Got a new addition to my small fleet today

[vinnyp]

I just picked up a new ProMarine 34" MTR single. I love the graphics and the lines of the hull. Hopefully it performs as good as it looks. Real nice boat. However, there are 2 things that bother me . There are no provisions for securing the hatch down. Tape is fine for waterproofing, but don't trust it to hold it on in a crash. I am going to look into using the same thumb screw set up that is on my Zelos and Veles. Unless someone has another idea?? Next, there are no battery trays. Trays are easy enough to add, no big deal. Other than those 2 things, I think the boat is a winner.

[rol243]

very nice, love the aerodynamic shape too. what motor power set up will you use ?

[vinnyp]

Gonna use what it came with at least for now.

Motor – 3674 2075kv brushless Pro Marine RC
ESC – 120a Seaking V3

[fweasel]

The orange MTR is a sweet looking boat. Nice pick-up Vinny!

[srislash]

I love both of their cats. But those are the best graphics I have seen yet.

[emspjay]

Great looking boat! Seeing stuff like this makes me wish I joined the forum before purchasing my Genesis.

[Linewbie]

Very nice score there. I went with the green model last year. I love the boat, and have made a few upgrades over the last year. The first thing I would recommend is you get some JB Weld on the electronics tray where the rails meet the hull. Mine required a complete remounting after the entire rail came delaminated from the hull. I scratched up the hull with some sand paper and went to town remounting the entire assembly. You may as well re-epoxy the stuffing tube as well, as I did mine, it spun free of the fiberglass laminate holding it secure.
You would also be well advised to shrink wrap the juncture between where the tube exits the hull and goes into the strut, if that's the correct terminology. I had water coming back up the flex shaft into the hull.
Mine has done quite a few flips while sorting the CG. out, and I can tell you that the hull, and its assembly, are pretty stout. Better than the average rtr I would have to think. That being said, I just reinforced the inside tip of the tunnel, and the seams where the sponsons meet the deck all the way to the tips with an epoxy, chopped carbon fiber mixture recommended to my by fweasel. Had I thought I would get this deep into it, I would have reinforced the hull with a CF before remounting the electronics tray. I swapped over to 6mm bullets, and added a Seaking 180a esc and just did a motor upgrade as well, but that has yet to be tested. My initial tuning and working out cg with my batteries yielded a gps 62 mph, with the stock, untuned prop. I dont own a gps so only got a speed reading once on a borrowed unit. Water conditions weren't the best. I want to get this boat comfortably into the 80's without destroying it! I run it on 6s btw. I don't get to run it as much as I would like, but if I can at all help you with your set up, pls don't hesitate to ask. Good luck with it, its a great boat and a hell of alot of fun.

PS. don't go with battery trays, the manufacturer recommended Velcro pads, which have worked fine for me so far. I run strap under 2 inch wide Velcro.

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[MADRCER]

Good looking boat vinny! You made the right choice over the other boat.

[vinnyp]

Good looking boat vinny! You made the right choice over the other boat.

Thanks Mark. I think I made the right choice as well.

[vinnyp]

Very nice score there. I went with the green model last year. I love the boat, and have made a few upgrades over the last year. The first thing I would recommend is you get some JB Weld on the electronics tray where the rails meet the hull. Mine required a complete remounting after the entire rail came delaminated from the hull. I scratched up the hull with some sand paper and went to town remounting the entire assembly. You may as well re-epoxy the stuffing tube as well, as I did mine, it spun free of the fiberglass laminate holding it secure.
You would also be well advised to shrink wrap the juncture between where the tube exits the hull and goes into the strut, if that's the correct terminology. I had water coming back up the flex shaft into the hull.
Mine has done quite a few flips while sorting the CG. out, and I can tell you that the hull, and its assembly, are pretty stout. Better than the average rtr I would have to think. That being said, I just reinforced the inside tip of the tunnel, and the seams where the sponsons meet the deck all the way to the tips with an epoxy, chopped carbon fiber mixture recommended to my by fweasel. Had I thought I would get this deep into it, I would have reinforced the hull with a CF before remounting the electronics tray. I swapped over to 6mm bullets, and added a Seaking 180a esc and just did a motor upgrade as well, but that has yet to be tested. My initial tuning and working out cg with my batteries yielded a gps 62 mph, with the stock, untuned prop. I dont own a gps so only got a speed reading once on a borrowed unit. Water conditions weren't the best. I want to get this boat comfortably into the 80's without destroying it! I run it on 6s btw. I don't get to run it as much as I would like, but if I can at all help you with your set up, pls don't hesitate to ask. Good luck with it, its a great boat and a hell of alot of fun.

PS. don't go with battery trays, the manufacturer recommended Velcro pads, which have worked fine for me so far. I run strap under 2 inch wide Velcro.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

That's a good looking boat as well. The paint work is superb. Very impressed with it. So, you just use Velcro for the batteries. I prefer trays. However, I cant seem to find ones that I like. I may end up with Velcro as well. If I do go for trays, I would use Velcro first to get an idea of where to epoxy them in to get the balance right. With the exception of the motor, I have the electronics out right now. I was looking at the way the electronics tray is mounted. I was thinking it could use a bit of reinforcing. You just made my decision to do so. I will definitely leak check it before running it. I will pay attention to where you had the leak. I already poured some epoxy into the tips of the sponsons. Also, going to add more flotation. Do you rely on tape to hold the hatch? I am leary of that so I am working on this, see below pictures. I am going to tap 3mm threads into these little aluminum tabs I made. Then use a set of Zelos thumb screws to secure the hatch, tape to waterproof and I am good to go.

