1/8th Scale FE Rules package for Evansville,Johnson City ,St Ann's, Kenosha etc?

For a little perspective, below are the graphs from our still standing NAMBA T sport and 1/8 scale two lap record boat. It was a Dave Frank 8255 hull running an Octura 1657 prop on 8S.

JamesEllet said:

Thanks for all the info! I know so little on FE it's sad haha. Especially as someone who puts on races. Has Doug posted anywhere what his set up looks like and what all is in it? I'd like to try to know more on it and something I can look at to put together what everyone is talking about.

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Hi James,

I haven't changed anything on the boat except I replaced the Shultze with the Etti control when it came in. They have similar footprints and everything needed to be forward to get the CG where it needed to be. The control fits nicely right above the motor. The two 5cell packs go right up front. (I have never lost a single cell in a pack BTW.) I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just hasn't been my experience. IIRC this boat is on its second set of batteries that started life in T Mono SAW projects.

https://www.intlwaters.com/threads/ml-boatworks-fe-scale.55137/
Another vid. Yes, I got over the new boat nerves and run closer to the pins today. LOL

Still in love with the thing.

If I can help anyone feel free to contact me.

Good luck fellas.

Doug

Does anybody want to post pictures of there setup so the guys that like to look at pictures can see different ways to setup. Hope that's not a dumb request. Is that a neu 1527. So with the 1527 are you getting more rpm with the 450 verses the 8s setup. Or just that using 10s gets you a longer runtime . This discussion has been great. Now what is this , to me I hear shoot for a 14 & 1/5 strut weight. Don't you set your boat to its center of balance. If not with electric why has this changed. I have seen some electric boats with a ton of weight stuck to it on outside, doesn't look good unless it was used to keep boat down or this mathematical balance point I'm just hearing about.

So what is the best esc to run ? So many to chose from.

ACTION JACKSON said:

Does anybody want to post pictures of there setup so the guys that like to look at pictures can see different ways to setup. Hope that's not a dumb request. Is that a neu 1527. So with the 1527 are you getting more rpm with the 450 verses the 8s setup. Or just that using 10s gets you a longer runtime . This discussion has been great. Now what is this , to me I hear shoot for a 14 & 1/5 strut weight. Don't you set your boat to its center of balance. If not with electric why has this changed. I have seen some electric boats with a ton of weight stuck to it on outside, doesn't look good unless it was used to keep boat down or this mathematical balance point I'm just hearing about.

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The 10s, 1527 1.5Y, x450 combo does rpm higher but it also typically runs cooler because of the formula to achieve needed wattage as I posted here -
https://www.intlwaters.com/threads/...-st-anns-kenosha-etc.84930/page-2#post-835248I did 8s and 10s testing running Castle Phoenix airplane ESCs that we added cooling plates to (Castle had discontinued their previous marine ESCs which were basically the same airplane ESCs with water cooling) and in data logging saw cooler temps with 10s (typically 20-30 degrees) and longer runs times due to less amp draw. The 10s set up was also faster than the 8s set up and trying to match 10s speeds saw much higher amp draw and heat making the boat not capable of 8 laps (1 mill, 6 race, 1 return to pits). Unfortunately I lost all the data logging (a bunch) when the hard drive crashed on my laptop that I use for boating. I've attached pics of the Miss Esquire I built with what I called it's coffin radio box. Everything was housed in it and was removable from the boat (my previous FE Elam the radio box was part of the boat). I tend to mount my ESCs on top of the motor to save space and add a "hump" in the box lid to clear it. Also in the last "coffin" pic you can see the extra capacitor bank I added along side the motor. I try to shove everything as far forward as possible and try to balance like a typical nitro scale.

Stephan Peterson said:

So what is the best esc to run ? So many to chose from.

