Shockwave 26 V3 for the grandson

[PawPaw88]

Looking at Shockwave 26 V3 for my grandson .He's not ready for a brushless right now. Any thoughts on this boat ?

[Heaving Earth]

Check out the atomic barbwire. It's self righting, quick, and small

[plpflyboy]

I have the shockwave 26 brushed. It's a fun boat. Run lipo's and the metal prop he will want to upgrade later. So going brushless right at the start might save you a little cash. Hope it helps

[PawPaw88]

What size lipos are you running

[plpflyboy]

I'm using 2s, 7.4v , 4500mah turnigy nano techs that I bought off hobby king. It's not super fast but I think That's what you are looking for. I can run the boat for 14 minutes before I hit the cutoff. Tend to time myself to 13.

[PawPaw88]

Thanks much . I know he's not ready for brushless yet but will handle the boat on lipo's just fine. He's running a Stampede brushless truck now and handles it fine but water is a whole different animal.

[plpflyboy]

True water is a whole different animal, but he might surprise you on how fast he catches on. Hope he really enjoys it.

[J.W. Pepper]

Brushed vs. Brushless

I just got a Shockwave 26 brushed couple days ago, putting the finishing touches on the normal pre-run maintenance that all RTR boats need. Hope to get the maiden run in sometime in the next couple days. Going to run her in stock configuration at first to make sure everything works as it should.

Let me tell you something, this boat offers one hella-va lot of bang for the buck. PB basically took the Impulse 26 and upgraded the motor & ESC, replaced the Spektrum radio system with one made by ECX, added a 2A charger + 2400mAh NiMH battery all for just $149.99!! Original price was $199.99, however, Horizon recently dropped the price, a very smart marketing move.

Something I really like about the SW26 (brushed & brushless) is they come with a .150" flex cable inside a teflon liner with a 3/16" prop shaft. Normally that type of setup is only found on the higher end boats like: Miss Geico (v1 & v2), Mystic 29, Impulse 31's (v1 & v2) and other higher end PB models past & present. Also, AQ's better models... Revolt, SV27/SV27R, Motely Crew and so on.

All aftermarket props sold by both Kintec Racing & OSE for this size boat have 3/16" bores; both those vendors sell CNC'ed aluminum props that don't require sharp & balance. Because of testing I've done with my Rio I've got plenty of those props... x438, x440, x442, x443, so I'll have plenty of options for dialing in my SW26. Note:to use those props on the Rio, I had to make adapters so they'll fit the Rio's 1/8" prop shaft.

Brushed vs. brushless... IF, you feel that you'll be going to BL at some point in the future, I highly recommend that you buy the BL version. In addition to the BL motor & ESC, you also get an upgraded radio system, Spektrum DX3E Transmitter with the MR200 receiver found in the Impulse 26. The motor coupler is also different, the BL version uses the same coupler as the IM31 and has nicer graphics (JMHO). In the long run you'll save a lot of money.

For your consideration: I paid $149.99 delivered for my boat + $65 for a used 1500Kv motor & ESC from a Miss Geico v1 (both purchased from the swap shop here on OSE) = $214.99 - basically the price of the BL version. That's the same motor + ESC that PB puts in the BL version, difference is now they're made by Dynamite.
I attached a pic I found on the net earlier today, not my boat, but it does show how the SW26v3 could look with the PB MG-v1 1500Kv motor + 45A ESC that I have. That's the perfect place for the ESC for weight distribution and wire & cooling line routing. The Seaking 60A/90A/120A units fit there even better.

In my defense I would like to state that I originally planned on putting the PB BLM/ESC combo in my Rio EP, however the Rio is so darn narrow that it takes a shoe horn + elbow grease to get my 5000mAh 3S LiPo's in it. I spent days searching every vendor on the net checking out 3S LiPo's. Beginning at around 3500mAh and up they start at 139mm and go all the way up 160mm in length. The stock Rio battery compartment limits batts to 135~136mm max length.

