Gas to FE

[Gilbert Pun]

Hi guys,

For some obvious reasons I am thinking of changing my current big gasoline boats to FE, the following are some of the boats:

- Shovelnoses

- Dragon fly

- Strykers

- PBR with 2 jetdrives

- Cracker Box

They are for sport running olnly

Any suggestions please?

GP

 

[jayt]

I have a Stryker F-41 cat on 10S power and it is a blast as a race boat. I can prop to run at 50-55 mph for 4-6 minutes, or 65+ for 2-3 minutes. I built it as a race boat and used top-of-the-line components. Here is what I used, and then what I believe would work well for sport-only running.

My setup:

Lehner 3060/10T motor

Schulze 40-160 ESC

10S2P/9000 mah LiPos

x457/3 to x645 props

Reliable economy:

Neu 2215/2Y motor

Castle Hydra 240HV ESC

10S1P/5000 mAh LiPos for limited run times

10S2P/10,000 mAh LiPos for extended run time

x455 to x462 props

.

 

[Gilbert Pun]

I have a Stryker F-41 cat on 10S power and it is a blast as a race boat. I can prop to run at 50-55 mph for 4-6 minutes, or 65+ for 2-3 minutes. I built it as a race boat and used top-of-the-line components. Here is what I used, and then what I believe would work well for sport-only running.
My setup:

Lehner 3060/10T motor

Schulze 40-160 ESC

10S2P/9000 mah LiPos

x457/3 to x645 props

Reliable economy:

Neu 2215/2Y motor

Castle Hydra 240HV ESC

10S1P/5000 mAh LiPos for limited run times

10S2P/10,000 mAh LiPos for extended run time

x455 to x462 props



Do I need to change the drivetrain setups?

I believe certainly need to waterproof the whole power unit.

Might consider change one of the strykers.

GP

.

 

[jayt]

Do I need to change the drivetrain setups?I believe certainly need to waterproof the whole power unit.

Might consider change one of the strykers.

You will probably have to replace the entire hatch to make the boat watertight. The whole boat becomes the radio box, it has to remain dry inside. I use a 1/4" flex cable drive and SpeedMaster hardware, just like a gasser. The props will be different though.

.

 

[Gilbert Pun]

Do I need to change the drivetrain setups?I believe certainly need to waterproof the whole power unit.

Might consider change one of the strykers.

You will probably have to replace the entire hatch to make the boat watertight. The whole boat becomes the radio box, it has to remain dry inside. I use a 1/4" flex cable drive and SpeedMaster hardware, just like a gasser. The props will be different though.

.

Jayt

- Is it the same racing setup in RC Boat Modeller magazine?

- Do you know the run time for the sport setup?

What about the 4 feet + shovelnoses (the old beautifully painted Dennis Hoover classic thunder boat hulls), would it be possible to change to FE?

GP

 

[jayt]

1. Yes, it's the cat in the mag.

2. It depends a lot on the prop and the way you drive, but the 5000 mAh set up is probably 3-4 minutes max. With the 10,000 mAh setup, at least double.

3. The big hydro could use slightly different setups and run just fine.

Run time is very dependent on how you drive. For the longest run times keep the boat speed up, make wide turns and stay on step. Putting around off-step and lots of accelerating suck up a lot of battery power and heat things up. The times I mentioned above are estimates only, you may get more or less. Or you may find that while you have plenty of battery power left, the temperatures of the motor, controller or packs are too high. It may take awhile to optimize the boats for your intended use, but I think you'll be very pleased.

NOTE: I strongly recommend that any new FE boater - no matter what his R/C boating experience - not make a big converted gas boat his first FE boat. Based on lots of experience, you will damage something expensive as you learn about FE boats - trust me. Get an inexpensive brushless boat like the Aquacraft SV27 or ProBoat BlackJack and learn the FE basics. I know, you have lots of fuel experience and you don't need "practice". All I can say is that I have yet to meet a converted fuel racer who went to a big FE boat and didn't make a costly newbie-to-FE mistake. Far better to do that on a small cheap boat. You can buy the little FE boat used, learn with it, and sell it for little loss in cash - far less than burning up $500+ worth of batteries or controller.

