Excited new BJ26 Owner

[Boogie]

Bought the Blackjack 26 Brushless off of a friend and did a few cosmetic changes to it a few nights ago along with swapping out the stock radio system with a Spektrum SR3001 receiver and my DX3R. I was looking into getting a Supervee 27 but this deal presented itself and I really couldn't turn it down. Future mods sometime this summer include a set of Fuller's Aluminum Offshore Cat Hardware, balanced and sharpened aftermarket prop, and a couple 2S Lipos (and the programming card) along with a new paintjob. This winter, I may look into getting a bigger motor and esc, but I've heard many positive things about the stock motor and esc.

I took it out to the lake and ran it a bit yesterday. All I have right now are two 4200mah Nimh 6 cell packs, so it's kind of on the heavy side. Nonetheless, it's a rocket compared to my little Hammer EP, which is now been delegated to a rescue boat. I was very impressed by the speed and overall behavior of the boat straight out of the box, but I don't have much to compare it to other than opinions I've read online.

I took it back home last night and pulled the drive cable out and slathered it with lithium grease. I know many sources say to use marine grease, but I had the lithium grease already and it says it can be used for marine applications. Anyone know how well it will hold up compared to actual marine grease? It seems thick enough and it's always worked well in my rock crawler, then again I never run it in water either.

Anyhow, here's a few pics of it before and after I took some decals off and added my own. After it turned out looking so good without the funky yellow and silver decals, I may not worry about painting it anytime soon...although here in the next week or so, I'm going to remove the radio box and relocate the antenna so I can tape the hatch down without that big gaping hole in the middle.


Before...



After....

[Boogie]

Took the boats back out yesterday evening close to dark and ran em. The lake was smooth as glass, which made for a decent run. Although I know most boats prefer a small amount of chop to get some air between the hull and water, but no so much that it porpoises and beats itself to death. I definitely need to invest in some lipos, the nimh's are way too heavy.
Anyhow, after getting irked at having to pack two boats separately all the time, I went to lowes last night and picked up some stuff to make a boat stand and I think it turned out quite nice.

[bigpapa]

nice stand congrats on the bj 26

[Boogie]

Did some mods to the boat tonight. Took out the waterproof electronics box so I could set the ESC down in the very bottom of the hull along with taking the battery trays out and mount them down in the bottom as well.

I added a little Dubro Quick Switch, which is a sort of add-on you attach to the existing esc on/off switch. It turns the switch to a push-pull on/off that I mounted on the transom. I got the idea after reading PropNuts thread on his build.

Last but not least, I relocated the rx and the antenna. Hopefully soon I can get some good 5000mah lipos, new prop, and some Fullers hardware and it'll be good to go.

Stock setup before...



After....

[LiPo Power]

Very nice! When I will finish moding my BJ I will upload pictures too.....

[v-spec]

Try moving the batteries back some more and you will pick up some speed. The back of my nimh packs are 1.5 inches from the rear of the hull and it made a very big difference, turns better too. Oh and I love your radio!

[Boogie]

Yeah, now that I got the trays out, I'm going to start experimenting with battery placement next. I need to put some 'glass in the bottom of each side to sort of level out the areas where the batteries are since the hull has some weird step in it and it's hard to get the packs placed just right where the velcro will grip. Anyhow, once I get that done, I'm going to put one big wide strip of velcro on each side, then start moving the packs back in increments until I get just the right amount of hull out of the water without blowing over too easily. Then of course, in a few weeks I'll have lipos and have to figure out the pack placement over again, although that's the beauty of velcro, plenty of options, haha.

Yeah, I love the DX3R, they're a little pricey but worth it. I've had enough issues with interference in the past, I just refuse to compromise safety (and my sanity) for a cheap radio. I originally bought the radio for my rock crawler, but had an extra receiver so I figured why not.
I had heard about some issues running 2.4ghz systems on water, but after reading around, I noticed it had a lot to do with setup...which is why I opted to run the antenna straight up out of the hull a bit to ensure there will be no dead spots, as opposed to some people who loop theirs around inside the hull or something. I just do not want to take the chance and it's not that hard to route an external antenna, not to mention that common sense tells you that even on a digital system, you'll get better range with the antenna exposed.

[sn00p]

Nice looking boat and a good write up on how you went about it with clear explanatory pictures. I enjoyed the read. Ive been running My formula fastech on a DX3S and SR3001 For the past 6 months without ANY issues. I Also opted to send the inch or so of antenna outside the hull. I have ranged checked the boat a a new lake we have found and mangage to get the boat as far away until its barely visible. So plenty far enough.

Just for your own info when you upgrade to lipo you will never look back... I personally opted to run

1 x 2s (7.4v) with weights to balance
1 x 3s (11.1v)

Giving me great speeds in the mid to high 40's (mph) using an octura X642 prop. I have however upgraded my ESC as running at this voltage killed my stocker. Running 2 x 3s (22.2v)packs is totally insane and far to powerful in my opinion unless your running straight lines...

