Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Pleasure boats, Sports, Race, Power and Leisure Boats: => Topic started by: agemax on September 12, 2011, 09:43:13 pm
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hi there, recently bought my first rc boat, an nqd? twin prop electric motors, no rudder steering and no servo motors, just a little control box in the boat. is this a good noobie boat to start my probably expensive new hobby?
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well if it gives the model boating bug then its more than adequate. The thing about model boating though is that the build is 95 percent of the fun. Buying a boat that works allready is one thing and makes hmm yeah ok. Building your own and seeing that work is something else!! try something simple, nock out a boat shape with some wood stick a motor on it and see!! :-)) :-))
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not too good with wood. would rather start with a boat and upgrade it. any suggestions? bigger battery,bigger motors, bigger props?
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well we all start somewhere what ever we make our boats out of. It boils down to experience at the end of the day and experience wont come till you do actually do it.
trying and failing is better than failing to try
By but if you wish to upgrade your boat first then id suggest you decide how much money you want to spend first %% :-))
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limited budget but what am i looking at for upgrades, basic ones to start with, i dont want to go silly straight away :-)
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for starters with the current set up its hard to say what the esc can handle. When nqd designed this boat they will have started with proppellers, then adequate motors to drive them, then an esc and battery to do the job. what boat is it? do you know how long it runs for and what mah the battery is?
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if you want to upgrade your nqd boat then have a look threw this thread:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3361236/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm
Pompebled seems to pop up everywhere when it comes to fast electrics hes the EP guru in my oppinion. Hes helped me countless times and he knows how to make a very fast boat for very little money.
In my oppinion i think upgrading the nqd stuff is a waste of money, youl more than likely spend more money upgrading the nqd than what you did to buy it.
I would get one of these:
http://alshobbies.com/shop/search.php?Desc=Pacific+Balsa+
good thread on it:
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=19378.0
The wood is pre cut and the electric bits come with the kit but you will need a radio. least this way you were learn the methods of boat building AND there structuring enabling you to upgrade the NQD later. Its up to you though :-))
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Hi there Agemax, welcome to the Mayhem. Why not pop some pictures of your boat on here? Might be better able to advise you then, Dave. :-))
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ok, i have established it is indeed a High Wind. after trawling through the high wind thread i can see it has already been modified. it has "lipower" 480bb motors in it and a 7.2v 2400Mah 24amp(?) battery.
one question i have is the props on the boat are threaded onto the shafts. it came with a spare pair which arent threaded so i assume i need nuts to hold them on. problem is, where do i get 3mm l/h thread nuts from?
cheers in advance
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was the boat new when you bought it??
2400mah or milliamp hour, means that it in 1 hour it will discharge 2.4 amps.
putting this into some kind of english.
if the motor draws 2400ma (2.4A) then the motor on that battery will run for 1 hour
if the motor draws 4800ma (4.8A) on that battery it will run for half an hour
if the motor draws 1200ma (1.2A) then the boat will run for 2 hours
this is only a rough guide line though. but if you know that the battery is fully charged and you know how long in minutes the boat runs for you can work out backwards how many amps the motor draws. eg:
2400mah or 2.4ah X 60mins = 144/ eg 20mins = 7.2 amps
that means then that this theoretical speed controller can handle 7.2 amps without blowing up.
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the boat was not new, i was given it. the battery says 2400mah, 24 amp. i have got another from an old rc car which is 7.2v 4600mah. will this be ok to use?
any solution to the prop nut problem, i have trawled the internet for l/h threads 3mm but cant find any anywhere
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the 4600mah will allow the boat to run longer because it has a higher capacity BUT will be heavier. if you weigh both the batteries youl see the difference. it will not make the boat faster though in fact if the additional weight is excessive it will slow the boat down {:-{
As far as left hand nuts are concerned i cant find any either. Dual props are usually contra rotating meaning then turn oppposite ways. so in practice only 1 of the nuts should be lh and the other rh :o
I suppose then that the props that are fitted to the boat have a brass captive nut in them and they just screw on. what kind of coupling do the spare props have a dog drive??
you can tell a dog drive because it has a slot in the prop hub and no thread.
(http://s4.postimage.org/cbt64w9w/3540_prop.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/cbt64w9w/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/ccjmqg6c/Free_shipping_high_quality_rc_Boats_R_C_Boat_Plastic_3_Blade_Marine_Propeller_Right_rotating.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/ccjmqg6c/)
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that looks exactly like the 2 different types of props i have, i know one is l/h and one is r/h thread. the r/h thread is no problem.
just spoke to local machine shop and he said if i can get the taps he will machine them for me, so ebay helped me out with 3 x 3mm l/h taps and 300mm of 5mm hexagon brass bar. should be able to get a fair few nuts from that! all for less than £10...
i will post a pic in a minute of the props that are fitted. the "dogs" for the other props seem to be already on the shafts
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tbh if the boat is allready modyfied and the props fitted are uprated ones then you are allready at your limit as far as upgrades go. Beyond this your talking about a major overhaul and now you need money. Im afraid fast is expensive even if you do it cheap. The limiting factor is the radio/esc itself if you go for bigger motors or props your going to burn it out.
1 you will need an rc set. The one you have now is no good if you upgrade
2 motor
3 speed controller
4 propshaft
5 rudder
6 rudder control rods
7 servo
8 prop
9 motor mount
10 coupling
be prepared to part with a ton at least to mod this boat {:-{
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ok here goes, first pic is the prop set up with the threaded props, then the spare set i have with the "dogs" then the engine bay (lol), then the boat itself.
