EKOS clone and upgrade questions.

[JPriami]

I'd like to know what other owners of this boat say about what their boat weighs with the batteries in it. I need to know if mine is too heavy. thanks

[FighterCat57]

I'd like to know what other owners of this boat say about what their boat weighs with the batteries in it. I need to know if mine is too heavy. thanks

2200 grams empty / 3160 w/2 30c 4k 4s Lipos

[JPriami]

about 6.9 Lbs loaded? OK. I got mine today. had a bit of things to fix on it out of the box. But i do inspect everything i buy and look over it to make sure things are ok. I havent gotten to really run it yet. Looks like it will be weighing in at 6.2Lbs or so with the 3S 5K 45C lipos. The box says it should weigh 2400g as rtr. I was just wondering maybe mine was too heavy.

[JPriami]

I got it today. Few pics i snapped with my phone. When i put the props on i was thinking they would work better with the left prop spinning counter clockwise and the right spinning clockwise. idk made sense to me because it looked like the prop would grab more water comming off the hull in that way. But then i looked at the manual and seen it wanted me to have it setup the other way. So i pulled the cables out and swapped the cable and props around.

[forescott]

I got it today. Few pics i snapped with my phone. When i put the props on i was thinking they would work better with the left prop spinning counter clockwise and the right spinning clockwise. idk made sense to me because it looked like the prop would grab more water comming off the hull in that way. But then i looked at the manual and seen it wanted me to have it setup the other way. So i pulled the cables out and swapped the cable and props around.

Yup, the ekos manual shows it the same way...left side clockwise.

[LarrysDrifter]

Thats a good looking hull.Id like to have one of those to replace my EKOS.Can you tell me where you got it again?

[JPriami]

I got mine in the UK at http://www.elitemodelsonline.co.uk took about a week to get here shipped TNT
They carry 2 vesions of the boat as follows.

DRAGON MINI CAT 820EP 70A BOAT (R/C READY)


DRAGON-SAGA-MINI-CAT-820EP-70A-BOAT-RC-READY

[JPriami]

posted this on another fourm but i just cant get enough of it lol

[JPriami]

I ran it today. it seems pretty cool. might be going about high 30"s to low 40"s. But the darn thing dosent seem to run for very long. I mean I might get 3mins of good run time. after that its a slug.
Is it because my lipos are 45C? are they discharging to fast? Would I get longer run times on a 20C pack? They are hyperion EX G3 3S 5000mAh 45C packs.
Whats the score here im kind of bummed out.

[FighterCat57]

Yeah, twin motors suck down the juice pretty quick. This is where an eagle tree comes in handy.

[JPriami]

ill be selling this pos if this is what i have to look forward too lol. move back to combustion engines

[electric]

I ran it today. it seems pretty cool. might be going about high 30"s to low 40"s. But the darn thing dosent seem to run for very long. I mean I might get 3mins of good run time. after that its a slug.
Is it because my lipos are 45C? are they discharging to fast? Would I get longer run times on a 20C pack? They are hyperion EX G3 3S 5000mAh 45C packs.
Whats the score here im kind of bummed out.

No so much the C rating as the MAH. Think of the MAH as how big your gas tank is. Is it 3000,4000, 5000???? The bigger the the gas tank, the longer you can go.
C rating is just how much the amperage the battery can give up without being damaged.

[LarrysDrifter]

Doesnt sound right to me.I have 4000mah packs in my EKOS and can get about 10 minutes of constant wide open throttle.Dont sell it just yet.We will all help figure this out.Dont be surprised about having issues come up with this boat.Its the same POS as the EKOS stock.You can either up grade everything,or get rid of it.Thats what I did and I still have problems sometimes.Not nearly as often as stock,but they are still there.If you do sell,let me know,but dont give up yet.

[JPriami]

I'll still mess with the boat a while. I’m still waiting on parts I’ve ordered anyways lol.

A little electrical background I am a FCC licensed ham radio operator and I’m one of those that actually studied to pass his test to get his license ha-ha. Most people cheat and just study the questions and answers on the test question pools.

I am a little new to lipo batteries being most of my rc hobby has been gas or nitro. So I do ask many questions. And by no means am I nor declaring myself knowledgeable. But I do put a lot of thought into things trying to understand.

