Exceed Formula 1 Outboard

[bonefisher]

Hello and HAPPY to be part of your forum!

I have lengthy experience in sailplanes and electric airplanes of varying form.... reason I am writing is I recently moved onto a lake and started the hunt for a RC electric boat.... so while well versed in building, electric, etc.. not so much when it comes to boats...

I have tons of 2 / 3 / 4 cell lipos of varying form, so thought would be good to use them on the lake when the weather did not allow flying...

I LOVE scale and was researching an outboard F1 style boat (just liked that look).... looked at the Prop Boat Stiletto but seems no one is selling anymore...

Requirements / wishes were 1. Scale 2. Outboard 3. Fiberglass 4. Electric 5. Larger than 22"

Then saw this last night [URL="http://www.nitrorcx.com/99b-10024-f1-650-ep-artr.html"] and looked like it ticked all the boxes.... doesn't look too fast, but imagine could upgrade the ESC / Prop / and run a 4S if needed...

Would love any thoughts or professional help!

Chris

[bonefisher]

Hello all again... hoping someone may have a thought here... let me know and thanks!

[tlandauer]

Link is not working, boats on that site are not bought very often by the people who are here on the board, don't ask me why...
Does look nice though, I wish someone would chime in as well, I had asked a couple of questions on other boats two or three years ago and not a single answer. At least people are not pretending that they own or know anything about these boats,

[HTVboats]

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=16600

I bought one of these for my grandson a couple years back and it worked ok for a while then we wound up replacing the whole drivetrain, motor, esc. & steering sevo. The Excel is a lot nicer looking on the surface, but to me looks like the same cheap underpinnings and $300 price tag. I would take the Stilleto over this boat in a heart beat. Not as many scale decals but a tried and true performer for an RTR. Tunnels are not the best trainers for kids. They power over from a dead stop and roll over in rougher water if not throttled smoothly in turns. A mono like the Revolt 30 will give you more run time and less retrieving.
Mic

[flraptor07]

Try this link, http://www.nitrorcx.com/99b-10024-f1-650-ep-artr.html I was looking at this boat myself looks like a nice boat but needs more power. I've got one Exceed boat that I bought in kit form and I haven't run it yet, but it looks like a nicely built boat and the detail is nice too. This is the boat I bought. http://www.nitrorcx.com/99b-10015-920-v24-ep-kit.html

[bonefisher]

Hello and thanks for the replies!!

Mic, i did look at the Hobby King and thought the same thing... components would have to go... as mentioned I wanted a Stiletto but not sold anymore...

flraptor07... agree with the more power comment from the looks of it... and thanks for posting the correct link!!!

I went ahead and ordered the boat, and also procured a traxxas waterproof 6S esc from a Spartan as well as better quality waterproof servo....

The plan I have is to run it as is to benchmark performance, then go to a 4S battery with the better ESC... guessing a 4S with that motor should provide plenty of bunch if the KV holds...

Love any thoughts on this plan!!

Thanks!

[bonefisher]

Greetings all... so wanted to give some updates... got the box opened up last night... shipping was quick (think they shipped same day)...

Packaging was very solid with block type foam inserts... photos below...

Initial impressions are that the fiberglass and gelcoat is some of the best I have seen in my modeling... rare is one pleasantly surprised by the quality of a model... this one I was...

Motor looks pretty scale and fit and finish on that is good as well...

The inside is still TBD... Speed Control looks a bit on the cheap side and while they say waterproof, looking at it makes me think otherwise... but more to come...

Some more photos below... Also found out that the prop is a 32MM by 1.4 Cleaver style three blade for a 4MM shaft - which some people make for other boats in a nicer version.. easy to google... ordered a red cnc from atomik....

f1 - 3.jpgf1 - 5.jpgf1 - 4.jpg

Anyway... so far so good...

[flraptor07]

Good to hear, post some video when you run it!

[tlandauer]

Thanks for the prelim report, looking forward to hearing and seeing more.

[bonefisher]

Hello all and sorry for the delay... that darn thing called work got in way....

OK.... here is the update... Put everything together and ran it... and there was a definite issue in terms of lack of power... but more than just wanting more power... watt meter showed only 11 amp draw, so def. an issue.... tried different batteries, even a different receiver, same issue... so deduced it was an ESC issue... contacted NitroRCX and to their credit, they responded quickly and agreed to do a return on the ESC... but knowing I eventually wanted to run a 4S battery, thought just change out the ESC now...

So decided to redo some stuff.... ordered a Seaking (Hobbywing) 120A... along with a new CNC balanced prop, spare drive shaft, etc... worried about if the new ESC would fit in the tight side space... and it did (JUST BARELY) - took some wiring tweaks, cutting the length of the cooling hoses, etc. but install came out in my opinion super clean... see photos... then I took it out and ran it... OH MY... still on a 3C 2100 thunder power 25C.... I was blown away... see video (apologize for the rough quality / filming but believe you get the idea)... max amp pull was 49amp...

Cant imagine it on 4S.... may try it, but seems to porpoise a bit a very high speed... so love any ideas on how to mitigate that! Love any comments or thoughts!

photo 7.jpgphoto 3.jpgphoto 4.jpgphoto 1.jpgphoto 2.jpg

[flraptor07]

You should be able to adjust the angle on the motor and get rid of the porpoising. Tilt it down just a little at a time till it's gone.

[RayR]

So decided to redo some stuff.... ordered a Seaking (Hobbywing) 120A... along with a new CNC balanced prop, spare drive shaft, etc...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]116896[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]116897[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]116898[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]116899[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]116900[/ATTACH]

Does NitroRCX sell the spare parts? Could you show some close up pics of the outboard?

Thanks,

Ray

[tlandauer]

Nice work! Looks clean and tidy! Love the look of this tunnel, can't wait to see 4s runs!

[bonefisher]

RayR...

NitroRCX does not show any spare parts as yet (joy of owning a rarer model)... but hopefully they will soon....

I ordered the drive shaft from familyland.com.au - they shipped for not too much $ (think $10 flat)....

As an important note, the boat is also called "Dragon Hobby Hydro Style" with the only difference being the word "Mercury" on the cowling as I guess they are less worried overseas about trademark infringements.... so if you google that, you can find much more on the boat... but NitroRCX has it less expensive by a fair chunk....

As an update to all.... I measured and the best fitting battery is a Thunderpower 2700 45C.... I ordered in both 3S and 4S... also think because of the additional weight, sliding them forward may solve some of the porpoise issues....

4S should be interesting... thanks to everyone for the feedback and will post when I get the new batteries...

[bonefisher]

Hello all....

So... a quick update... sorry for the delay in posting... got the batteries and tested them out (during a trip to the Sierras so pretty scenery!)....

Definitely need to trim the motor down a bit... I tried sliding the battery WAY forward but still porpoised... I also ordered a SKYRC GPS speedometer so can provide exact metrics to everyone testing props and trim...

Here is the video of the very first run on 4S... appreciate any thoughts!