Spartan, tear it down to build it up

[dag-nabit]

I agree that the flex shaft is augering the grease out. The mod I did has helped a lot, but the grease is still being forced out between the stuffing tube and strut joint, and past the strut bushings. Pushing grease past the bushings is not a bad thing. http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...run-my-Spartan

I'm going to to experiment with a wire drive as well, in addition to some .187 cables. I see Jeff is saying his wire drives should be available for shipping very soon.

Kevin

[mave]

by the way, isn't the stock flex shaft make of wire? so isn't it wire drive? I'm confuse.

I agree that the flex shaft is augering the grease out. The mod I did has helped a lot, but the grease is still being forced out between the stuffing tube and strut joint, and past the strut bushings. Pushing grease past the bushings is not a bad thing. http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...run-my-Spartan

I'm going to to experiment with a wire drive as well, in addition to some .187 cables. I see Jeff is saying his wire drives should be available for shipping very soon.

Kevin

[GeoVW72]

A wire drive may be the way to go, there certinaly is a good distance to make an easy curve

Go the boat wet today, not the best day. Rain, but the lake was calm

Ambient 69*f

4s
Max speed: 34mph
esc: 93*
motor: 95*

Amp loading is higher for some reason.

That may have been the reason they didn't use a 4-pole in the first place, would suck too much from the stock nimh.

6s
Max speed: 46
esc: 117*
motor: 112*

Performs much better on 6s
As far as speed, that is a product on many factors, prop was a little nicked and I'm tired or replacing them:

Pro boat stainless prop that they're using on everything now(=P215) drive dog is available here.
Forgot how nasty the stock cable made the grease, back to Jeff"s to see if there's a difference.

Also not that happy about the temps, they are low, but so was the ambient and it was raining. Still have the outlet so I'll see if a parallel loop can make a difference.

It'll be interesting to see how fast the new components can push it

[GeoVW72]

by the way, isn't the stock flex shaft make of wire? so isn't it wire drive? I'm confuse.

A flex cable is like wire rope it is made of multiple strands of wire.
A wire drive is made using a single strand of piano wire.


I honestly don't know why I bothered with the stock props.

Ambient: 75*f

4s
Max Speed: 38mph
Motor: 96*
ESC: 96*


Still have some trimming to do. Had the packs an 1" forward from the back, have to move them forward a little more, chine walking may have been the limiting factor.

6s
Max Speed: 50
Motor: 113*
ESC: 109*


More speed is there, I just have to work on trimming it out. Cooling loop obviously doesn't seem to matter with temps
Jeff's cable is hands down better than the stock one, but the drive line temps didn't change much. The liner had turned slightly with the stock cable, but stayed with Jeff's without re-gluing it. However, that's been with the stock stuffing tube, have to see what my re-design will do.
The motor did solve a large part of the issues, but I would not call it solid yet. The drive line issues will still occur.
It is easier to work on them without the motor burning up though

[GeoVW72]

Still fighting with trimming, gain some stability-loose some speed.

34-36mph on 4s
47-49 on 6s
temps still around 110*f on everything, ESC temp seems to mirror the motor temp

Trying my new drive line, temps go down, but doesn't work with the stock cable.
Which raises the question, why is the stock cable so "bad"?
So I took one apart


Top is Octura and the bottom is the first traxxas cable I had that snapped when it hit something.
The construction is the same, 4 cores with each one wrapped the other direction. But the traxxas one is constructed using smaller wire and also wire of less quality, as evident by the black tarnish and corrosion on it. The octura cable is nickle coated I believe and the wire is also .10mm larger in diameter.

The difference is performance is large, as anyone who as tried the two will tell you. The stock cable turns blue proboat grease brown, then augers it out of the stuffing tube, then proceeds to start to spin the liner in the brass(breaking it free from the CA bond with my new drive line). Which is the cause of torque roll and some part of the chine waling issue.
I'm not really sure what traxxas was thinking or what the cost difference was, but the stock cable is not up to the task it is put to, even proboat at least nickel coats their cables.

The motor was half the issue, what it's spinning is the other

[Brushless55]

good stuff bro!

[Just ADD Water]

I have new version of the spartan... ive upgraded the water jacket to a large aluminum one .. all the cooling lines have been replace with larger lines .. i drilled out the pick ups and outlet..temps have been very good .in my defense i never run it wide open all the time .. i make a few passes with small burst of speed no longer than 4 sec maybe 5..mainly due to my pond size ... but i am seeing some issues with the flex shaft and tubbing (pushing out grease, and liner tube spinning ) i keep re greasing the shaft after every run to try to prevent any failure ..... could someone please tell me where to get a wire drive for the spartan... or any other issues that might arise ... thanx David

[Just ADD Water]

do you have more pics on the villian project.. i was thinking of doing the same but with two esc's ,, but i like the idea you have with the VXL6 ....how it holding up to two motors ... thanx David

[dag-nabit]

Wire drives as well as .150 and .187 cable drives are available here: http://www.rcraceboat.com/

Kevin

[Savage Skidoo]

Hey Kevin , are you running a thrust bering in your set up . cause just placed order with OSE , if so i need to order one

[Just ADD Water]

hey kevin which one would you choose . 150 or .187.... and thanx for the speedy reply ... David

[dag-nabit]

Hey Kevin , are you running a thrust bering in your set up . cause just placed order with OSE , if so i need to order one

No I'm not. I have some thrust bearings in my kit, but have never bothered installing them. On my Spartan I'm running an upgraded collet, and it is larger than stock, so I don't know if I can even fit a thrust bearing in what little space is left.

Kevin

[dag-nabit]

hey kevin which one would you choose . 150 or .187.... and thanx for the speedy reply ... David

I have not been having the best success with the .150 cables (same size as stock) but my upgraded cables from Jeff just arrived yesterday, and since I haven't tried running the .187 cable yet it is tough for me to really make a recommendation.

However, those that have run the .187 cables seem happy with the performance.

You need to get a bigger collet to fit the cable, and you have to run without the teflon liner in the stuffing tube.

I also have a couple wire drives on order from Jeff, but suspect they are still a couple weeks away. (international shipping delays)

Kevin

[bdp1174]

I was thinking of trying a .150 cable from Jeff also.Are they a drop in or do I need to file the end for the drive dog or anything else?
Also what else will I need to buy to get it put in my Spartan? ( prop nut,drive dog etc.)
Still using the stock setup right now.
Thanks again.

Brandon

[dag-nabit]

I was thinking of trying a .150 cable from Jeff also.Are they a drop in or do I need to file the end for the drive dog or anything else?
Also what else will I need to buy to get it put in my Spartan? ( prop nut,drive dog etc.)
Still using the stock setup right now.
Thanks again.

Brandon

The .150 cable is a direct replacement for fit. You will need to file a flat for the drive dog set screw, but it is easy to do.

Jeff's shafts use a 10/32 nut (if I remember correctly) and the Spartan is 4mm nut I believe.

Kevin