NEED INFO FOR 1/8 SCALE ELECTRIC

[mark couty]

Let me start off by saying I KNOW NOTHING about electric powered boats. I have built and run at least a dozen or so wood or fiberglass boats. Hydros, deep vees and cats, either gas or nitro powered..

I want to do a 1/8 scale hydro electric, or convert one of my nitro 1/8 scale hydros to electric.

Can anyone make suggestions on a motor, esc, and lipo battery set up for my 1/8 scale hydro. It is just for fun, not serious racing. Where do I find the items ?

My current boat completely rigged out with the nitro motor weighs 15 lbs.

I appreciate any help, Thanks.

 

[lohring]

Read Electrifying Adventures in Scale in the November 2012 NAMBA Propwash.

:

Lohring Miller

 

[JimStephens]

I would suggest:

1. Castle 2028 Motor

2. Castle HV 200 amp ESC

3. Either run it 8s2p or 10s2p

4. Dinogy or Hyperion Batteries

I am currently running a Backlash(big as an 1/8 scale basically) 8s2p that I am getting ready to race in March. It runs around 75mph. This same set up would work nicely(at slower speeds) for an 1/8 scale and I actually am intending to use this same equipment in an 1/8 scale hydro down the road.

 

[lohring]

You don't need a Castle HV with 8S. See http://www.castlecreations.com/products/hydra_ice.html

Lohring Miller

 

[Don Ferrette]

Mark,

Do you plan to maybe down the road to run in any sanctioned races with your FE scale once it's built? If so it would be good idea to build something that is legal. In the IMPBA for example the 1500 series Neu motors are legal and I'll say to go with the 1527 1.5Y on 10S. This combo has been proven to work extremely well in numerous FE scale boats currently running and guys are getting it done on a 10S 5000mah 1P set up which saves a bunch of weight over a 2P configuration. I would not recommend the 240LV Castle even on 8S as you are pushing the ESC to it's working limits, the 200HV is a much safer bet and adding an extra cap bank to control ripple current is added insurance (I run extra caps on all my FE boats). Also you should approach this with the idea of keeping everything, including the motor, in an enclosed area. Basically turn the inside into a large radio box. If you do a set up with your ESC over the motor it will help save a good bit of space. If you like p/m me your e-mail and I can send pics of mine and others we have done to give you some ideas.

 

[lohring]

We ran the aircraft version with water cooling very comfortably on 8S. The boat holds the NAMBA 1/8 scale and T sport hydro two lap records. It also won the 1/8 scale and T hydro classes at the 2012 NAMBA Electric Nationals. Brian fried a Scorpion motor, but the speed control is still fine. The Castle overcurrent protection works very well.

Lohring Miller

 

[mark couty]

Thanks guys great info. Don, I PM my e mail addy to you.

Lohring can you get specific on the "AIRCRAFT VERSION"

 

[DJ Sisson]

Converting a Nitro to electric can be an interesting project...building a hull designed for FE, could actually perform better. ..NEU 1527 8S set up right 60 - 70 mph boat...proven combo in 1/8 scale ...using this in my GP400 and 1/8 scale....DJ

 

[lohring]

These days the closest Castle ESC would be the Phoenix Lite 200 with water cooling something like this or the custom one on a smaller ESC pictured below. You may need a PiStix to adapt the aircraft throttle to a car style transmitter.

Lohring Miller

 

[properchopper]

It should be of interest to note that the SCSTA is now allowing FE entries in its D19 race format for 2014. Here's the info on how it works :

SCSTA_FE_Scale_Guidelines-1.pdf

 

[Don Ferrette]

It should be of interest to note that the SCSTA is now allowing FE entries in its D19 race format for 2014. Here's the info on how it works :

SCSTA_FE_Scale_Guidelines-1.pdf

Batteries:

-8S1P configured Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery(s). The total capacity of batteries in

the allowed chemistries and configurations shall not exceed a total capacity rating of

6,000 mAH. Only LiPo batteries with a manufacturer’s minimum discharge rate of 30C

constant but no higher than a 65C constant shall be allowed. There is a maximum

$200.00 msrp per set limit

Ok I'm curious.....

Scale boats, especially FEs are heavy and will require more mah so why a 6K limit? Volts x Amps = Watts = HP and since the volts are being limited it will require a higher amp draw to achieve the same needed wattage to safely power the boat and still be competitive. This becomes more important for those who might want to convert an existing nitro scale as generally it'll be heavier than one designed ground up as FE. Having an additional level of mah will not be any faster with the prop diameter restricted but it can provide a cushion to help protect expensive components from being stressed or packs getting damaged from being pulled down too far. And a limit of $200 MSRP for a SET of packs? You can't buy a good pair of 4S 5000mah Hyperion, Giant Power or Dinogy's for $200 let alone a 6K set so potentially one can be pushed into using lower quality packs which can lead to a higher failure rate. I've seen enough examples of low quality packs giving up to justify spending the extra coin to buy the good stuff to start with.

