New owner, some questions on salt water use / after run / setup

[Tharr62]

For the retrevial boat, I am on the fence..

1. Order the Proboat "duck"

2. Use my existing Atomic Barbwire, with a fishing line behind it with ball / hook etc?


I just worry about driving the brushless Atomic slow?

Thoughts? Also.. not sure.. but, Horizion Hobby seems to not be stocking the Duck any more. I wonder if its being discontunied?

[Tharr62]

Okay, so today.. I was ready to put my new toy in the water (Impulse 31 V2).. BUT, before I did.. I decided to test out my recovery boat ;-)

I'm glad I did..

I am using an Atomic Barbwire because its simply the other boat I own. I attempted to tie the fishing line behind it, with tennis ball.. and it was a night mare. The boat went okay and all, and I did use an antenna tube to keep the line away from rudder and prop.. but, trying to catch another boat was near impossible for me (I used another Atomic as a test, I have two of them). The issue seems to be that I can't turn sharp enough, slow enough to wrap around another boat?

Whats the flat out best recovery boat option our there? It appears the duck is off the market.

[tlandauer]

If you want to buy something RTR off the shelf, the best bet would be a boat with a steerable out drive such as the Blast by Traxxas. I tried the Aqua Craft Rio EP, it has twin rudder, worked pretty well. I understand their Reef Racer works pretty well. I had trouble with my eyesight and had a hard time linning up the fork.
Anyway, just my $ .02

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

[drewluvskarin69]

My Best Recovery Boat Option

Okay, so today.. I was ready to put my new toy in the water (Impulse 31 V2).. BUT, before I did.. I decided to test out my recovery boat ;-)

I'm glad I did..

I am using an Atomic Barbwire because its simply the other boat I own. I attempted to tie the fishing line behind it, with tennis ball.. and it was a night mare. The boat went okay and all, and I did use an antenna tube to keep the line away from rudder and prop.. but, trying to catch another boat was near impossible for me (I used another Atomic as a test, I have two of them). The issue seems to be that I can't turn sharp enough, slow enough to wrap around another boat?

Whats the flat out best recovery boat option our there? It appears the duck is off the market.

Be thankful the "Duck" is off the market. I was the most disappointing RC purchase I've ever made.

If you didn't like removing your Impulse motor to clean the packing tube, then you would HATE the duck! You have to remove the entire external drive housing to get the shaft & impeller out to clean/re-grease. That means you break the OEM silicone seal, and remove all the mounting screws.

All that assumes you ever get the duck back in, after sending it out to retrieve your boat. The range on the TX/RX is much shorter than the unit supplied with your boat. I flipped my IM31 about 50 yards out, and my duck lost radio contact before ever reaching it. Now I had two vessels to rescue! Luckily, the tide brought it close enough to reestablish a link. On a closer attempt, I was able to snare my boat, but the duck battery gave out on the way back in. ARRG!!!

I also am a saltwater only hobbyist, and fairly new to the boating scene after years of flying rotary wing aircraft. I bought an Impulse 31 and a Blackjack 29 after a stupid mistake landed my Quad-copter into the bay outside my office. I've had to rescue them both many times due to: fire due to running 6S, loosing shaft & prop due to collet letting go (3 times), and dozens of flips.

I tried using the tennis ball & pole method, but it took so many casts to finally GET NEAR my boat, it was just no fun.

Now I just tie my fishing line to a hook mounted on stern of my other boat (I put a hook on stern of all my boats), and power the line and tennis balls around my downed craft & then bring em both in with my saltwater casting rod & reel. That way I don't overload the ESC on the rescue boat. I've mounted two OSE tow hooks (ose-83002) on the bow of every boat, one on top & one underneath), for the line to snag, in case it misses the hardware at stern. Guaranteed success every time now.

The Duck is a cute "toy", but not the way to rescue your precious boat before the tide changes.

[capnswanny]

If you've got the space available, a cheap kayak is the goods.

[Tharr62]

Thanks so much guys for the info!

