spektrum 2.4 water proofing

[old guy]

Hi all can a Spektrum 2.4 RX be water proofed like a regular RX was looking at getting one. I think it was a 3000
The Old guy

[Doby]

Yup.

[old guy]

Thanks Doby
Old Guy From B.C.

[Doby]

I have 6 Spektrum Recvr's and all are coated in 30 min epoxy with no problems.

[madphil]

I use a kids party balloon stretch it over the RX then put silicone over the end to seal ,
you can allways cut the balloon off and the RX is like new again,

[ozboater]

aren t these rx s 'fuel proof' therefore making them water proof as well ??

[ozzie-crawl]

be very carful with the dx 3.0 if you have one i had nothing but trouble with mine on the water and ended up destroying a carbon fibre hydro hull.

[AndyKunz]

With a CF hull you need to be doubly careful to get the antenna up and away from the hull. DX3.0 has nothing to do with it - your boat is a 2.4g mirror.

Andy

[Fluid]

I spray mine with CorrosionX, and after two years I've had no problems. They have all gotten wet but when dried off they work. Actualy they worked when wet too.

I formerly used a balloon on my receivers, but IMO this is a mistake. Too many fellow club members used a balloon and assumed that the receiver never got wet - afterall they'd sealed the balloon with silicone! But the reality was that several of them had radio failures, traced to corroded receivers. Just a drop of water inside a "sealed" balloon caused severe corrosion over time. Because they never checked, they lost receivers and one guy lost his boat (or most of it anyway). Now I seal up the hull (you have to do that anyway to protect your servo, ESCs and LiPo cells) and keep the receiver stuck to the transom or under the deck. This keeps it out of the bilge, and since I started this I have yet to have a radio problem due to water - even with a breached hull.



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[ozzie-crawl]

dont want to start a flame war but do a search on spektrum on water you will find alot of people have had issues even the makers dont reckomend there surface systems to be used on water. from what i have read it is mainly the 3.0 that has the problem. a friend of mine runs carbon fibre hulls with spektrum but in the module and has never had a problem
cheers scott

[Heath M]

I have the DX3r and must admit i did have problems at first, but i was using the older 3000 DSM1 receivers which spektrum said would work with the DX3r radio. Since changing to the DSM2 receivers i have not had a hint of radio trouble..

Heath

[Fluid]

dont want to start a flame war but do a search on spektrum on water you will find alot of people have had issues even the makers dont reckomend there surface systems to be used on water...

Rather than do a search of random unhappy posters - why not contact Spektrum directly? It's true that the official line is that use on water is not "recommended" - but that's a lawyer's response. I spoke with several different Spektrum techs recently, all of whom said that most users don't have problems on water.

The truth is, some folks can't seem to use the Spektrum in boats. When first introduced there was a firmware issue that tainted the system's reputation, but that was fixed within the first few months. I have owned my Spektrum system for several years and have investigated many of the complaints I found on-line. Most were gas/nitro boaters who didn't run the antenna out of the radio box, who had the antenna shielded by the metal exhaust pipe, or who ran 4.8 volt receiver batteries.

OTOH, four members of my club including myself have Spektrum systems and have zero problems in FE race boats....as long as the receiver pack is charged. The Spektrum (and apparently Futaba's 2.4 system) is sensitive to low receiver voltage and really needs 6.0-volt power. We have plenty of range as we can race on large 1/6th mile ovals with up to six boats and no trouble. One mitigating circumstance is that we usually drive from elevated driver's stands at least five feet above the water. This could explain our success, since many of the complaints I looked at were from users driving from the water's edge.

Bottom line - the Spektrum system works....most of the time. But some have had trouble, and if you feel afraid to try it go with the Futaba 2.4 system. That one appears less prone to trouble. But do get a 2.4 system, you won't regret the advantages.


