continue with rc boat hobby? or quit? need help!

[bigkahuna]

In mid-July I bought a UL-1 hydro, when I bought it the hobby store expert suggested 2- 6000 mah 2s in series, sounds good to the new RC boat guy. He charged the batteries and installed them to make sure everything was OK before I left to the lake to it try out. He said always turn on TX first then RX, then he said to listen for a series of beeps, it had only one beep, then there was nothing, silence. We found out it was the receiver itself, he took a receiver from a Mimi Mono, put it in and it worked just fine. I ran it that afternoon and had great fun, but it blew a blade off the stock prop, which I replaced with a Grimracer 40x57 3 blade and set prop strut at 7/8" below hull. As the expert said always grease the driveshaft after every run, which I do. The next day I ran it again but noticed after a few minutes it began to run a lot slower. I got it on the bench, opened the hatch and found that the batteries, motors were quite warm. I pulled the driveshaft and found that it looked like a corkscrew. I ordered a new driveshaft, a better motor cooling jacket and that cool little receiver box Traxxas makes, which I got from OSE, great service too, I have now installed them. I went to try the hydro last week, on the bench it had the same single beep, then nothing, I did read on a forum that you may have the throttle trim turned up to high which I tried to adjust it, but zippo, no beeps. I took it back to the hobby shop told him what was wrong, he said I'm doing the battery link up before turning on the TX, which I'm not! He hooked it up TX then the battery, it works, Sh!t! I take it back to the lake and give it a try this morning, batteries all charged up, everything's all ready to go. I bench test it first and it works, do a powered launch and it runs for about 2 seconds and quits, never to do anything again. I have a A/Q Mini Mono so I tried the TX/RX from it in the UL1, it worked at the hobby store a month ago why not now? Nothin', Sh!t!! There was nothing not any beeps, no bind lights on, no movement at all. Dead. What now? is it the ESC, Receiver, Transmitter, batteries, the wrong kinda hatch tape, I give up. I'm done. Thinking of taking up knitting but I have way to much invested, "how much did that little toy boat cost you"? my wife says, (who is a wonderful lady, yea I know, I'm a brownnoser)"works as good as those model airplanes you used to build, what's next those funny model trains that you see old men playing in the mall at Christmas time". Yea ok, I'll have another piece of "I told you so pie", thank you Dear. I'm not going back to the local hobby shop again, not sure if we are getting the right advice. Please Help Me!! OMG I think I will need therapy soon. Thanks Rob

[Mike Caruso]

Look at what you have learned.....RTR boats need help to start with but you did not know that. As you learn more the boats will run better and better. If it was that easy everyone would be in RC Boating. As for the warden your not in a bar drinking and spending $$$ on some chick right. She sees your frustration cut her some slack. Set a goal to get one boat running well then the next.
Good Luck

[kevinpratt823]

On a UL-1, don't you have to hold full throttle when you plug the batts in, get one beep, then let go to get the other beeps, that is how the radio calibrates....?Is that how you did it?

[backbayboy]

I have the UL1 along with a few more AQ boats. They all bind the same, 1. TX on first. 2. plugs the batts in, you will hear a single beep,( If you don't get the beep adjust the throttle calibration on the TX until it beeps once) pull the throttle back all the way you will hear the 4 beeps, release the throttle and it should be ready to go.
The UL1 is a great boat just make sure the water is not too choppy you could catch air and flip.
have fun,
Daniel

[bigcam406]

I know the feeling of frustration.i bought a Proboat Fastech nitro 4 years ago,it was terrible.so many things wrong with it,craftmenship was plain terrible.first thing I noticed was the build quality of the hull,pieces chipped,stickers were bubbled all over.second was the flywheel wasn't attached to the motor properly,freewheeling so to speak.had major collet issues.ran maybe 3 tanks through it before the drivedog seized in the strut.by this time summer was over.found another Fastech nitro,NIB,cheap price.bought that,as I love the style of the hulls compared to whats out there now.night and day difference in quality,craftmenship,and appearance.since I learned what to look for from the first one,im much better in finding problems before they rear their ugly head with the second one.i have successfully been running the second one for the past month with only minor issues,which were quickly addressed.my point is,once you go through the frustration of correcting RTR's shortcomings,you'll be more experienced in what to look for problem wise in the future.and you can take that experience and maybe build your own FE boat.its all a part of the learning curve of the hobby.my gf used to tease me about my "toy boat",but I wouldn't take offence to it.hope you get it figured out.theres a lot of help on this site,as its a very knowledgable place to visit and the people here are willing to help anyway possible.i am in the process of turning my first nitro fastech into a brushless version from things ive learned from this site.good luck with it.

