EKOS clone and upgrade questions.

[Brushless55]

I can confirm this too. :D

[JPriami]

well Ive run the boat about 3 more times now after fixing a flex cable that broke. the props spin pretty freely when you turn them by hand. so I know there is no issue with the drive line binding up. I have a little gap between the drive dog and the bearing on the strut to allow for the cable to tighten a bit under load. my lipos are new hyperion GX EX 3S 45C 5000mAh but i still cant get much for good run times. im talking 3 mins tops at full throttle about 85% of that time doing straight runs. and throttle down to slow down and turn around. and after 5 mins of over all runtime the boat is slow and I bring it in to make sure i dont run the packs down to far. I mean come on wtf 5 mins on a FE boat with 5000mAh high dollar lipos? Als o noticed if I wait a few moment s and let the boat sit out in the water then start moving again and hammer the throttle I can hear the motors spin up to higher rpm for just a second then drop back down. any clues on that?

[FighterCat57]

well Ive run the boat about 3 more times now after fixing a flex cable that broke. the props spin pretty freely when you turn them by hand. so I know there is no issue with the drive line binding up. I have a little gap between the drive dog and the bearing on the strut to allow for the cable to tighten a bit under load. my lipos are new hyperion GX EX 3S 45C 5000mAh but i still cant get much for good run times. im talking 3 mins tops at full throttle about 85% of that time doing straight runs. and throttle down to slow down and turn around. and after 5 mins of over all runtime the boat is slow and I bring it in to make sure i dont run the packs down to far. I mean come on wtf 5 mins on a FE boat with 5000mAh high dollar lipos? Als o noticed if I wait a few moment s and let the boat sit out in the water then start moving again and hammer the throttle I can hear the motors spin up to higher rpm for just a second then drop back down. any clues on that?

That's the props slipping in the water.

[FighterCat57]

JMO, but I think that boat is over propped with 36mm props. I've found more speed and longer run times by going with 32mm props. A lot more.

[JPriami]

no thats not what i mean. I may have worded it wrong. when the batteries drop off and the boat is being slow. I let it sit out in the water for about a min or so. then i would start to take off slowly then get up on plane a bit then hammer down. the boat starts to speed up and you can hear the motors spooling up and it acts like its going to start hauling butt again but then it just goes back down to being slow. i was wondering if that could be a problem with the esc's or something.

also I forgot to note. these packs are 3S 11.1v packs and i charge them up to 12.6 thats where they seem to peak and stop on the charger. when the batteries go down and the boat is being slow i bring it in. and when i put the batteries on the charger they are at 12.0/1 v they are never at 11.1 or below. wtf?
I set the esc's in the programming for 11.1v packs too

[JPriami]

maybe overpropped idk. they are lower kv (2636kv) rating motors than venoms 2850kv. I'd think that with that id be able to handle 36mm props with ease. its not very warm when i pull it out of the water and take the hatch off after running either.

[Brushless55]

no thats not what i mean. I may have worded it wrong. when the batteries drop off and the boat is being slow. I let it sit out in the water for about a min or so. then i would start to take off slowly then get up on plane a bit then hammer down. the boat starts to speed up and you can hear the motors spooling up and it acts like its going to start hauling butt again but then it just goes back down to being slow. i was wondering if that could be a problem with the esc's or something.

also I forgot to note. these packs are 3S 11.1v packs and i charge them up to 12.6 thats where they seem to peak and stop on the charger. when the batteries go down and the boat is being slow i bring it in. and when i put the batteries on the charger they are at 12.0/1 v they are never at 11.1 or below. wtf?
I set the esc's in the programming for 11.1v packs too

I had this issue with my UL-1 running cheap packs
they just were never able to keep up with the motor... they would run good for about 2-3 min then start slowing down.. I would let the Hydro sit for 15-20 seconds then punch it and it would haul for about 200ft then drop off real quick
but your boat has 380 motors that don't pull the amps the UL-1 does and they should be working better?
how are the temps of your escs?

[LarrysDrifter]

Sounds like to me the low voltage cutoff is kicking in.You should be having alot longer run times than that.I always set my LVC at 3.2v.Its a little low,but most times I dont run my boats till the LVC kicks in.Do you know what its set at?

[FighterCat57]

maybe overpropped idk. they are lower kv (2636kv) rating motors than venoms 2850kv. I'd think that with that id be able to handle 36mm props with ease. its not very warm when i pull it out of the water and take the hatch off after running either.

It didn't make sense to me either, until I tried it and the results surprised me. Those are low torque motors, so the smaller props spin up better. They do slip more, but the top end is much higher. The props are $3 each... not much to lose if you don't like the results.



Good luck.