The two exceptions were Sky LiPo's which HobbyPartz hasn't had in stock for eons, and these guys... http://www.bioennopower.com/collecti...-for-rc-models - when they have them in stock, there $34.95ea + ship. Instead of spending a $150 buying 4000mAh 3S batts that will fit my Rio, I just bought another boat that doesn't have that problem.
Screw the Rio, I'm already in it for $338 + countless man hours over the course of the past 2-1/2yrs; I can't justify spending another $150 for 4x 4000mAh LiPo's just for one RC model. I can get 4x 5000mAh LiPo's for $160 that will work with... 2 of my 3 Trax rigs + my SW26 & IM31 boats. I'll reinstall the Tacon BLM + AQ 45A ESC into the Rio & run it on 8.4v humps, that's a proven reliable setup, time to move on to other projects.

I appreciate your concerns about speed, however please take into consideration that for the BL version to reach its full speed potential it needs to be run on 3S LiPo's. If you run it on 7.2v NiMH or 2S LiPo's, it will run a lot slower. You can also slow it down with ESC programming (using the optional card), the setting is called Throttle Curve, from the manual... when set to Logarithm mode the ESC delivers 45% power at half throttle and 80% power at full throttle. The Logarithm mode is suggested for first-time boaters.

Sorry for the long winded post, just wanted to share the above info with you in the hopes that it helps you in your purchasing decision.

Good luck & happy boating

Thanks much . I know he's not ready for brushless yet but will handle the boat on lipo's just fine. He's running a Stampede brushless truck now and handles it fine but water is a whole different animal.

[bigcam406]

one thing the OP could do if he wants his grandson to get his feet wet with the brushless version is to run NIHM packs in it so he can get used to the boat and its handling characteristics,speed etc.then when he's comfortable with it,throw in a 3s lipo.all it takes is a flick of the switch.

[PawPaw88]

Excellent info sir .You and Bigcam406 I think have convinced me to go ahead with the brushless version and tone it down with 2S or Nimh. Saves money in the long run for sure .Been that route with the rc trucks and since he and I both run em it costs me double on upgrades...lol.

[Heaving Earth]

I still woulda gone for the barbwire. You can beat the bags outta those things, drive em up onto shore, flip em, whatever. They're quick, long runtime, and small batteries. Buy a bunches packs for it for the price of 1 larger pack. Just my two

[kwiktsi]

Hate to add any confusion, but I have to say- I agree 100% with Heaving Earth. The Barbwire is a heck of a boat for the money, takes a beating and is self righting so you can go out and just have a blast with it without worrying about flipping it and having to retrieve it. Watch some videos of the Barbwire- that's what sold me on it!

[Heaving Earth]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsLb98YQXug&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This video pretty much sums it up

[J.W. Pepper]

Here's a cool vid to check out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gps4xfo5nZs

Impulse 26 upgraded to BL - check 2nd paragraph of post #8 above, you'll notice I stated that PB took the IM26, upgraded the electronics & gave it a new name - Shockwave 26. And as you know by now, they also offer a factory BL model with better radio & graphics; sorta like a regular Camaro vs. a Z-28 :-))

Must admit that I was surprised at how much power that little outrunner puts out; everything I've heard about those motors is they're junk. I would have used a Seaking ESC instead of the Birdie ESC, personal preference.

Here's a review of the IM26 stock out of the box... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mykDQpn7U2s - compare this vid with the one above, that will give you a good idea of the speed difference between the brushed & brushless versions.

Think it's safe to say your grandson would get bored with the brushed version fairly quickly and want an upgrade; hence my reason for suggesting you get the BL version to begin with.

As plpflyboy said... "he might surprise you on how fast he catches on. Hope he really enjoys it." Think it's safe to say he'll enjoy the BL version a lot more when he does catch on - trust me, it won't take long, kids learn really fast these days.

[kwiktsi]

Haha, my son is 5 and when we took his Miss Geico 17 out for the first time, he said "now go full speed!". I told him it was full speed and he hasn't had any interest in it since other than looks . He said he wants me "to get a better battery" for it lol.

My biggest gripe with the IM26 is the steerable outdrive vs. strut and rudder.