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[stevept109]

Hello all firstly i will introduce myself 
Im Steve, 46, disabled with Ankylosing spondilytius but still able to play big boys toys 

Just getting a bit more involved with boats than I have been in the past. By that I mean I do like RC boating but have always had pre-built factory toy like ones previously such as the interceptor and a traxxas nitro vee.

I have just purchace from eblagg a rather nice unfinished / just started Perkassa MTB and have been fiddling with it over christmas in my workshop. I do however have a couple of questions 

Is my ESC correct for the job ?
Wiring , I take it the plug (Red & Black) is the input + & - 6v ?????
If that is so then do the other two (Blue & White) wires go to the motors ?

I have added some pictures to help things along a bit, I hope 

[HS93 (RIP)]

  OK the way it looks like it was set up was with two batteries one for each motor ,you have wires going to both and the center batteries looks like they are thinner?   the speed controller has a built in beck so does not need a power supply are the batteries 6v ? if so think about connecting them in series to give you 12v as your speed controller will operate between 6v = 5cell  to  12v = 10 Ceil

red and black go to battery I would change the wires you have on the battery (Yellow)l as it may confuse you and the blue and white to motor, again try the motors at first in series, this will give you a longer run time and a chance to get used to it you could then try them in parallel  bit more speed but because I cannot see the motors other than they are MFA or what props you have try in series .

the speed controller "should " be able to take the two motors but the figures given some times can be a bit overestimated by speedo manufactures. try and get the receiver away from wiring and on the first test run for a few min then check for any heat problems,   
good luck

peter

[Model Boats Website]

Take a look at this:

The wires coming from the battery should be red and black, like Peter says the yellow one should be removed completely. Looking at the setup you have there the ESC is going to be powering both motors, this is ok but manauverability might be better if you had two ESC's and a mixer unit which would allow you to speed up one prop and slow down the other to get tight turning circles.

Either way the ESC is quite capable of handling those motors, specialy at 6v. I can't see what the middle battery is doing but if you do find the boat underpowered I would certainly link that battery up with the other one to get the 12v. The controller will cope with 12v and the motors will go up to 15v so theres no reason not to.

Hope this helps,
Stephen

[Shipmate60]

Steve,
What capacity are the batteries?

Bob

[Stavros]

Bob looking at the size of them they look like 6v 7amps each

Stavros

[HS93 (RIP)]

It looks like they may be old 2.9amh blow this picture up.

Peter

[DickyD]

Two point something for sure. Need new eyes. :-\

[Stavros]

Do you know you are quite right there. I just missed my appointment with the opticians last week and guess what before anyone says it ,it was specsavers  

Stavros

[Shipmate60]

Are you running her on 6 volts, she might need 12 to get up to speed. ESC's will take 12 volts, what motors are in her?

Bob

[Stavros]

MFA 540's
-
RE - 540/1 4.5 - 15.0v
 6.0v CONSTANT 7500
12.0v CONSTANT 15800

 


Stavros

[FullLeatherJacket]

Bob/Steve/Stavros (latter's post just came in - thanks, Dave)

Those motors look like MFA-Como RE5401. "Rice pudding" and "couldn't pull the skin off" spring to mind when associating these motors with 6 volts. Couple them with heavy SLA batteries in a planing hull like this and you have a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Although I've not actually built a Perkie meself (I'm more a Huntsman kind of guy  ), I'm sure there are many other threads which do contain some useful info on this particular model.

For a decent value-for-money set-up which won't involve too much hacking around of the motor mounts or running gear for Steve, I'm thinking two Speed 600 ECO motors and a pack of 8 x 4300 NiMH cells apiece to get this model singing properly. Check out the on-the-water pictures of Model Slipway's Kawkab on their website; that model is about the same size as Perkasa. Works for Lawrie but suit yourself, eh?

FLJ

[Ghost in the shell]

It looks like they may be old 2.9amh blow this picture up.

Peter

2.5A


also ditch those lead acid batteries and get some 9.6v 3300mah nickel cadmium / nickel metal-hydride, two packs. link together in parrallel, and upgrade esc to an electronize or proboat tornado 50.  with that you should be able to skate nicely.

be warned, when pairing batteries, Nicd+nicd or ni-mh+ni-mh is ok, ni-cd+ni-mh is not, and be sure tp match voltage AND amperage

[stevept109]

Sorry not been about much over the last few days so in just catching up with everything

Ok this is the story so far

The motors are indeed MFA 4.5 - 15v 

Batteries are 6v 2.8ah

Is this set up now no good ? Dont baffle me with science im realy quite thick and new to all this 

[malcolmfrary]

The batteries appear to be wired in series, so they will be giving 12 volts.  The motors should give of their best at this voltage. 
To make a boat go fast, weight has to be kept to a minimum, when it was built, the batteries fitted were probably the best bet, but these days the same amount of power, or more can be stored in a lighter package.  A lighter battery will give a longer run at the same speed.

[Big Ada]

Hi Steve,
I may not be the sharpest tool in the box but the ESC has BEC so you do not need that extra little blue battery do you?.

........................ :-\........................... :-\.............................. :-\.......................... :-\..................... :-\...........
 Len.

[stevept109]

I have no Idea Len 

Im afraid im new to all this. If its suplus to requirement how should the wiring be ?  :)

[barriew]

Provided all three wires in the lead from the ESC to the Receiver are connected, you must NOT plug in the separate battery pack (the blue one) to the receiver. You need a supply either from the ESC or from a battery pack - not both. It is possible that the red wire has been disconnected from the receiver plug in the lead from the ESC, in this case the blue battery will be required.

This assumes that the blue battery is connected to the Receiver - its not clear from the photo.

Barrie

[DickyD]

Hi Steve
Have you checked out FLJ's wiring diagrams.
The top one should suit you as long as your red wire on the Rx to Esc is not still connected.
If it is connected then do away with the Rx pack.
If you dont want to cut the red wire that you have, buy an extension cable and disconnect the red on that.

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/Common/Electrics/Images/setupsA4JPG.jpg

[stevept109]

Okey-dokey

The wiring diagram on that link is how mine is wired up.
Big black & red = 12v in

One small Black & Red goes of to the (left in the photo) on?off switch

Red Black & White goes from ESC to Reciver C2

Wires from steering servo to reciver C1

Wires from blue battery to reciver (batt)

 

[FullLeatherJacket]

Steve
The BEC regulator inside the speed controller is intended to "tap" a power supply from the main batteries; reduce it to 5 volts and feed it down the thin red and black wires to the receiver. This means that you don't need a separate battery for the receiver (which is what the blue one looks like it's intended for). I've never handled this sort of speed controller but I would imagine that the small ON/OFF switch coming off it is intended to control the power supply from the ESC to the receiver i.e. it's your radio control system's ON/OFF switch.
To see if it's working properly, leave the main drive batteries connected (and switched ON, if there's a separate switch for them). Unplug the blue battery from the receiver. Turn on your transmitter and wiggle the sticks. If nothing happens, move the small ON/OFF switch coming from the ESC to its other position and try again. If still nothing happens then either the BEC regulator or the switch is faulty. You should NEVER connect a separate receiver battery to a circuit which already has a BEC regulator in it (and working).
Hope this helps.
FLJ