Looking for long running craft

[fredpb]

I am thinking of an r/c electric craft (not sail) that has a long run time. 15-30 minutes. Easy build kit or RTR.
Scale or otherwise. I like the Hammer or Bristol Bay, but their runtime is short. Two different kinds of boats I know.

I have been check the net, but no luck so far.

Help?

[steveciambrone]

The Bristol Bay with 3600ma battery should run in excess of 30 minutes or even an hour. You could always get larger batteries than 3600 or add a another pack in parallel but charge the packs individually.

Thanks
Steve


I am thinking of an r/c electric craft (not sail) that has a long run time. 15-30 minutes. Easy build kit or RTR.
Scale or otherwise. I like the Hammer or Bristol Bay, but their runtime is short. Two different kinds of boats I know.

I have been check the net, but no luck so far.

Help?

[sgil2001]

I was looking for the same thing so I went with the Aquacraft Atlantic Harbor Tug. I'm using 3300 nimh packs and also a sealed lead acid 6v battery. Run times are very long.

[Jim Duda]

Read through this thread if you like the old Chris-Craft speedboat looks...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=405338

With it, I get consistent 25 - 30 minute runs with an 8.4V, 3300 mah NiMh single battery, MACK 3600 motor, direct drive, and an X430 2 blade prop.

The Atlantic tug mentioned above always gets over an hour (haven't run it until it dies) with a 6V, 6.5AH gel cell.

[fredpb]

The tug is a little pricey for me. But all suggestions are very good, thanks.

I am curious about the 6v lead acid gell cell? How do you put it in? Charge it? Connections or leads?

I would really like to have the Aquacraft electric Hammer, and the Bristol Bay. I could share battery and charger with both.

Can you put parallel battery packs in the Hammer....a slim hull racer? What effect would it have on the craft? Thats a lot more weight.

[sgil2001]

Here is a good place to find low-priced battery packs. I wouldn't recommend these cheapy batteries for any high performance car or boat, but they work fine for a scale boat. You get long run times.

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=215

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=180

You can also pick up 6V lead acid batts at the same place. I just solder on a connector to the terminals and use them like any other battery pack. Just be sure you have a charger capable of doing 6v lead acid batteries.

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=774

[fredpb]

I got the Bristol Bay with 3600mah pack and a good charger. Eventually will put another pack in (parallel) or get a gel cell. Shop person very helpful

[Jim Duda]

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=413023

Share some pictures with us when you can...

[Kmot]

Fred: Leave your Bristol Bay stock. It will meet all your expectations. PatMat is a very experienced modeler and you do not need to do those modifications to enjoy your new boat.

I would, however, use your new charger to cycle your battery pack a couple times to bring it up to its maximum capacity. Does your charger have a "discharge" function?

[fredpb]

I have a Prophet Plus Charger. No discharge function.

To my dismay :( my Bristol Bay is "defective". One of the lights will not come on, and worst off all, most of the rigging lines are too short! The masts cannot be assembled. About nine lines are too short and useless, and there are no adjustments.

So monday it goes back to the store. I called and they would replace it. But they had the Atlantic Tug there also. I will get that instead...no rigging.

So much for Aquacraft build quality.... :censored: .

[sleb]

I built a couple of vac-u-tugs from www.vac-u-boat.com they were easy to build and run an hour on a 1500 ni cad pack. One is in the picture by my name. (if you ever want another one)
:)

[Kmot]

I have a Prophet Plus Charger. No discharge function.

To my dismay :( my Bristol Bay is "defective". One of the lights will not come on, and worst off all, most of the rigging lines are too short! The masts cannot be assembled. About nine lines are too short and useless, and there are no adjustments.

So monday it goes back to the store. I called and they would replace it. But they had the Atlantic Tug there also. I will get that instead...no rigging.

So much for Aquacraft build quality.... :censored: .

Bummer!

