A Bullet Proof Spartan Build?

[Snowride]

Well after much reading and much advice from several I built what I believe to be the best most reliable every day all out fun Spartan. Keep in mind my goal here is not to be the fastest or race, just to have tons of fun without the headaches we usually hear about. So far so good.

There are documented issues with driveline and other problems if going with bigger motors so I stuck to a more "reliable" power source in terms of power and the Tacon 1700 is supposed to be very close to the stock Spartan in power, actually a little more. I am very green at this and therefor elected also to stick with the stock composite prop as they are a dime a dozen and I must say performs extremely well on this setup.

Modifications

Turnigy 180 ESC
Tacon 1700
Upgraded 2075 servo
EC5 connectors all around
Aluminum cooling jacket from OSE
Added additional stock water outlet to starboard side
New larger cooling lines all around from OSE
Dual intake rudder from OSE. Modded with home made bracket to use existing Spratan control arm and mounting holes.
Turnigy Nano Tech 6.0 3S
Wohlt's 150 size drive wire
Octura Teflon drive wire liner

Bottom line, I was able to sell the removed components for close to the same cost as the new components. By the time all was said and done my Spart cost me $309 delivered + $62 in mods. $371 for a bulletproof Spartan is not bad at all.

Working on graphics now and should update this in a few weeks or so.

[jac4412]

By bulletproofing does that mean you also bought an aftermarket fiberglass copy and used the decals?

[Snowride]

Actually flipped the boat and did several rolls bow to stern at about 40+ mph on the rocks and came out with only a few scratches. I was sure the darn thing was going to be totaled as I watch in horror flipping over and over on the jagged rocky shore. This was on a man made pond where the shore is rip rap from water to about 10' above the shore line, really nasty stuff to be boating on. If it would have been fiberglass there would be little left if anything. You would be very surprised at how much more forgiving this hull material is compared to fiberglass. Only real damage was a broken shear bolt on the rudder and the water outlet closest to the boat snapped off.

The design of the dual intake rudder is to break the shear pin and flip up to save major damage on impact. Unfortunately this will take out the brass water outlet when it does so. They do not stock these here at OSE but I did find a real cheap alternative to those brass 10/32 x 1/4" barbs they use on the boat. See here. http://www.dripdepot.com/1465

Before you comment on how unstable the hull is, definately not the case. Handles perfectly, very stable and forgiving. Being a newbie, I turned the wrong way and crashed.

[davey]

to run 6s in this hull what leopard motor (KV ) would one use and what ESC

[martin]

to run 6s in this hull what leopard motor (KV ) would one use and what ESC

Leopard 4082 1500kv on 6s & T180 esc for around 60mph.

[davey]

thank you

[dag-nabit]

Leopard 4082 1500kv on 6s & T180 esc for around 60mph.

Just an FYI,

Leopard has re-badged the 4082 1500Kv as a 1600Kv motor.

You may not find any 1500's in stock anywhere.

Himodel has the 4082 1600 in stock. And I believe Steven here at OSE said he would be bringing some into stock as well but I didn't check to see if he has them yet or not.

Kevin

[Brushless55]

By bulletproofing does that mean you also bought an aftermarket fiberglass copy and used the decals?

Nice one!

[Snowride]

Well it seems like my drive line went for a crap for no apparent reason. I will be replacing the stock driveline with A Wohlt's RC Boats unit in the standard 150 size http://www.rcraceboat.com/Storewiredrive.html and using the octura teflon liner from OSE as part of my bullet proofing.

Stock piece of crap here

[Snowride]

Just a little update. After changing out the stock drive wire with Mr Wohlts http://www.rcraceboat.com/Storewiredrive.html and also changing the liner to an octura, everything seems top notch. Ran 4 sets of 6000ma 6S batteries down almost back to back yesterday with no issues whatsoever. Ran cool to the touch or should I say slightly warm. Played around with tweaks such as trimming the drive up slightly which really helped get gt the nose out of the water and fly. Flipped once with only 8" on bow bobbing in the lake Brought her back, emptied the water and continued on without any issues. Removed the drivewire when I got home to find it like brand new and a very light coat of grease still remaining. Looks like a rock solid overall package as modified to date. Love this thing.