[FighterCat57]

no thats not what i mean. I may have worded it wrong. when the batteries drop off and the boat is being slow. I let it sit out in the water for about a min or so. then i would start to take off slowly then get up on plane a bit then hammer down. the boat starts to speed up and you can hear the motors spooling up and it acts like its going to start hauling butt again but then it just goes back down to being slow. i was wondering if that could be a problem with the esc's or something.

also I forgot to note. these packs are 3S 11.1v packs and i charge them up to 12.6 thats where they seem to peak and stop on the charger. when the batteries go down and the boat is being slow i bring it in. and when i put the batteries on the charger they are at 12.0/1 v they are never at 11.1 or below. wtf?
I set the esc's in the programming for 11.1v packs too

That is the LVC and normal behavior from what I know.

What kind of charger are you using? Is it a lipo charger?

[Brushless55]

Sounds like to me the low voltage cutoff is kicking in.You should be having alot longer run times than that.I always set my LVC at 3.2v.Its a little low,but most times I dont run my boats till the LVC kicks in.Do you know what its set at?

I didn't think of that
but for my UL-1 it was my packs, they just sucked

[JPriami]

I have a SkyCharger B6AC+ for charging my lipos.
As for the LVC is that what is set in the ESC's in the boat? There is a programming sheet for the ESC's that beeps to communicate with it. I have the cell type set to 3S li-po 11.1v 9v cut off voltage it says in the papers.

Or are you reffering to LVC as to something on my charger?

[eboat]

As long as you are sure you have it set at 3S and 9 volts and not 4S and 12 volts

[LarrysDrifter]

It wont be on your charger.You set it with your tx.(sucks).Do you have a programming card?If not I have an extra that will prob work with your speedos.Let me know and its yours.Im not gonna use it.I have 2 of them.

[JPriami]

pretty sure. from the paper work and the beeps/tones it makes. maybe i should try the next setting down and see if that helps? maybe the english translation was wrong on the papers

[JPriami]

its just a sheet of paper with the beeps and tones decoded right?

[LarrysDrifter]

Its too easy to get it wrong using the beeps and throttle trigger pulls.You need a card.

[JPriami]

I can scan mine and post if you want to look at it. btw i just noticed the 4s cutoff is 12v and thats where my packs sit when i bring the boat back in. i bet the programming paper is wrong for this

[FighterCat57]

LVC- Low Voltage Cutoff, part of the ESC software, See Attached.

[FighterCat57]

Its too easy to get it wrong using the beeps and throttle trigger pulls.You need a card.

Yep, a hobbywing card.

[JPriami]

ill look in a few mins thanks.. taking care of my 1yr old son..he trying to help type

[LarrysDrifter]

Good boy!Raise em right!

[forescott]

I would try turning the lvc off and see if you can run it for 5-minutes. Also, when you charge the packs, does you're charger show how much mah you're putting back into the packs? That would let you know if you're using the whole charge in your packs. Is it a peak charger??. the lvc could be set on its highest setting too, that would allow the lvc to kick in early.

[JPriami]

the charger seems pretty nice for what it cost ($60). it has a temp sensor and even a port to hook to your PC and run software to monitor the packs, individual cell voltage, and see the overall voltage and mAh, current and few other things. you can charge /balance/ discharge ac or dc inputs.
SkyCharger B6AC+

[JPriami]

im new to FE boats and all. whats a programming card lol

[forescott]

Some speed controls sell a little programming box you can plug into the speed control to adjust the settings easily. Some of the import esc's are the same, just re-branded and can use the same programmer.

[JPriami]

These are the ESC's in it

ESC's are 70 amp

Specs:
Type - Water Cooled
Voltage - 7.4 - 22.2v (2 - 6 cells lipo)
BEC - 5.5v @ 4 amp
Battery Connector - T-Style

[Diesel6401]

THIS is a programming card for a Turnigy Marine, Hobbywing, Venom esc. Like Forescott said some of the esc's are the same just re-branded like the Venom ekos esc's & the Turnigy Marine series esc's are different labeled Hobbywing Seaking esc's. Venom & HK don't make the own stuff just change the label

[LarrysDrifter]

Exactly.I think yours are the same as Turnigy,Hobbywing/seaking...etc.I have an extra you can have if you dont have one.

[FighterCat57]

the charger seems pretty nice for what it cost ($60). it has a temp sensor and even a port to hook to your PC and run software to monitor the packs, individual cell voltage, and see the overall voltage and mAh, current and few other things. you can charge /balance/ discharge ac or dc inputs.
SkyCharger B6AC+

Yeah, that's a HOTA charger, a good one. I have two of them, modeled as Thunder Power from hobbypartz.