First Villian iv

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  • HotRod147
    Junior Member
    • Apr 2014
    • 20

    #1

    First Villian iv

    Picked up my first traxxas villain IV to tinker with. Not sure my exact plans with it but do some questions about certain things.

    I know i want to keep it dual drive. Wanting to get at least a EVX-2 Marine ESC to start and run either titan 550 or if someone has a better option. If i can do dual BL then i'd prefer that route. Seen a few but my question is how do i go about sizing the motors and hooking up 2 esc's? Y connection?
    Going to run the oct. 447. Picking up the ESC water cooling kit if i go with the evx and def water cooling for the motors. Is it worth it to go brushless and lipos or stay nih on some brushes. looking for high 20's low 30's maybe?

    Next question. Can I upgrade the IV with the EX waterproof radio box?

    I've found few answers to my questions just nothing solid anything helps. Only other boat experience is my hand made 38" with a gas motor stinger drive.
  • gsbuickman
    Fast Electric Addict!
    • Jul 2011
    • 1292

    #2
    Hello, welcome to OSE ,

    The Villain is a great mono to start with. Check out my recent Villain IV build.
    http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...lain-X-sleeper

    Here's a test run on 2s (7.4volt) power. It already performs way better than a stock villain dreamed of ....

    Last edited by gsbuickman; 04-30-2014, 03:12 AM.

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    • gsbuickman
      Fast Electric Addict!
      • Jul 2011
      • 1292

      #3
      To answer a few of your questions, the titan 550 motors are stock in the Villain EX and the Traxxas e -revo, but they are lacking in performance. After a lot of research on options, I went with the HPI19t 1400kv 550 watt GT-550's.

      http://www.amazon.com/HPI-Racing-114.../dp/B000LTN048

      The EVX 2 ESC is great & will supply up to 4s lipo power, which is the maximum for a villain. There is no sense in going with a brushless motor setup in a Traxxas villain, the villain hull just simply can't handle that kind of speed and power adequately. Your lucky if you can hit 25 mph with a villain IV from 1987'. With a updated power system, ball bearing supported driveshafts & outdrives w/ counterotating x447 props & 3s - 4s power, a respectable 40-45 mph is realistic. Once you hit 50 mph, forget about it, its outta control. Even at 40, it can be a handful, but its a blast. As far as a radio box goes, 86 it. Open the reciever housing and pop out the circuit board. Wrap the prongs for the servo plugs to keep them clean. Then give the board 5-6 coats with spray on plasti-dip to seal it up & reassemble.

      With the evx ESC, you only need one to run both motors ....
      Last edited by gsbuickman; 04-30-2014, 02:49 AM.

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      • HotRod147
        Junior Member
        • Apr 2014
        • 20

        #4
        Thanks. I picked up a brand new evx-2 and 2 titan motors out of an emaxx that had never been ran for dirt cheap. Might try picking up those hpi motors. Is it worth it to do the ESC water cooling? and how about the octura 447 props? I'd be happy with around 30mph

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        • HotRod147
          Junior Member
          • Apr 2014
          • 20

          #5
          Oh forgot to ask What pinion are you running on those 19t? stock?

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          • gsbuickman
            Fast Electric Addict!
            • Jul 2011
            • 1292

            #6
            Hello ,

            Nice score, that's a nice start . Yes the x447 props are a must because the stock propshafts & plastic props are junk. Water cooled esc's are a must with boats, because their is no airflow in the hull to cool them. Yes I am running stock 14t/28t gearing. The stock villain IV also bushings in the driveshaft tubes & outdrives. They need to be upgraded to 4mm x 8mm x 3mm bearings to free up binding & run smoother..

            Here's a great outlet for villain parts. I bought my props and stuff thru them.


            Be sure you read my build thread for the bearing upgrade.

            Comment

            • HotRod147
              Junior Member
              • Apr 2014
              • 20

              #7
              I read through the build but you upgraded the stuffing tubes an everything so was confused what bearings you used where? Do you happen to have part # and a place to order them?

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              • gsbuickman
                Fast Electric Addict!
                • Jul 2011
                • 1292

                #8
                Hiya

                From the factory Villain's have eight 4mm x 8mm x 3mm oilite bushings in the driveline tubes & outdrives. I replaced them with eight 4mm x 8mm x 3mm flanged abec bearings from eBay.







