Oldie turned newbie in FE

[sean450]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to FE but not rc boat racing. Used to be a nitro racer now looking to join the FE crowd. I plan on starting a 1/10th sport hydro build and I'm wondering what I can power it with. My budget is limited so top of the line gear is out of the question but I still want to be competitive.
Also I have an Aeromarine .21 sprint cat hull that i would like to electrify. Any suggestions? your help would greatly be appreciated.
thanks

[Flyguy55]

Competive ? Are to talking about a Sport hydro ? or 10th Scale Hydro ? Racing ?
NAMBA Members are voting on a 10th Scale class now and if passed has some very inexpensive motors spec'ed. Both organizations have a P Sport Hydro Class . Competitive motors are much more expensive , although the XL motors will run pretty good. for under $100.
A lot of clubs run P ( 4 lipos in series )Limited Spec Hydro class with spec motors the same as the proposed 10th Scale class .
What hull and class are you thinking about ?

[Fluid]

The SprintCat .21 is a great hull to run FE - lots of folks here run the MeanMachine, which is identical except for the deck. Do a search on OSE for MeanMachine builds and you'll find a lot of information to help you.

For a budget setup, a club member installed an Aquacraft UL-1 motor and ESC in his MeanMachine, and on 4S1P/4900 LiPos it runs in the high 30s/low 40s racing in the LSO class. This is inexpensive yet reliable (just don't overprop it) - Steve sells the UL-1 motor/ESC combo for about $160. He uses the 'Rhino' packs from HobbyCity, again a budget setup at about $80. These cheap packs seem to work well for low amp setups, but I wonder about them in high power applications.

For the hydro, like the previous poster asked, what does competitive mean to you? What FE classes are raced in your area? The 1/10th scale boats will run okay with the same UL-1 setup mentioned above, but it will not be speed competitive in P Sport Hydro classes running against Hacker, Lehner and Neu motors. Even with the higher quality motors you won't be competitive racing with nickle cells, good quality LiPos are pretty much mandatory.



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[DISAR]

Many of us have turned into FE from nitro, myself too. As Fluid said if you search for the Mean Machine you will find many info and very easy to build, I built one too, therefore your Sprintcat 21 can be easily electrified. Here are a few of them
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...read.php?t=751
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...hlight=machine
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...8324#post18324

Many motor options depending on your budget, but it can go really fast as well with a Feigao 9XL on 4s.
Please note that in FE boats things complicate a bit because you have to match motor-esc-batteries-prop, after reading this http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...read.php?t=271 you will get the idea. Welcome!

[sean450]

Thanks for the reply guys,

I have just started the lay out of a Garry Finlay Pay'n Pak hull. After much research I know that lipo batt. technology has surpassed nickel cells by leaps and bounds so I'll be running them in my hull. The UL-1 gear seems to popping up in everything I have read in OSE forums so I'm guessing its a good setup. My budget for motor and controller is about $350 so I have to get it right the first time. Nitro set ups were easier to deal with as far as choices go. Seems to be a lot of different ways to get the same end result in FE and it gets a little confusing. Flyguy55, when you speak of the XL motors are you talking about the Feigo and KB motors? And I noticed outrunners are now being used in FE boats. Are these viable options for my hydro build? Thanks for the help. Any will go a long way in helping with outfitting of my boats.

[Flyguy55]

"Flyguy55, when you speak of the XL motors are you talking about the Feigo and KB motors?"

Feigo motors yes , I've not used a KB so I don't know how they compare .
If your going to race you need to find out what classes they are racing in your area. There are nearly as many FE classes as Nitro , and far fewer Fe clubs and racers so far .

I raced nitro for over 20 years , I don't think Fe is more compcated then nitro if you run at a hi level. The boats are boats , but the power systems are so different both take some time to learn . And technolegy is changing so fast in FE were all still learning.

Did anyone ask where you live ? there might be some good help locally

[sean450]

Disar and Flyguy55

Thanks for the info. I live in No. Virginia and the local club around here is Capital RC model boaters. I have sent out an e-mail to contact them about the classes they run. There an IMPBA club. I'm gonna hold off on the 1/10th scale hydro build until I hear back from them. I have three other boats I can outfit, .21 rigger based off the dumas hawk, .21 mono hull which I thinkk is a steve muck design, and of course the sprint cat. I'm sure the power systems you suggested will work for these hulls.

[Fluid]

I raced against Steve a few weeks ago, he was running his .21 Muck mono on 4S with a Neu 1521/1.5D. It was ballistic even in rough water. The only way I caught him on the oval was when he took a bad hop and ended up at the bottom of the pond for almost a lap before he popped back up.....



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[sean450]

Thats pretty awesome. Ive had this hull for over ten years and never done anything with it. Better late than never I guess. Would a feigao 580 power this hull ok on 4s?

[Flyguy55]

I haven't seen many reports on the 580L motors , Brain Buass has one on a 7.5 size Leecraft tunnel and says its overpowered .
I have a 580 L I'm going to try in a 35" sprint cat and a 37" AC Pro Sport 40 on 6S . These are left over nitro hulls I never got around to finishing also .
I'm sure it will be plenty of power .
Do you know what version it is ? length ? I used to race a lot of Muck Monos .

[sean450]

The hull is 32" long. And if Brian Bauss is running a 580 on a 7.5 tunnel hull and its over kill then it"ll be way to much for my mono

[Flyguy55]

It will be interesting to see what Fluid says ,( He's been doing Fe for a long time ).
I'd think a Feigo 9XL would be good in the Muck mono . Your going to have to learn about FE .It will go near the speed of a good 3.5 .If its not fast enough after awhile you can buy a NEU and not have too much invested.
I'm about 1/2 done building a Seaducer SD3 with a NEU 1527 1D . I'm sure it will be over kill .
But Sometimes a lot is OK , but way too much is just right .
just for fun

[sean450]

that seems like a lot of motor for that boat. last I read guys were using that motor in 1/8th scale hydros and .90 sized riggers. I guess with reduced voltage it makes it possible.

[sean450]

I have a NEU 1527 1y I got from an engineer from an R&D project for the Navy. I"ve seen what it takes to power this thing in a boat. Not to sure if i want to go that route because of cost. If you know someone who might be interested in doing some bartering for a power system that i could use in my hulls I might consider getting rid of it.

[Flyguy55]

Your right. I have a 1527 1Y in a 90 Sprint Cat on 8S . I've raced it once this year in Open cat against Gas Cats . Its very competitive .
The 1D on 4s is about half the watts as the 1 Y on 8s - about half the power .

I'm pretty sure some one will take you up on that trade . A NEU 1515 1Y would be good in the Muck Hull with a good esc .