Proboat release new Blackjack 42" catamaran

[UpliFT-RC]

Day 1 of testing out my new dual cooling system on my #blackjack42.
i have one of these exit water outlets on each side of my boat.

[jhurlbert]

Update

Im running 2 4s 9000mah batteries that weigh 736 grams each. Fully forward with the strut down and i put 70 grams in front of the esc.

I am convinced this boat still is not nearly heavy enough for its size.

At full throttle it still starts to bounce then blows over.

[UpliFT-RC]

For test run # 2 on 6s I had 2oz's up front. For my next test, I am going to put in another 2oz which will equal a total of 4oz's up front including my 4s lipos pushed all the way to the front on each side of the my boat. Also, I am tossing on an Dasboata Sonic2 / X447 Prop and see how she runs today..

[Raydee]

Update

Im running 2 4s 9000mah batteries that weigh 736 grams each. Fully forward with the strut down and i put 70 grams in front of the esc.

I am convinced this boat still is not nearly heavy enough for its size.

At full throttle it still starts to bounce then blows over.

Have you tried moving the strut and a different prop. Sometimes just a prop change will make a big difference.

[alvinm]

I agree. My current setup with stock prop barely bounces. When I changed to a larger prop, it bounced uncontrollably.

[jhurlbert]

Update

Im running 2 4s 9000mah batteries that weigh 736 grams each. Fully forward with the strut down and i put 70 grams in front of the esc.

I am convinced this boat still is not nearly heavy enough for its size.

At full throttle it still starts to bounce then blows over.

So all i had was another 70grams i put in front of the esc. There was a slight chop and some wind but i feel like i am getting close. Still blew over once but almost made a full wot 8s pass

[Raydee]

Really starting to think I may cancel my order with my local shop. I have not seen a single video where this hull stays on the water unless its running 35mph. Really bummed because I really like the hull and power system.

[Peter A]

Really starting to think I may cancel my order with my local shop. I have not seen a single video where this hull stays on the water unless its running 35mph. Really bummed because I really like the hull and power system.

Check out HOTMPBC on Fb. They have a couple running well at speed on the oval.

[Raydee]

Do you have a link, I did a search and it turned up no results.

[Peter A]

Do you have a link, I did a search and it turned up no results.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/330511467426467

[Raydee]

Thanks for the link. Looks like they Def have the hull figured out. Now I feel a little better about keeping my order.

[jhurlbert]

Water conditions were better today not perfect but i was able to do full wide open throttle 8s passes only a little bounce but no blow over. Still going to put another 70-100 more grams in it

[jhurlbert]

Also ever since i damaged my prop shaft and strut bushing after hitting something in the water. I replaced them and now when greasing the bushing slides out of the strut no problem. I don’t think there was any damage to the strut, but it has made the greasing process allot easier. It seems to fit in there nicely like it should with no play or vibration that i can tell

[ACKopter]

Thanks for the link. Looks like they Def have the hull figured out. Now I feel a little better about keeping my order.

Ray, I saw your post in the FB link asking what the secret was in keeping the nose down. I'm not 100% certain but a good starting point is they are using 9000mah batteries. It has been mentioned twice here in this thread that using nose weight might magnify the issue and I personally find this to be true from my own testing. I bought new batts for this boat and am not looking to buy more (9000mah vs the 5000mah I already purchased) so I have some lead sheet that I intend to wrap my 5000mah batteries with to achieve a good balance and remove the nose weight I already have, hopefully solving the issue.

Might be a week or so before I can get it sorted out but I'll let all here know how it goes when I get rountoit.

[Raydee]

I heard those guys are running 9000mah packs and a ton of weight up front. Their boats are def running good and stuck to the water but I can't imagine the damage there is going to be if you blow one over at full speed with all that extra weight. Proboat was so close to having a great boat with this one....maybe the next one will be the ticket? For now I cancelled my order but I am not ruling out buying one in the future.

[ACKopter]

Another plan foiled. My removable nose weight turns out is not so removable after all. The weight is stuck up in the nose and I cant easily get it out without tearing out all the styrofoam which I dont really want to do. So, new plan of attack is, since the boat is already balanced properly with the nose weight in place I'll proceed with strut angle and height and maybe a little more weight to see if I cant get things under control. If not then Ill have no choice other than pulling out the styro and re balancing with much more additional weight in the forward battery location.

[jhurlbert]

I have been adding sticky tire weights in front of the esc. They wont go anywhere even at a full speed blow over and can be removed easily

[Raydee]

My LHS must think there is something wrong with me. I ordered the boat last week and then two days later cancelled it. Today I decided to put the order back in and there is no way out of it this time. After seeing the posts from the HOTMPBC on FB I am pretty confident I can get it to stay on the water.

[jevmax]

Here is a link to a video taken this week. I am racing the Blackjack 42s again. This time I am running the black one on a course tight to the buoys. My competitor is a licensed Formula One driver, who has raced all over the world, but this is the first time he has gotten to run a radio control vehicle. He did well letting the white one breath through the turns and carry the speed. The BJ42 likes to drift through the corners. I may fabricate a skegged strut for one of them to see how much that tightens it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaKAEHXCHKw

[Raydee]

You guys def have them dialed in. I know guys don't like to give away their secrets on their race boats but I am curious to know besides the heavy packs is everything else stock?