;

 

[Gilbert Pun]

Jayt,

It is very valuable information, many thanks, and you are definitely right about the way to handle FE.

Actually I am currently running a couple of "old school" 34"+ wooden boats using the the cheap Chinese brushless and got very impressive racing speeds and good endurance, with my grandkids, it is really a big change from the old scale running and of course got some batteries and ESC burnt too but believe it is very enjoyable, hence the thinking of changing the big ones to FE or to build some brandnew ones from scratch. It is all influenced by your acticles in the magazine.

It is so very good to talk and learn from you.

GP

 

[Gilbert Pun]

1. Yes, it's the cat in the mag.
2. It depends a lot on the prop and the way you drive, but the 5000 mAh set up is probably 3-4 minutes max. With the 10,000 mAh setup, at least double.

3. The big hydro could use slightly different setups and run just fine.

Run time is very dependent on how you drive. For the longest run times keep the boat speed up, make wide turns and stay on step. Putting around off-step and lots of accelerating suck up a lot of battery power and heat things up. The times I mentioned above are estimates only, you may get more or less. Or you may find that while you have plenty of battery power left, the temperatures of the motor, controller or packs are too high. It may take awhile to optimize the boats for your intended use, but I think you'll be very pleased.

NOTE: I strongly recommend that any new FE boater - no matter what his R/C boating experience - not make a big converted gas boat his first FE boat. Based on lots of experience, you will damage something expensive as you learn about FE boats - trust me. Get an inexpensive brushless boat like the Aquacraft SV27 or ProBoat BlackJack and learn the FE basics. I know, you have lots of fuel experience and you don't need "practice". All I can say is that I have yet to meet a converted fuel racer who went to a big FE boat and didn't make a costly newbie-to-FE mistake. Far better to do that on a small cheap boat. You can buy the little FE boat used, learn with it, and sell it for little loss in cash - far less than burning up $500+ worth of batteries or controller.

;

Hi Jay T

My first thought was to convert the existing gas boats to FE power would be easier and quicker, and I know now it is not exactly the case, especially when I am running my boats on seawater.

Gilbert

 

[Bill-SOCAL]

NOTE: I strongly recommend that any new FE boater - no matter what his R/C boating experience - not make a big converted gas boat his first FE boat. Based on lots of experience, you will damage something expensive as you learn about FE boats - trust me. Get an inexpensive brushless boat like the Aquacraft SV27 or ProBoat BlackJack and learn the FE basics. I know, you have lots of fuel experience and you don't need "practice". All I can say is that I have yet to meet a converted fuel racer who went to a big FE boat and didn't make a costly newbie-to-FE mistake. Far better to do that on a small cheap boat. You can buy the little FE boat used, learn with it, and sell it for little loss in cash - far less than burning up $500+ worth of batteries or controller.;

What he said. The SV27 is a great boat and the new Aquacraft UL-1 sport hydro is another. But do yourself a favor, learn the basics as Jay says. My 10S gas boat type FE boats have nearly $3200 in motor, ESC and batteries in them. This is NOT the place to learn and to make mistakes. Even doing it on the "cheap" and you are still looking at nearly $2,000 for JUST the motor, cells, and ESC.

 

[Gilbert Pun]

What he said. The SV27 is a great boat and the new Aquacraft UL-1 sport hydro is another. But do yourself a favor, learn the basics as Jay says. My 10S gas boat type FE boats have nearly $3200 in motor, ESC and batteries in them. This is NOT the place to learn and to make mistakes. Even doing it on the "cheap" and you are still looking at nearly $2,000 for JUST the motor, cells, and ESC.

Thanks Bill for the info, it is nice to know, the high budget of power drive is important but getting the boat successfully run is the utimate goal.