Spartan, tear it down to build it up

[PeterTRAXXAS]

...and I'm collecting all your notes about what you feel the Spartan needs. Good stuff.

[martin]

If they can get all the problems resolved & they are very serious problems Not just say a shaft problem that other manufacturers have had where they send a new modified shaft & the promlems are cured. The boat still has potential providing they sort these problems out properly & its not just a band aid solution. What about the boats that are still sat on the shelves in shops that customers are still buying completelly oblivious to these problems who wouldnt be buying if they knew of these problems. Ive spoken to a number of model shops in the UK that have Spartans on their shelves & asked about any problems on this boat & they say they know of none & that its a fantastic boat. I also spoke to the UK Traxxas importer & asked the same question & they knew of no issues & were suprised when i told them of the various problems that were very well known by this point, Thanks.

[GeoVW72]

Good points JPriami

martin: we're a little past the time frame of the Proboat MG issue, but still valid point to be noted on how other manufactures handled an issue.
Agreed that there are many issues, I have worked through many and I am approaching the core. The fix will definitely not be just a band aid.
You bring up a good point on Spartans sitting on the shelves, the 2 are still on the shelf at my local H-town.
Perhaps you counting your chickens before they hatch Peter.


More testing done this evening, had an audience. usually do it in the morning, but people fishin' and I respect their wants.

ambient: 38*f

Run#1 2x 2s
esc: 56* motor: 80*
max amp: 59 speed: 28mph

Run#2 2x 3s
esc: 68* motor: 100*

YT vid

YT vid

Run#3 2x 3s
esc: 86* motor: 123*
amp: 150 speed: 44
YT vid

Run#2 was broken into to parts as I tested the though on moving the packs aft. The only time I see moving the packs aft is when you're running stock or 4s, which I do. On 6s it creates violent instability, with the same load/speed.
Run#3 was a little more varied in speed to confirm what we already knew. The 150A spike was what it took to pop the hull out of the water, rest of the peaks are around 114A.

Equipment has lasted this far, hitting the core tomorrow

[Brushless55]

hey Geo, will you try a bigger prop next time on 4s?
I'm wondering how things would go with like a M445 or bigger

[Panama Jack]

hello Peter. I am really concerned with the spartan boat as I allready burnt my ESC. I cant see this boat runing stock on 6s for any one. See I am in Panama and my boat runs on 90F amient temps. Unlike most of you USA peeps that have frozen lakes and 30f ambient temps.

My first run on the stock NIMH packs my my boat over heated and went into limp mode in 2-3min of running. Then I had to do mayor modifications to the ruder and cooling system, to be able to run it on 6s and even then some runs ended short because it would go into limp mode.

To me the boat was not ready to be launched into the market and as proof you have many members here on the same boat. and I am really upset as this has been one of those purchases that end up in the closet cause it never worked correctly, or just dump more cash into it to make it work.

Is there going to be a recall? is the next shipment of boats going to be difrent? what about the boat that have already been sold, are we going to be able to send our old electronics for the new better ones?

Thanks

[§Bodo§]

Nice to have you here Peter. We all hoped that Traxxas take care of the customers.
So if you already read at least the threats mentioned by JPriami the main problems are identified and also a solution has been pointed out.
This leads to the question, if we can expect an updated version of the Spartan in the (near) future. Will there be any modification on the boats that will hit the market probably in late april, or even later? If so, what modifications are done/planned?
Regards
Bodo

[JPriami]

You mean threads not threats right Bodo?

[§Bodo§]

Of course, you are right. Excuse my english. This language is not my native tongue. But who knows, maybe your threads are threats for Traxxas?

[Brushless55]

Of course, you are right. Excuse my english. This language is not my native tongue. But who knows, maybe your threads are threats for Traxxas?

we just tell it like it is

[GeoVW72]

Brushless55: I don't have a M445, but I do have a P220 to try out.
Panama Jack: ambient is also a good point, I consider my testing so far one big * as it is not under "standard" conditions. I suspect that the setup I have will not work in 3 months. I am trying to get the temps as low as possible

Testing was good today, chine walking gone


ambient: 38*f

Run#1: 2x 2s
esc: 55* motor: 79*
max amp: 49 speed: 28 mph

Run#2: 2x 3s
esc: 69* motor: 96*
amp: 87 speed: 42

Run#3: 2x 3s
esc: 77* motor: 110*
amp: 97 speed: 44

Finally got the inside of the hull pretty dry, thanks to dag-nabit and JPriami for the inspiration:

filled the hatch tabs with silicone and ran a bead, to keep the wave that comes over the transom from swamping the boat. But the water on the deck was getting in so:

took about 3' of medium tubing and cut a slit in it, put it on the top deck of the boat to raise their lip even further and today there was only a few drops in the hull not .oz

I'll try the larger prop on 4s and I guess I'll have to enlarge the motor outlet to get more flow

[JPriami]

Chine walking gone? Were you in a little choppy water? Or glass? My boat stock was good in chop. Sucked on glass.

[GeoVW72]

Chine walking gone? Were you in a little choppy water? Or glass? My boat stock was good in chop. Sucked on glass.

For the most part gone. little choppy, started a little bit when I ran over my own wake, same as you. but if it did start it, it settled down instead of getting out of control.
was going good so maybe it hit the 5-0 and survived.

