ijdod

If you get grip sorted out, F1 is one of the nicest classes to race in the wet .

MarkBurgess

We had a few meetings with very changeable conditions in what I laughingly refer to as our UK summer this year. The damper tarmac was really fun to race on, but the half-wet and half-dry really challenged us. A few tyre gambles with either caps or foams with no additive...some worked, some didn't

Last outdoor meeting for us saw a short sharp shower as the countdown started. Got away with foam and additive, and knew the track was dry enough when the front end started to bite again

tudor_47

WE had a wet race with our F1's and 2 out of 4 got electrical problems,
Mine got a bad timing circuit in the motor..

How do you protect the cars and motors from the wet?

addicted2blue

I'm using plastidip, that's liquid rubber and can be applied with a brush and works great.

But when you would make the electronics waterproof, just make sure to take enough time for it.
And the best part is when your done with driving in the rain it's easy to remove it all from your electronics, just pull off.

MarkBurgess

Soaking wet and I'd not run unless I had to. If I did it would be either something sealing like the previous suggestion, or a balloon/box for the electrics.

Damp and I've used blu-tack to cover the key bits. That's speedo, rx servo holes, switch (easy to miss...switches don't like water) and both end of the sensor wire.

5VoltDetonator

I searched youtube and couldn't find an actuall F1 RC race in the rain. I'd like to see one. I would never take my F1 out in the rain, but I'm from So Cal and it only rain 6-7 days a year anyway.

Vyger

iTrader: (2)

Check out the link below to watch an F1 in the rain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=hGdUO2V10L8

5VoltDetonator

Cool Video still not an F1 "race" but cool. I'm thinking all bearings are ruined in the rain?

Anyway quick question. I am thinking about getting a rear shaft counter wieght, is it worth getting ? Does it make an improvement?

Also right now I'm using a Gen ace 3500 mah 25C Bat and it fits perfect. My Turnigy Short wont fit correctly either will my Gen Ace 6500 mah

They are talking about making the F1 Mains longer like 10 min, and I know my 3500 Mah might work but I want to make sure I have full power at the end of the race.

Now I see these http://www.tqrcracing.com/shop/product_view.asp Peak Power Max 4200 Mah 45 C Bats that look the same size as my 3500 Mah Gen Ace but I want to know the exact dimensions so I'm sure it will fit in my F104 Pro, anybody have the dimensions or use this in there F104Pro?

Would I need a bigger / higher C rated battery than that?

rccartips

iTrader: (3)

Wet race from Italy.

+ YouTube Video

terry.sc

f1s racing in the rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9HMutOu6IE

f1s racing just after it had rained on the track
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQSuMXRFUyU

Onboard video in the wet - ESC gets water inside at the end
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZWcPqVbbaA

Or how about snow? The snow was shovelled off the track just before racing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bDrD6FacAs

Not f1s, but shows over this side of the pond we have to be prepared to race whatever the conditions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8EQPD1mPDU

rccartips

iTrader: (3)

Hi, just sharing a video from Taka, winner of our last race and fastest in our country. His video has a lot of commentary from him, about setup, brakes, motors, battery management etc....

+ YouTube Video

I watched his video not only for the race but for his insights and tips...

iPearl

iTrader: (96)

The one int he cold is just wrong !!! How do they keep their fingers warm !!!

aceinthesky

iTrader: (43)

jordan 191 ftw

Kevin CBR

iTrader: (11)

Very nice. The side mirrors from the McLaren MP-24 Vodafone body set add that extra touch and you can get them just by buying the McLaren rear wing, not the whole body set. See the pics of the same body / paint scheme I used for the May Tamiya regional race at TQ Raceway on page 365. Rasn teh body on an F104W, then used for a shelf queen on a restored 15th anniversary F103.

Panda

ijdod

I hear you.

The only downside is indeed the make-or-break tyre issue. Normally everybody will be running roughly the same tyres. In the rain, it's availability (or even having them at all) that can be the difference of barely getting the car moving without spinning, or being able to go near full speed.

Last wet race dried up for the last final, except for some damp spots. The race was won/lost on those. The GP foam (Tamiya style cars) soaked those up, resulting a slippery 2-3 turns; the Calandra WorldGT foam used by the Corallies had far less problems, only the damp spot was slippery.

We can typically tell if even a few drops hit the asphalt, as lap times drop immediately. We're seen in- and decreases of seconds in laptimes, even in full wet, depending on how well the tyres hook up. A shower halfway can make or break your run :P.

We're running brushed motors; so less issues there to start with. We do take apart the (formally sealed) motors to use a comm lathe on them. You need that after a wet lap.

I've sealed my receiver by taking it apart and filling it up with Lazygoo (which is essentially a diluted Shoogoo); but plastidip would work the same. I put some additional lazygoo on the connectors; i have used vaseline in the past, works great but is messy. Servo is sealed with goo and some vaseline on the shaft. ESC has the outside lazygoo treatment; although I have simply ran a waterproof MRT ESC in the past.

After run maintenance is mainly dumping the bearings in a container with WD40. Do not wait until you're home before doing this.