maintenance tips

[ozzie-crawl]

i have been thinking for awhile about having a thread on maintaining our boats
there is a lot of info on building FE boats etc but not a lot on maintaining our pride and joy,and i am sure there is a lot of little tips out there that some know but could benefit more people.
here is one of my little tips.
rubber boots,as used on steering rods etc to keep water from the hull.
after a short while of use they can become dry and crack letting water in
i rub in a small amount of armour oil every now and then after a run while doing my normal after run clean up.
not all places may have armour oil brand, but it is just a rejuvenator for cars etc
its used on rubber and plastics (dashboards, bumpers) and helps protect them from becoming dry and brittle.

[steve-b]

Good tip.

i like to fill my steering rod boot with greese this helps to keep water out aswell.

[dana]

good point. i do the same thing

[sailr]

I load my boots up with white lithium grease. Also eases the movement of the steering rod, thus taking some load off she servo and less draw on the battery.

[Boatman]

Really I have always felt you should try to touch every aspect of the boat and radio after and before running. Meaning unplug motor leads and make sure connectors are still making good contact, remove drive line and make sure prop is still holding tight as well as checking any wear on shaft and propshaft. Check that the motor and motor mount are still good, also esc should be checked along with its connectors to make sure they are holding good. Then on to the RX. make sure everything is plugged in well and then to the hardware along with servo. Really just simply touching everything can give an idea very quickly if there is a problem. Same as when you are ready to run. Just touch things and it will let you know if you tightened your collet, prop nut, RX plugs. I dont know how many times I have seen guys throw the boat in and wheee, it goes no where cause they forgot to tighten the collet.

[egneg]

Really I have always felt you should try to touch every aspect of the boat and radio after and before running. Meaning unplug motor leads and make sure connectors are still making good contact, remove drive line and make sure prop is still holding tight as well as checking any wear on shaft and propshaft. Check that the motor and motor mount are still good, also esc should be checked along with its connectors to make sure they are holding good. Then on to the RX. make sure everything is plugged in well and then to the hardware along with servo. Really just simply touching everything can give an idea very quickly if there is a problem. Same as when you are ready to run. Just touch things and it will let you know if you tightened your collet, prop nut, RX plugs. I dont know how many times I have seen guys throw the boat in and wheee, it goes no where cause they forgot to tighten the collet.

I am Guilty of this one but in my defense it was after a strut adjustment and I "JUST FORGOT". The one than kills me is when they throw the boat in the water and it turns the wrong way (I won't mention any names but they know who they are).

[Boatman]

NO no, the WORSE is when you let a friend launch your boat and they toss it out and it lands upside-down! :)

[bwells]

I have found that you need to lube the flex shaft when putting the boat away as well as before a run.

[JCAustralia]

Here is my contribution:

Leave the hatch open for at least 24 hours after every run and keep the boat in a dry place.

That would allow the inside of the hull to be completely dry. Sometimes there is moisture inside the hull after a run that is very hard to see or feel.......

For long term storage I put some silicagel inside the hull before closing the hatch......

Cheers

JC

[ozzie-crawl]

I have found that you need to lube the flex shaft when putting the boat away as well as before a run.

good point.
i always keep my flex shafts out of the hull when not in use,i clean them up with a rag and wd40 then give them another spray of wd40 that i leave on the flex for storage, worse thing is flex shafts tend to rust from the centre and can look fine on the out side.
i use lanotec as a lube stops rust as well,it impregnates the flex from the first use helping to displace water.

[bwells]

Ozzie: I like your idea of leaving them out but what do you store them in? Would a 1 inch diameter piece of PVC 14 inches long with caps and filled with oil be an overkill? You could fit quite a few in there. I assume just lube em and stick them in the tool box would be sufficient.

[ozzie-crawl]

i just dont like leaving them in the stuffer tube that has a bend in it.
what i do after cleaning mine is give it another squirt with wd40 place it in a piece of rag and lay it in side the hull.
with my outboard flex i just lay it on a piece of rag in my work shop.
a few years back when i was getting out of rc cars and in to boats i went and watched some gas boat racing,there was one guy faster than everyone else
when he finished running he pulled his flex sprayed with wd40 and wiped down with a rag,then re sprayed with wd40,he had a rack that was just a piece of wood with holes in it,the flex would be hung up on this rack,the flex was just fed threw the hole and the drive dog would stop it falling threw,this allowed the flex to just hang down straight, it was some thing that stuck with me as maintaining my flex.

[ozzie-crawl]

thought i would add a some thing else.
first one may be better for those that mainly use metric tools.
this first pic is of a Allen key adaptor, most people may have one floating about it allows quick changing of tips for hex heads, screw driver heads, etc.
but the female hex is the same size as the octura prop nuts
the second pic is a small ratchet that takes these interchangeable heads
good for getting into motor screws etc and allows 90 deg use of screw drivers or allen keys.
third pic just shows they adapter in the mini ratchet, very good for doing/undoing prop nuts

[Xcesive8]

Scott I've always done the same as you with taking the flex cable out of
the boat when not in use, bcos like you I figure sitting in there with that same bend
over sustained period couldn't be good for it.

But, everytime I buy a new cable and it comes in that packet where they rap around
on themselves, it makes me think maybe it's not that bad?
I mean who knows how long a cables been sitting up on the parts rack in some hobby store?? There's no used by date lol .
It really must not matter. Maybe i just start pulling them out, cleaning / re greasing and slide it back in for storage?

I duno really?

[ozzie-crawl]

yea i think also of the flex shafts inside whipper snipers that are always bent and never oiled.
but taking them out and looking after them makes me feel good and feeds my obsessive compulsive disorder, or is that annal retentive disorder
maybe i do go to far but if it makes my flex last and it doesnt snap from being rusty and i dont loose a prop,drive dog,etc then to me 30 seconds of maintenance after running each day is worth it