The official 36" zelos twin modding thread

[kfxguy]

This is an open thread for everyone to post their successes and failures and info on their modding to the zelos twin. I think the first thing that will be popular will be prop swapping. Let me start.



I flushed my water pickups. Everything hanging in the water creates drag. It made no difference at all. None. So skip this. Just had to try it just in case. I tear drop shaped them. I'll take pics when I get home, but still skip this step unless you just want to do it.

Pic of mine in the water

[arrover]

Excellent! Should be a fun thread! I can't wait to share...

[paulfromtulsa]

well i ran the boat through 2 battery packs back to back. the batteries im using are spc 7200mah 70c. the temps after both packs were motor 97 , esc 88, battery 100 , and battery connectors 119. so theres room to prop up. i ran the batteries all the way to the back and only got only 58mph. then i moved the battery all the way to the front on the second pack and got the exact same results 58mph. the boat is very stable at those speeds. time to do some modding!!! also i notice that the stream of water that comes out of the outlet is not very strong so i dont believe it is cooling as well as it should be, have you guys also notice that?

[arrover]

My temps have been low also. One of the "U" shaped water hoses on my ESC looks like it's on the verge of being kinked. You might want to check that. I may extend mine so the bend is more gentle.

[kfxguy]

well i ran the boat through 2 battery packs back to back. the batteries im using are spc 7200mah 70c. the temps after both packs were motor 97 , esc 88, battery 100 , and battery connectors 119. so theres room to prop up. i ran the batteries all the way to the back and only got only 58mph. then i moved the battery all the way to the front on the second pack and got the exact same results 58mph. the boat is very stable at those speeds. time to do some modding!!! also i notice that the stream of water that comes out of the outlet is not very strong so i dont believe it is cooling as well as it should be, have you guys also notice that?

Mine does the same thing. Judging by your temps and my temps, it's just fine.

Definitely check for kinks. Stuff happens sometimes but it's better to catch it now

[kfxguy]

I'm glad you guys got a baseline. Seems dead on the same speed with both of you. Now sharpen the props and let's see what it picks up. I didn't run mine without sharpened props to see but I'm guessing it will be worth your while to do it.

[kfxguy]

I forgot. Over the past couple days I've been paying attention to the details. I sharpened the rudder better on it and sharpened the bottom of it too. I also noticed my props weren't as sharp as I like. I only spent about ten minutes on them. I smoothed my flexes with 400 grit and then polished with mothers. Using a drill spinning the flex is how I did it. Be careful and you don't need high speed, it will whip on you. It will smack you. Lol

When I first put the boat together (mine is a prototype and needed some changes to get it to production status) I had to move the motor mounts. When I did, it was late at night and I wanted the thing ready for the next day so I sort of rushed it and didn't bend the brass tubes at just the right angle.....so mine eventually melted to Teflon (the motors moved on me in a crash too....my fault there but long story) I'm not sure how much drag that was creating but now it sounds tons smoother and I can tell the motors move easier. Might be worth some speed there. I also chamfered the leading edges of the drive dogs. These little things may or may not help but I'm pretty impressed with the speeds I'm getting.

[kfxguy]

Arrover, what are doing to yours first?

[arrover]

I'm thinking props like you said and we'll see how that spirals out of control. Know what I mean?! Haha! I'm fairly new to cats so I'm looking forward to learning and tweaking just like I did with my Voracity. I'm not planning any motor/esc changes for right now.

[Rafael_Lopez]

well i ran the boat through 2 battery packs back to back. the batteries im using are spc 7200mah 70c. the temps after both packs were motor 97 , esc 88, battery 100 , and battery connectors 119. so theres room to prop up. i ran the batteries all the way to the back and only got only 58mph. then i moved the battery all the way to the front on the second pack and got the exact same results 58mph. the boat is very stable at those speeds. time to do some modding!!! also i notice that the stream of water that comes out of the outlet is not very strong so i dont believe it is cooling as well as it should be, have you guys also notice that?

What you can do is tear drop the opening to the water pick up with a hobby knife a little. Just knock the paint out of the inlet and you will notice a difference. It's not restricting the water flow, judging by your temps, but if you want max flow, you would need to clean out the paint from the inlets.

[Keagan-Z06]

Is Horizon Hobby the only place right now that has the Zelos Available? I want one baaaad!! Amain is the only site I know that accepts different shipping and billing (live outside US)

[Rafael_Lopez]

Is Horizon Hobby the only place right now that has the Zelos Available? I want one baaaad!! Amain is the only site I know that accepts different shipping and billing (live outside US)

Don't know if Steve ships Internationally.
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...od=hh-PRB08021

[Keagan-Z06]

Don't know if Steve ships Internationally.
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...od=hh-PRB08021

I can have it shipped to the US and then a courier to bring it to Belize. Let me try!

[Keagan-Z06]

Never mind, order placed. Thanks for making me broke Rafael!

[Rafael_Lopez]

My pleasure.

Never mind, order placed. Thanks for making me broke Rafael!