G'day,
My new Miss Geico arrived last Monday. As I began unpacking the boat, I couldn't help wondering if the nice folks at Proboat wanted me to get it out of the box, it was packaged so well, it took some tools to extract it. The good news is it arrived in fine shape.

I must admit I was taken back, at the color. In all the photos I have seen it looked yellow. It is not, it is what I am calling "safety green" and it almost glows in the dark.

Once I got past that, I looked her over, and was pleased with the overall looks and craftsmen ship. The decals leave something to be desired. It may just be the affect of the boat's color behind the decals that causes them to seem milky, not clear.

Miss Geico comes with a very nice double hatch design with one that is kind of like a Tupperware lid, which provides a very nice water barrier. The outer cover is held in place with a centering pin in the front, and two pretty strong magnets to hold down the back of the cover. It holds surprisingly well. I am not a big fan of taping the cover on so, I like this design.

I did pre-water prep, cleaning, tightening and lubing etc.. Then I did a pool test. Everything was ship shape!

To power the inrunner brushless (6 poll I think)I went with the two 7.4 2c 5000 30c GForce Lipos for my maiden voyage. I was pleased with the boats top speed, acceleration, slow speed throttle control was good and steering and handling were outstanding. I would characterize it's cornering as much like a "go cart" or "slot car". Very flat and sure, with no leaning.

Keep in mind the boat can go faster than it's current configuration, I am just starting out with FE's, so I didn't want to break the sound barrier on my first time on the water. There drive can be adjusted an a number of ways, so I will be trying out some different set ups as I get more time on the boat.

I am experimenting with the ESC programing. I am not sure about how is thing can "brake" but there is setting for that on the programing module.

Sorry, I was not equipped for videos, but hope to get some video in the next few weeks.

Any one out there having any input, jump in!!! More details as we move forward with this one. Miss Geico is going to get a new paint job, so when that is done, I'll post some photos of what I hope will enhance an already sharp looking boat.

All in all, I am happy with the boat and look forward to learning how to drive it really fast...........................

Boomer

Did your boat came with the right flex cable?..heard thats a problem with them,,....just wanted to warn you....nice cat!!!....Albert

hey boomer

congrats on the maiden and glad she ran well for you, the ''tupper ware lid'' is for waterproofing, i'm not a big fan on magnets, prefer cowl locks or tape

you DON'T want the 'brake' option set to on as this will end up wrecking the esc, a new colour for you ''lollypop lady green''

looking forward to the video's, will be waiting with bated breath

nick

Hi Boomer,

Nice cat!

Too bad the hatch is rounded, this makes taping it watertight a bit more labour intensive.
Don't rely on the manufacturers solution with clamps and magnets, flip it in the bath and test if it really is watertight.

You don't want a high speed flip on video where the hatch and the hull go their seperate ways...
Tape it shut!

I agree with Nick on the brake, don't switch it on, apart from the risk of ruining the ESC, the flex will be loaded in the other direction and may unwind enough to get jammed in the stuffing tube.

Running a FE is all about looking far ahead in order to stay out of trouble.

Braking on a boat is a futile excercise, it will slide on forever and come to an abrupt halt on/in the obstruction it it's path, steering away so you'll miss it, or hit it sideways instead of head on is a better response.

Regards, Jan.

another thing with taping hatches closed is make sure evrything inside is well secured, i learn't (like many im sure) the hard way and lost some expensive equipment because of not securing things down, not made that mistake again

nick

Just to clarify a little guys... the inner sealed hatch lid isn't secured with magnets, its the decorative outer one. I would either put some foam inside the top of the outer lid, or attach it to the hull with a metal fishing lead just in case it does get loose.

From what I've read on other sites, the inner lid seals quite well and doesn't need tape (unlike the Stiletto battery area lid, which does need tape).

Boomer, check the winding on the flex cable, quite a few were shipped with the wrong wind which could cause the flex to unravel when running.

Vids Boomer vids man i wanna see it,,,,

Miss Geigo? I think it's Geico.

That color is probably supposed to be Gecko green.