[Linewbie]

I hate using the hatch tape, and want to engineer hatch fastening hardware. As you've shown, there isn't enough material around the lip to get a nice mount going, so something along the lines of what you've got going will work for sure. I would just JB Weld those in, and clamp until cured. I just got a set up together for my Apparition build with materials from Ace Hardware, so I'm going to do the same with the Promarine. I've never had an issue loosing the hatch in a blow over using just tape, I just hate toying around with it. I think finding appropriate gasket material might be a bit of a challenge. I may just try and find some 1/8 inch thick rubber strips that I can cut to size and epoxy down.
I was told that epoxying in battery trays lead to stress cracks in the hull, so I would just go Velcro on the batteries. So far it was worked well for me. I added additional flotation behind the batteries as well. Good luck with the boat, it's really nice.

[vinnyp]

QUOTE=Linewbie;709062]I hate using the hatch tape, and want to engineer hatch fastening hardware. As you've shown, there isn't enough material around the lip to get a nice mount going, so something along the lines of what you've got going will work for sure. I would just JB Weld those in, and clamp until cured. I just got a set up together for my Apparition build with materials from Ace Hardware, so I'm going to do the same with the Promarine. I've never had an issue loosing the hatch in a blow over using just tape, I just hate toying around with it. I think finding appropriate gasket material might be a bit of a challenge. I may just try and find some 1/8 inch thick rubber strips that I can cut to size and epoxy down.
I was told that epoxying in battery trays lead to stress cracks in the hull, so I would just go Velcro on the batteries. So far it was worked well for me. I added additional flotation behind the batteries as well. Good luck with the boat, it's really nice.[/QUOTE]

I don't think you will be able to get the hatch to seal well with thumb screws, even with fabricating a gasket. I think the clamping force needed to get a good seal all around the hatch is not feasible with a screw in each corner. Most likely, you would have to use tape as well. My Zelos has hatch screws, with a gasket, still lets water in. I have to tape it. The ultimate trick is to keep the boat right side up. Maybe one day I will figure out how to do that.

[CraigP]

All three of my boats, hydro, mono and cat have water tight hatches. Not a drop. Two have been upside down, only the hydro has kept the numbers up. It does take quite a bit of engineering and each boat has its own challenges. Vinny, you are correct, it takes quite a bit of force. The Skater32 has 6 Aeromarine cinch screws using #6-32 beveled sealing washers. You have to create the structure to mount the 6-32 receiving thread inside the boat. The DF29 Mono has 4 of the same cinch screws, I but had to design and install a laminated wooden frame under the hatch, or it would have just deflected. The DF Vortex34 Hydro has 8, it’s a huge hatch! Kfxguy gave me a lead on closed cell foam rubber and the right density to do the job.

Yeah, it was hard, and it took time. But never again am I going to let that freaking hatch tape screw up another paint job! It can be done, just put some thought behind it...

[vinnyp]

Craig,
Would you share that lead on the high density foam you are using? I wanted to put something under the hatch of the MTR, as there isn't anything there at all right now.

[CraigP]

It's available from McMaster-Carr, P/N 93375K12

[fweasel]

I use black aquarium silicone to glue in carbon battery trays into the sponsons of cat hulls. Picked that up from Srislash I believe. Two good long beads of that stuff will hold everything in place plenty strong and it looks awesome. You can run straps lengthwise through the slots of the tray to hold the packs, and even still put down the hook portion of velcro on the tray itself to keep the batteries from sliding at all.

[vinnyp]

Thanks Craig and Ryan.
Still searching for trays. Not happy with what I have found.

[rol243]

have you looked at Fuel Tank Trays as used in nitro and gas powered r/c boats ? these are made of fibreglass and are suitable shaped for battery packs.

[vinnyp]

have you looked at Fuel Tank Trays as used in nitro and gas powered r/c boats ? these are made of fibreglass and are suitable shaped for battery packs.

Thanks I will look at that. I know what I want, just cant find them. The trays in my veles would be perfect. Just cant seem to find them.

[fweasel]

Vinny, how wide/narrow of a tray are you looking for?

[vinnyp]

50-60 mm wide and long enough to move the lipos forward or aft to adjust balance.

[fweasel]

OSE carries carbon trays in that range: http://offshoreelectrics.com/proddet...prod=ose-80525

[vinnyp]

Yes I saw them. They are the ones I am leaning towards.

[ray schrauwen]

Good looking boat vinny! You made the right choice over the other boat.

What was the OTHER boat?

[Linewbie]

Yes I saw them. They are the ones I am leaning towards.

Go with the longer ones, they will give you more flexability when establishing your cg.

[vinnyp]

Ray,
I was considering a 1045 Genisis.

[vinnyp]

I had some time today to work on the hatch screws. I was able to get them completed. I made up gasket for under the hatch as well. May still leak, but better than having nothing there at all. I will leak check the boat when I am done with my mods. Battery trays are next.

[Linewbie]

Looks good. What did you use for the gasket material?

[vinnyp]

Looks good. What did you use for the gasket material?

McMaster Carr # 93375K644 Its a bit wider than it needs to be. I figured better too wide than too narrow. I had to trim it some. No big deal to do.

[Linewbie]

Great. Ill have to grab some as well.