[BHChieftain]

It might be early for you to think about buying another boat, but one benefit of having more than 1 that share the same ESC and RX is you can easily troubleshoot an offending component. You might want to think about picking up an AQ Revolt Mono or Motley Crew Cat-- they have the same ESC and RX as the UL1. Those motors are 1800kv but still can use the different motors to troubleshoot the UL1. If you decide you don't like the boat thing, you can get some of your $$ back by selling the boats on the OSE swap shop.

The different hull types drive completely differently so you'll find that if you like this hobby you'll probably get more boats anyway. Having a mono always available is kinda nice as it can drive in wind and very choppy water.

Chief

[bigkahuna]

Hey guys thanks so much for the feed back with our boats. my son's first bought me a Mini Mono for fathers day, then they both bought one each as well. we have had nothing but troubles, two receivers packed it in, two ESC's, three rudder kits (have never run over a thing) and a servo. the mini's were a little boring so we bought bigger and faster boats, me a UL-1, it ran great at first other than the receiver not working a first, which was tested before we left the hobby shop. my son bought a thunder tiger outlaw jr. what a piece of junk, man it was slow nothing like advertised, could swim faster, got bigger batteries, installed them but then it started clogging, new ESC was ordered, our shop said ok to run with faulty ESC. Well after one run it quit the motor melted, like really melted, wires burnt right off, this is all after only running the boat 3 times, hobby shop ordered new motor, after 3 weeks of waiting for new motor we install it, put it water, it goes about 27 1/2 ft and catches fire, this time flames and melted everything, including hull. I called Thunder Tiger and they said to take it back as they have had intermittent problems with this outlaw jr model. Great! He trades outlaw jr for a proboat 26 shockwave and it has been running just fine, other than having to replace a servo.
We have always turned on TX first, then hook up battery (which are always charged up) and wait for the beeps, it's always been done right. the UL-1's problem is that it won't beep at anytime, even after turning throttle trim settings, the receiver's light isn't on, no bind light, no steering, no throttle.
I tried a RX from one of our working Mini Mono's with same results, nothing no power. what's wrong? faulty ESC? do I need to get a programmable ESC? a faulty RX, wrong battery.
setup? I don't think I'm a dummy, I'm a retired mechanic/partsmen/fabricator, I've raced C class hydro's, motocross when I was younger, then road raced a 1972 Datsun 510 in class GT2, 135mph in a 510 is pretty crazy, then on to go-karts. I'm not going to quit RC boating, we just want to have fun. And for those worried about my wife, thanks for your thoughts, she has always supported me in any of my crazy ideas, which there have been many. she just likes to tease me. Thank you so much, Rod (sorry its Rod not Rob, can't even get my name straight)

[Mike Caruso]

Hey guys thanks so much for the feed back with our boats. my son's first bought me a Mini Mono for fathers day, then they both bought one each as well. we have had nothing but troubles, two receivers packed it in, two ESC's, three rudder kits (have never run over a thing) and a servo. the mini's were a little boring so we bought bigger and faster boats, me a UL-1, it ran great at first other than the receiver not working a first, which was tested before we left the hobby shop. my son bought a thunder tiger outlaw jr. what a piece of junk, man it was slow nothing like advertised, could swim faster, got bigger batteries, installed them but then it started clogging, new ESC was ordered, our shop said ok to run with faulty ESC. Well after one run it quit the motor melted, like really melted, wires burnt right off, this is all after only running the boat 3 times, hobby shop ordered new motor, after 3 weeks of waiting for new motor we install it, put it water, it goes about 27 1/2 ft and catches fire, this time flames and melted everything, including hull. I called Thunder Tiger and they said to take it back as they have had intermittent problems with this outlaw jr model. Great! He trades outlaw jr for a proboat 26 shockwave and it has been running just fine, other than having to replace a servo.
We have always turned on TX first, then hook up battery (which are always charged up) and wait for the beeps, it's always been done right. the UL-1's problem is that it won't beep at anytime, even after turning throttle trim settings, the receiver's light isn't on, no bind light, no steering, no throttle.
I tried a RX from one of our working Mini Mono's with same results, nothing no power. what's wrong? faulty ESC? do I need to get a programmable ESC? a faulty RX, wrong battery.
setup? I don't think I'm a dummy, I'm a retired mechanic/partsmen/fabricator, I've raced C class hydro's, motocross when I was younger, then road raced a 1972 Datsun 510 in class GT2, 135mph in a 510 is pretty crazy, then on to go-karts. I'm not going to quit RC boating, we just want to have fun. And for those worried about my wife, thanks for your thoughts, she has always supported me in any of my crazy ideas, which there have been many. she just likes to tease me. Thank you so much, Rod (sorry its Rod not Rob, can't even get my name straight)