Well, actually the rigging is adjustable. That's what the brass turnbuckles are for.

The light probably just has a loose wire.

Anyway, you will probably have to make some adjustments/repairs on just about any model you get. So be prepared. ;)

BTW, you can make a decent battery discharge device by using a car headlight. Just buy a headlight at any auto parts place and solder some jumper wires to it that you can connect to your battery pack.

[Tug Guy]

What a great idea! I have seen many different dischargers but you can't beat this one for simplicity. Thank for the post it made my day.




Bummer!

Well, actually the rigging is adjustable. That's what the brass turnbuckles are for.

The light probably just has a loose wire.

Anyway, you will probably have to make some adjustments/repairs on just about any model you get. So be prepared. ;)

BTW, you can make a decent battery discharge device by using a car headlight. Just buy a headlight at any auto parts place and solder some jumper wires to it that you can connect to your battery pack.

[fredpb]

I have a discharger I made for 4 AA batteries. It's simple in design. Radio Shack parts. The discharge component is a sand filled wirewound resistor, and it uses a 6v relay and a pushbutton. To start discharging you push the button to engage the resistor and the relay, and when the batteries discharge enough the relay kicks out and disconnects the batteries so they don't go completely dead...safer for the batteries. I am too lazy to do that for the boat pack though.

The hobby shop took back the Bristol Bay! I got the Atlantic Tug instead. Took it out today with a 3600mah battery pack. After a full hour I brought it in and it still was working! Very happy with it. A few people came up and talked. A few people just sat on benches and watched me. Very nice day so had good fun. Very happy with the Atlantic Tug. Much more room to work inside than the Bristol Bay.

The tug has some nice lighting. Two level cabins lit up. Port and starboard running lights. A few lights on the mast and the top light is red blinking light. Nice.

Charger is nice too. Has an lcd display for volts, amps, or capacity. You can continuosly adjust charge current. I will be using just 1 amp overnight, then it switches to trickle charge.

Was going to take out sailboat but the water level looks a bit low and the keel might catch on some weeds. Hmmm.

Will eventually get a Hammer electric since I already have battery and charger. Someday.....

The shop had a beautiful mahogany Chris Craft old speedboat for less than the Tug. RTF. It was awesome, but not my cup of tea.

And thanks for all help!

[sgil2001]

I think you'll really enjoy the Atlantic Tug. I've only had mine a short time, but I really like it. Great boat for just cruising around. Looks nice on display also.

I was seriously considering the Hammer for a speed boat, but went with the Cen Wave Shark instead. It looks like a nice model with some great upgrades available for speed. I ended up getting it from offshoreelectrics.com

I've really been bitten by the boating bug. I have about 20 electric airplanes and a Lama heli, but the boats really intrigue me. I can't wait for the weather to get warmer so I can try the Nirvana II sailboat.

[fredpb]

I was into rc planes (gas) about 12 years ago. Got out of it. Was fun, but testing your engine on a condo porch did not endear me to neighbors. Also had rc cars then too. Cars are not worth it unless you have a good track nearby. Also had a small sailboat then...it was really a toy.

But the Tug is really nice. The hour I used it flew by. Sun, breeze, lake. Nice time.

I also got back into planes a month or so ago. Got a Skyseeker GT RTF trainer/glider from readytoflyfun.com . Small but very durable plane. It's fun, but does not like wind, so I can only fly this time of year on the occasional morning. I have three batteries for it so get about 8 minutes per battery. I relearned to fly on the FMS trainer (free) with USB gamepad. Got a model on the trainer called the THawk, which flies just like the Skyseeker.
I fly in a local park close by. My next plane will be a Parkzone F27 Stryker, which also is in the FMS simulation. It's a bit hairy too fly though on the computer.

Only problem I have now is transporting boats to remote sites. They don't fit well into my Ford Focus :p . Then again, at 6'3" and 350lbs I don't fit well into the Focus either!