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[ozzie-crawl]

maybe mine was faulty as i had it in 3 diffrent boats and 2 diffrent recievers and had problems but i never had problems with it in my cars. like i say a friend of mine runs the plug in module and has never had any problems at all
wouldnt mind trying the futaba fast
cheers scott

[ozboater]

i have 3 of the newer 3000 receivers... they all glitch with my dx2.0.... always in the same part of the lake... so far i m unimpressed with my spektrum set up... i expected wonders coming from my aquacraft rTR AM crapola... i also tried the spektrum with a 4 cell AA rx pack... glitching again, same with my old AM system... weird since my friends FM (jr) and his cheapo Am rtr are fine...

[JimClark]

try a 6v (5 cell) reciever pack

[ozboater]

AAs are 1.5 volts each.. 4 by 1.5 = 6 volts yeah ??

[AndyKunz]

I'm kind of interested in how you have the receiver installed in the boat. I have Spektrum in my boat and never had a problem.

Can you provide some pix?

Thanks.

Andy

[JimClark]

Doh on the AA i was thinking NIMH cells.

What is or are your boats made of also
Like Andy Said Pics please

i have 3 of the newer 3000 receivers... they all glitch with my dx2.0.... always in the same part of the lake... so far i m unimpressed with my spektrum set up... i expected wonders coming from my aquacraft rTR AM crapola... i also tried the spektrum with a 4 cell AA rx pack... glitching again, same with my old AM system... weird since my friends FM (jr) and his cheapo Am rtr are fine...

[ozboater]

it s a glass sv27... i ll post a couple of snaps later... gotta run to work... stock take

[AndyKunz]

In the same part of the lake, you say. Can you describe what that part would be? Perhaps you have a lot of foliage nearby the line-of-site? Or maybe you're standing down on the shoreline instead of above it some? The installation in the boat is critical - just like the old days of FM, you need to make sure your antenna is up away from the water. All these things make a difference.

Andy

[ozboater]

lake is man made surrounded by loads of houses.... big lake, approx 300 acres... always stops in the same position... clear line of sight and not super far in terms of distance... i ll prolly be back there today since it s only about a mile from my house... i ll snap a couple of shot there as well...


hang on a sec and i ll post a few of the boat...

cheers

[ozboater]

[AndyKunz]

Hard to tell from that angle, but it looks like you have 1/2 the antenna down inside the boat.

If it were my hull, I would move it (out of the radio box) back to the transom and up against the bottom of the deck. The antenna on an SR3000 is about 8" long - you want it up and out as much as possible.

It looks like you're using a 75MHz arrangement, where you could get away with losing 4" w/o a problem. What you show there is about the performance equivalent of cutting your 75MHz antenna in half.

Andy

[AndyKunz]

Here's an SR3000 in my N2 rigger. I have NO range problems with this.

Andy

[ozboater]

yeah, there is about 4" of antenna showing maybe 1/2" more... my next step is to lose the box and try that out... hopefully it ll work... so do i need to drip the rx before mounting it on the transom ?? boat doesn t take on water, occasionally a ounce or so at the most...

thanks andy

[AndyKunz]

I have both coated (same DP 270 I used on my ESCs) and uncoated ones. I haven't had any problems yet, but I haven't sunk any yet either. If you do water-proof that one, be careful around the bind button.

The 3000 in the picture is uncoated.

Andy

[Fluid]

... so do i need to drip the rx before mounting it on the transom ?? boat doesn t take on water, occasionally a ounce or so at the most...

I removed the case and sprayed my 3000 receiver with CorrosionX over a year ago, and in spite of getting completely submerged when I had a hull breach, that receiver has performed flawlessly. I just opened it up, unplugged the boards and blew out the water. Left it in the sun for a few hours (@90F) and it was ready to go. I prefer not to "dip" in a permanent potting material, especially with the moving parts. This is not built like a 75 mHz receiver....

In my Titan 40 I mount the receiver right at the transom so the maximum amount of antenna is out of the hull. The only problem was when a cheap 5-cell pack lost a cell....I lost radio control and the boat went into failsafe. No damage.



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