle. Anyone got any ideas?

[wickedgmc]

not sure but sounds like it forgot your controller try and redo the controller process maybe??? Reteach it full throttle, neutral and break

[Fast Guy]

not sure but sounds like it forgot your controller try and redo the controller process maybe??? Reteach it full throttle, neutral and break

Thanks but I tried that.

[ReddyWatts]

Try it with a different receiver.