[JPriami]

Sweet.
I've got to finish testing the one boat. And got 2 different props to try on mine.

[Brushless55]

another thing you can do to help keep water out, is use clear electrical tape to tape the hatch down

[GeoVW72]

another thing you can do to help keep water out, is use clear electrical tape to tape the hatch down

Yea, Yea, that is the right way to do it, I guess I'm just lazy.
not sure what you could do with the transom though, unless you do dag-nabit's mod to a t

[Brushless55]

Yea, Yea, that is the right way to do it, I guess I'm just lazy.
not sure what you could do with the transom though, unless you do dag-nabit's mod to a t

I was thinking of using some 1/4" door edge foam..

[Shaun78]

what setup did u run today to get rid of chine? I tried mine 4.5MM strut and batteries all the way back and tabs all up. little chop, chine walk YES.....Did run fast though but i couldnt hold WOT due to chine

[GeoVW72]

what setup did u run today to get rid of chine? I tried mine 4.5MM strut and batteries all the way back and tabs all up. little chop, chine walk YES.....Did run fast though but i couldnt hold WOT due to chine

Move the batteries to mid-forward, take a little bit out of the strut angle .5-1mm.
Loosen the strut mounts and shift the strut up and to the right then re-tighten them

[Brushless55]

Move the batteries to mid-forward, take a little bit out of the strut angle .5-1mm.
Loosen the strut mounts and shift the strut up and to the right then re-tighten them

get the hull a little wet

[shctexas]

Brushless, thats what I used, adhesive-backed 1/4 " foam. It comes in a roll from Home Depot. I inserted it in the groove the hatch edge fits in. Also across the back of the deck, immediately in front of the transom but behind the drain hole. Its snug pinning the lid down but to me thats not a bad thing....yet. As an added measure I put a small strip in each of the lid "overhangs" (the ones Dag-Nabit removed). It works well.

[Shaun78]

With my current setup I moved the batteries midforward a little...same 4.5mm strut which is slightly positive and wobble was gone but speeds were 42 but my packs were almost ready to cutoff. I can run 42-43 with no chine walk but thats not fast enough. 44 and up u get chine. maybe my spartan is maxed out and time to upgrade. I think low 50's with no chine i would be happy. maybe a T180 and Leopard 1450-1600kv is in my near future

[Shaun78]

Will I be Ok if i use the traxxas high current connectors with an upgraded setup? I like to keep all my bats the same and I have some 2S that i would like to try when its upgraded but i also use them on my slash so I would like to keep traxxas connectors

[dag-nabit]

Will I be Ok if i use the traxxas high current connectors with an upgraded setup? I like to keep all my bats the same and I have some 2S that i would like to try when its upgraded but i also use them on my slash so I would like to keep traxxas connectors

The Traxxas connectors are good connectors, you will be fine with them IMO.

I upgraded to EC5 connectors, but only to be standardized between all my boats, not because I thought there would be issues with the Traxxas connectors.

Kevin

[Shaun78]

Good run today, very windy some a little chop which turned out better. 48.0 MPH on stock setup (must have been down wind though) 4.5MM strut, Rt side tab down a little, batteries in the middle, GPS up front. 48mph

[Brushless55]

Good run today, very windy some a little chop which turned out better. 48.0 MPH on stock setup (must have been down wind though) 4.5MM strut, Rt side tab down a little, batteries in the middle, GPS up front. 48mph

Chop can be your friend

[GeoVW72]

ambient 48*f

Run#1 2x 2s P225
esc: 73* motor: 96*
Max amp: 95 speed: 39 mph
YT vid

Run#2 2x 3s
esc: 75* motor: 103*
amp: 87 speed: 42
YT vid 1
YT vid 2

Run#3 2x 3s
esc: 75* motor: 107*
amp: 91 speed 42
YT vid

So not blazeingly fast today.
I had a P225, prop did work well on 4s though
Maybe they should have had one on it out of the box, but I think that the power required is more that the stock NiMh can provide.
packs were pushed to the rear, so that is the cause of the slight chine walking.
Run#2 rudder needs to be square to run/cool right. Not sure why I get a dry lube squeak on the first 6s run, maybe it's the collet

I have setup tweaking to do, other tweaks are proving themselves quite useful though

[Brushless55]

Thanks George for putting on the bigger prop while running 4s!
so maybe to some running 4s2p with a bigger prop could be a nice way to go with this boat?
10,000mah of runtimes and fair speeds

[GeoVW72]

NP BL55 happy to take any suggestions, that setup sounds pretty good. The boat didn't have the same get up and howl attitude it has on 6s and it did chew through the 5200mah pack faster than before, but any setup that doesn't burn the thing up is good in my book

Tore some things apart today
motor really stinks now

rotor epoxy browned a little bit and the back end of the shaft has a shine to it.
So had to bust out a tweak that I think should have been factory:

I'm hopeful a Thrust bearing can take a good load off the motor. re-lubed everything.
Also found some damage I missed from the stuffing tube heat

melted the coating off the temp sensor wire.

More data tomorrow

[Brushless55]

How about trying 5s on this sucker?

[Shaun78]

what the rotor supposed to look like? Geo IM me an email address and ill send you rotor photo and tell me what you think?