I need to upgrade mine from the 10A unit to the 25A. My 10A kept getting spikes and going into emergency shut down this weekend at times. But the heat in my box was not bad at all as in not any hotter than the air we were all standing in. I know David is running no Box on his PE and I think he scotch guarded it or epoxy coated each of his components as they are all exposed to the water as his ship takes on water. I saw no issues on his after a sinking, which I did not scotch guard mine and one sinking revealed I have a leak in my box ( likely from not greasing my lid o-ring )and got just enough water on the speed controller to shut it down till we got it dried out using some 99% Rubbing alcohol one of the other guys had. I will be ordering up a @%A unit for the Des Moines, but will likly use the !) I have in a ship running a single 550 moter.
Marc uses one of the 10A versions in his Yamato running 4, 650 series motors, and it just gets a little warm, spinning 2.5 inch props. Mine you saw running in my Roma all weekend and it does not even get warm turning 4 motors, but with 2 inch props. I told the fellow at Dimension what we were using the 10A dual control for, and that even thou it protects itself, its right on the edge of capacity when mine went bad that one time, when my props got hooked into Ricks boat. When you do rapid back and forwards it will save it self and reset at times, it only takes 200 msec, but you see it doing it. So he came out with the 25 amp version, with 50 amp peak. I checked Johns with my amp meter in the water, and average draw was like less than 3 amps per motor at full speed, but switching back and forth, he was going over 13 amps just for a sec. On Marc and Mine, I attached a 1/8 metal flat plate with heatsink compound, and nuts and bolts, holes are in the 4 corners, just to take in the extra heat.
Snipehunter How much is the ESC your using? Do you have both variable forward and reverse? Do we know the motors I'm using from Rick in the kit? Are circular disks needed in back of the dummy props or are the props fine without?
I use the mtroniks viper SSR, the US distributor for mtroniks had never heard of it but thats what one of the mtroniks tech guys told me to get in an email. I had to order it from a hobby shop in England. It is designed to ramp up the speed the same in either direction and not have a delay from forward to reverse. Its not perfect but its pretty good. I think its 25 amps but it could be up to 40 I dont remember off the top of my head. At NATS 07 and for the first half of the year I ran a Tekin Rebel 2 speed controller. Its a nice ESC that worked great till I smoked it on the bench cause I wanst paying attention to what I was doing. Problem is that it isnt waterproof so I had to put it in a watertight box, I watercooled it (im watercooling the Viper SSR currently also) to keep it from getting to hot. During the post mortem I took it apart and I think it would be a rather easy controller to waterproof. It has an adjustable delay when going into reverse and if you play with it some you can get it set so that the delay is short enough that you dont really notice it much. Ive also used the Mtroniks Viper Marine 15 which is good but has a couple second delay when going into reverse, I ran it in my cruiser for a year without any problems, but I did flip the leads around so now there is a delay going forwards but none in reverse. Ive been looking at the sabertooths that Dave uses for use in the future. But I probably wont pick one up for a month or so. They look nice and Dave seems to like them so its nice to have someone else be the lab rat. ([]) I plan on waterproofing it myself (either with scotch cote or with the electrical potting epoxy I use for my reciever) and I'll probably watercool it too cause its pretty simple to do and ive had good results with in the past. I dont know the stats on the motors that BC sells, someone else might, or I bet you could look it up on thier website if you can figure out the part number. I would put the circular disks infront of the dummy props but you dont have to if you dont want to. They will help you turn better. I just cut a circle out of a sheet of clear plastic so they are harder to see and it doesnt look as much like I have these big plastic disks in front of the props.
Dave is a good lab rat Sounds like I should save my money to buy one like Daves. It will probally work without worry. Hopefully you guys can get me wired to the receiver when the time comes. Remember Snipe When your testing cannons keep me in mind for the tank cannons 6mm or 40mm is the ticket.
Water channel suggestions needed! The back of this is giving me trouble trying to put a water channel in. Can't pour Dave's sealant because of smell, wood seems crazy. Any ship rear pics out there? Just suggestion would be great.
Maybe you can use that two part polyurethane stuff they sell in craft shops? I used it to waterproof the bottom of my Richelieu. It dries hard and clear, flows out like the concrete sealant, and doesn't smell. It's a bit heavy, but on a big ship like yours, it wouldn't be a problem.
Use gap sealing foam from the home depot or lowes. Cut it with a steak knife (serrated edge) and then use the spakling compound to fill in all the holes. Cover it with epoxy like you wood channel. Just be careful of the amount you use. If you can wait until tomorrow, I will have pic's of this method in the Cleveland build. It's cheap and easy and lightweight.
ahh 40mm, something I have experenice with. You can build a nice 40mm air cannon for a couple hundred bucks.(probably less depending on where you get stuff) That might be a little big for squirrel hunting. but I digress. Wiring up a speed controller is pretty easy, its id much rather do that than wire up the microswitch throttle.
On my Nelson and Roma, I cut up the foam, glued in the peices, and sanded it down flush to where I wanted it, then glassed over it in the stern area, came out looking nice.
Doing OK but trying to get the water channel done and working on the top main deck. Going tooo slow gotta get moving. Later Ron
Should have top decks and water channel complete and painted this weekend. Than I don't know whats next. Give me a clue as I think its time to install parts. One BB should take her down!
Thanks Bob I there anywhere where it shows you what to do. I don't see anything in the BC directions. Ron
Thats a good looking deck Ron! Cant wait to shoot some bbs at it. Here is a basic wiring diagram if you are going with an ESC which I think you said you were going to. (if not its not a big deal) the original for this and another one that shows the micro switch setup if you aren't using an ESC can be found on the MWCI website in the how to section. Both these diagrams were made by Tugboat, i just drew lines on them. anyway I wouldnt do the part that I have in the red box with the X through it. You arent using solenoids yet so you dont have to deal with them and wiring team delta boards or anything yet. Also Im a big fan of having a separate receiver battery, in a big ship you have tons of weight so thats not an issue and I think it solves more problems then it creates.
Thanks Snipe I guess I better order the $125.00 ESC that djranier recommended. Its close to putting it in. Unless someone has a cheaper Idea. I also wanted the pump on an RC channel. Is the pump on the switch ready for a servo in your diagram. I think djranier sent me some wiring diagrams.
