Got some progress on two fronts today, haha axis pun. Got my paperwork notarized and submitted for my birth certificate. Then started working on the EQ. Hobby king speed controls came this morning, got one all wired up with dean's plugs, got the motor wired, gut the rudder servo in. So I have propulsion and steering now. Yay! Will see if I can get a sea trial in this weekend. Suppose to snow tonight or tomorrow morning so may not be possible. Either way I'm making progress. I attached the rudder servo to the removable aft deck as it made it easy to get to it for replacement when needed. Works great.
FYI, snow don't bother me, it's the whole swimming in water that's just above freezing if something happens aspect that I ain't to keen on, lol. Also I have no car at the moment so I have to bum a ride down to the lake. I do have a pond on my property, but I'd need a machete and a sherpa guide to get to it. Lol.
Waterproofing will be done once I finalize where everything goes. I need to make a receiver box as potting the rx will make it impossible to get to the binding button. Hopefully I will have the cannons soon. Then I need to acquire a tank and regulator.
Ok, a friend supplied me with a can of liquid electric tape and a tube of dielectric grease, so I can start waterproofing the electronics. Also got som 3/16 hardwood dowling to make gun barrels for the unarmed turrets. Bothered me that they have no guns in them, lol. Need to grease the shafts on it as well. Will the dielectric grease work for that? Only other thing I have is wheel bearing grease and that may be to thick. I plan to get some white lithium but it will be a while before I can get to a place that has any. I live in a small town and currently have no running vehicle. Just trying to do what I can with what I have.
The liquid electrical tape will work in a pinch, but it is not a good solution as it will eventually come off whatever you out it on and let water in, possibly holding it against whatever you are trying to waterproof.
I also have some 5 minute epoxy that I can use. I don't expect this stuff to last forever, just trying to get it to the point that it "should" last through a battle weekend with several sinks as I'm quite sure that I will end up sunk several times before I get the hang of this, lol.
I have no problem with replacing servos, etc every couple battles, as they're cheap and I have a stock of standard servos. It's the fasst rx that get costly. Even the frSky and flysky brand ones. Haven't had a chance to try the Orange or Lemon brands yet.
Although replacing servos might be ok, having a servo fail during a battle is very frustrating. Shortcuts in waterproofing will cause no end to electrical problems. Liquid tape is not a good waterproofing solution. Over time (faster than you may think), the liquid tape will start pulling loose from the electronic part and trap water, which leads to corrosion and electronics failure. Epoxy is pretty good for waterproofing. Better when the part (like a receiver) is completely potted in it. Perhaps the best IMO is something called conformal coating, aka 3M Skotchcoat electrical coating. It will not pull or separate from the electronics and can be applied with a brush. It can be hard to find anywhere other than a dedicated electrical supply store. The dielectric grease should work well on the servo plugs. Wheel bearing grease will work in a pinch for the prop shafts. Lithium grease is my preferred method.
Ok, I will hold off on the waterproofing. Try to find some scotchguard. I have just finished making all the cannon barrels. Looks much better now. I need to get a good drawing of the super structure so I can make the masts. Then get some small boats made up for you guys to shoot off the deck, lol.
Got shipping confirmation this eve, my birth cert will be here Monday. So if I can get up to Hamilton on Tuesday I will have my CDL back. YAY! I can finally go back to work. Do any of you guys hunt? I have decided to get into hunting as we have quite the feral hog problem here and I live 5 min from year round huntable national forest land. Just acquired a traditions BuckStalker 50 cal black powder rifle. Did some trading for it as well as a Springfield XD 9mm in excellent condition. The 50 cal has less than 10 shots through it. I am looking for someone to kinda show me ropes with hunting though as I have never actually done it.
FYI He meant SkotchKote and its very expensive and for some reason hard to find. Acrylic conformal coating is made for this and MG Chemicals makes some or you can get ( I think) clear acrylic nail polish. I waterproofed 4 servos and they all died from the waterproofing. I am certain I did it wrong.. however if its THAT DIFFICULT for a rookie to do.. then save your money and get a waterproof servo. I had purchased 4 servos @ 25 each.. and lost 100 bucks on it. Not counting the 15 bucks (at that time) on skotchkote which is very messy. I spent $30 on the Traxxas and they go out once in a while. I spent $50 on the Hitec 646wp and haven't had a failure yet... AND I don't have to worry about it. I carry one spare and am now able to redirect my time to other boat issues instead of waterproofing and testing servos. G0od luck on your build.
Sucks to save $20 bucks and have it fail on a $150 weekend (hotel, food, driving). Get the waterproofed version and be done with it. There are many more things to tackle. On your other hobby, only you will know how much time you will have but I know from experience that hunting take a LOT of time. You will find this hobby is labor intensive until you boat is built, and even then be prepared to rebuild it as you learn after your first battle. Good luck with your rebuild
The traxxas servos aren't waterproof. They are water resistant. I found out the hard way at last year's nationals.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...og_Servo_3_2kg_0_17sec_40g_AR_Warehouse_.html Like four and a half bucks apiece, conformal coated electronics board, got o-rings everywhere, even around the heads of the screws that hold the case together. Good stuff. $4.48 each, and that's from the Eastern US warehouse...
