Avoiding Problems with the UL-1 Hydro

[Fluid]

Now that a few UL-1s have been on the water we can identify areas to watch. Several owners have found that their motor cooling jacket leaked. I moved my jacket before I tested it for leaks so it may have arrived fine - but after I adjusted it, blowing into one of the inlet tubes showed a leak at the jacket threads. Yours may or may not leak, be certain to check before you run the hydro. Here is how I easily fixed it:

- Remove the motor from the hull and unplug the wires and water lines.
- Shoot some WD-40 or similar lube into the inlet tube, enough to coat all the motor housing that's inside the jacket. Don't be stingy.
- Loosen the end rings no more than two turns and put a thin oil on the threads where they enter the end rings.
- Tighten the end rings by hand until tight. Make certain that the water inlets are positioned correctly.
- Wipe off any oil from the motor and jacket.
- Check for leaks by blowing into one of the inlets with the other inlet plugged. There should be no sound of air passing by the threads.
- Reinstall the motor, wiring and cooling lines.

The small rear winglets are held on with a thin strip of double sided tape. When mine arrived they were also held down with strips of regular clear tape, but I removed those. That made the winglets too easy to remove or to come off on the water. I suggest leaving the outside factory tape in place and forgetting about them.

Most of the fasteners (maybe all of them) are metric, so heed the instructions and be sure to have the correct metric tools - especially allen wrenches - available. Stripping out a socket head machine screw by using the wrong wrench is not a pretty thing.

I'm still very impressed with the UL-1. Like any new product there are minor issues to iron out, but by sharing that information we can maximize everyone's enjoyment with this fun little boat.



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[JimClark]

If those O rings are silicone the WD-40 may soften them. I know I used WD-40 to install the Gundert Silicone water jackets and ruined two of them.

Jim

[H&MWill]

If those O rings are silicone the WD-40 may soften them. I know I used WD-40 to install the Gundert Silicone water jackets and ruined two of them.

Jim

Soapy water works good and is safe for Orings.

[Doby]

Plain old dish soap is a great lubricant for installing cooling jackets. A thin bead of silicone around both ends of the cooling jacket WILL solve any leak issues.

[egneg]

I use a few tricks from airbrushing that I and other airbrusher's have been using for many years.
One is to use Glycerin to lube the o-rings for ease of installation (also great for putting on water tubing). It is water soluble though so it can't be used as a sealant just an aid in getting the water jacket and tubing on. The other is to use bees wax to seal the threads. Soften it by warming it up and use a small amount on the mail threads before assembly. Both are perfectly safe to use and will not harm any parts.

[Fluid]

If those O rings are silicone the WD-40 may soften them. I know I used WD-40 to install the Gundert Silicone water jackets and ruined two of them.

Relax. The instructions state to use WD-40 to flush out the cooling system - WD-40 is perfectly safe.

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[JimClark]

I wasn't all stressed about it Jay. At least not about that.

Jim

Relax. The instructions state to use WD-40 to flush out the cooling system - WD-40 is perfectly safe.

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[Fluid]

A thin bead of silicone around both ends of the cooling jacket WILL solve any leak issues.

NOT if the leak is past the threads on the jacket, which it was.



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[Eyekandyboats]

thats what she said... LOL!!!!
i am sorry back to topic

Plain old dish soap is a great lubricant

[sewerpit]

fluid, what batteries are you using in your boat

[Grimracer]

Jay..

Here is how i hold my wings on..

Clean off all the old tape.

Lay down some radio box tape (Sorry its got to be Grimracer for this job) over the recess pocket for the wing.

Using black two sided tape (the RC car stuff) place a full amount under the wing.. Stick the wing to the tape that is covering the pocket..

Done..

If the wings get hit.. no hole in the boat..

Gim

[Fluid]

fluid, what batteries are you using in your boat

I run two, 2S1P 5000mAh ThunderPower V2 cells. In series of course.

Mike:
I'm sure that works fine and thanks for the suggestion. Frankly I'm not a fan of wings anyway so I'll just leave them off my boat. That will also make it easier to identify my hull in a heat with five other UL-1s!


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[Steven Vaccaro]

That will also make it easier to identify my hull in a heat with five other UL-1s!


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Unless any future rules changes say that you need them on there....