[ACKopter]

Here is a link to a video taken this week. I am racing the Blackjack 42s again. This time I am running the black one on a course tight to the buoys. My competitor is a licensed Formula One driver, who has raced all over the world, but this is the first time he has gotten to run a radio control vehicle. He did well letting the white one breath through the turns and carry the speed. The BJ42 likes to drift through the corners. I may fabricate a skegged strut for one of them to see how much that tightens it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaKAEHXCHKw

That was an awesome video, and an awesome location, thanks so much for posting that here. Now for a few questions and probably of most interest is your prop selection and how the electronics handled the almost continuous WOT for the duration of the video, did you make any modifications to the cooling system? Of course everyone here I'm sure would like to know exactly what you did to get the hull so well behaved. Please share.

[jevmax]

You guys def have them dialed in. I know guys don't like to give away their secrets on their race boats but I am curious to know besides the heavy packs is everything else stock?

Hi Raydee,
Did you receive my reply this morning with all the detail?
JimV

[2turbofords]

Sweet video, looks like they are dialed in nicely. White boat seems to have a little more speed in the straights?

[jevmax]

Sweet video, looks like they are dialed in nicely. White boat seems to have a little more speed in the straights?

The last time I raced them, the black one seemed faster? I think the way he was driving the white one, he was drifting and carrying speed through the turns. I was running tighter to the buoys, and had to accelerate out of the turn into the straight.

[jevmax]

That was an awesome video, and an awesome location, thanks so much for posting that here. Now for a few questions and probably of most interest is your prop selection and how the electronics handled the almost continuous WOT for the duration of the video, did you make any modifications to the cooling system? Of course everyone here I'm sure would like to know exactly what you did to get the hull so well behaved. Please share.

The ESC and motor was about 120F after that run. We used 5000mah of the 9000 available. The lipo packs were at less than 120F.
Both of the boats are set-up the same with two exceptions. The black one is using LMT 6mm connectors, and it has a temporary air dam in the tunnel. The white one is using 10mm connectors from OSE.
Otherwise, the changes made include:
*Thinned and sharpened Prather S225 prop
*Twin cooling water tubes and aluminum outlets added
*Carbon fiber plates glassed in for the lipos to rest on with Velcro
*Struts adjusted slightly negative
*Greasing the flexshaft and oiling the motor bearing every two or three runs
*Zeee 4S/9000mah lipo packs, all the way forward to the foam
*G10 ride pads bonded to the last two sponson ride surfaces

[ACKopter]

The ESC and motor was about 120F after that run. We used 5000mah of the 9000 available. The lipo packs were at less than 120F.
Both of the boats are set-up the same with two exceptions. The black one is using LMT 6mm connectors, and it has a temporary air dam in the tunnel. The white one is using 10mm connectors from OSE.
Otherwise, the changes made include:
*Thinned and sharpened Prather S225 prop
*Twin cooling water tubes and aluminum outlets added
*Carbon fiber plates glassed in for the lipos to rest on with Velcro
*Struts adjusted slightly negative
*Greasing the flexshaft and oiling the motor bearing every two or three runs
*Zeee 4S/9000mah lipo packs, all the way forward to the foam
*G10 ride pads bonded to the last two sponson ride surfaces

Very informative and extremely helpful, really appreciate you taking the time to supply the info!

[naveda_08]

Some heavier duty coupler/collets for the BlackJack42, I decided to order some after I saw my buddy strip his out pretty quickly. I have had better luck on my ProBoats with these Zonda style ones. I will stock more if need be

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224507436665

[Raydee]

Hi Raydee,
Did you receive my reply this morning with all the detail?
JimV

Jim, sorry I didn't see a reply. Are you guys really taking the whole strut off the boat in order to grease the cable?? I have watched a ton of vids and it looks like because of the stepped shaft that most guys are removing hardware to get the flex cable greased.....that is insane if that is the case. Once I have the strut set on my boats I rarely change it and having to take it off and get it back to the same spot every time I grease the flex just doesn't sound right.

[ACKopter]

Jim, sorry I didn't see a reply. Are you guys really taking the whole strut off the boat in order to grease the cable?? I have watched a ton of vids and it looks like because of the stepped shaft that most guys are removing hardware to get the flex cable greased.....that is insane if that is the case. Once I have the strut set on my boats I rarely change it and having to take it off and get it back to the same spot every time I grease the flex just doesn't sound right.

After pulling the entire strut assembly several times to service it I opted to pull the sleeve out of the strut. I removed the entire assembly and heated the strut to loosen the glue they used and pulled the sleeve out of the strut and cleaned all the glue residue off of it. Now its simply loosen the couple collar and pull the shaft out with the sleeve in place. There are a couple vids on you tube on the procedure. I'm not exactly crazy with the outcome though, it seems like the sleeve has a little too much clearance without the glue holding things firmly in place. I am uncertain as this is my first boat so I have no other experience from which to judge. Just some food for thought.

[Raydee]

I like the idea of the sleeve holding the flex so that if the cable ever snapped before the step then you would not loose the prop but taking the strut off every time I lube the cable is crazy. I am guessing someone will come up with an aftermarket strut with skeg and even extended back some to possibly help with the hull jumping up and down. Then we can just use the standard speedmaster brass bushing.