Total Noob - with some total Noob ?'s
OK, let me start by saying I apologize, but this will read like total noob trash (not entirely familiar with all the nomenclature yet).
Anyway, long time RC fan, owned a couple of Traxxas vehicles in the past (mostly nitro), but VERY new to the RC boating world. Wanted an electric boat to keep the overall maintenance down (nitro is a headache most of the time), found the Apache and purchased due to the low cost. Some have commented in prior threads that the purchase price may suck in some new addicts - I'm a prime example of that. Should have bought the BlackJack in retrospect, but I'm already knee deep in this boat and have actually enjoyed hopping it up a bit and learning. I've had the thing for about 5 days now and have run it at least once a day for those 5 days. When I first ran her I was a little dissappointed in the speed - better than a toy, but not quite what I was hoping for.
OK - now for the fun part. After the first day I decided we were under-powered. I kept the stock drive train setup, including the u-joints, although I understand I may need to look at upgrading this too.
I slapped a Traxxas Velineon setup in this boat. That's a brushless 3500kV 10-turn motor along with the VXL-3m ESC which puts out 326 amp peak. Took a little creativity and a lot of programming, but it definitely improved the boat. I'm running Venom 6 cell 7.2V 4600mah NiMH batteries.
Here's my questions, if anyone may be able to help:
1) I 've read a lot of threads that indicate the number of turns on a motor (i.e. mine is a 10-turn). What the heck does this mean? Should I be looking for something more in the realm of a 19-turn and why? I kept theoriginal water cooling system and fit it to this motor because they were both of the 550 size.
2) Batteries - the battery is the only thing running hot in this boat right now. I originally ran an 1800mah but got about 3-5 minutes of run time if I was lucky. The 4600mah gives me a good 10-15 minutes while running the boat very hard. What's the difference between the NiMH and LiPo batteries? What should I be running and why?
3) Props - anyone have an idea of what I should be running and where I can find one that fits this thing? I've looked but struggled to find one. I understand this can add even more speed. I want to get away from the plastic and go to something metal. Obviously I have rookie stamped on my forehead right now so I would prefer something that came at least "mostly" pre-sharpened.
4) How do you tell how fast these boats are moving? Any guesses on how fast I'm running (approx) at this point? I'm guessing maybe the low 20's. What else can I do to push this thing to the absolute ragged edge? I will upgrade the hull when I get to this point.
5) Flex drives - someone want to give the rookie a decent explanation? I can't seem to get a real good idea of how to order something that would fit.
I'll probably have more questions that make me look even more rokie-style, but those will have to wait. I look forward to some new ideas.
