First Run Today

[Joeyhatch11]

Well it was nice enough off today to take a trip to the local pond. Winds were in my favor as they were coming toward me. I loaded up some lipos and sent her on her way. Staying close to shore trying to get a feel for the boat I was simply doing circles and low speed figure 8's. About 2 minutes into the run she flipped right over on a low speed left turn. Like I mentioned, the winds were in my favor and it wasn't long will she floated back to shore. The boat took on a lot of water in the few minutes she was upside down. Had I not been that close too shore I think I might have lost it.

After getting home and drying everything off. I went out and bought some pool noodles and cut three pieces for the front of the boat and two smaller pieces for the rear. I also went online and ordered a left turn fin and a alternate antenna mount. A lot of the water that went into the hull I think was from the antenna mount.

Anyway, I'm going to seal up the antenna mount on the cover and install the new mount on the far rear. Anything else, besides taping down the hatch, I should know or get for this stock boat? Thanks guys, Joe

[soliverg]

Forget the noodles. one in the front is enough (just to stop it sinking all the way, should domething really bad happen).
The point is to make the boat watertight. Yes seal the antenna hole. I replaced mine with a stainless truck antenna for good looks only. I have put some window foam in the hatch seat/grove for insurance. And replaced the hatch cli with the kinetic hatch screw.
And always tape the hatch.

My boat will float quite happily upside down, without any water ingress for at least an hour. I use magic tape as its cheap, but will eventually get soggy.

[Joeyhatch11]

Cool thank you for the reply. I'm taking it to work with me today and I'm going to add some foam around the hatch so it'll seal better. Also going to look into ordering a better hatch clamp, possibly the screw system. Thanks for the ideas. Joe

[Diesel6401]

I would still add pool noodles. Have saved my butt a few times. More flotation the better! JMO of course.

[Joeyhatch11]

I have three 4in piece of pool noodle in the front of my boat and two small 2in pieces in the rear against the transom. I also took the water outlet out today and drilled it out and how she really flows a lot better. Here are some pics but nothing of the inside I was running out of the shop at the moment.

Also would like to ask you guys about battery placement. I'm running lipos and the stock positions were making the boat real butt heavy. So I removed the small pieces off work and threw in some more velcrow. Once the lipos were moved about 2 1/2inch further up it felt better but I have yet to run it like this. Anyway, let me know what you think. Thanks Joe






Here's a new stand I made, painted and airbrushed. I like this one better over the stock one because now I can reach through the middle and pick up/lay down the boat a lot easier.

[Joeyhatch11]

[Diesel6401]

If you have the wood battery trays in the boat, pull them out asap. Run the lipos more far forward. I run the edge of my lipo right inline with the edge of the rails and never had a issue. If you watch my sv27 with ul1 power video on youtube, at the end you can see my battery placement. Link is in my signature.

* I know wizard had a pic of his let me try and find it.


-Nice theme

[johnmaclean]

Great looking combination. Nice work on the stand.

I'm just in the process of restoring a couple of these. More than a little envious that you have water in liquid form to be able to run your boat today. I'm at least a month away from that.. . . The restoration work consoles me, knowing that the thaw of our lake and the completion of the project will probably coincide nicely.

[Joeyhatch11]

Hey Diesel, I watched the videos and lost it when I saw the Rio EP with a field goal wrapped around it rescuing the other boat. Funny as hell. I was looking at the Rio a few days ago thinking I would do the same.

John, not too nice running at the pond though. Although I have water and not ICE it's COLD as hell!!! 2 minutes into my first run the boat flipped and thank god the wind was in my favor. Didn't take long for it to blow to shore but damn. I ordered the left turn fin hopping that's going to make a nice improvement in left turns. Also with the lipos adjusted 2-3inches forward should help with balancing.

[johnmaclean]

Yeah, a buddy and I ran our boats in Novemeber and just as we brought them in for the afternoon a little snow squall blew in. . . . par for the course in the great white north :)

[johnmaclean]

Hey Diesel, I watched the videos and lost it when I saw the Rio EP with a field goal wrapped around it rescuing the other boat. Funny as hell. I was looking at the Rio a few days ago thinking I would do the same.

John, not too nice running at the pond though. Although I have water and not ICE it's COLD as hell!!! 2 minutes into my first run the boat flipped and thank god the wind was in my favor. Didn't take long for it to blow to shore but damn. I ordered the left turn fin hopping that's going to make a nice improvement in left turns. Also with the lipos adjusted 2-3inches forward should help with balancing.

Re: that contraption. I don't remember where I saw the design but went right out and built one the same day. The thing has saved my bacon on a few occasions. I slip my minivee in it and use it as my recovery boat. . . . not too fast but it does the job.

[Diesel6401]

Hey Diesel, I watched the videos and lost it when I saw the Rio EP with a field goal wrapped around it rescuing the other boat. Funny as hell. I was looking at the Rio a few days ago thinking I would do the same.

Best $10 I ever spent!

[Joeyhatch11]

I was looking in the "swap shop" and saw a guy selling a Rio EP for $115 shipped. Not much I can do now about getting it, funds are low. But April is looking good because of an extra pay week so I'm going to look for something used then that I can turn into a recovery boat.

Let me ask you this. The Rio EP states it uses a battery of at least 2200mah. Would I be fine with throwing one of my 5000mah, 7.4v Lipos in it? Didn't know if the weight of the lipo would be an issue.

[Joeyhatch11]

Some pics of the stock battery location vs. where I now have them placed. Stock on right, new spot on left.



Pool Noodles




Took stock clip out. Pushed a rubber O ring on a large enough screw to secure the cowl better. Makes for a nice tight fit. Will be using the tape as well. But with the screw it doesn't move around once it tightened.



Stock Tx lipo upgrade

[Joeyhatch11]

Lipo fits nice and snug in the grip. Ran some test yesterday to see how long it would last. Started with the lipo at 11.9v, after 2 hours of being on, it only dropped to 11.4. I think I could get a good 3-4hours out of it before having to recharge. Plus it's lighter than ever. Looking for an older Rx for my Airtronics M11. Then the stock one will be swapped out for 2.4ghz.