angrymelon

iTrader: (1)

LiPO puffing is essentially when the battery swells up, and no longer retains it's originally shape. When this happens it's not uncommon for the battery to no longer fit into the chassis.

aackjw

iTrader: (9)

Wow! Sounds very scary...
Would that happen when the battery is not treated properly or it will happen eventually as it grows old?

Sorry with questions. very serious about the hobby but not many people around to ask.
Hope you can understand.

angrymelon

iTrader: (1)

It could definitely happen if the battery is misused. In my experience it seems like it typically happens when the battery is under significant stress (load). In most F1 applications, the cars are so light, and the drivetrain so free, that it hardly stresses batteries. If you don't discharge the battery too low, or over-charge it (out of balance), they tend to last a long time.

Sorry if my answer leads to more confusion. Feel free to ask away

AlexPate

iTrader: (19)

Main causes for lipo puff would be charging at a higher amperage rate than the battery can handle. Some lipo's you can charge at higher than 1c but it is important to know the charge rate they can handle.
Heat is a lipo enemy. I left a battery in my sun room once and it did not like the temperature. Another thing is charging your battery fully and then leaving it at full charge for an extended period of time. AlwAys put your batteries in storage after a race weekend which is around 3.8v per cell.
ALWAYS use a proper lipo charger. Lipo chargers are designed to charge a lipo safely and balance the cells. My brother in law bought a cheap helicopter that used a power brick to charge the batteries. He ended up throwing the copter out my front door as the batteries were exploding. Also it is always best practice to charge in a lipo safe bag. That being said most f1 drivers (myself included) are guilty of not doing this because of the effort involved in removing the pack from the car.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions.

nicoo2k4

A bit late but : https://scontent-b-fra.xx.fbcdn.net/...5e&oe=552BF485

My setup from ETS Rd1. Was in A main, cause was really easy and fast!

Testing setup : http://www.petitrc.com/reglages/vbcr...drome20150114/

AlexPate

iTrader: (19)

You missed battery position and caster block orientation.

Ph3nyx

Merci Nicolas

Are the spacers under the servo saver , realy change the direction ?

Airwave

iTrader: (1)

I would just add that: If you want your pack not to puff:
- Avoid fully-charged Lipo storage (there is a storage mode on the charger, use it)
- Avoid cold weather charge of a LiPO (I know that there is a debate about that, but when I'm running in cold conditions (under 18° C), I'm using a MM Warmer tray BEFORE the charge, juste to ensure that the Lipo is around 25-30° C for the charge.

nicoo2k4

I dont know... I got the car 1 week before the race and put a start setup for ETS. So I didn't try with more/lss shims.

nicoo2k4

Caster 4°

LiPo holes in back.

And cutted top deck :



ps : lipo orientation is not correct in the picture.

disaster999

iTrader: (1)

have anyone tried to use mini servos like on 1/12 scale on the F1?

Edit: Scratch that. Turns out the spare mini servo I have have the servo horn cut on the wrong side, there wouldnt be anything to hold the servo if I cut the remaining horn off.

I guess ill get have to get a new servo, thought I could save a few bucks by reusing what I have.

disaster999

iTrader: (1)

Just finished building the LightningF, thought I'll give an initial review on the overall quality of the kit.

Build wise, its pretty straight forward, there are no complications or whatever. However, the fit and finish is less desirable. The most noticeable place is the front end.

• The steer arm didnt slide onto the king pin as smoothly. One side was even binding. I had to take drill bit and careful enlarge the hole a bit so the pin would fit in a little smoother. I dont think this would affect handling much as the steer arm doesnt slide up and down the shaft.
• Either the upper arm where it houses the pivot ball or the camber adjuster pieces are inconsistent. On one side the ball pivot smoothly, on the other side, it was binding a bit. I had sand out both indentation on the arm and the plastic piece a little to get the ball pivoting smoothly.
• The "aero caster" adjuster pieces was giving me a hard time. When it was time to combine the upper arm to the chassis, the caster adjuster didnt line up with the holes properly and I was fighting over it a little. I ended up loosening the caster piece from the lower arm a bit to give it some slack before tightening everything down. Looking caster pieces head on, it seems like they arent on there straight.
• The center shock is what gave me a scare. Building it was fine, filled it up with oil, let all the air escape and put everything together. I went to test the rebound and oil just squirted all over my face through the bleed hole on the top shock mount which no one told me about. Good thing I was wearing glasses or the oil would of went straight into my eye.
• The oring seal isnt that tight around the shaft of the shock. I few cycles on the shock and you can already see oil accumulating on the shaft. I can see myself rebuilding this shock quite frequently if i keep using it
• The rear shaft have a pretty big excessive play (~1mm) when no shims are added. The kit didnt come with any shims either. Good thing I have some left over from my 1/12th scale.

AlexPate

iTrader: (19)

The left rear hex is a very tight fit. I found it best to take the sls lout of the axle by putting the wheel on and tightening the nut to the desired amount of side play. You can have 0 play if you want.
The center shock. If you missed the retainer for the top oring it will leak like you said. I lost it in a rebuild once, later switched to the flash 04 shocks.
As far as the pivot balls being too tight. All 4 pivot balls on te front susspension have ways to adjust the clamping force on them. There is a sode screw on the lower arm and then how tight you tighten your upper camber inserts makes a difference. As well the caster blocks have two positions make sure they Are both in the same orientation. I would have to disagree on your build quality comment. I found the build to be the easiest car I have done yet. As well except for he side spring perches, it was perfect.

disaster999

iTrader: (1)

Pretty much did all what you said. Clamped the hex on the rear axle by putting a wheel on and screwing it as tight as I can and I still have some play.

Pretty much build the shock to the T as per the manual. Excess oil leaked out of a hole on the shock through cap. You are the second person to tell me they changed the center shock to something else.

I know all the pivot balls have screws to adjust the clamping force. The one I have problem would bind when the camber block is half on where as the other side have the caster block fully seated on the stop arm plate.

I did follow the instructions and made sure both caster block is facing the right way. Im not talking about a front and back alignment, Im talking about side to side. They look like this | / when looking at it front the front after managed to bend them into alignment.

I would also like to add that the manual calls for cutting one side of the servo ears off for it to fit. I, among others, probably wouldnt want to cut into their new servo. A simple solution was to countersink the holes where the servo ears would hit button head screws and used flat head screws instead. Solved the clearance issue and you get to reuse the servo for other cars without buying a new case.

Build quality and easy of build are 2 different things. As I stated in my original comment, it was a straight forward build. The quality of the parts, however, could be better. I know its not like Tamiya or Xray or Yokomo and I hope it would get there some day.

Im not trashing on the kit. I havent even ran the car on the track yet and I cant wait to let it rip. I guess I just want to share my experience when building the kit and I hope I can help others who is struggling on the same thing.

Ph3nyx

I totaly disagree with you on that conclusion , for me it's on of the best quality F1 on the marquet for now, far beyond yokomo and tamiya for exemple (i didn't have tested the xray f1 yet). Of course this one is not perfect , but no cars i've tested so far was perfect (and i've tested a lot)