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I know there's a lot of chatter about Castle's new XLX2 but it limits you to 8s (word is an up to 12s version is in the works). You might want to consider the also previously mentioned ETTI 220A PRO II Navy ESC that spans 4 to 14s-
https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=etti-e065I plan to test the new ZTW 300A Seal G2 (6 to 14s) on my next FE scale build-
https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ztw-300-7300410I will say it's more than likely I will also try the high volt version of the XLX2 when it does eventually get released. By getting an ESC that can handle up to 10s it allows you the flexibility of running an 8s format like D4 it trying and 10s if you venture to other IMPBA races running the normal rules with just a pack and prop change and ESC reprogram (just make sure when you build you plan for the larger footprint of the 10s set up). If you do that I'd suggest buying a 6s pack that you can use with one of the 4s packs (4s x 2) in your 8s set up.

Thanks Don. I was looking at the castle marine, but not knowing what way all the districts are going i would be limited with the castle 8 cell. I race in dist 1 ,2 , 4 ,14 . do you have any insight on the newer castle.

Stephan Peterson said:

Thanks Don. I was looking at the castle marine, but not knowing what way all the districts are going i would be limited with the castle 8 cell. I race in dist 1 ,2 , 4 ,14 . do you have any insight on the newer castle.

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The newer Castle is probably late this year/early next year at best. The ETTI is well proven but requires some patience to program. I'm really intrigued by the ZTW, hopefully OSE will have them back in stock soon, the first batch went quick.

Don what is the purpose of the extra external capacitors ?

Stephan Peterson said:

Don what is the purpose of the extra external capacitors ?

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To control ripple current (voltage spikes) from the wildly inconsistent loads from prop loading and unloading, the boats are not like cars or planes with fairly consistent loading of the motor. This is where Castle screwed up on the first attempt at marine ESCs. They did not have enough caps to control it and people were blowing them up left and right. Since Castle had a one year warranty they got their azzes handed to them on warranty repair/replacement which is why they bailed on marine controllers. Hopefully they learned their lesson on the new ones but I'd still run extra cap bank especially on an 8s set up. easy add on they tie in on the "+" and "-" leads from batteries. here are a couple examples-

https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=hef-h#0005https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=hh-cas-011-0002-02https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=etti-e041
I started making my own so I could locate them where they would fit best.

I wrote an article in a nitro to electric scale conversion. Below is that article and a picture of my sport 40 with a better setup.

Lohring your sport 40 looks like it will eat water. I like that your boat has a big aera to place everything. What kind of speed does it do. Also you might know this answer which is off topic. I saw a video I think it was a district 19 club that was using a automatic lap counter. Do you by chance have any information on this. Thanks

The sport 40 is a converted Mutt II. It is as fast as most of the District 8 nitro sport 40s but didn't do well against the Q hydros in the one NAMBA Nationals it entered. It hasn't raced since then. A Mutt holds the NAMBA sport 40 SAW record, so the boat should do better with some more work.

We used a semi automatic lap counting system for a while. The program was written by the late Andrew Young from Australia. We ran it at one Nationals. The pit person pushed a button as the boat completed one lap. A computer ran a voice countdown and timed each lap from the start signal to the button push. The CD could enter lap penalties and the finish. The problem was getting pit people to reliably push the button. We haven't used it for years.

Lohring Miller

The system you saw is Lenny Blakes. Back to electric scale boats now

Here is a typical set up for a scale or sport boat. This is a converted Sport 40. You'll find that you'll need most, if not all of your piece parts as far forward as you can get them. That's another advantage to a low-profile ESC, it can be mounted above the motor like Don's Esquire. I'll take some pics of the U64 set up if anyone is interested.

Good luck with your builds.

Would the CG be the same as a nitro scale or more forward because of the extra push ? or place batteries around to balance out the same as my nitro scale.

Follow the manufactures recommendations on CG. Typically, aft of the sponson transoms near the center of the turn fin. I mount the hardware and place everything in and on the boat, cowl etc. Then move things around to see how to best meet the CG requirement while keeping wires as short as possible and the set up clean.

Fill the batteries half full as I do my fuel tanks to set my CG.

That way mid race your CG is perfect

Stephan Peterson said:

Would the CG be the same as a nitro scale or more forward because of the extra push ? or place batteries around to balance out the same as my nitro scale.

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Make sure you leave yourself room to "tune" your CG location.