RC Nitro Boat in Salt Water?

[t00fatt]

Hey, I live in miami and have a house on the water. In front of my house is ocean, and in the rear is a canal, and a big open space surrounded mostly by mangroves. Back there the water is protected and is glass flat, and I have plenty of room for a nitro R/C boat. Are these boats engines watercooled? If they are, how would u rinse the system with fresh water? Would they be okay, with maintenance, in a salt water environment? How about an electric? Any comments would be great.

[cyg1862]

Most are water cooled. You can run them in salt, but make sure to give a good rinsing with fresh water afterwards. For cleaning the cooling coil, I guess you could find a way to pump fresh water through it for a bit to flush it out. Also make sure you seal your electronics the best you can either with silicone or inside balloons to protect from salt. I have heard people also using the rubber covering you can buy for tools. The salt will deteriorate electronics quickly.

That's my 2 cents.

Lou

[Shaun Hendricks]

Get one of those little 'misting' bottles for personal cooling. They usually have a length of hose from them and can be pressurized. Remove misting nozzle and attach to your water pickup (if rudder style, you will probably need to disconnect at rudder top bib and boat input bib and run water through each bib). If you want to backflush your system, you'll need to find a way to attach the hose to your output flow nozzle. Pressurize the bottle and it will happily pump a whole bottle of fresh water through your system.

You could build a motorized pump to do this, but I'd only do that if I were running more than once a week. Those bottles are usually around a couple of bucks each.

[t00fatt]

Would just running it in a tub or big bucket of fresh water work to flush it out? Or is that not a good idea since the saltwater would get into the bucket or tub, and possible back into the cooling system.

[jmolwitz]

A boat radio is cheap, change the tx or servo if they give you trouble , no big deal :rolleyes: Make sure the radio box is sealed well and exiting control rods have a waterproff boot on them .I run in salt water and still have a boat I ben running off and on for 15 years . Octura stuff has held up well as I usualy hang my stuff up wet :p after being rode hard .

For cleaning out the cooling and running out of the water I neck down a valve from my garden hose to fuel line size , stick it on the intake and adjust the water flow :)

[t00fatt]

Yea I think I am going to just get a cheap electric kit. Any recommendations for a cheap electric kit?

[LtDoc]

t00fatt,
You're looking at just about the same problem with electric as with a fueled engine. The idea is to remove the salt. Whichever way is easiest for you is the way to do it. Recirculating the salt isn't exactly the best idea so as long as you use lots of fresh water it ought'a work. The 'cure' sounds worse than it really is...
- 'Doc

[t00fatt]

Yeah I realize the problems are the same with electric and gas. I just would rather save the money and go for an electric. I will prolly use a hose, or some other water source to flush out the cooling system. I have two real boats, so I am aware of the importance of maintenance and cleaning of running in a saltwater environment.