(http://s1.postimage.org/8oqpjao4/100_1072.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/8oqpjao4/)
(http://s1.postimage.org/8pw1yz0k/100_1073.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/8pw1yz0k/)
(http://s1.postimage.org/8qmikix0/100_1074.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/8qmikix0/)
(http://s1.postimage.org/8rl8utac/100_1075.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/8rl8utac/)
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what do you think then to what i suggested
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i dont think i will spend anymore money on upgrading it. seems the sensible cheapish mods have already been done. all i want is to get some more spare props and the nuts to fit them.
what is your opinion on the props that are fitted and where is the best place to buy some more spare props, i cant find any on ebay. i take it they are left and right handed too
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you wont need more spare props whats the point?
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you wont need more spare props whats the point?
what if i chew them up or break them, i only get to use it at my local quay which is littered with drift wood, seaweed and other rubbish
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i have noticed the battery and motors getting quite hot during use and have seen a lot of posts about people water cooling their boats.
what is the best way to cool my highwind. there is not the space to fit cooling coils around the motors, would silicone tube do the job, and do i need a water pump or will the force of the boat moving force it through the water pick up scoop?
what is the best type of scoop to buy and where do i buy it, in the UK?
cheers
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the heat is caused by the props being too big. your boat shouldnt get hot. :-))
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the props are 36mm in diameter and came with the boat. are they not the standard size?
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no if you have these props installed:
(http://s1.postimage.org/27ujtnkxw/100_1072.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/27ujtnkxw/)
the brass dog drives behind the propellers are for the original propellers. 36mm is way to big. have you got the original props?
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i have the props which locate onto the dogs on the shafts but i dont have the nuts to fit them yet.(they are being made) both sets are the same diameter
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Hi agemax,
Is your boat setup straight out of the box or have you made any modifications?
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Hi agemax,
Is your boat setup straight out of the box or have you made any modifications?
it is how it was given to me by a friend. it has a 2400mah battery and 480 motors. as far as i know thats the only mods done to it
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I'm surprised the original radio gear can handle the current! :o
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I'm surprised the original radio gear can handle the current! :o
it seems to run ok, just gets a bit hot :-))
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ok so i have found a 12v pump from a car windscreen washer. made a coil from maleable 4mm copper pipe. the pump runs fine for at least 10 minutes from a 9.6v 700mah battery.
i plan to mount the pump above the original battery with the copper coil around the water pump. then run a pipe from the rear inlet (still need one),wrapped around the battery, the 2 motors the esc then exiting from an outlet on the front of the boat. the 9.6v battery will be mounted in front of the esc which, i gather from other threads will add a bit more weight to the front of the boat and help stability a bit.
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you dont need all that dude crikey, the pump will add weight in an allready slow boat. to cool motors a water scoop is put into the oncoming stream of water, this creates a low but ample pressure to trickle the water around the motor. The reason why it gets hot is because the props are too big. when you oversize props it makes the motors overwork and draw too many amps. this results in the battery and motors overheating. This will eventually be terminal when your motors are burnt out and the esc has melted.
what you need to do is get rid of the mechaninals and electricals entirely and start again with some cheap but affective gear.
You have rc cars right? what have you got??
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All you need to do is used forced water cooling, no need for a pump.
You just need a water pick up (usually behind the prop but a bit involved in this case) but yo could extend a 'J'
shaped copper or brass pipe out through the transom to the back of the propeller... and it doesn't even have to
be in the water, just a few mm behind the top of the prop will be enough to push through huge amounts of
cooling for the motor coil etc. Or you can fit a small pipe just in side the transom, sticking trough the hull bottom
by the siame diameter of the pipe and cut an angle on it 45o facing forwards.
A bit more here: http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/My_models/03%20laser.htm
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i have an original tamiya grasshopper, in the process of being restored,hopped up.
i need to find a source for a water inlet, the only ones i can find on ebay are from hong kong
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on my boats i use a peice of aluminium tube. i drilled a hole in the bottom of the hull then filed the hole into an oval shape, this allowed just the tip of the tube to point forward.
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i will try the pick up tube and forced fed water first to see how effective it is, would a hot glue gun be ok to seal the pick up tube or should i use something stronger like araldite?
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hot glue gun works for me :-)) looks like dog poo though
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(http://s1.postimage.org/2svwnj26c/25062009082.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2svwnj26c/)
the screw on props you have are for the stealth boat as above
, not high-wind . the correct props and nuts/drive-dogs can be found on ebay.
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(http://s1.postimage.org/2svwnj26c/25062009082.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2svwnj26c/)
the screw on props you have are for the stealth boat as above
, not high-wind . the correct props and nuts/drive-dogs can be found on ebay.
i have the correct props and the dogs are already on the shafts, you cant buy the 3mm l/h thread nuts anywhere. i am in the process of having some made
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This is what mine looks like....
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This is what mine looks like....
thats what mine will look like when i get the nuts made to secure the props
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upgrades done on this one
2 ch radio
30amp speed controller
rudder
rudder control rods
servo
9.6v battery
these motors(stealth) don't need cooling as they have fans on shaft at motor.
(http://s4.postimage.org/ayfc090k/25062009082.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/ayfc090k/)
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See: http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=27131.msg324209#msg324209