Originally Posted by
hobby_man
The boat is a bouncer as well, just like the video by Jordan,
If your boat is "bouncing", then you don't have it tuned correctly... Any "bouncing" in the marketing videos are simply the result of running the boats directly out of the box, and from marketing people believing that a little "action" is more exciting for the viewer.
The IM31 is just like any other mono... and the hull quality (flatness of the ride-surfaces, sharpness of the edges, etc.) are all above par. It's a good quality hull. I've been racing these hulls since before they were available to the public, and since before there was a "V2" version (heck, before there was ANY version... ) and have never had an issue with "bouncing". Adjust the strut angle to neutral, set the strut height to put the bottom of the strut about 3/16" or so above the bottom of the boat (more will drop the transom down into the water, less will raise the transom), set your CG to about 30% of the length (about 8 3/4 to 9" from the actual transom), and then adjust your trim-tabs down as needed. If the boat is "chine-walking" at speed, push your right tab down a bit more, and more to the inside of the tab. You can also bend in "training wheels" on the tabs if you think it's required (shouldn't be)...
If you boat is "bouncing", then you are loading/unloading/loading the power system with huge amp-spikes, the result of which will be a power system that gets pretty hot, starting at the point of most resistance, the contacts.
The issue with the screws for the steering servo not being drilled deep enough has been brought to Pro Boat's attention. If you understood the nature of getting things made in China, you'd have a clearer understanding and appreciation for the challenges in getting something "consistent" from them. Not an excuse, just a statement of consideration. Pro Boat will work to get that issue, if it's a persistent and common issue, resolved. In the meantime, it's fairly minor and relatively easy to band-aide.
As for the rest of your complaints, I would have to understand your background with R/C Boats, and exactly what you are expecting from a RTR R/C boat.
1) The Antenna?? It was placed where it was placed on purpose, to keep it out of the way of your run-to-run access to the interior of the boat. Is it a challenge to get installed... It can be. Do you have to do it on a regular basis... I should hope not. Install it once and your done. I'd take the inconvenience of it's location over it being in my way every time I need to access the hatch anytime.
2) Servo location?? The servo location is right where it should be, which keeps the steering rod as short as possible for less flex, and also to allow the balance of the boat to be more controlled by the battery location. It also keeps the wires located near the RX, which helps reduce the chances for RX interference. Again, you put a steering servo in ONCE and run the boat for a season. The screws are rather easy to get to, so again, this seems like a rather trivial complaint. I've never had an issue replacing servos in mine, and this is the first time I've heard this complaint. We'll keep it under consideration, however, for future implementations. Pro Boat is aware now, thanks to this thread, of the screw depth issue and will address it.
3) "No collet on the 5mm motor shaft for the .187 dia flex cable"??? I'm not sure what you mean here. The coupler between the motor and the .150-sized flex cable is clearly there. It's a standard set-screw style coupler that works very well, considering it's application. It's a RTR, not a $850.00 race boat, and, frankly, the coupler is a HUGE improvement over RTR couplers of the past. It works just fine. And, YES, the motor has a flat for the set-screw.
4) "They ground a flat on the flex shaft"... This is FALSE. Nothing was "ground" on the flex-shaft. The flat is PRESSED into the end of the cable, just like they might do to form a square drive for an Outboard or a speedo cable. Additionally, the stub shaft is not only soldered to the flex, but it's also "swagged" on with 4 "crimp-holes" to help ensure it's a solid connection. I've been running the stock flexshafts (again, .150", NOT .187"), in my MG's, Impulse 31s, and Mystics, under both P-Ltd and P-Open power configurations, and have yet to have one fail. In fact, I'm currently running a stock Miss Geico flex cable in my P-Ltd Hydro (~60mph setup turning an H-10) and have yet to have an issue with it. The flex cable setups in these boats are solid, overkill, and well built for the application.
5) "80A Spped control with EC3 connectors" - Yes, this is true. They are "industry standard", and what Pro Boat decided to go with. The wiring on this controller was upgraded to 12-awg, however. I have always recommended that people replace all the contacts on their boats before pushing them too hard.
You mention in a later post that "after 5-minutes", the connectors burned off the ESC, etc... 5-Minutes?? If you ran the boat for 5-Minutes, bouncing, in a state of poor tune, then I'm not surprised at this. I haven't read through the manual recently, so I'm not sure how it's instructing users to get up to speed with these boats, but it's common practice, with RC Cars, Helis, Planes, AND Boats, to run them for a minute or minute and a half, then check temps, adjust accordingly, then run them again, and BUILD UP to completely thrashing on them for 5-Minutes... 5-minutes is a LONG time to run any "Performance" oriented sport boat. Our race boats run for 1:30-2:00 minutes, tops... and use around 2300-2500mAh in the process...
If you were running hard for 5-minutes, then you likely used up 5,000mAh:
Runtime/3600 * Avg Amp Draw = Total Amps Used
300 seconds / 3600 * 60Amps = 5Ah or 5,000 mAh)
Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Doing that long of a run and pulling the batteries down that far will quickly overheat a system, and risks damaging the batteries, etc.
I'm sorry you are unhappy and having troubles. Hopefully, working with the Pro Boat/Horizon Hobby customer service dept. you'll be able to get them resolved.
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