 

[57fairlane500]

These are the same rules that RCU runs and I agree with Don. It makes the battery the fuse. Not the best idea I have seen.

 

[mark couty]

Hey Don, I got the pics. Thanks. Anyone else want to send pics with details of their FE setup : [email protected]. Thanks.

 

[ron upton]

u can always say u got the batteries on sale lol no one has a recept for that stuff....

 

[DJ Sisson]

Not to start something ! But it looks like the rule makers are anti FE or totally not wanting the competition from FE boats. I agree with Don and Kelly. This is going to create a possible dangerous situation....DJ

 

[Don Ferrette]

Hey Don, I got the pics. Thanks. Anyone else want to send pics with details of their FE setup : [email protected]. Thanks.

Let me know if you need any other shots.

 

[Don Ferrette]

These are the same rules that RCU runs and I agree with Don. It makes the battery the fuse. Not the best idea I have seen.

I run both nitro and FE 1/8 scale and we combine them together here in D12 as well. We have a parity rule but it is a looser gentleman's agreement in that if an FE scale shows a significant advantage over the faster nitro counterparts in terms of top speed it will be asked to "prop down" (we actually use this rule in all the D12 nitro/FE combo classes). I currently have my 9S Miss Elam FE set up via the prop to top out at 63-64mph and this is actually about 1-2mph less than the top speed we've seen on my Pak nitro scale. Last season I ran a 6000mah set up and it barely got it done often pulling my packs down to well under 20% remaining and this is on an 1/8 scale built ground up as FE. For this season I have upped my set up to 6500mah, it will run the same speed but keep a larger cushion in the packs and reduce strain on my equipment. Setting up an FE scale represents a significant investment and the last thing I want to see is someone burning down components because of questionable limits to available power while trying to remain competitive against it's nitro counterparts. It takes a certain wattage to power any given FE boat and with less volts you need more amps to achieve that which means more pack capacity. In my opinion for whatever it's worth I would think a 6500-7000mah limit would be better and drop the MSRP limit so if a racer wants to purchase top of the line packs he can, it won't make him any faster but his equipment will most likely last longer.

 

[ron upton]

I agree that the msrp has to go go go.....no reason for someone to dictate the price of my batteries

 

[JimStephens]

Mark,

Sent you a link to my Backlash setup.

Jim

 

[Jeff Schindler]

These are the same rules that RCU runs and I agree with Don. It makes the battery the fuse. Not the best idea I have seen.

I run both nitro and FE 1/8 scale and we combine them together here in D12 as well. We have a parity rule but it is a looser gentleman's agreement in that if an FE scale shows a significant advantage over the faster nitro counterparts in terms of top speed it will be asked to "prop down" (we actually use this rule in all the D12 nitro/FE combo classes). I currently have my 9S Miss Elam FE set up via the prop to top out at 63-64mph and this is actually about 1-2mph less than the top speed we've seen on my Pak nitro scale. Last season I ran a 6000mah set up and it barely got it done often pulling my packs down to well under 20% remaining and this is on an 1/8 scale built ground up as FE. For this season I have upped my set up to 6500mah, it will run the same speed but keep a larger cushion in the packs and reduce strain on my equipment. Setting up an FE scale represents a significant investment and the last thing I want to see is someone burning down components because of questionable limits to available power while trying to remain competitive against it's nitro counterparts. It takes a certain wattage to power any given FE boat and with less volts you need more amps to achieve that which means more pack capacity. In my opinion for whatever it's worth I would think a 6500-7000mah limit would be better and drop the MSRP limit so if a racer wants to purchase top of the line packs he can, it won't make him any faster but his equipment will most likely last longer.

We have a couple people in our area who are interested in building FE scales. I have some experience having built a P-Spec tunnel so I have been trying to help them get the right power system. I turned to the RCU rules and some of the local FE guys to find the components needed. I agree with Don that it is about impossible to buy good packs for less than $200. At a 6000 mAh limit I feel you need good packs for them to survive. I went cheap on my 4S packs and wish I didn't.

Now If there was a higher mAh limit, then I think cheaper packs come back into play. You can get four 4S 4000 30C for about the same price as two 6000 65C packs. I like the idea of more mAh so if you are running with nitro you can have a couple mill laps to get a good start.

Any suggestions? I think we have the motors and ESC's covered, but the batteries are also costly and we want to get it right the first time.