Apparently almost all of the first batch of these shipped with the WRONG direction flex cable. OSE has a pre-done correct one and is shipping all of his with it.
By some videos it will run but not very long. So make sure to check yours. See the OSE thread here. See post #8 for correct direction.

Originally Posted by Darin Jordan
You should be able to see some of the cable hear the coupler on the motor... The prop should rotate to the left. If the rotation of the strands around the cable are going counter-clockwise and you move down the length of the flex, they are reversed (right-hand) rotation. If they are clock-wise, they are standard, left-hand rotation.

The strands should be in TENSION when the prop is rotating the correct direction, tightening the cable wrap. If it's reversed, it will be trying to unwind the cable wrap, making the cable a larger diameter, and seizing in the stuffing tube, if not outright breaking.

I just put together a quick picture to illustrate...

http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...ad.php?t=17581

Stringfly <>+++++

OK,
This is an official dumb questions. Besides the flex shaft coming un-wound, how does one tell if their flex shaft is wound in the appropriate direction? I did grease up the shaft with lithium marine lube before running the boat, and it had no issues. Shaft is still free without any abnormal symptoms.

Another item. In the EKOS thread, there are a number of mentions of installing a piece of properly sized fuel hose (CVT) on the end of the flex shaft between the stuffing box and the shaft coupling to prevent loosing a shaft if the coupler lets go. Good? Yes, No? Sounds like a good idea to me but, hey I am a sailboat guy, moving to the "dark side"

OK no brake. I am understanding that the brake setting would lock up the motor when you release the throttle? Which I guess would be like throwing your car in park on the freeway. Good to know.

I have owned a number of high performance boats and truly understand, they don't have real brakes. I mentioned in another thread, how important good or exceptional eye sight and depth perception is to this kind of hobby/sport. Exceptional hand to eye coordination is pretty darned important too!

"Back in the day" in my yout, I had those qualities, but now I am in my "middle early's" and recognize some of those wonderful blessings have deminished a tad! Thus, my caution in "pushing the envelop" before I am ready. Ever try pushing an envelop? What a dumb saying! Where the heck did they come up with that one? Anyway, these little guys can get away from you, and just as it is in RC flying, one little mistake can be very expensive!

Ok, here's the deal on tape. I agree it is a good safe guard, but in my experience, sooner or later, it screws up the paint job! So, I work hard at making sure my hatches are water-tight or darned close to it! (without the tape.) In that regard, I will be adding a ring of weather stripping around the inside of the hatch rim, in addition I have ordered some Proboat thumb screws, which I will install in 4 places to insure hatch seal integrity. (Pictured below on a buddies Blackjack) The compression on the inside hatch is actually pretty good from the factory. I'll test it before making my improvements to see how good.

I will be doing some "tub" testing to make sure what ever safe guards are in place are fully functional. Having RC Sailboats, I can share with you that they are equally prone to taking on water, as they heel over, and occasionally get "knocked down" (on their sides) in heavy winds. By necessity, I have picked up some tricks along the way, and will be incorporating some of those ideas on this little guy to keep it's inner's dry.

Thanks all for the feed back!!
Boomer

Ha hahaha! ^^^^^^^^^^^^

same with the irish navy, they put patio doors on there submarines

Boomer1, see the link in my last post to see how you can tell if the flex cable is running the wrong way. But I sure like the boat.... I like the color too.... may have to get one. Have read the X642 is a good prop upgrade... but what do I know.

Stringfly <>+++++

Yes Boomer you can put a peice of rubber cooling tube on the flex between the motor coupler and the stuffing box to keep from loosing your flex if it comes loose from the coupler,,,and on thehatch you can make your own seal purfectly made to fit your hatch,,put a beed of clear sealicone around the edge on the hull cover it with clear sulifane put the hatch on to create the perfect form then remove the clear sulifane and let dry it will be the perfect shape of the inside groove of your hatch,,,so im told...

^^ There's two hatches, the inner one already seals VERY well. The outer one only needs something better to hold it so it doesn't fly off if the forces are stronger than the magnets in a crash.