One thing I should mention is the thread on the new drive wire is not the same as the stock one and I had to find the correct nut to fasten my prop. Would have been nice if the drive wire would come with a stainless nut.

[dag-nabit]

What are you running for a prop??
Kevin

[Snowride]

Have not yet gotten to changing that to aftermarket as the stock actually performs very, very well. On top of that, they are darn cheap and easy to come by. Doubt I will swap it out as it is uber fast as is.

[Snowride]

Another update. Well the boat has really been bullet proof and I do believe it may have to do with me running the stock prop and not pushing the limits with something else. I ran into one issue only which was my fault. I did not seal the receiver cover properly and on the last flip it took on water shorting it out. A replacement receiver solved this. I have literally 50+ runs on this boat and nothing but fun. Seems like I am the only one though, sad for Traxxas to say the least. I will be installing the piano wire drive in the very near future but must say I have not had any problems with the Jeff's wire drive at all.

[dag-nabit]

So nice to see a positive post and really good to hear you are enjoying the Spartan so much.

I'm running Jeffs .187 cables right now and have a couple wire drives to try out when I decide to take the time to switch out.

kevin

[Snowride]

Update....................

Water is freezing over and the Spartan is now put away till spring. Performed flawlessly all summer without any further issues. I highly recommend this build if you want to enjoy this boat. Cheers.

[Spartan]

I guess i might try this. Still waiting for Mr. Wohlt to contact me... I hope he does cuz whats to say if i order a bunch of stuff and it doesnt ship...

[dag-nabit]

I guess i might try this. Still waiting for Mr. Wohlt to contact me... I hope he does cuz whats to say if i order a bunch of stuff and it doesnt ship...

That won't happen. I have ordered from Jeff many times with no problems.
He is well respected here on the forums, and you don't earn that reputation by not shipping the quality products you supply.

Kevin

Note: for some additional history on what to do, and just as important, what not to do with the Spartan here is my thread from last season: https://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...lly+got+to+run
You may get a few ideas.
JPriami and GeoVW had a couple really good threads going as well. You can learn a bit of something from pretty much everyone who posts their experiences on the forums. Use the search function, there is a wealth of experience and information here.

[bdp1174]

I just got in another tacon 3674 1700kv in today from hobbypartz.They have been out of stock for a while now.They made a few changes to the ends of the motor,looks different than my other one.
Heres a few pics.I wonder if the two different ends of the motor will affect anything at all?I hope the mounting will be the same.I wonder why they made the changes?
Kevin you have any ideas?

[dag-nabit]

I don't have my 3674 1700kv handy to look at for comparison, but I don't see anything that would prevent you from mounting it without problems.

Are the end caps more open than on the old style? I actually prefer that to some degree. If they get wet you can drain them easily and soak them good with WD40 to help displace the water.

Kevin

[Brushless55]

those are cooling holes..

[bdp1174]

Yes the openings are bigger on the new one.Also 2 less screw holes ont the front for mounting.Other than that looks the same.I also got a tacon 4074 2150kv and a seaking 120 from them too.I was thinking of getting another hobbywing 180 to go with the 4074 to try that on 4s in my mystic.Do you think think the 3674 would work ok in a motley crew with the 120 esc on 4s or 5s lipos?Just trying to get some ideas on some projects for the summer.

Btw have you ran the new style hull much yet? I still have my original old style with the tacon 3674 and 180 in it.(With your esc mounting plate-Thanks again !!)
Ran like a scolded dog last week and no issues so far.I have not put in the wire drive I got for it yet but that will be next on the agenda.
Thanks again for your help Kevin.