Let me check, if not I'll go snap a photo. Yes, on the right is where i put it cuz the waterlines came in on that side. The hull is so big that the bit of weight on that one side doesnt really matter.

Originally Posted by stiks

I think i figured out the setup for the water pickups. Although i have 3 pickups; 2 on rudder and 1 on transom, i am only using the 2 from the rudder.

I have 1 from the rudder going to the cooling tube connector for the motor...then the drain going out the side.

The 2nd pickup off the rudder goes into my esc... The esc has a 3 inlets and 3 outlets. I plugged the single inlet line from the rudder into 1 of the esc inlets...then i interconnected the other 4 plugs....that leaves 1 that goes out the side as a drain... If you look at the pictures you can see the loop back tubing that connects all the inlets..think of a spiral staircase going down...the feeding tube from the rudder comes in ...the water swirls down and around the esc...then out ...too much imagination???

Once i have get ready to mount the esc i will cut out the excess tubing...

Lol...wow looks like alot going on here with in and outlets!! that esc is crazy!! Sucks that you fried one scorp!!

Scorp on you suggestion i moved the esc to the right of the motor. In moving the esc i had to change the connections for the drains.... Here is a pic of the moved esc and now the rerouted tubes to the cooling tube... I had to move the cooling tube around on the motor a bit ...then i just decided to slide it off the motor...find a good spot...then put it back on...

Do you think it will get good flow to the cooling tube in this configuration?..btw the inlet tube for the esc is in a straight line..so it should get good flow to the esc

The line on the right is the inlet....the line on the left is the drain..

Sorry i never got the picture..................just forgot, but yes, thats perfect, this way the inlet line goes smoothly into the ESC, then makes the turn at the other end and comes back out of the rear to then feed the motor.

Back again..again..on top of work..as usual... i have a teen graduating so its been really busy..

Did some modifications last night. The piece of wood i cut out in order to get inside of the boat for the turn fin has now been put back inside. I used a combo of wood glue, supper glue and wood filler. Also soldered up the additional connectors for the esc to motor connection. Since i am now moving the esc inside of the boat ...to the right of the motor....i needed longer extensions. At work right now but will post photos later. Now the big part is getting the servos to "sync"...i think the connecting rod is to short..have to lengthen it so they can move together...right now when i put power to the servos you can hear them "chattering"..

Here are the pictures that i talked about this morning. Almost there...i have been "touching" this a little every night now so i hope to have it finished soon. I have a recovery boat that i need to do some work on ..its just that little tug i posted pics of way back when.

Thats exactly where I have my ESC.........same direction too!!! You would have been very disappointed with the other location..............keeping the ESC lower in the boat ensures better flow and cooling!

Back again. I had a bit of an offline conversation with Bill regarding my esc. See below...

Re: aquastar 240a esc question

MY QUESTION TO BILL:
Originally Posted by stiks
Bill, i have been checking on the blogs for information on connecting the turnigy aquastar 240amp esc to the rx and i came across your name and some entries from one of your builds. I am having problems getting it to power up. I have a spektrum 3c tx and a spektrum marine rx. I am able to bind the rx to tx with no issue but when i connect the aquastar to the battery and rx and connect a nimh 6.v pack to the rx the esc does nothing...no motor control..no beeps...any ideas?

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BILL'S REPLY:

The Turnigy 240 and the Swordfish 240 are the same esc with different labeling. Your message didn't mention if you were connecting your lipo's to the esc but it has to have voltage applied to it as well before it will function. It also has to be connected to the motor.

There is also an arming switch on the esc. It's best to have it switched off when connecting your lipos. After the rx is on and lipos connected you should set throttle endpoints as well. Pull the trigger to full throttle then turn on the arming switch for the esc. After a second or two it should beep. After it beeps release the trigger to the neutral point and it will beep again then should start beeping the cell count of you packs. Once that has finished it should be ready to go.

Not sure if it's required on a Spektrum, but on Futaba and the cheapie Tactic radios I use you also have to have the throttle channel set to reverse before the esc will arm too.

Other than that I'm pretty much out of ideas except for suggesting that you want to be sure you are plugging the esc into the right channel on the rx and that the polarity is correct. The black lead needs to be on the same side as the black lead from your rx pack and steering servo.
Hope this helps
Bill

I will post pics and more details tonight.