                The stock drivetubes will not accept the new bearings, so you need to upgrade them to 11/32 stuffing tubes that you can get here at OSE, or at Kintec.

                http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...6+Brass+Tubing




                To get a better understanding of the upgrades, study this half a dozen times. I did..

                http://www.rcslot.com/blog/traxxas-villain.html

                When I reamed out my outdrives, I did it by hand. all you want to do, is remove the retaining walls inside the outdrive that the bushings set against so its smooth all the way thru the outdrive.

                When I drilled out the motor mounts, I didn't drill them all the way thru. I went thru the motor mount where the tube slides in, and drilled it out to the front wall. I left the front wall in place to hold the new bearings in place When I slid the new bearings & tubes home. Then I used a small drill bit to drill holes under the stock zerts to grease them. Its really easy ...

                These should be a great upgrade for the stock nylon universals.

                Last edited by gsbuickman; 05-02-2014, 02:43 AM.

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                • gsbuickman
                  Fast Electric Addict!
                  • Jul 2011
                  • 1292

                  #9
                  If you want to replace the white nylon gears with steel gears, you need to go one step further and upgrade the driveshafts to 5mm. You would need eight 5mm x 8mm x2.5mm flanged bearings, two 5mm driveshafts, two 28t 48 pitch 5mm bore pinion gears & two 5mm to 3.175 universal joints.






                  http://www.ebay.com/itm/2piece-R-C-M...item3cd3fe1651

                  Comment

                  • madmikepags
                    Fast Electric Addict!
                    • Aug 2012
                    • 1359

                    #10
                    the villian is a fun boat, don't expect too much out of it, and do like you're doing, try not to spend too much money on it. My villian was one of my first boats and the first day I got it I drove it clear across long island sound, (almost 5 miles) I was off the back of my real boat and there were some 2ft rollers that day, I got serious air and the thing never flipped!! Good luck and have a blast!!
                    We call ourselves the "Q"

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                    • HotRod147
                      Junior Member
                      • Apr 2014
                      • 20

                      #11
                      Are lipos really worth the hassle or will these work just fine?

                      http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/pro...ick-Packs.aspx

                      Been out of the R/C world for awhile not all in touch with the lipo stuff.

                      Running the EV-2 with a 16.8 capacity should i stick to the 14.4v or run the dual 8.4v batteries?

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                      • HotRod147
                        Junior Member
                        • Apr 2014
                        • 20

                        #12
                        or even these http://www.ebay.com/itm/Venom-7-2v-4...item48652bfbdc

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                        • gsbuickman
                          Fast Electric Addict!
                          • Jul 2011
                          • 1292

                          #13
                          PH cells are reliable & convenient, but are 2x the weight of the equivalent lipo and don't provide as much power as lipoly. if you put 2 batteries in the nose of the of the villain it'll signifintly offset the balance point. lipoly isn't a hassle, that was a bunch of hogwash by the lipoly haters back in the day. all you need is a balancing charger and a low voltage cutoff if you're esc does not have one built in.

                          most of us time our boat runs for 4 minute intervals, then we bring them in & check the temperatures of th motors, esc's and batteries, to monitor the load being put on the power system. The cooler the better. there's a lot less to worry about on a villain, than a high end High Performance boat.
                          Last edited by gsbuickman; 05-07-2014, 01:16 PM.

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                          • gsbuickman
                            Fast Electric Addict!
                            • Jul 2011
                            • 1292

                            #14
                            This is the charger I started with, & I loved it. it works better than the venom Pro charger that I'm using now. Just make sure the lipos you get have xh balance leads, which is standard except with thunder power / flight power cells.

                            http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html
                            Last edited by gsbuickman; 05-07-2014, 01:17 PM.

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                            • HotRod147
                              Junior Member
                              • Apr 2014
                              • 20

                              #15
                              So are you running dual 2s or dual 4s batteries? I want to keep 2 batteries and a charger under $100. This is not something im going to get a ton of use out of but when i use it i want it to be fun. The EVX-2 came from an emaxx i know it can run lipo but unsure if it has a cut off. Been out of the game way too long. I'd like to stay with the Traxxas connectors and not have to do a bunch of soldiering.

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