Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Total Noob - Intro + Zonda questions

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    IN
    Posts
    4

    Default Total Noob - Intro + Zonda questions

    Hey guys, great forum you have here. A little about me - huge Colts fan, mechanical engineer, long history in Jeeps/offroading, fabrication, and paintball.

    I'm not a super noob to RC (I've owned a couple cars, helis, and built a gas hydroplane when I was 13 almost 20 years ago), but I am very new to electric boats and feel like a fish out of water....I'm one of those mechanical engineers that if it's related to electronics, I'm an idiot. It's a mental hurdle that I've never quite been able to leap. With that said, I've been researching my ass off for the past couple weeks to determine a direction and I just settled on one today. I gave TFL NA a call and spoke to Sandy for a bit, and ended up ordering a 41" Zonda as seen here: https://tflnorthamerica.com/product/...atamaran-artr/

    It's also getting thru-hull cooling to the ESC's and motors. Before I ask my questions, please note that I pride myself on having halfway-decent researching skills and have been putting a lot of time into these topics for about a week. With that said, some of the topics aren't crystal clear to me and I could use some "explain like I'm five" direction from you guys. I know, these questions are eye rollers to you experienced guys and they are probably asked frequently. I apologize in advance.

    Now, in with the "WARNING: NOOB INCOMING" questions.

    1) I'm told that this will come with 6mm bullet connectors. Are there batteries that will "plug n play" nicely with these connectors or will I need to run a different connector or adapter? I understand MAH and C ratings, but am unsure about what voltage I can and cannot run. I'm in the dark when it comes to LIPO connectors and am trying to educate myself, so any help is appreciated.

    2) Those with Zondas, how are you mounting your batteries? Velcro?

    3) I could use some general battery brand advice, as well as recommendations for someone looking to prioritize runtime while still getting decent top-end speed from the boat. I don't need to go 100mph, but 60-70 with great runtime would be awesome.

    4) I need to purchase a transmitter and receiver. Again, another topic that I'm absolutely in the dark on. Sandy recommended I look at Futaba. I'm not trying to break the bank, and the 3PV looks like it will fit the bill fine for what I'll be doing. There are two receiver options - a 203 and 304 model. I'm guessing one is a 3 channel and the other is a 4 channel? Any other recommendations for a hobbyist and not a racer?

    5) Battery chargers. Not a clue. I'll be using the boat on my pontoon at times so having the ability to charge from there would be great. But again....clueless here and this is a topic I haven't yet really dug into.

    I'm sure I've got some more questions but those are on the tip of my head at the moment. I'd like to have the correct stuff in place so once the boat arrives, I can hook up and go. THANKS in advance to those that would like to help shorten my learning curve.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    IL
    Posts
    4,100

    Default

    Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear your an ME, it seems it makes the hobby harder for you to enjoy

    1) They're just connectors, no big deal. Electrically speaking, bullets are an ideal style connector because you can wire up multiple packs in series with fewer connections, shorter wire lengths, thus less resistance. They present a safety challenge in keeping them from shorting out against one another because they are independent, and not housed in a common plastic connector. For that reason, I don't use them. I use the Castle 6.5mm connectors on my 3S and 4S batteries and boats, and OSE 8mm antispark connectors on my 6S batteries and boats. I prefer a unified connector that houses both positive and negative terminals for safety reasons.

    2) I find it best to use velco straps. Depending on how the trays are glued in you might wrap two straps around each pack, or one long strap around each battery. Crashing can often dislodge packs, which then become wreching balls to the hull and canopy.

    3) Turnigy Graphene are some of the best packs you can buy, but expensive. The new Turnigy Rhino packs are more affordable and have tested extremely well. Turnigy HD is also another value offshoot. Some claim the new ChinaHobby packs are identical cells to the Turnigy Graphenes, at a much lower price. Revolectrix, Dinogy, Giant Power, are also good brands. 5000mah are a common capacity used by many, and probably the most popular. More capacity is easier on the current delivery, more run time, but also means more weight.

    4)Futaba's naming system sucks and is difficult to decode, but yes, the 203 is a 3ch and the 304 is a 4ch. The 304 also adds telemetry abilities. Their equipment works great. I was a big fan of the 4PX model, it's now my backup, and I use a 7PX. The 3PV is a good low cost choice.

    5) I don't charge at the water. I charge my packs the night before and run what I brung at the lake. With that said, many chargers are DC powered, and could be run from your boats battery. I'm a fan of the older Hyperion 720i Super Duo3 chargers. They're not made anymore, but can often be found used. Revolectrix makes the cell lab chargers and the iCharger platform is good also. That's all I can speak to personally. What ever you buy, balance charger you packs for improved life and performance, use a reasonable charge rate, between 1-2C, and always store packs at or near 3.8V/cell

    Good luck.
    Vac-U-Tug Jr (13mph)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    IN
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Thanks for the info, fweasel.

