Balaenoptera Musculus. Upgrades?

[masonis1]

Youtube.com/user/masonis1

[Make-a-Wake]

Found it finally..............??? Looks fast! Didnt you build it to race a guy??? Did you win??

[masonis1]

I built it for me an to beat my cousins blast, well now we has the same motor but different prop and I seriously doubt it can even go straight at half throttle with this.

[Make-a-Wake]

Did you race him?

[Make-a-Wake]

I'd put a couple 4 oz sinkers in the bottom, about 4-5" from the rear...............wink, wink.

[masonis1]

I haven't raced him since i use his esc and he uses my battery's so we borrow. And will the added weight do what?

[Make-a-Wake]

The added weight will keep it down on the water better, you mentioned in the vid how it may need more weight...........or your buddy did. I use weights in Villains and NQD's cuz they are so light to start with................give it a try!!

[srislash]

3. What about keeping it twin motor with no rudder (or possibly with a rudder), just upgrading to brushless, ESC, water cooled, and 2.4ghz? Would twin brushless still work well?

Yes you can do this with two brushless motors/ESC's. Or you can now.
I have just the gizmo

[masonis1]

I'll hve to try some weight. I also need a better way to mount the battery!

[Nutbar]

Nice conversions, Mason, and Make a Wake! Well, what I'm planning on doing is getting TWO Musculi, and keeping one mostly stock, except using a bigger, faster battery, but modifying the second one to twin brushless, water-cooled, lipo, 2.4ghz, and maybe a rudder.

Btw, Make a Wake, is this the video u were thinking of? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH-a09cpsfw It looks like he did what u suggested, added a brushed ESC, servo, and rudder. That's pretty much what I want to do, except twin brushless, lipo, 2.4ghz, and water-cooled.

1. So, what do you guys think is the fastest battery I can use in the stock Musculus? I already know that a 7cell Nimh works well, but could I go even higher? 8cell? 9cell? 3s lipo maybe?

[Make-a-Wake]

Thanks Nutbar............ I hit the "G" by accident at the end of your name...........you know.........Nutba....... LOL, fixed it.

I actually get more pleasure out of taking these boats and making them into something that they shouldnt be, sleepers. There is a guy who has a twin brushless one with a center rudder...............couldnt find it on youtube.

A fully charged, quality 7 cell will read around 9.8-10.0v fully charged so I dont know why a 3 cell wouldnt work since its not but a couple more volts, worst thing is you fry a $5 electronics board. Or try a 9.6v pack, you know the flat, square "AA" size for Nikko's and toy stuff..........fully charged they are around 10.8v.

I think twin brushless with a couple 380 motors in the 2500kv range, on one big 3s powering both, would be sweet with a center rudder...............even use the stock drivelines and props to really make it look slow to an unsuspecting fellow boater LOL...............it would only have a rudder in the center to look any different.

[srislash]

If you want to go the twin brushless route I have a module that will transmit rudder signal to two ESC's.It is also adjustable as to how much power goes to each motor. Here is a demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCxAs...ature=youtu.be

Just food for thought,we just made it.

[masonis1]

Tht might be a good idea, I'd like to see a twin 380 sized brushless motors in this, I'd like to see what I tried succeed.

[damfurst]

Nutbar I was just recommended a link to this thread by Sundog. I am trying to do the same thing as you with this boat. I have tried both 2s and 3s 1800mah in the boat and here is a link to the videohttp://youtu.be/qVCHid_FXiE The motors do really heat on the 3s.

[Nutbar]

Nutbar I was just recommended a link to this thread by Sundog. I am trying to do the same thing as you with this boat. I have tried both 2s and 3s 1800mah in the boat and here is a link to the videohttp://youtu.be/qVCHid_FXiE The motors do really heat on the 3s.

Yeah! 3s, baby! Nice! I'm gonna try mine with 3s also. It looks faster on 3s than my 7cell Nimh! And actually, the 2s DID look slower than the 7cell, but I guess that makes sense, since it's 7.4v compared to 8.4v. I'm guessing 3s is probably the fastest battery for the stock setup.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna buy a 2nd Musculus and try to convert it to twin brushless, ESC, water-cooled, lipo, 2.4ghz, and a dual-pickup rudder. Maybe even some trim tabs/turn fins! Lol! Super Musculus to the rescue!

