How to get into FE riggers the right way

[JoeWScott]

There is a great topic in the O/B forum on P tunnels. Would someone please start a similar topic on riggers? I'm FE ignorant & would like to build a P rigger......Spec, limited, or Q? How fast are the Q's running......help

joe

 

[raptor347]

Joe,

You won't find much FE rigger racing outside P Limited at the moment. Performance is great and price is hard to beat.

Not many people racing Q hydro. Performance is spectacular if you wanted to dive in that way, but the price tag hurts a bit and you end up running in open hydro since there probably aren't 10 Q boats in the US.

Hull wise: JAE, Raptor, A couple possibilities out of Europe or scratch build.

Motor/Batteries: UL-1 motor, 4S 4-5K 30C or better cells.

ESC: run what's allowed in your area. I run Castles out here, but we don't limit the esc.

Props: H-10, H-7, modded S-15, modded 1650 just off the top of my head.

 

[JoeWScott]

Brian, great start. Whats the difference between P, limited, spec, etc.... Is Q the next "size" up from P? On my way to the rule book....

 

[Paul Traufler]

P limited (or P Spec) limits you to some motors and ESC it is 4S, P is next pretty much anything you want as long as it is 4S. Q is the 6S, only 2 more cells but the price JUMPS up like $500 over a P class. Hard to beat a JAE 21FE with a Leopard or a Neu motor and some pretty good cells.

Paul

 

[raptor347]

Brian, great start. Whats the difference between P, limited, spec, etc.... Is Q the next "size" up from P? On my way to the rule book....

P-limited(P-spec) runs one of 6 motors out of the common 4S RTR's. Some areas restrict the ESC some don't. 4S batteries. Hardware wise, think .21 nitro boat.

P is limited only by pack voltage and capacity (and length in NAMBA). Big dollar, high power combos are the norm. Not many people to race with. Consider it an overpowered small .45 boat.

Q is like P but with half again more horse power available, same capacity limit but 50% more voltage. Bigger money, more power and even fewer people to race with. Properly set up it should fall between a .67 and .80 in performance.

For P-limited, if you like to build wood boats, get a JAE kit and go to town. If you want composite, let me know and we'll talk about a Raptor. Really depends on what you want to play with.

 

[Doug Smock]

All good information above Joe.

Here is an example of a P Limited (Spec) Zippkits JAE 21 FE.


This boat is running the Aquacraft 2030kv motor and 60 amp speed control,Hyperion 5500ma 35c 4s pack, and a modded ABC H7 prop.

Doug

 

[JoeWScott]

Now were talkin!! I just don't know if a 50mph boat is gonna do it for me! I want more.... Can I set the JAE up to run in the 70mph range? What P is that?? Just showing my ignorance.....

 

[Doug Smock]

I'm not sure going from FE ignorant to a 70mph rigger is the "right way" to do it Joe.

Sure you couldn't be happy at the upper 50s for awhile?

What are your plans for the boat? What is your budget? What runtime do you expect?

D.

 

[HTV Boats]

As I run a few more FE's I am learning and looking at setup. Doug you have your ESC in front of your batteries. Means your wires from the esc to the motor are longer. I know you don't want too long of battery leads so is lenghtening the 3 wires to the motor prefferable? I guess the actual energy used is then going through 3 smaller wires?

Mic

 

[JoeWScott]

Doug, good point, sometimes I like to push the limit. Reliability is always a factor as well. I've owned mostly 3.5 & 7.5 hydro's, 50 mph hydro's are fun for sure, plus the bang for the buck part is critical. Budget, I've got about 6 bucks. I would like to get into some racing, that mid MI electric race sounds like a good one. My Uncle has been flying electric planes for years. He has been preaching to me to get on the electric boat, bad pun intended. This will definately be my winter project. How about a 12 JAE with the UL-1 motor, or different motor? Only reason I ask is because I have an unbuilt kit on the shelf.

Brian, Your Raptor is gorgeous. I am very interested in that boat as well. Can you PM me with some specifics,IE: price?

Thanks for all the help guy's. Great info.

joe

 

[lohring]

Our P limited boats are now running over 60 mph and will out run an average 3.5 hydro. Speed has continued to increase as we got better with props and setups. If the speed control is limited to ones similar to the AquaCraft UL-1 ESC, performance will be limited because of either high internal resistance or current carrying capacity. However, there are some low cost after market controllers that work well. Conversions of the Castle ICE 100 look good as well.

Lohring Miller

 

[Doug Smock]

This is the 35-56-2030KV Brushless Marine Motor for the

AquaCraft UL-1 Superior FE Hydro RTR 2.4GHz (AQUB20**).

FEATURES: Installed gold plated 4mm bullet connectors

High efficiency

Double shielded permanently lubricated dual ball bearings

INCLUDES: One 2030KV Brushless Marine Motor

REQUIRES: Installation in the boat

SPECS: Can Length: 56mm (2.2")

Can Diameter: 36mm (1.4")

Shaft Length: 15mm (0.59")

Shaft Diameter: 5mm (0.20")

kV Rating: 2030 rpm/V

Weight (incl. connectors): 7.48 oz. (212g)

Input Voltage: 7-18.5V

Max Constant Current: 50A

Max Surge Current: 80A/5 seconds

Aquacraft really needs to change the last two lines to read this.........

Even though these motors have 14ga wire hanging out of them, they are capable of 90 to 100 amp loads without harming them. It is common for them to smell during normal operation. :blink:

These little things just keep giving and giving. We fully expect them to eventually replace every electric motor on the planet. :lol:

Joe, Whatever you decide to build, run the equipment within the specifications, keep it dry, and it will serve you well.

If I can help let me know. [email protected]

Doug

 

[Doug Smock]

As I run a few more FE's I am learning and looking at setup. Doug you have your ESC in front of your batteries. Means your wires from the esc to the motor are longer. I know you don't want too long of battery leads so is lenghtening the 3 wires to the motor prefferable? I guess the actual energy used is then going through 3 smaller wires?

Mic

Mic I prefer to keep all wires as short as possible and I am a big fan of every component having it's own space.

Zippkits JAE21 challenged us a bit. In order to get the 60/40 weight distribution the battery had to go behind the rear boom tube. I didn't want the ESC on top of the battery so up front it went.

The wire that was removed from the battery side was just added to the motor side and we still shortened the original wiring by 1".

As long as longer motor leads don't cause problems with the ESC reading the rotors position, I would opt for longer motor leads over batery leads every time. It certainly isn't an issue with these set ups.

D.

 

[JSCARPINO]

All Great Information Guys

I am so happy that the intrest in FE is growing everyday.....

I came from Nitro Riggers 2 years ago and with the help of this and the O.S.E. forum I have learned a whole bunch...

I was intimidated at first like a bunch of guys, but with the help of our District 20 Club FE in Pueblo, CO

http://www.namba20.com/clubs.html and the likes of Doug Smock & Kent (HOTWATER) I have

learned a whole bunch to date and still need to learn more, but there is no fear factor now, but just excitement

to build some more.....

FE is the Future......

Trust me you guys coming from Nitro, it will grab you and make you all excited again to race boats....

Joe