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[Left4Dead]

Hello everybody.

The names Gary.

I've always been into building model cars since I was a boy, but I'd always fancied a boat, so my girlfriend recently bought me one for my 30th birthday. Only a basic pre-built Capricorn 54, but it was somewhere to start, and I love getting down Eaton Boating lake in Norwich.

Well, I'd had nothing but problems with the Capricorn 54 since April, burnt out speed controller, wire off inside servo, propellor came off in middle of lake (Think it's a common fault with these having researched). So I decided to change a few things inside. Having lots of spares from my cars, I've now fitted an Acoms servo, a Futaba ESC, but now I have concerns over the prop and motor match up.
I have an 18 turn motor and have it powering a 2 fin dog drive, 45mm diameter with 1.4 pitch diameter ratio giving a pitch of 63mm.
I'm more interested in top speeds, but will this combination be ok do you think? Or will I run into any problems?

Gary.

[andygh]

Hello Gary, welcome.
Have you tried the boat? How hot does the motor get?

[Left4Dead]

Hello thanks.

Hopefully I'm going to get it in the water this weekend.

I was unsure whether any damage would be caused with the lower torque motor trying to power that prop. The combination is fine in a car, but boats and water drag etc is all new to me. I still have the standard 540 motor if need be though.

[Martin (Admin)]

Make a couple a short full power runs and check the temperature of the motor, if it's too hot to touch, it's over loaded and you'll need a smaller propeller.

[SteamboatPhil]

And you have a big enough lake there as well, so when you do get it set up you'll find just how addictive boating can be (and you'll start looking for your next build  )
Welcome to forum / madhouse
 

[tri_stand]

And you have a big enough lake there as well

I agree. I visited the Norwich Model Boat Club a few weeks ago when they had their Submarine Event day. A great lake, nice and big. Being suitable for all types of Watercraft.

Good Luck Gary. Let us know how you get on.

[Wasyl]

remember to take a set of waders wth you,just in case,


Wullie

[Left4Dead]

Hello again everybody. So, last week I bought myself a Multiplex EasyStar (A powered glider recomended as the best RC plane for beginers) to add to my radio control arsenal. I spent a day building it, and was very happy with the outcome. Took it for its maiden flight yesterday... and nose-dived from 40ft into the ground. DOH!!!

So, to ease my pain of wrecking a £160 RC plane, I took my Capricorn54 to my local lake at Norwich again yesterday to try the new set up mentioned above. I placed my boat in the water, pushed forward on my tx expecting it to cruise off like lightning, only for it to make loads of "fast sounding" noise, and more wash at the back than an Isle of Wight ferry. However, it crawled along like tug boat rather than a speed boat. I spoke to an experienced looking gentleman at the club house who told me my prop was probably to big. I thought it was the bigger the better??? Obviously not.

Can somebody point me to a prop that would be suitable for my capricorn54 speed boat, with the spec mentioned in the 1st post? It needs to fit on a 4mm shaft and is the dog drive variety.

Are there any article avaiable to explain what prop I'd need? Would 3 fins be better?

This is the one I bought that doesnt work so well: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/X445-PROPELLER-4mm-or-3-16-rc-model-boat-X45-electric_W0QQitemZ120466104129QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN?hash=item1c0c56df41&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Sorry for all the questions. And thanks in advance.

[malcolmfrary]

With a prop, the fewer blades the better when looking for speed.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  The boat cannot go forward faster than the water being shoved backward, so a fast moving stream of water must be generated.  A small fast spinning prop will create a narrow, but fast moving stream of water.  A large prop will shift the same volume in the same length of time, but it will be a wide, slow moving stream.

[DickyD]

You will find that a lot of the really fast boats use 2 bladed props of a fairly small diameter.