I decided to get a Traxxas Blast, because of the turnable outdrive.. I am going to try the pool noodle / PVC pipe system and use this boat to push back the distressed boat.

Ill take some pics once I have it all set!


Also.. I could be wrong.. but, it appears that the blast uses some kind of drive axle.. and not a cable.. so I am not sure I even need to lube after each run and remove from motor etc.. like on the fast boats I have? So, this is nice! Less after run process!

[drewluvskarin69]

Hi Guys!

3. I have this part that came with the boat. Its a small clear tube, but bigger diameter then the water cooling tube, and its short. Where is this used? The manual has no mention of it? Its about the diameter of the drive shaft?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]115993[/ATTACH]

Thanks so much guys!!

That thick silicone tube goes over the battery hold-down screw, between the hull and the hold-down cover & wing-nut. It protects your batteries from abrasions from the course metal threads. Took me a while to figure it out too. Actually, I saw it in-place in a another member's unrelated setup photo.

I also agree with tlandauer's caution regarding the three piece collets w/ brass insert. Once you tighten the assembly, it can be a real btch to get the brass insert to let go again.
I've seen a flex-shaft retaining collar somewhere, that I love to find again, that clamps onto the shaft between the collet and the stuffing tube. It is supposed to keep your shaft & prop from dropping off, in the event your collet lets go. I lost 3 OSE upgrade shafts with balanced Octura X642 props (at about $65 a pop) before settling with the Octura "oct-ocfhe5mm15S" collet ass'y from OSE. Seems like it would be cheap insurance, if there is enough room on the shaft for it.

[Tharr62]

So, I got the Traxxas blast today.. and made a PVC style recovery boat etc. Seems to work fine. The outdrive / motor is kinda loud tho.. LOL. but, it will work fine. It turns very good at slow speeds!

The only thing.. is the temps on the motor after a few min of running was close to 200F! I think this was because there is no water going through the lines, because it is not going fast enough?

Should I just feather the throttle all the time (very low speed), and maybe run without the top on for better air flow?

[tlandauer]

Does it have a coil cooling jacket? Check for any dings or blockage, these brush motors do run hot especially around the endbell. The older version wasn't even cooled by water, it had a heatsink on the can, lol...
Can you see any water coming out of the boat?

[Tharr62]

I tested the lines.. and there is no leaks. There are cooling lines around the motor.. but, the problem.. is that the boat will not fast enough in the water to create the vacuum for the water to come though.

Thoughts?

Just run without the top on?

[tlandauer]

Could you post a picture of the water pick-up? I went on their site but it doesn't show the pick up, no idea what kind or how it is mounted.
The answer to your qustion is "NO", what if this boat flips? ARE YOU ALSO RUNNING THIS BOAT FOR FUN OR JUST HAVE IT ON STAND BY?
The pick up is like a ram , I agree that there should be speed, but it doesn't take much, it's not working on a vaccum theory. Is the tip of the pickup facing the correct way? You know what I mean....

[Tharr62]

This boat is only for recovery. Not fun. It can't flip over because it is attached to a large PVC frame with pool noodles to fork in the stranded boat. I think I'll run it with the cover off, and see if that helps. Also, I may need to remove the water lines and replace with a traditional heat sink.

As a side note, I'm currently sitting bed sick with inhulation from the silicon seal I used to patch up the stock hull. I'm waiting to see a doctor today. The fumes are nasty. I just hope I'm okay :-(

[tlandauer]

Sorry to hear your reaction to the fumes! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
I was not thinking, of course the boat will not flip while it is attached to the PVC frame. Yes, that speed would have been a bit too slow for good water flow, but I will pay more attention on the ESC than the motor, also, these "modified" 540-size brushed motors do get hot, one thought is to replace it with a 550 motor such as the ones used in the Rio EP:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMMZ3&P=Z

However, this is a 550 sized mill and may be too long, I am just saying... because of the openings on the brushed cans, I doubt a regular water jacket will fit, unless a short one with the right diameter.
BTW, which hull needed silicone seal patching?

