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[loinerlad]

Right guys I hope you can help me out here, I recently bought a model of the Drumbeat of Devon which I am very happy with, it has been very well built and looks fantastic on the lake! the problem is when on the water it concerns me how much it tips to the side when turning, even when the water is calm and the boat is going in a straight line it tips side to side, obviously I know that it is bound to do this a little bit but surely not as much as it does at the moment??
I have placed quite a bit of lead in the centre of the hull but it does not seem to have helped much. Ideally I don't want to add much more weight as it will affect the speed of the boat and at the moment it sits really well with the waterline on the hull.
Is there any other issues that could be causing this or is it just a case of even more ballast? I know it probably wont tip over but I would be rather embarrassed if it did 


Any advice please?
Chris

[Shipmate60]

Any pics of her internals?
What battery is in her and how is it mounted?
 
Bob

[loinerlad]

Hi Bob, I have some pictures but I am having difficulty uploading them onto here. She is powered by a Tornado TRC 4300 Battery pack 25 - 35A powering 2 buhler motors. The battery is mounted in the centre of the hull.


Chris

[Shipmate60]

These usually use an SLA (Sealed Acid Battery) which supplies power and ballast.
She seems a bit light in ballast.
 
Bob

[loinerlad]

I was wondering that myself bob, I know a lot of people don't like the lead acid batteries but I like the run time you get with them. Would you recommend a 6 or 12 volt one?

[Shipmate60]

Depends what the motors like for the speed you want, what voltage is the stick pack you are using now.
 
Bob

[Netleyned]

If Drumbeat has been built with all the bridge/wheelhouse
Furniture then adding the heavy rib makes her a bit tender
even when ballasted down to her marks.
Every example I've seen looks a bit frightening in any
sort of wind.

Ned

[tica]

My Drumbeat weight is approx. 8Kg and driven by 2 Speed 900BB's on  a 12V 7.5Ah SLA

Here is a video of on the water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h0OzLwCk_ZY#!

[Shipmate60]

It might be worth just increasing the ballast and ballast her deep then try her again.
If not then look to reduce topweight.
 
Bob

[Colin Bishop]

Or replace the SLAs with NiMH cylindrical batteries in the bottom of the hull. You actually get more power from NiMH as you can almost fully discharge the cells whereas SLAs don't like it if you go lower than 50%.

 
Colin

[dmw_boatboy]

The drubeat a member had in are club used to tilt into the corners some how.
I think he said it was somthing to do with rudder set up.
sadly i cannot askhim as no longer with us.

[Perkasaman2]

Hi Loinerlad, it would be worthwhile trying to borrow alternative batteries to experiment with. A pair of nimh packs - one on each side of the hull outboard of the motors is worth trying, although they won't be placed at the lowest part of the hull they offer an equal balanced lever, which may help reduce rolling. I would also, in addition, place a battery low between the motors for additional ballast and test this layout/combination. This is quite a deep vee hull so the motors can't have been installed at the  lowest point of the hull to counteract the high heavyish topsides. The underside hull shape at the stern does'nt help matters.

[malcolmfrary]

If lighter batteries are used, extra lead ballast for stability can be added lower in the hull, where it is needed, giving a lower CoG overall than just using an SLA which will probably only fit in one place.

[justboatonic]

Never had a problem with my Drumbeat heeling over, then again, I only had her running two MFA geared motors.

I used two 4ah SLA's. One was additional ballast while running off the other then swap over. The ballast one was positioned on a tray under where the RIB sits with the 'drive' SLA mounted just in front of the motors under the deck house.

I also fitted some lead sheet to add ballast which made her sit at a realistic (and I think accurate) depth.

[J.beazley]

Another point to ask are the stabilizers working or fixed as that can make a bit of difference to the handling.


looking at a few old build threads i recall the working stabilizers helped to keep her upright under faster cornering, as the rudders would turn one way and the stabilizers would turn the opposite direction.


Jay

[justboatonic]

Another point to ask are the stabilizers working or fixed as that can make a bit of difference to the handling.


looking at a few old build threads i recall the working stabilizers helped to keep her upright under faster cornering, as the rudders would turn one way and the stabilizers would turn the opposite direction.


Jay

Drumbeat doesnt have stabilisers. I think you're thinking of MSW's Sentinel.

Drumbeat will heel over if people try and turn her into a speedboat with a massive bow wave. The answer is not to make her go at an unrealistic scale speed.

[J.beazley]

ah yes good point wrong boat    mad moment on my part.


Jay

[loinerlad]

It looks like my problem probably lies with the batteries that I use, it does look like it has had a mount in it at some point possibly for a lead acid battery, I think I am just going to have to try different batteries and hold my breath when I need to turn sharply, hopefully a bit more ballast and suitable batteries will solve my problem.

[justboatonic]

It looks like my problem probably lies with the batteries that I use, it does look like it has had a mount in it at some point possibly for a lead acid battery, I think I am just going to have to try different batteries and hold my breath when I need to turn sharply, hopefully a bit more ballast and suitable batteries will solve my problem.

Why do you want to run Drumbeat so fast and want \ need to turn sharply? Drumbeat isnt a speedboat, it doesnt have a particularly fast top speed. Making sharp turns arent scale like either.

Put an SLA battery in or if using nicads, add some more lead sheet (you may need to add some even if using SLA's). You will always have issues with Drumbeat if making her go too fast and turning sharply.