[masonis1]

How's it run with 3s

[seehuusen]

Hey guys,

I've been lurking around in the background, reading up about this little toy-monster! LOVE IT!
In fact, I went and purchased an NQD copy of the very same boat, and it's in the mail right now :D

I wanted to ask, as this is only my third boat to build, and all the others have been Jet drives (NQD Tear Into)
I'm thinking running it on 3S with the following motor:
SeaKing 3660SL 3180kv Brushless Inrunner
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...erCooled_.html

I'm unsure about props, flex shafts, rudders and stinger drives...
Here is what I've come up with, and I'm very open to ideas/ suggestions

Adjustable stinger drive (70mm)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...e_Silver_.html

Rudder (Small - 80mm)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...er_Small_.html

Motor to Flexi shaf adapter (5mm motor to 4mm flexi)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...exi_Shaft.html

Now I just have to find a 4mm flex shaft, and stuffing tube?

Please assist me with a yay or neigh for these links

Cheers guys :D
Martin

[seehuusen]

PS. I also found this "kit", with everything included, please let me know if you think about this as a comparison :)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/140522402...ht_1340wt_1163

[masonis1]

I'm running a 2700 kv on 3s and it's too much. Past 1/2 throttle your blazing! Hah and I have a lot of torque twist. Maybe that motor on a 2s would work nice.

I'm also running a grim racer 50/52 prop I think.

[seehuusen]

thanks Mason, perhaps use a smaller motor or lower rated KV motor then?

I'm really interested in everyone's opinion regarding the rudder gear, what do you reckon guys?

Thanks again,
Martin

[masonis1]

Yes I would go a 3650 size motor mine is 3660 because of the water cooling can, and I would go 2000-2800kv so you can actually get on the trigger. For prop maybe a octura 440? Maybe a 442

[seehuusen]

I did a bit of calculations, based off your motor, prop and experience with the boat

2700KV x 11.1V = 29970 RPM on 3S

You mention at half throttle, it becomes too much... with that in mind, I thought, go 2/3 of your KV rating, with a similar sized motor, should hit the sweet spot
2/3 of your KV rating is exactly 1800KV... I'll go have a look for a few more engine options

Really keen to hear about the rudder, stinger, flex gear I've mentioned above :)

[masonis1]

I woul t go that low. It's fun having the extra power when you want, just don't get too hard on it. I'm probably hitting 45-50 when I ease to full throttle.

[seehuusen]

i could always switch to 4s if that was to be the case

[masonis1]

Try that but 4s is heavier

[seehuusen]

what do you reckon about the rudder/ stinger drive I suggested?

[srislash]

I woul t go that low. It's fun having the extra power when you want, just don't get too hard on it. I'm probably hitting 45-50 when I ease to full throttle.

It is hard on the ESC to only go partial throttle all the time.Just sayin'.

[masonis1]

I have a rudder and stinger from a guy that donated it to me for my build, I hade to make a stand for the mount. Mine was for a cat I think so get something that would go against the transom flat without a stand.

[seehuusen]

cheers for your input guys :D

Mason, that's right you got donations, I did read that in your thread now that you mention it
Would you kindly take a measurement off the items? That way, I have a ballpark figure for what hardware I might need to buy

SRISlash, it is my understanding as well... Not to always drive on half throttle, I've found this out the hard way in my Jet boat...
Often you run that on a lot lower throttle, to match the speed of the current in the creek your running it... 2 ESCs later, both 80amps, I ended up getting the 5h|ts, and bought a good quality 120amp ESC, as you have to drive this boat on half throttle, now it all holds up great :D (120 amps for a 2848 3900KV motor!!! the new Jet boat I'm building is getting a slightly longer motor and 150 amp ESC!!)

Motorwise, I'm now thinking

On 2S - safe setup/ On 3S - wild setup
SeaKing 3660SL 3180kv Brushless Inrunner
(http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...erCooled_.html)

On 3S - medium setup / On 4S - Wild setup
S3665-1800 Brushless Inrunner (1800kv) - I'll also need a water cooling jacket, ~$5-$10
(http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...r_1800kv_.html)

Looking at prices for batteries, and the difference between the two setups, I'm sort of leaning towards the Seaking
I can buy 4000-odd mA 2S batteries, with 65-130C discharge for just over $30 at HK... The 4S setup is way more than that, and on my 5amp charger would take longer...
ALL of my batteries are 3S, so I'd still be able to test out the wild setup, definitely with a smaller prop though

Cheers
Martin

[masonis1]

I'll post some pictures and measurements of the rudder, prop, stinger, etc tonight