    If I may ask for some further clarification....

    1) I'm having trouble determining what battery-end connector will be compatible with the connectors that come on the boat. I'm trying to avoid having to swap out connectors, especially on the battery end. So, can you kindly point to a battery with a connector that will plug right up to my boat with no required modifications? From a bit more research this morning, it looks like maybe XT150 connectors will do what I want, but again...clarification would be great. Remember, "explain like I'm five." I have ZERO experience in this realm and there are seemingly quite a lot of different connectors.

    2) Good call, and I'm definitely looking to avoid those batteries coming loose. I'd like to see some photos of how Zonda owners have done this. I did find the picture below, which is helping me with the visual. With that said, it looks like the batteries aren't mounted to a tray at all, but are just mounted to the side of the hull. Any ideas how they're fastened? Maybe some strong double-sided tape?

    23000322_1674966845867887_1437342493464776667_o.jpg

    3) Thanks for the info. How about voltage? I see 11.1, 14.8, 22.2.....how do I know what's suitable for the motors in this boat? Or are all "suitable", with the higher voltage batteries producing more top-speed potential?

    4) I was looking into this more last night, and it looks like Spektrum makes waterproof receivers, which would obviously be ideal in a boat. I also understand that I can waterproof just about any servo with some silicone. At this point, I'd like to have a "ready to go" solution to prevent my own human error from screwing something up, given my lack of experience in this realm. The Spektrum MRX200 is a waterproof 3 channel receiver, but I'm not finding info on transmitter compatibility.

    5) As for chargers, I did some intro research into this last night, as well. The Hobbymate D6 Duo looks to be a great solution - it's smart, compact and has great balance/safety features to take some of the guesswork out of my hands until I know what I'm doing. Any input on this charger? It's pricey but given the expense and sensitivity of LiPO batteries, I think it may be worth investing in.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    MI
    Posts
    199

    Default

    This is what I have set up (takes a bit to set up and change batteries) but with the velcro set up the batteries came loose and did damage to the hull, canopy (lost one battery as well) It's just some foam that is wedged in (does not adsorb water) and neither battery moved. Only thing is you need to experiment on location for cog (center of gravity) the foam between motor is smaller so as not to interfere with the wire's or cooling, but still prevents battery from doing any damage to the motor.

    All said and done, it works for me, for you who know's (jmo)


    IMG_0826.jpg

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    IN
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnc View Post
    This is what I have set up (takes a bit to set up and change batteries) but with the velcro set up the batteries came loose and did damage to the hull, canopy (lost one battery as well) It's just some foam that is wedged in (does not adsorb water) and neither battery moved. Only thing is you need to experiment on location for cog (center of gravity) the foam between motor is smaller so as not to interfere with the wire's or cooling, but still prevents battery from doing any damage to the motor.

    All said and done, it works for me, for you who know's (jmo)


    IMG_0826.jpg
    Good info, thank you. What batteries and connectors are you running?

    And your batteries are just being retained by tension provided by foam blocks?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    MI
    Posts
    199

    Default

    The batteries I have at the moment (pictured) are ovonic 6s, 4500Mah 70c (just don't have the $ for graphine's at the time)
    And yes, they are only held by the tension, but stiff. Had 2 blow overs and batteries were held in place (ya).
    Oh, have EC5 connectors, Have not had a problem with "heat" on connectors, motors, ESC, batteries as of yet (but these are only saw runs)

    Motors: sss 3675 2075kv
    ESC: hobbywing 180v3
    Dashbota props 1716's

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    IN
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnc View Post
    The batteries I have at the moment (pictured) are ovonic 6s, 4500Mah 70c (just don't have the $ for graphine's at the time)
    And yes, they are only held by the tension, but stiff. Had 2 blow overs and batteries were held in place (ya).
    Oh, have EC5 connectors, Have not had a problem with "heat" on connectors, motors, ESC, batteries as of yet (but these are only saw runs)

    Motors: sss 3675 2075kv
    ESC: hobbywing 180v3
    Dashbota props 1716's
    Again, thanks for the info. I'm guessing you've got EC5 connectors coming off of your ESC's?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    MI
    Posts
    199

    Default

    yup,
    have them for all and works out Ok (other than I messed up and fried the esc with wrong batteries)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    IL
    Posts
    4,100

    Default

    Speed4S100mph.jpg

    IMG_20200429_095437.jpg

    I usually run my straps lengthwise in my small, narrow cats with trays in the sponson bottoms.

    Do yourself a favor, but a proper soldering station (I like my Hakko 888) and change the ends on your ESC to match the ends you want to run on the batteries.
    Vac-U-Tug Jr (13mph)

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •