Pie_robot

iTrader: (17)

i would hold off getting a 27t stock motor for a while cause youll find youll break something everytime you hit something.
remeber going from 0 to 50 in a couple seconds may be fun, but going from 50 to 0 in a split second isn't

also you may already be finding this Mooshu Beef, ur stock motor will be losing speed depending on how old it was when you bought ur car. This is because the comm is worn and not fully contacting with the brushes.

to fix this you need to find someone with a comm lathe(or you could try ur LHS). and a set of new brushes, youll be amazed at the improvement.

one of the downside to brushed

battlecat

hmm I think I'll hold off on that new motor, I gotta see what stock is like first!!

So you would get NiMH? How come? Do they last longer? Will they fit in our car? How do you recharge your batteries; do you use a car lighter charger or something?

Thanks

PS: I found this NiMH battery... it's 4200mAh for $40... how long will that last and will it work?

quick5pnt0

iTrader: (8)

With the stock motor I'm sure you'll get at least a half hour run time with that battery. My brother and I have been running cheap 3500mah ebay batteries and even with modified motors we get about 20 minutes.

The reason I'd suggest nihm over lipo is cost and complication. With Lipo batteries you need a special charger, and an ESC that will cut off the power before the battery gets too low. With nihm just about all hobby grade chargers these days will charge them and you don't have to worry about low voltage cutoffs. Get that battery and look up the Duratrax Piranha Digital Peak ac/dc charger. It's a good decently cheap charger that will charge the nihm battery you stated. You can use it by plugging it in the wall or a 12v car battery.

BTW the reason I say to get nihm over nicd is because you can only get nicads up to 2400 mah. The larger the mah the more run time. So you have the choice of getting multiple nicads or one nihm. It'll probably come out to the same price, but with nicads you'll have to keep switching out packs every few minutes.

battlecat

hmm thanks

I found this DuraTrax Piranha AC/DC Digital Peak Charger NiCd/NiMH for $50

and this DuraTrax Piranha DC Peak Charger NiCd/NiMH for $18

So... I see that the cheaper one is DC only, but I don't see why I need AC, can someone tell me? The cheaper one can also only charge up to 3600mAh batteries... are there any other limitations? I'd rather not spend more if I don't need to!

I'm thinking of just buying two/three batteries and just using them and charging the batteries when I get home. How long do you guys usually drive you cars for fun for?

Thanks guys

Mooshu Beef

iTrader: (7)

NiMH and NiCAD are just different chemistries in each battery. NiMH are just more user friendly and have a more versatile and tolerable recharging properties. Unless price is a real issue, go with NiMH, they'll be better to you and your car.

DC is direct current... What's coming out of your wall outlet is AC, or alternating current. You're going to need an AC to DC converter... or some battery you can hook up that charger to (car battery). (All batteries are DC, by the way...)

I am supposed to be getting that Piranha AC/DC peak charger with the digital readout (that $50 one from Tower Hobbies). I've heard from many it's an awesome charger, since you can adjust the miliamps (mA) of the charge, and some other capabilities I don't remember right now.

For me, when I am just driving around the parking lot, my attention span will run out after 20 mins or so. However, my batteries only last about 10-15 minutes, so I'm all set.

swannco

As for the charger: if you are going to charge your batteries at home, look for one that will plug into the wall, but if you plan to go somewhere, to the track or a large parking lot, then look for one that will easily hook to your car battery. Some will do both. I have found the more complicated and expensive ones are just confusing, and the simple ones work fine. It is easy to get in really deep with a lot of features you will never want or use unless you are seriously into the racing aspect. On the other hand, this hobby is very addictive, so don't be surprised if you end up with one of everything.

Trust me, you will get hooked and want more run time, so NiMh batteries, something like 3300Mah, are really nice and not too much [$35?]. I prefer them to Nicd, but both will work fine. You will probably get about 10-12 minutes if you are not at full throttle the whole while. You may want to go with Lipo batteries later, but you will need a different charger, and there is a bit of learning to do before I would recommend it. They are safe if used correctly, but you must be careful how you use them and charge them and maintain them, so think about learning the ropes a bit before you take the plunge because they are expensive.

minicooper

iTrader: (5)

battlecat - if you can afford a little better radio I would spring for FM instead of AM (better reception) Something like:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXCHA8**&P=ML

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXNHS1**&P=7

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXGAG2**&P=7

These are nice radios. Don't limit yourself to just towerhobbies, shop around for the best deal, even here in the for sale section.

AND if you don't want to worry about changing channels once you get racing: http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...rodID=SPM20200

Myker*

I agree with minicooper, if you can get stuff used, it's a lot better bang for the buck. There is always a ton of stuff in the FS section of this forum and a lot of it is NIB or like new. Second hand stuff is usually pretty good.

Mitchell

iTrader: (15)

yeah the forsale section here will have everything you need for a good price

minicooper

iTrader: (5)

I've gotten all my high end stuff used Too bad I can't drive

Pie_robot

iTrader: (17)

yep the forums are a huge help, the only thing i bought new was my first car (TT-01) and my latest car (evo5). being 15 my budget is kinda small lol.

battlecat

Hey update time......

So I was getting antsy to build this thing and went out to my LHS and bought everything!

I'm pretty sure I got ripped off but here is what I bought and pricing (in CDN $)...

- tamiya ball bearings $30
- Futaba Magnum 2PL AM (yes I wanted FM but didn't have any) transmitter with servos and receiver $100
- 3600 mAh 7.2V battery $50
- Super Brain 820 charger $40 (anyone know anything about this? he said I should have gotten that fancy Piranha one but I didn't think I'd need it I'm just using it to charge 'n that's it)
- can of white polycarbonate paint $9

So the total came out to $258 including taxes .. I feel bad spending that money..... someone please make me feel better about this...

Or just give it to me straight and tell me how ripped off I was!!!

EDIT: So i checked on towerhobbies.com, if I had ordered everything from them , it would have come out to about $200 CDN... so that's $60 less... oh well I have it all now!

also.. here is the link to the charger http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXRPP7&P=ML
is it any good or should i change it for http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCLD5&P=ML
?

dingo_cross

Have just started racing RC cars, here is my 2 cents (Australian):

Don't feel bad - sure you may have been able to save some moneys going through Tower, but you were able to get it Right Then, now you have established a relationship with the guys at you LHS and they will be able to help if you have questions and so on, and if your radio, charger, or whatever breaks, in my experience the guys at your LHS want people to stay in the hobby for the long haul, so they are usually pretty good...

As for the charger, the duratrax *looks* better, but I have been using a no-name brand one like the Suuuuuper-Brain, on 3300mAh packs, and it seems fine.

There are lots of arcane rituals to follow regarding charging and discharging of batteries, and lots of people have different methods they swear by, but a recurring theme seems to be: wait till it's cool before you recharge it, and let it cool down a bit after charging before driving, and try not to leave them uncharged for too long (ie more than a week or two).

And that's about it. Short story - dont feel bad, you got the gear right then and there, you can ask them for help if it all breaks, and this is more than reasonable for just starting out. If you are going to get into serious racing, eventually you will be getting a better radio and charger anyhow. As for other stuff, if you ask me (and you didnt, but I am going to offer advice anyhow) I would get another battery pack of some description, and then change the gearing as the pinion and spur it comes with will give you heaps of acceleration but not the best top speed. Within the forums there are lots of info on gearing and stuff.

Hope you have fun!

Mooshu Beef

iTrader: (7)

So you should have everything you need to run the car now, right?

I've heard about the superbrain being decent, and yes your cells will get hot/warm by the time they're done charging, so don't freak out.


Hmm I don't think anyone responded to your question about the spur and pinion gears. The pinion gear is the one on the actual motor. Stock, I believe it has 19T. The stock spur gear on the TT-01 is 61T. This system works as if you were driving a car with one gear. With the different combinations of spur and pinion gears, you can get a desired handling characteristic. Motors of this size have some pretty good torque, so really low gearing in my opinion is unnecessary. I am running 21T:61T since i got the 20T and 21T pinion gear upgrade from Tower.

Note that pinion gears and spur gears are bought SEPARATE from each other. I believe they have a spur gear package that is 55T and 58T, but Tower does not stock those

Have fun!

battlecat

"you were able to get it Right Then, now you have established a relationship with the guys at you LHS and they will be able to help if you have questions and so on, and if your radio, charger, or whatever breaks, in my experience the guys at your LHS want people to stay in the hobby for the long haul, so they are usually pretty good..."

yeah that's what I was thinking! I don't regret it at all!!!
yes I might buy another battery pack... I wonder how long 3600mAh will last me stock..

"I've heard about the superbrain being decent"

awesome, that's all I needed to know

"This system works as if you were driving a car with one gear. With the different combinations of spur and pinion gears, you can get a desired handling characteristic."

I see the light now that's a good simple explanation... I'll think of changing these later if need be... I gotta see what it's like stock first!



:t ire:

I have one question though...

I'm in the process of building and I'm on step 13... trying to screw in that A4 part (you'll know if you look at your manual)... but I can't screw it on tight enough!! It still wiggles and I've screwed it so much that the screwdriver is grinding the screw making it almost unscrewable!!

Anyone know if I should hammer the screws in or not? I have no idea why it's not going down all the way! please help

thanks guys