Bill, here are some additional details:

I plugged the esc, motor and battery together. The battery is a single 5c 5000mah pack that has a small charge on it. My plan was to just use it for testing.

The tx i have is the dxc3 3channel controller. The rx is the mr200 both by spektrum. I bound the rx to the tx by going through the menu and selecting bind on the tx. With the bind plug in the specific port and a nimh 6 v battery as a power source bound the tx to the rx. The blinking light on the rx stopped and is now in sync with the tx. I then removed the battery and bind plug.

I connected the esc; with lipo battery, and motor connected, to the rx using the single long wire from the esc. I plugged this into the throttle port on the rx.

As i read the directions from the aquastar esc; found online. I plugged the 6v nimh battery rx pack into the bind port on the rx. The esc plug is already in the esc. I then turned on the tx while holding the throttle to full. The tx powers up and then the rx power comes on...and then nothing....

Would not setting the throttle channel to reverse cause that? If so then i imagine i need to set it on the tx before powering up the rx?...then repeat the turn on sequence?

Still reading.

The aquastar esc comes with a small Y cable attachment. That is used for programing the esc using the usb link that came with it. When you get the esc you have 2 ways power the unit up for programing. One way is by connecting the unit directly to a lipo battery then into the usb link using the same connector you use on the rx for throttle. The other way is to use a little Y cable that comes with the esc.. On the Y one end goes to the usb stick and the other connects to what looks like a short red and black power connector on the esc and then it ends in 2 loose red and black wires. I guess the idea is that power is provided solely over the usb link.

Well in a posting i read on the OSE forum....it sounds like using that Y connector someone connected there rx battery pack to those small red and black wires at the end of the Y...to power on the esc...which then feeds power to the rx. So in other words..no direct power to the rx....it goes to that red and black short connector on the esc...and it powers the rx??? ..here is the link from OSE its post #5 :

http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...r+esc+no+power

Originally Posted by stiks

Bill, here are some additional details:

As i read the directions from the aquastar esc; found online. I plugged the 6v nimh battery rx pack into the bind port on the rx. The esc plug is already in the esc. I then turned on the tx while holding the throttle to full. The tx powers up and then the rx power comes on...and then nothing....

Would not setting the throttle channel to reverse cause that? If so then i imagine i need to set it on the tx before powering up the rx?...then repeat the turn on sequence?

I think you may have misread something. You don't need to have the trigger pulled to turn on your rx. Turn on the TX, turn on the RX, check your steering servo to be sure it's armed. (you might also try plugging a servo into the throttle port to verify it works).
After the TX & RX are working plug in the lipo for your esc. Pull the throttle to full and turn on the arming switch for the esc. After a second or two it should beep. After makes the beep release the trigger to neutral and it will beep again then start counting the cells in your pack.
Also note that you need the voltage from a 5s pack minimum to get the esc to work. It will not arm with a 4s pack or smaller.

If it still doesn't work change the servo reversing switch on the throttle channel to reverse (re bind the RX after reversing to play it safe) and try the process again.
If it still doesn't work you may have a dead esc.

Bill, i connected the rx to a servo and using the tx i am able to manipulate the servo; in both the throttle and steering ports on the rx.

I did a full charge on my 5c 5000mah pack and went through the steps you outlined above. After connecting everything ...the esc is not powering up...no beeps..nothing.

I tried changing the port for throttle to reverse and i even redid the binding and still nothing. Originally i was able to perform the programing on the esc via the usb stick ...so i want to go back and try that again..but will being able to program mean the esc is functional..or ...am i just making program changes on the usb stick..(its a conspiracy...only the usb stick works!!)..this would really BLOW if my esc never worked...how long has it been since i got that thing...!!! and its never been used!!!

Before giving up try it with a 6s pack or a couple of 4s in series to make 8.
Does it make a spark (charging the caps) when you plug the pack in?

If its the 240a hv(same as the Swordfish) I give full throttle while turning switch on and then it gives a little "song", I release to neutral.

Do you know yours has a switch?

Hi Stiks,

In addition to your re-routing of the cooling lines; see if you can get the outlet in the highest spot, to avoid trapping air inside the jacket.

The picture shows my Turnigy 3674-B-1900Kv in my Arowana, the blue tube is the outlet.

Regards, Jan.