Keep us updated and enjoy

[Boogie]

Just because I like to tinker, I'm thinking about making use of my third channel on the DX3R to set up an active front/rear ballast system. Using a sort of movable (albeit low-profile) rail system to mount the batteries on, connected to a servo mounted into a sort of winch system that can move the batteries back and forth using linear mode on the third channel. I know on some servos, you can remove the endpoint limiters to make them run infinitely in either direction, kind of like a winch servo on a sailboat I guess is what I'm getting at. I know probably the biggest issue will be the weight, so it'll take some careful planning, but I think I can do it. It may or may not be worth it, but it might be useful in races when the water conditions tend to change pretty quickly and you have no time to adjust, or if you're like me and just like to tinker. What do you guys think?

Also, I've searched and read around and the most popular choice seems to be fullers as the drive hardware upgrade, but has anybody tried using the rudder and prop strut set from the Formula Fastech or the BJ26 SS? It would be a lot cheaper than the fullers and you'd be able to get away from the u-joint setup on the stock BJ26 hardware. I suspect there's probably a thread out there about it, but I just haven't had the time or patience to look too much into it lately, so take it easy on me if there is.

[Boogie]

Took the boats out today for a quick run down at a local marina. It was my first run using the new setup with lowering everything in the hull and shortening and sharpening the turn fins....didn't do so good.
It ran fine in a straight line, somewhere in the low/mid 30's I'm guessing, and it will turn fine on flat water. But, if there's the least little ripple and you turn it too much, all hell breaks loose. I've had to really dial out my steering to keep it controllable. I know that if I went with an actual strut and rudder assembly instead of the steerable outdrive, it would help a little, but damn...

Anyhow, here's some vid of it that my wife took today. Around the 1 minute mark you'll see it sort of spin out, I lucked out and managed not to flip it that time. However, right at the end of the video, I hit some wake in the middle of a turn and over it went. The guys in the boat backed up and got it for me. I could have sent out my backup boat and brought it in, but they offered to bring it in which was a lot easier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEu899mNUek

The catamaran hull design works fine for straight lines and low speed turns, but I'm really wanting a better hull for all around performance and maybe even some racing sometime. I'm going to tweak the turn fins and my setup a bit more to see what happens, but I'm seriously considering doing a new build maybe this fall/winter with a different hull design, probably a Delta Force 33" mono hull. I know the DF33 is a tried and true performer in the Fast Electric Racing crowd.

I know this is a pretty vague question, but what is the popular or decent setup for the DF33? I'm thinking of something around the Fieago 9XL-12XL on an ETTI150 with a 4S to 5S setup. Has anyone tried both the motor and esc from the BJ26 in the DF33? What were the results?

[Eggy]

I am experiencing the same thing, angled and shortned the turn fins aswell, and doing tight cornes is a pain, just wants to turn on a dime with a nasty twist.

Any tips on how to sort this out, without changing to a strut and rudder. Doing that next month but short on money atm.


Actually i had mine do a jump with a mid barrel roll, and twist in the High 30's last night. Landed right side up and worked like a sharm.

Thnx

[v-spec]

I am experiencing the same thing, angled and shortned the turn fins aswell, and doing tight cornes is a pain, just wants to turn on a dime with a nasty twist.

Any tips on how to sort this out, without changing to a strut and rudder. Doing that next month but short on money atm.


Actually i had mine do a jump with a mid barrel roll, and twist in the High 30's last night. Landed right side up and worked like a sharm.

Thnx

Stop messing with turn fins and just remove them. Move the batteries back and if you can't keep yourself from banging the wheel back and fourth turn the steering trim down. With no fins and the stock outdrive I was able to easily turn at up to 85-90% throttle in either direction. You gotta take it easy flipping the wheel on the controller back and fourth and it won't spin.

I let my buddy drive it and he flipped it right away you just gotta take it easy. I've got the fuller's hardware on there now and it is better for sure but I was having more fun with the stock setup. I never even messed with the turn fins because I had already drove a buddies and decided they needed to go from the minute I opened the box.

[Eggy]

Could be, i have had some runs without the fins, but in my oppinion its way to shaky that way. Did not try to move that lipos around without the fins so that may do it.

[Brushless55]

Cats do not need turn fins..
My Mean Machine truns on a dime if I want it to and will take a nice turn at 90% + throttle with no issues and run straight with no side to side movement.. Straight as an arrow

[Fluid]

Cats do not need turn fins...

I'd modify that to "cats should not need turn fins", the truth is that some do. The BJ26 suffers from a narrow, shallow tunnel which hurts turning, and very dull sponson edges. The bottom design isn't the best either. The best turning racing cat I've had is the AC Boats 'Lightning' cat. It will turn inside any MeanMachine anywhere, and the MM turns great. But for racing you don't need to turn on a dime, in fact that can be a problem. With 70-foot diameter turns, or even 35-foot turns, the BJ should work fine. Just turn down the steering rate....

If you haven't read this yet, go for it: http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...ead.php?t=3044




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