disappointed with myself

[RIPFENCE]

maidened voyaged my fightercat shocker yesterday and it was not a good end result.as most of you seasoned boaters know there are many checks to go through before putting a boat from home to water...esc programming,collets tight on flex, is it water tight, is your rx tx working properly,flex cables greased, props rotating the correct way,drive dogs tight,prop nut tight,batteries secured and the list goes on and on

yesterday i forgot one thing..checking the cooling system for leaks

i put the boat in the water and slowly went out 200 yards and noticed the water cooling was working on one side of my dual outlets but i could not see the other side of my boat until i made a fly by..went by too fast and could not tell if it was working or not so i brought it for one more fly by and noticed the boat was handling like a rock so then it finally registered that i had a water problem

got the boat back to shore and opened it up and there was a pile of water inside the boat..i flipped the boat over and dumped the water out after disconnecting my lipos...innocent enough right? being impatient and pissed i checked over the cooling system and found that one of the orings on my cooling jacket had a split and i could blow air right through the jacket..putting the problem aside i disconnected the cooling to that side and i was going to test run the boat quickly without fear of overheating...as i plugged in my lipos to one of my 8s 300 fightercat esc's i heard a sizzle and a pop and then flames...water had gotten underneath the shrinkwrap when i dumped the water out of the boat!!!

just proves that patience and all the steps that go into putting an electric boat in the water cannot be avoided...i should have quit when the water was in the hull but i got greedy for speed and now i am out 200.00 and a boat that is docked...needed to vent and show a lesson learned..

anyone know the size of the orings for the black fightercat cooling cans for the tp 4050? i contacted ben but i am sure he is busy...he may have to pack another esc and ship to me too!

[properchopper]

Sorry to hear, Bro. Leaking water jackets are becoming a frequent concern for me. Been there myself. A simple pre-maiden check can be done in the kitchen; make a goodie like this :

DSC03075.JPG

Plug into feed line, Turn on tap (gently) and observe.

Another simple (weird sounding) test is to is to disconnect your feed line from the rudder, put in mouth, plug output with tip of finger, suck up some vacum, put tongue on end of hose to keep vacum, and if vacum bleeds off you have a leak. [Make sure significant other isn't watching]

[RIPFENCE]

Tony,

i love your simple "weird" ingenuity..i gotta make myself one of those water bongs!! Just stay away from the cops...i will lock myself in a room and put the blinds down before trying the other method lol...thanks for the tips

[srislash]

Geez I hate that.I did a stupid as well on my first outing with my Shocker.I accidently hit one of the leads to the ESC cooling block while the matching lead was connected.Nothing worked after.At home I tested ESC and it worked,tested BEC and it worked,bought a new Rx and threw the Specky MR 3000 out and found out it was the servo that cooked.
Now I always disconnect the battery male lead last. Don't feel to bad,we all do something sometime.Does ruin the day though.

Shawn

[properchopper]

Tony,

i love your simple "weird" ingenuity..i gotta make myself one of those water bongs!! Just stay away from the cops...i will lock myself in a room and put the blinds down before trying the other method lol...thanks for the tips

If you're caught doing the "weird method", just explain that it's an inflatable boat and you're simply following the instructions for airing it up

[Chrisg81983]

Rip sorry to hear that I do the mouth and finger test it has worked several years for me but I think I might need to make one of those gadgets thanks Tony for the tip

Chris

[RIPFENCE]

Yeah we have frustrating time with electronics and water sometimes i think gassers are a lot less problematic..its taboo to me though! Did i just say that?

[keithbradley]

That sucks Rip.
I just got back from the lake with my Fantasm and had a similar problem. I had just switched ESCs late last night and went through all the testing/switching motor leads/ect to get the motors turning the right way and ESCs properly programmed. Apparently in the process I ALMOST pulled the water line of of the cooling block for the motor(didn't notice then though). I made a quick run and brought it in to make some programming adjustments but noticed about a cup of water in the hull. It didn't take me long to find the line that was pulled partially off of the cooling block, so it was cocked, just enough to allow a bit of water to leak out.
It was an easy fix and I wanted to run again...I was very tempted to do the same thing you did, but I have made that mistake in the past so I knew it wasn't worth it. Knowing that it was possible that some water got under the shrink wrap, I packed it up and came home.

I've lost ESCs this way before, and I still ALMOST did it again. I'm glad you posted this, because it reinforces the act of packing your stuff up and going home. You probably took a bullet for a lot of us, as we all need constant reminders...it's just so tempting to just run it!

Is the other ESC at least ok?

[morewattsnow]

I carry a can of compressed air (the stuff for blowing out computers) with me so I can blow out receivers, servos and ESC's. Cheap, portable and effective. I use Corrosion X on my receivers and speedos so the blow dry gets the water out and it never really got where you didn't want it in the first place. Also, you can waterproof a servo with some grease and silicone. And yes, I have smoked stuff just like you did, RIPFENCE. BTW the ICE 200 works great.

[properchopper]

I carry a can of compressed air (the stuff for blowing out computers) with me so I can blow out receivers, servos and ESC's. Cheap, portable and effective. I use Corrosion X on my receivers and speedos so the blow dry gets the water out and it never really got where you didn't want it in the first place. Also, you can waterproof a servo with some grease and silicone. And yes, I have smoked stuff just like you did, RIPFENCE. BTW the ICE 200 works great.

Good thinking. I'm going to get some !!

[RIPFENCE]

Yes keith my other esc is fine..compressed air is a great idea..watts im glad your ice is working well..

[JIM MARCUM]

Aaron, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I've screwed up WAY too many times. i.e., ever seen a LIPO go up in flames & wipe out a hull because it wasn't secured well enough? DUH!!!

Tony's kitchen sink thingie is cool. I've been using a <$5 drip system pressure reducer from Home Depot for years to flush out the saltwater in my gasser hydros. Just screw it on an outdoor faucet or hose & connect a short length of boat water tubing instead of drip line. This is a good option if your wife won't let you use the kitchen sink, or if you would rather water the lawn.:)

[RIPFENCE]

i know i am not alone in all the dumb things that happen..sometimes good gadgets and problem solving ideas come from major screw ups..just hoping i do not go through to many more esc's..i can deal with lossing a prop or a flex cable once a year but esc's add up real quick..the thing that pisses me off is that the esc got wet from dumping water out of the boat..the proboat impulse has a drain plug forthat reason which would have come in handy for me

[Electrifiedwake]

Not alone today,
I fried my esc in my mono after a few minutes of testing. The exit cooling hose came off the barb of the cooling jacket. After running for 2
minutes the boat was full of water. Took off the hatch and the esc was smoking. Time to order a new esc. Never had a hose separate like
this before. Does anyone use a ziptie or clamps to prevent this? Thanks

[silvermansteve]

whatever you do, know i'm worse.