HELP on wood hull finish

[west0618]

Derek,
That should happen by Monday night...time permitting. I should have the tank built by tomorrow afternoon.

[Tony]

That's awesome D's Dad, well done...

[cml001]

That's awesome... Look'n good!... Lol.. I like bimbos!

[west0618]

Thanks guys. I have high expectations... if the weather will just cooperate this week. And bimbos beat GI Joe three to one any day.

[cml001]

Lol.. Awesome!

[west0618]

Well, I had HIGH hopes to get this boat in a pond last weekend but...after a buoyancy test in a tank I found that the motor would cut out and the ESC would lock up with both the red and green lights staying on. We adjusted the motor timing and a few other settings to no avail. And this is the second ESC we tried as the first one was even worse. If I set the end point of the motor, limiting the forward to 20%, it will not cut out. It runs reverse fine to 100%. Unless I have a revelation (or am simply told what I am doing wrong) the plan is to trade out the somewhat hinky HobbyPartz transmitter and receiver and replace both with hopefully a better one from Hobby King. Any thoughts?

D's Dad

[Stambo]

Reverse 2 motor wires and reverse the throttle in the TX.
It is probably thinking that forward is reverse and limiting it.
Reverse becomes forward and has 100%

[Derek]

Thats actually a good thought! We'll give it a go.

[Derek]

Ok Stambo, I went over to my Dad's today and we tried your suggestion...no luck. I've been thinking that "possibly" Dad got a sour transmitter from HobbyPartz.com. Dad ordered a new tx from HK and we tried it. Still the same issues. That lead me to believe that the issue was in fact not a "sour" tx. Dad and I talked about it and decided to go see my "go to guy" at my LHS. Despite the fact that none of the parts were bought at my LHS, my "go to guy" agreed to look at the boat and help troubleshoot the problems.

In an effort to keep this story shorter, lol, we found the solution. Dad has his boat powered by two battery packs in series. Each battery pack has 4 or 5 AA batteries. My "go to guy", Shane, said that the ESC in the boat is likely cutting off because isn't simply not getting adequate voltage from the packs being used. Shane hooked up a 3S 2200mah lipo. We powered everything up and pulled the trigger...the boat screams to life with some INSANE power. Well, that was on the bench, too, so there was no resistance from any water but it was working and it was working properly. The electronics just needed a more reliable source of voltage. I would have never thought about that.

So...Dad has borrowed a few of my lipo's to see if/how he can get them to fit in his "already assembled" boat. A lot of thanks to those of you that have given suggestions and comments. Perhaps we will see this boat in the water, after all, lol. And of course...video will be taken. This boat really is awesome looking and I think that Dad has done a great job on the build.

[west0618]

Well, I was hoping to mount the pair of LYPO batteries in front of the cockpit to add weight to the nose of the boat but...it is already crowded up their with the motor and the driver's legs so I fabricated a "temporary" mount for them in the rear compartment. This is where the original...and "WRONG" battery packs were located so I am not much worse in weight distribution than I was. But it is even MORE crowded back there now...and they weigh 3.5 ounces more. As long as I do not stand the boat on end taking off we should be OK for the maiden run and then decide if these are the battery packs for this boat or should I go a bit smaller. And this "maiden run" should take place on Derek's next full day off that we get good weather...and he is up for his own flying as this is in the same park.

[Derek]

I loaned my Dad a pair of 3S 2200mah packs so that he could do some "fitting". I'd like to see the two 2200's in the boat so that he can get the "runtime" that he's after. Although, like he said...the 2200's are quite crowded in the rear of the boat where the rx, esc, and rudder servo are also mounted. I am working this weekend but I should be off Monday and Tuesday. Very much looking forward to getting the boat into the water.

[Derek]

This post will probably be the last post from Dad and I about needing "help" with his boat. He has it all built, painted, electronics installed, and we took it out for it's maiden voyage this afternoon. I have to say, "It was awesome to see the boat running!!!" I have asked my Dad to start his own "Video Log" in the "Members Videos" section for his boat, plane, and quad-runner. We also have some interesting numbers to share with you guys. More on that later....

[cml001]

Awesome... Post up the video... I wanna see the bimbo's hair in the wind!