My cat is not working. Please help!

[Tony]

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie at all of these FE things. I think somehow i messed up one of my FE cats. The boat powers up, ESC beeps, receiver responding, servo working properly. Here's what happening and i can't seem to figure out what is wrong with it yet. The motor seems to work very strong, spinning the prop like it suppose to when out of the water. But, once the boat is put in water. It barely runs. I mean it seems like the battery is about to die. However, the battery is fully charged before each use. I just can't figure out what the deal is. So, please help me out. Thanks in advance!

Boat: 32" cat hull, 36 with rudder
Water cooled motor 2618KV i think its Xpower kind from china
Water cooled ESC 50 amp with connected BEC, no name brand
Thunder Power Lipo Batt 11.1v 2200 mah

[ReddyWatts]

Check all of your battery connectors. Did one of them or a battery get hot?
Transmitter and receiver batteries charged?
Recalibrate your ESC?

[peells]

What size is your motor? 540, 540L, or 540XL, and your esc seems a little small for that large of a boat you should be using something in the 100 amp range without a bec cause its going to fry (ben there and done that) so what prop are you using? all these things work together, oh yes I see your lipo is only 2200 mah what is your "c" rating it needs to be at lest 25 cont. discharge, and you should at least get one that is 3000 mah at 20-25 c continuous discharge. try all that.

[Tony]

ReddyWatts: Everything has been checked out. Seems OK. Recalibrating ESC is something i'm not realy familiar with.


Peells: I believe the motor is a 540, but i am not sure its an L or XL. Batt "C" rating is 25 cont/50C burst. I was thinking about changing the ESC as well. A Castle Hydra 120 ? But don't i need a castle Hydra BEC for this too? OSE has it.

[peells]

well the hydra is bec equipped and I am not sure if 3s is ok to run with it but I think it is if memory serves me right, you can always disconnect the red wire and run a receiver pack which works well. and for your motor size look at the dimensions on the OSE store under brushless motors write them down and go measure your motor that should get you in the know! And read your instructions for setting up your esc, is it computer programable? or maybe a programing card? or do you have to set it up by listening to the beeps of the thing?

[Tony]

The castle hydra esc runs 6s w/o bec, and 3s w/bec. I looked it up on OSE. Also, here is a link to the motor which came with the cat.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2618KV-electric-brushless-motor-water-cool-rc-boat_W0QQitemZ290241522111QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

[lonewolf]

By looking at the motor specs given it appears to be quite a bit small for that size of hull. and 3s would be a bit shy of wha would be recomended.
For example in my 32 in cat I run a 8xl with a 100 amp esc on 12 cells or 4s. 4s 2p would be better... What size prop are you running also. for my cat with the 8 xl i am running a x640 prop..... hope this helps some...Dave

[domwilson]

Is this one of those 32" cats off of ebay? I read on this forum and others that the motor is actually of the 380 size with water cooling. If so, I would recommend a 9xl or a 10xl with a 120 amp ESC and 4s1p lipos.

[Rex R]

its a 380 series Long can(iirc equiv (I think) freigao 380 11l ) in which case its too small for a 32" boat.

[peells]

Man you guys are all over it a 540 standard can is 36mmx56mm so you want an XL for that boat and if you are running a 4s a 09xl would work well or a 10xl, if you want to you could use a kb 45XL 1200kva and it would pull real strong and give you room to grow with more battery power later, Also OSE has a sale on the cooling jacket if you order it with the motor right now, check it out!!

[domwilson]

Is this the boat?

http://cgi.ebay.com/32-catamaran-ARTR-set-with-motor-and-ESC-rc-boat_W0QQitemZ290245195208QQihZ019QQcategoryZ19167QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Tony]

Is this the boat?

http://cgi.ebay.com/32-catamaran-ART...QQcmdZViewItem

BINGO! I got mine from Hobby Centre in Australia. The ESC/BEC in that boat look just like the one that came with mine.

[domwilson]

Yep. There is a thread on here somewhere. From what I read, that is a 380xl motor. Try a 540 size feigao 9xl or 10xl with a 120 amp ESC. on 4s1p. I think you'll be much happier.

[Tony]

By looking at the motor specs given it appears to be quite a bit small for that size of hull. and 3s would be a bit shy of wha would be recomended.
For example in my 32 in cat I run a 8xl with a 100 amp esc on 12 cells or 4s. 4s 2p would be better... What size prop are you running also. for my cat with the 8 xl i am running a x640 prop..... hope this helps some...Dave

I am running it with a prop that came with the boat. Should i use x640 or X642 prop?

[Tony]

Yep. There is a thread on here somewhere. From what I read, that is a 380xl motor. Try a 540 size feigao 9xl or 10xl with a 120 amp ESC. on 4s1p. I think you'll be much happier.

I think that is what i am going to use next. What kind of esc should i use? I saw a Castle Hydra 120 with 100amp here on OSE plus BEC. Is that a good combination for a 540 feigao 9xl or 10xl. For batt. What mah on a 4s1p lipo?