[Treydog]

Guys, just got a UL-1 Superior and the boat flies man! Still a noob here and I also got a Proboat Brushless Miss Elam a few weeks ago. My dad was driving the Elam and I was driving the UL-1. Didn't seem to have any problems with the radio frequencies but i guess later we did. Anyways, somehow I didn't turn sharp enough and the boat ended up banking itself while trying to turn. So I jump in the golf cart to get over there too it and when i got there the boat was running full throttle and water shooting up from the bank like a fountain. Yes, the propr was still somewhat in the water. So I pulled all the hockeytape off and immediately disconnected the lipos. Propr was still running wide open while i am doing this so it was a bit scary. Didn't seem to have had any damage except for a few chips taken off the plastic prop. No worries there since i also bought the hop-up prop when i bought the boat. Nonetheless, I took the boat home, cleaned her up, and recaharged the lipos. Now I am trying to restart the boat but the ESC or motor just keeps beeping - not giving me a chance to arm it. How do I fix this or is my ESC or motor shot? Nothing felt really hot when I got there after the accident so I wouldn't think anything was blown...I can steer the servos but I cannot get it to stop beeping or for the throttle to spin the prop at all. FYI, the servo is plugged into the CH 1 Slot and the ESC is plugged into the CH 2 slot inside the boat. Please help. Thanks so much!

Treydog.

[Grimracer]

Jay.. yea wings on a sport hydro or any full body hydro can be a bummer.. The system I designed is baced on my Sport 40.. I designed tape on wings for it and they have saved the boat from sure deck death a few times.

Grim

[Doug Smock]

Nice boat!! You know, for a nitro unit J/K

Doug

[Ub Hauled]

I like the 'depth' on the paint job.. pretty sweet...
and then I saw the pipe... Boooooo, also j/k

[ReddyWatts]

Can anyone help this new member?

Guys, just got a UL-1 Superior and the boat flies man! Still a noob here and I also got a Proboat Brushless Miss Elam a few weeks ago. My dad was driving the Elam and I was driving the UL-1. Didn't seem to have any problems with the radio frequencies but i guess later we did. Anyways, somehow I didn't turn sharp enough and the boat ended up banking itself while trying to turn. So I jump in the golf cart to get over there too it and when i got there the boat was running full throttle and water shooting up from the bank like a fountain. Yes, the propr was still somewhat in the water. So I pulled all the hockeytape off and immediately disconnected the lipos. Propr was still running wide open while i am doing this so it was a bit scary. Didn't seem to have had any damage except for a few chips taken off the plastic prop. No worries there since i also bought the hop-up prop when i bought the boat. Nonetheless, I took the boat home, cleaned her up, and recaharged the lipos. Now I am trying to restart the boat but the ESC or motor just keeps beeping - not giving me a chance to arm it. How do I fix this or is my ESC or motor shot? Nothing felt really hot when I got there after the accident so I wouldn't think anything was blown...I can steer the servos but I cannot get it to stop beeping or for the throttle to spin the prop at all. FYI, the servo is plugged into the CH 1 Slot and the ESC is plugged into the CH 2 slot inside the boat. Please help. Thanks so much!

Treydog.

[Grimracer]

Check the throttle trim on the TX...

Grim

[alvinsmith75]

I had the same "arming" problem and it was simply the throttle trim. It should be centered.
Alvin

[Treydog]

I just checked and all of the knobs on the transmitter are straight up and all switches are in the "R"position. I will tell you this though. I have found that the beeps will eventually stop when instead of pulling the throttle trigger, I actually push it forward. I hear two quick little bleeps and then it stops. Then when i do it again, The throttle goes wide open again just like on the bank when i came upon it. I can sorta get it to stop when I quickly depress the throttle a few times it will kinda sync up with the transmitter but it will still act funny like it's picking up stray radio waves or something. So I disarm the lipos and when I retry, the beeping process starts all over again. Open to any other suggestions you all might have.

Trey

[Ub Hauled]

if the ESC is anything like the 35amp one, it has a safety feature... you hook the main power and then you need to go full throttle, listen to the beeps then neutral, listen to the final beeps, in order for it to arm.

[Treydog]

Ub, I'll remember that from now on. BUT, I managed to get it running properly again. After typing that last e-mail, I ran down to the shop just to try it once more before I gave up for the day. Darn thing worked like a charm this time. No continuous beeping. Strange.

