MHZ Gecko

**Dr. Jet** · 09-18-2021, 12:39 PM

Years ago, I bought one of the original MHZ Geckos. These came with a factory-installed motor mount/driveshaft and rudder. These were high-quality hulls with a light layup and sharp edges. We initially powered them with high-end brushed motors running on 8-800mAh NiCds.

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They ran pretty good, but the power system was heavy, to say the least. Later, small Chinese brushless motors appeared on the scene and we fitted them with a 3000 Kv 2632 Ourtunner running on 6-800mAh NiCds. The weight of the NiCds and the torque of the outrunners made the hulls self-righting by blipping the throttle a few times.

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We experimented with several power options, even a geared 5000Kv outrunner, with good results, but the 2632 seemed to be the overall best option. Plus it was cheap, often around $10; yet the performance was outstanding.

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In fact, with a 2S LiPo and the 2632, these were over-powered. As it turned out, we spent more time doing stupid "Hey watch THIS!" tricks with them than any real, side-to-side racing.

Many years passed and the Geckos remained in their handy carrying case. They are perfect travel boats: Easy to transport, a minimum of support gear required, small batteries, able to handle almost any water conditions despite their diminutive size, and can run in the smallest of ponds. The gel coat on the orange one shrank a bit leaving what looks like (but isn't) cracks. And then one day, I happened to be perusing MHZ's website and noticed they had an RTR Gecko listed at a stupid cheap price; the "Last One". The new Gecko hull eliminates my only complaint about the original hulls: The depression in the aft deck was inconvenient to tape up. The new aft deck is all flat making for easy tape jobs. I couldn't resist: I bought it. The new versions include an all-machined aluminum rudder and drive housing. I still have several of those 2632 motors lying around, but I opted to put a larger diameter (28mm) outrunner of 3500Kv in it first. This may be a mistake, but it's easy enough to drop in the tried and true Mystery 3000Kv motor back in.

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I "retired" my orange "old" Gecko hull and added the new one to the case.

**Dr. Jet** · 09-18-2021, 12:55 PM

I got to looking at the case with one new, and one aging Gecko; and looking at my pile of spare parts, motors, and controllers; and looking at MHZ's website, and all of a sudden: SHAZAM!

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Another Gecko was in the mail.

When it arrived, there was some impact damage on the top of the canopy/hatch, so I repaired it and decided to paint the upper half of the hull, leaving the sharp bottom all-original. Trying to come up with a scheme for the boat, I decided to do a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" theme. That's obscure enough that only a handful will get it. I powered it with an old Hacker B20-18L I had in the parts bin. All the other parts came from that same bin for a fast, cheap, and easy project.

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I had a thin-wall piece of 15mm CF tube in the shop, and I was concerned if the inrunner would have enough torque to self-right the boat, so I used some of this tube as a flood chamber. It may not have enough volume to self-right without motor "blips", but it may help.

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