Great you can handle it. My wardon of 44 years bless her.... I get the same treatment LOL but she loves to see me happy when I come back from running the boat.

[Southwest]

KP823 has given you your answer. I started out small like 22-24" monos and have a couple of big ones like Villian EX and a BBY 29" mono and will take the 22-24" boats as more fun with flood chambers on 3S, but to each his own.

[kevinpratt823]

I have the UL1 along with a few more AQ boats. They all bind the same, 1. TX on first. 2. plugs the batts in, you will hear a single beep,( If you don't get the beep adjust the throttle calibration on the TX until it beeps once) pull the throttle back all the way you will hear the 4 beeps, release the throttle and it should be ready to go.
The UL1 is a great boat just make sure the water is not too choppy you could catch air and flip.
have fun,
Daniel

This is more accurate than my original description, now I remember.......

[tlandauer]

That sounds right, I am so used to the Seaking way of calibration, I remember reading this exact problem a year ago. I am copying this down since I have a couple UL-1 ESC in my tool box...

[vtomanov]

Experienced Boater

I have about 18 boats of every size, micro to 65" and I've run ESCs from Mystery to HK to Seaking. All ESC's are Chinease with components made somewhere in the orient. The cheaper units like mystery use cheap FET's that I blew up just plugging the battery in. The brand name stuff like Proboat I've run 1 cell more on the stock ESC's with no issue. AC's ESC should handle normal operation but very likely has blown up. Seems the UBEC isn't powering the receiver so the ESC isn't powering up.

The UL-1 has a great motor and the hull design is good for speed. I personally swap out most of the stock ESC's so I can use the motor to it's full potential. Pick up a Seaking-90 and never look back at the stock stuff. It won't blow up if you keep the cell count under 6 and you can go to 5 cell with UL-1 motor no problem.

I always get an over amped ESC for the boat size so I don't run into the problem you have. Hope things go well.

[bigkahuna]

Thanks Mike, the warden eh! my wife is more like the finance department, I have to be very creative to sneak something by her, "what did you buy today for $150.00 Rodney", I say oh just a few things at Costco dear. But why then is the fridge still empty, she says back ? I sure got a nice ECS thou.

[bigkahuna]

Thank you so much mr. vtomanov, I now have a benchmark to work from, I kinda thought the ESC was blown up and not communicating with the receiver. That is why the bind light doesn't come on, right? I had already been looking for a new ECS something around the 120A size would be nice, I just don't know which brand I should look at buying? Seaking, Castle or Hobbyking, I've spent a lot of $$ up until now and even I can't justify spending more $$ on new smaller boats, I just have to fix what I got, " I just gotta run what ya brung"!
So what ECS do you recommend? should I replace the receiver too? A Programmable ESC? A UBEC? Thanks so much everyone for reading my thoughts and giving us all the great advice. I was a member of a fishing forum once, what a bunch of A-+holes, this forum a nice change, it gives me a brighter view about belonging to a forum again.

My grandfather, who was a very successful businessman always used to say to me, "Rodney, "Bite off more than you can chew and chew like hell"! He and my Dad, ran Crackerbox's and hydro's back in the old days, my Dad held a Canadian speed record for a few years running a "C Class Hydro", of which I guess got me into boating until I couldn't knell anymore and had to quit. On to road racing Cars and go-karts, RC Boats and planes.

[Bill Wachtler]

Try binding your receiver again before you start buying things.

Bill