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Goldberg's ElectroTote Review

Rich Noon explores this electric-specific tool tote and finds, "Goldberg has produced a great dedicated field box for the electric flyer! Lots of storage and well thought-out design makes it great for anyone flying electrics. It combines easy assembly with excellent quality wood and components. The addition of their new "Quik Chill" makes it even better! Weighing just around 8 pounds empty, it won't break your back to haul around either. All this adds up to a great field box you won't mind actually taking to the field."

By RichN | Apr 28, 2006, 01:00 AM
Splash

Introduction

Ready for the field!
Ready for the field!
Goldgerg's ElectroTote
Construction:Machined & lasered
1/2", 1/4" & 1/8" plywood
Box dimensions:22" long
9½" wide
14¼" tall, to the top of the handle.
Manufacturer:Carl Goldberg Products LTD.
Available From:Tower Hobbies

Flight boxes come in all shapes and sizes. I've seen folks show up at the field with everything from very small boxes containing the bare necessities, to boxes containing more than my workshop. Most all field boxes on the market today are designed with the glow and gas modeler in mind. It's great to see something designed specifically for the electric modeler.

Goldberg has developed a great field box designed specifically for the electric flyer. Their new ElectoTote is one of the best thought-out and designed field boxes I've seen. Not too big, nor too small. It incorporates many practical design features necessary in an electric field box. And doing it in a relatively small foot print with a lot of storage.

Kit Contents

With over 50 pieces of nicely machine and laser cut wood, this is an impressive field box kit. All necessary mounting hardware, the banana plug kit, and Velcro squares were included. The incorporation of their new "Quik Chill" battery cooler kit, with its built-in electric cooling fan, was a definite bonus!

Tools and Supplies Needed:

  • 2oz. Medium CA , 5 minute epoxy glue, or wood glue
  • CA accelerator. (optional)
  • 3/4” wide masking tape (for holding parts during assembly)
  • 4 sheets 100 grit sandpaper
  • 4 sheets 220 grit sandpaper
  • 2 sheets 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper
  • sandpaper block
  • 5/16” drill bit
  • 1/16” drill bit
  • Screwdriver
  • Finishing Materials
  • Small 4 ox. can wood filler material
  • Small can wood sealer (polyester resin, etc.)
  • Paint ( Since no fuel is present, spray can of Rust-o-leum or others will work fine).
  • Tack Cloth ( for removing dust)
  • Optional For Clear Finish
  • Clear spray - can of automotive clear, or polyurethane varnish.
  • Plastic wood filler (neutral color)
  • Wood stain (optional)

Assembly

I began by inventorying and inspecting each piece. All the machine cutting was very well done. There were a few rough edges left from the cutting process, but nothing to complain about. I carefully went over each piece with a palm sander with 220 grit sandpaper, smoothing all the edges. I then followed up with 400 grit, to get a nice smooth finish. It was then just a matter of assembling the interlocking pieces following the well detailed, photo illustrated, step by step instructions.

All the pieces aligned and fit very well. The fit was snug in a few of the slots. I found by "very slightly" rounding the edges on the corresponding piece it made assembly much easier. Then just a little touch up with wood filler here and there. I gave it a quick once over with 400 grit sandpaper and it was ready to stain or paint.

The laser cut components:

  • radio tray,
  • tool holder, and
  • "Quik Chill"

These parts all aligned and fit perfectly.

I used carpenter's glue and medium CA throughout the building process.

In a couple evenings of pleasant building. I had the the project finished and ready for the field.

Quik Chill

This was such a neat idea I felt it needed it's own section. The laser cutting and fit was so good it required no sanding, and could be completely assembled with rubber bands prior to gluing. The included 12 volt fan was very quiet and moved a lot of air through the box. It can be loaded from the rear or, by leaving the top unglued, loaded from the top.

The included banana plug kit consisted of two male and two female connectors. I only had to supply my own wiring for the connections.

The "Quik Chill" is also available separately as a stand alone unit. By leaving the tool caddy at home, it's possible to mount a second "Quik Chill" to the ElectroTote!

Completion

After I filled any imperfections with wood filler and sanding, a quick once over with a tack rag, and it was ready for finish. I applied a coat of wood stain followed by a couple coats of poly sealer. Lightly sanding between coats. The plywood in the kit was of excellent quality, allowing for any type of finish you might want to apply. Since there was to be no glow fuel involved, any type of spray paint would also have worked very well.

After the individual components were then attached to the box with the included Velcro squares, I wired up the batteries, filled the drawers and tool box with the necessities, and was ready to head to the field!

Conclusion

Goldberg has produced a great dedicated field box for the electric flyer! Lots of storage and well thought-out design makes it great for anyone flying electrics. It combines easy assembly with excellent quality wood and components. The addition of their new "Quik Chill" makes it even better!

Weighing just around 8 pounds empty, it won't break your back to haul around either. All this adds up to a great field box you won't mind actually taking to the field.

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Old May 03, 2006, 12:08 AM
stah
The Bocelot
Warsaw, Poland
Joined Jul 2004
12 Posts
I might not have read the review too carefully, but is there place for a charger battery inside ?
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Old May 09, 2006, 03:01 PM
heffe2001
Registered User
Conover, NC
Joined Jun 2005
126 Posts
I've got one already, but not finished the build yet (I have the main box built, need to finish the drawers & the Quik Chill box). From what I've seen so far, the only problem I have with the whole thing is the side that is screwed on. You really need to drill some pilot holes in the mating surfaces, or the wood panels you screw to may split (yeah, I know some common sense would have told me to do this beforehand, but it's not in the instructions I received, so I thought I would mention it).

Other than that I'd say it's going to be a fantastic box, and the Quik Chill box will definitely come in handy.

Also, that battery compartment will hold either several gell-cell batteries, or a larger 12v, from say a riding mower or small motorcycle battery. PLENTY of room in there...
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Old May 09, 2006, 04:26 PM
RichN
Registered User
Joined Mar 2004
51 Posts
When you remove the radio tray on top, you can easily get four gell cells or a pretty good size lawn mower or motorcycle battery inside. It's handy just to be able to lift the tray off and be able to get to the batteries.

The instructions I have on page 5 states to:
Drill a 1/16” pilot hole into the inside panels through each pre-drilled hole in the back panel to prevent splitting the wood. I almost missed it too.

It really is a nice field box.
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