[Tharr62]

Thanks so much.. I have an appointment later today to see the doctor.. better to be safe then sorry. :-(

The Blast needed patch work. It was very leaky out of the box.

I forgot to mention, I finally ran the Impulse for the first time. It was on 4S (two 45C 3300's in parallel) I got about 5 - 6min of WOT and landed around 3.5V / cell. Not too bad I guess. Boy, it eats up 6600 mAh FAST!

The boat on 4S, was solid as can be. What was more impressive then the speed, was the handling. With the upgraded OSE fins, it was really well locked in! The top speed on the track tho, was not overly fast, and I can see where some would seek more speed / 6S. But, I am not sure this is what I want to do. I think I am happy with it as is. If there is anything I can try and do for more speed on 4S let me know. I am using the CNC OSE prop, as all the others are out of stock. I was also happy with the temps after run:

Battery, motor, and ESC were all around 100F.. the connectors to the ESC were hottest at 130F.

Also happy to report that not one, signal drop of water came in on two runs (10min total in the water). Nothing, completely bone dry inside, not even around the drive shaft. I was happy about that ;-)

I liked it. The boat was fun, relitivly fast, and very scale looking in the water. It seemed well planted, and solid overall. Full power turns were no issue on smooth water, and did not flip at all. The biggest chop I had was from it's own wake. I give the boat a very high rating for only $400! Looks, and feels like a much more exspenive toy.

I was running on a RC boat track near where I live.. so, I am pretty sure it was not saltwater. After running, I removed the drive shaft.. and rinsed off, and placed a little lube on it for storage in a ziploc bag (not sealed so air flows). Then, I cleaned the stuffing tube with a pipe cleaner.. and used some WD-40. I used WD-40 on the rear hardware, and wiped it all down. I ran warm soapy water (pump it) through the cooling lines, and down the rudder. Top is off, and back on my shelf.

At the end of the day, I feel like there is a fair amount of work with boats.. and that in order to really enjoy this.. I would need several packs to run back to back / re-lube etc.. and maybe make a day of it at the park, with a lunch etc.. Going for a "quick run" is not very practical at all. Time will tell how much use it gets.. but, so far I do like it!


EDIT - (more questions)

Do you think one 3300 4S pack would give better performance vs. the 6600 with two? (less weight)? Of course, the run time would not be good I guess. Also, I have some 4400's 4S packs.. I can either run them together for 8800, or a single 4400?

[tlandauer]

I like the care you are giving to your boat, I also enjoy the after run process, but I understand in your case you would want to have much longer time at the lake since your after care is more intense than mine.
I have now used 4s2p exclusively for the last two years for my sport boating. Not only it gives longer run time, I find it prolongs the life of the batteries as well as the ESC, There were a number of failures associated with Castle Creations' marine ESC, their rep is telling people that anything below 8000Mah is hard on the ESC, the ripple current does a big number on the capacitors and they recommand running at least with that much capacity in your battery. I run 2x6000mah in my Insane 34 mono ( CC Hydra 240, Castle-Neu 1515 1y) and MHZ Lizard Xtrem ( SK180 , Leopard 4082/2000kv d wind) , 10000 mah in my Pursuit. There is no temp issue on the ESC, and frankly I don't think the added weight in this case will slow down my boat by that much.
Regarding weight, there is a recent debate on this topic, it really depends on the situation and in my opinion for sport running, I would like to have max run time and the knowledge that sometimes weight can be your friend in certain choppy condition. Everyone has a different opinion on this subject, you need to try both and see what you like the best.
Which size of the CNC prop are you using? I didn't go back to re-read the threads, IMO even these props need some sharpening. When you do see the props are back in stock (those that were recommended to you) , you should try to acquire them, even it is only a one by one process, took me a long time to have a basic collection so I can experiment with different props in a more meaningful way.
Last by not least, how are you feeling, hope you are better by now!