Hey guys
I got my hands on a storm launcher and tried to do some small mods on it. I upgraded the battery to a 800mah 7.4v and installed two 240 johnson brushed motors. But not when I give some throttle the storm launcher dies? I was told it could be the Esc but I dont see one to replace? I am new to this stuff and would appreciate if anyone can help me out with this!

Rob

There for a while Storm Launchers were wildly popular, but you hardly see them mentioned anymore. It's quite likely that the Johnson motors you put on there are drawing a lot more juice than the stock motors were and it could be overloading the onboard ESC (actually there are two, one for each motor). Unfortunately if you're using the stock electronics, it's a brick configuration and you cannot replace the ESCs without also replacing the receiver. You're getting into a fairly complicated setup because the left/ right control on the SL is handled via differential thrust (IE, varying the speed of the motors), so you'll also need a transmitter that has computer mixing capabilities. Frankly I'd suggest you put the stock motors back on unless you're willing to sink a bunch of money into it.

If you do decide to proceed, some time back there were threads on converting the SL to dual brushless and there have been wiring diagrams posted (would be the same for dual brushed), but it would take some digging to find the info. Two local guys invented the Storm Launcher and sold the idea to Air Hogs, one of them (Ernest- UAVPilot) posted the brushless conversion info, so if you search posts on his ID you should find it. I actually have all the parts to convert mine, but I keep putting other projects ahead of it!

I just want to say thank you for taking the time to help me out! Looks like I will putting the stock ones back in. Thanks again!

No problem! One of these days I'll do the conversion on mine and post a thread about it. Ernest used to bring one to the local fly-ins that he had converted to dual brushless motors, it was wonderfully insane

I am going to try the hydrofoam it looks more powerfully then the storm launcher What do you think?

I have been wanting to upgrade my old storm launcher to brushless with elevons for awhile. I've read 100's of post and haven't found a definite setup to go with. I was also thinking about building a hydrofoam just to have more room and not deal with differential thrust.

I have a Gemini which is similar to the Hydrofoam design. They fly more like a traditional sport plane. The thing I find really cool about the Gemini is it runs fantastic on the ground, it's like driving a fast R/C car It handles surprisingly well on the water too. The SL in stock form flies pretty well for what it is, but the thing I never liked about it is it's a bit underpowered on the water and when the battery dumps you have no directional control at all. The brushless conversion solves both of these issues. When Ernest did his conversion he split the elevator and set it up with elevons, so he had the elevons on the right stick and the differential thrust on the left. It would do some really crazy stuff in the air!

By the way, since this thread is posted in Beginners I should probably mention the Gemini, Hydrofoam and brushless Storm Launcher are all what I would consider intermediate skill level flyers. They're moderately fast, quite aerobatic and not self-correcting.

Originally Posted by KC10 CC

I have been wanting to upgrade my old storm launcher to brushless with elevons for awhile. I've read 100's of post and haven't found a definite setup to go with. I was also thinking about building a hydrofoam just to have more room and not deal with differential thrust.

The setup I have is a kit that a guy here on RCG was selling for a while, he sold quite a few and the reports were very favorable but I'm sure they're not available anymore. I'll dig them out and see what the KV was on them (if it's shown anywhere). The key with picking motors for the SL is you have to find something that will turn a small prop, there's not room to go with a very big prop on it.

The storm launcher got me started a few years ago. I wanted to upgrade but couldn't see putting $200-300 dollars to upgrade.

I picked up a hawk sky a month ago which has renewed my interest. I'm going to purchase a turnigy 9x when ever they come in stock, which will allow for all the mixing that it will need for diff thrust/elevon.

I know that Strong RC used to sell a kit for the storm launcher with I believe 2900kv motors. I'm going to try and find something similar and jam a 3 cell batt in it.

Originally Posted by KC10 CC

I know that Strong RC used to sell a kit for the storm launcher with I believe 2900kv motors. I'm going to try and find something similar and jam a 3 cell batt in it.

You beat me to it I pulled the kit out and that's exactly it, the Storm kit with 2900 kv motors and 10a ESCs. I'm waiting on some new receivers to get here, I think I'll have to get this Storm kit installed when they get here. Do you remember off the top of your head what props the Storm kit was supposed to use? If not I'll go digging through the old threads

The stock ones are roughly 3.5 inches and there is not much clearance for anything bigger. I'm trying to find a 4 inch counter rotating set and just shave them down a little.

Is it possible to just install a regular prop backwards?

No, the pitch direction is the same whether the prop is on forward or backwards, but it's a lot less efficient if it's installed backwards. There's not really any need to have counter-rotating props on these, it doesn't affect trim that much. I've run a few twins with props spinning the same direction with no issues.

I dug around the old threads and found that Don recommended GWS 4x2.5 props with the 2900 kv motors. He apparently used to sell a 2500 kv kit too, but it seems most people went with the 2900's.

"2900 Kv motor, GWS 4x2.5 prop, 10.5 V, 6.3 A"

That's per motor, so 12.6a draw total.

Don's web site is still active, but it doesn't look like he sells the same motors anymore:

http://www.strongrcmotors.com/

I just emailed Don about the resurrection if my storm launchers. Think I'm going with his 3000kv motors.

They're a bit heaver than the old motors (24 grams each versus 19), but the extra power from the higher kv should make up for it I may throw mine together this weekend, I'll post here if I do Rats, just realized I don't have props! And I was just at the hobby shop today! I think I can get by there again tomorrow.

Nice, post pics please. I'm making a list if parts. Can you tell me the diameter of the rod running across the spontoons? I'm away from home but I want to order a bunch if carbon rods for all my projects.

I put a digital caliper on it and it's 5mm. I'll keep you posted on the conversion progress