I understand about the mAh (miliamphour) is what the pack holds as its capacity. And the C rating is what it can safely discharge at. My progression of thought on the C rating affecting run time is as follows.

If you think of the battery pack like a tank of water. That holds 5 gallons. These 5 gallons would be the mAh. And the water valve opening diameter as the C rating. The larger the C rating the larger diameter of the valve opening & faster discharge rate of the water. And also the faster the tank will empty. I thought maybe there is a balance between mAh and C rating for what your setup needs and this balance gives you the most power and run time you can have. But if you don’t have enough or too much of either then this will shorten your runtimes or starve the electrical setup for what it needs to perform its best.

I guess my question should be is is it possible to have to high of C rating on a lipo pack than your system needs and that it will discharge the pack quicker than if you had a lower C rating. And that is there a balance between enough and too much on the C rating.

[Rumdog]

a little off. Think of the c rating more as the valve has the ability to open more. It will only fully open when the motor is trying to pull all the available juice it can. Some motor, and prop combos require more juice at a faster rate. However, if your packs have avery large c rating, and the motor isnt trying to pull those amps, the valve will never fully open. Packs will only discharge faster if the motor is pulling more amps.

[JPriami]

Thanks for the info. that puts my mind at ease a bit.

[forescott]

I see a lot of guys that buy into the hype of the c-rating and spend lots of money on 45+c-rated lipos expecting to see gains in speed. But it doesn't always work that way. I like the gas tank analogy!

[JPriami]

I ordered the 45c packs because i was getting these packs for the new traxxas titan boat coming out. and someone from traxxas told me i should have 45c pack s at the minimum.

[LarrysDrifter]

The only difference Ive seen in lipos is running them at 100 degrees as opposed to room temp.You can tell a difference in power.I never believed it before.

[JPriami]

so i should stick my lipos in the microwave and warm them up before i run them right lol. just kidding
I wonder if people that run at races use a warmer to keep them heated or something

[LarrysDrifter]

Last time I raced was about a month ago in the heat.Mine sat on my white pit table and got up to 100 degrees plus or minus a few.That was the 1st time I ran them that warm.I could definitely see the difference in power in my ul-1.Its worth trying after you get your new boat sorted out.

[JPriami]

myheating pad wont be just for my back now lol

[forescott]

I ordered the 45c packs because i was getting these packs for the new traxxas titan boat coming out. and someone from traxxas told me i should have 45c pack s at the minimum.

Sorry, but that is just b.s. Sounds like something my local hobby shop would tell me!

[JPriami]

live and learn i suppose. no biggie. other thanin my wallet

[LarrysDrifter]

Sorry, but that is just b.s. Sounds like something my local hobby shop would tell me!

If you already bought them and didnt use them,see if you can send em back.I used to be into the whole "c" rating crap.Im not too sure I believe it.Maybe one can benefit from a high c rating when running 8s or more?

[JPriami]

too late. its the only packs i have for boats now. again im a gas/nitro guy (my rcu names says it NitroSS) so this is my 2nd venture into FE boats. I had to start over again and get new packs for the boats I was planning on getting. this one and the titan. im not getting the titan till i get this one working right and its fun. my first venture into FE was with a supervee 27 a few years back. when i sold it it was on hard times and the electric was the first to go.

[eboat]

C rating
You can never have too high a C rating (just costs more)
But if you have too low and try to draw more amps than the C rating allows things will get hot (some times too hot) :)

[Brushless55]

I ordered the 45c packs because i was getting these packs for the new traxxas titan boat coming out. and someone from traxxas told me i should have 45c pack s at the minimum.

Well that tells you a little something about Traxxas

[Brushless55]

o yea..1 more thing
cat is 2" shorter than ekos make sure inerts are the same dimensions.
just to be safe.......
check the flex first may be ok...mite just have wrong prop for pics...
seen it done before to club member
again nice cat...good choice..saw this first but
was out of stock so ordered the ekos...love this boat
but now i hate the paint....off i go to to get some sandpaper

FYI
this cat is the same hull as the ekos

[JPriami]

I can confirm this too. :D