Fluid, I even powered up the Miss Elam and you are correct, neither one interfered with the other.

Here is my theory of what happened, The Brushless Miss Elam has a radio reciever in a balloon inside the watertight tray. The UL-1 does not. Now, I have heard stories of water getting inside a boats reciever and causing it to do all kinds of crazy stuff and while I do like the openess inside the UL-1 (The Miss Elam has no room inside except for the batteries) I guess I need to know if I should be wrapping the reciever inside some watertight "balloon"?

[Doby]

(The Miss Elam has no room inside except for the batteries) I guess I need to know if I should be wrapping the reciever inside some watertight "balloon"?

Always a good idea

[Fluid]

Once the water jacket is sealed and if the hatch is taped on well, there should not be any water in the hull that a piece of paper towel stuck in the bottom can't absorb. I used to put my receivers in balloons, but I soon discovered that water got in anyway. Because of the hassle I would seldom open the balloon to check. Result - ruined receivers. Now I take off the receiver case and spray the board with CorrosionX, then reassemble. I have not had a single problem due to a wet receiver since I started doing this - even with a hull completely full of water. I don't know that CorrosionX is safe on the Tactic receiver, but I bet it is. Mike?


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[Steven Vaccaro]

Here is my theory of what happened, The Brushless Miss Elam has a radio reciever in a balloon inside the watertight tray. The UL-1 does not. Now, I have heard stories of water getting inside a boats reciever and causing it to do all kinds of crazy stuff and while I do like the openess inside the UL-1 (The Miss Elam has no room inside except for the batteries) I guess I need to know if I should be wrapping the reciever inside some watertight "balloon"?

You are probably on to something there. Before running again I would take the rx apart to check for water and dry it out completely. It only takes a single drop to move around on the rx to cause another issue.

[Grimracer]

Jay. that is funny.. has to come only from experience.. I also never place my personal race RXs in balloons. O I know.. some guys like em so we do indeed sell them..

The tactic RX was water tested and it will stop working like the rest of everybody’s if it gets wet.. good news is that all the units tested all came back from the dead.

If you like.. hammer away with C-X..

Grim

[egneg]

The problem with the cooling jacket is a bit beyond a quick fix with WD-40. As many have stated the problem is with the cooling jacket around the motor, it leaked at 10 psi. The problem is the lack of surface area for the o-rings to seat properly - the threads run all the way up on the jacket and the end pieces - not to mention the side walls are a bit too thin. If nothing else I will use silicone to seal it. This seems to be an inherent design flaw that needs to be addressed in order for this boat to be called an RTR. All I had to do was squeeze the ends with my fingers and the leaks became much worse.

[Fluid]

The problem with the water jacket is easily fixed as I described, unless someone has already damaged the O ring by getting medieval with it. The jacket which came on my UL-1 was fixed just as I described. There is sufficient sealing area for the deformable O rings as long as they are not scored or cut.

I have another UL-1 jacket I bought for another project, and I installed it on the same UL-1 motor and performed the same procedure to seal it. Zero leaks when forcing water through the system with a fuel bulb squeezed as hard as I can. That's two for two. As I said, easily fixed if not damaged first.

Would I design the jacket this way? Probably not, but then it isn't my company. I imagine there is a reason for a three-part jacket versus a one-part jacket. Bottom line is it can easily be made to work, although I agree that it would be good if they all worked as they come from the factory. That is for the next shipment.


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[Jetbill]

Outside of some plumbers tape on all water jacket threads, it’s clear it was sealed @ about 30psi. I ran it and no problems. The O rings were seated however the larger threaded ends were barely screwed on. The brass fittings were loose and just needed to be tightened and added tape.

The turn fin I had noticed right out of the box had a crack by the hex, around the edge and on the bottom. This caused a leak in the boat that was easily drained by the rubber plug (I like this design-a quick clear epoxy fix)

Overall, this thing drove like a dream and handled like it was on rails- steering rate did not help the steering issue, likewise changing the servo horn hole to the next helped increase overall servo throw. (75'tirn radius didn’t quite suite my play area).

Gps @ 42.2, on Flightpower evo 30's-stock prop- run time was a bit lower than the my stock sv.

I like it; hopefully it will be somewhat stable with some wind..:
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