Sport 40 FE

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I have heard various opinions on battery longevity. From 100 cycles on a cheap pack (hobbyking) to 300 on a Thunderpower, Hyperion or Dinogy. For sake of numbers lets say 200 on a pair of 5000ma 6S Dinogys run in parallel (10000ma) Cost $300. To run 200 heats on a .67 nitro motor you will use 16-20 gallons of fuel. 10-12 oz per run. Add glow plugs and your over $500-700. On my Q mono I use about 4000ma in a heat with a 1521 (3500watt) motor. So you could get by with 8000ma capacity even with a 1527 (4500watt) motor. Upkeep on an FE is maybe 2 bearings in 50 runs. With good quality, conservative props (don't overheat things)and careful maintenance, an FE will run a long time. Mic
 
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I'm right along with you here, I just ordered all the bits to convert an AC Sport 40. I'm going with the rail mount from South River RC, Neu 1527 1.5D, and the Hydra Ice 240 from Kintec Racing and Offshore Electrics. Chilli's post has the links.

I'm going with Revolectrix batteries I've had good luck with them and their Powerlab chargers are the best.

http://www.store.revolectrix.com/Products/DIAMOND-Label-60C-LiPO-batteries-XH-equpped/Revolectrix-5000mAh-6S-Lipo-Diamond-Label-GP-KO-JST-XH-Balance-Connector
 
I'm right along with you here, I just ordered all the bits to convert an AC Sport 40. I'm going with the rail mount from South River RC, Neu 1527 1.5D, and the Hydra Ice 240 from Kintec Racing and Offshore Electrics. Chilli's post has the links.

I'm going with Revolectrix batteries I've had good luck with them and their Powerlab chargers are the best.

http://www.store.revolectrix.com/Products/DIAMOND-Label-60C-LiPO-batteries-XH-equpped/Revolectrix-5000mAh-6S-Lipo-Diamond-Label-GP-KO-JST-XH-Balance-Connector
Where are you placing your battery packs. In the left front side or just in the very front?
 
One thing to keep in mind is the FE hull MUST BE WATERPROOF! This is more important than the motor, ESC and packs you choose to use. This fact is ignored by many former fuelers, and the result is often ruined packs and ESCs, or wrecked boats. A leaky FE hull is a disaster waiting to happen. A 'radio box' in an FE hull is silly as the most vulnerable parts are the ESC and packs - which won't fit in a radio box. The entire hull IS the radio box. Follow this advice and you will have a much more reliable boat, more fun and more time spent running instead of replacing damaged parts...

Here is a PT SS45 setup which has been very successful in our club. Video can be found on our website - https://www.facebook.com/TheHeartOfTexasModelBoatClubHOTMBC?sk=wall&filter=2&notif_t=wall

1zogqyt.jpg


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Jay & everyone, where would you say the most "leakage" will occur? I've been chasing a small amount of water entering the hull on my new JAE. I am thinking it is coming thru the driveline. What is a good method to seal around the flex shaft? More grease? I never understood the tubing over the end of stuffing box. Doesn't that cause a ton of drag?? Am I missing something here?? I used a large syringe to "pressure test" the cooling system, seems to be leak free....

Joe
 
My plan was to put in a bulkhead in the back to leave the strut open for adjustment without un-taping and incase of water coming in around the strut. I was thinking of making a kind of sub-hatch that would be taped with the stock cowl going over top. It will probably need a bulge in it to clear the motor but I'll know better when I can mock it up.

It looks like the batteries will fit nicely up front but I don't know what that's going to do to the COG. I was thinking of going sideways into the sponsons but that could be another place to let water in. For the flex shaft I'll probably just try the fuel tube trick it works pretty well on the smaller boats.
 
If you look at my posts on an 1/8 scale (Electrifying Adventures in Scale) and sport 40 conversion, my solution for several nitro conversions has been to build a box or boxes that contain the electronics. I left the motor out in my first conversions, but enclosed it as well in my latest, a Miss Vegas nitro to P spec hydro conversion. Sealing the cowl of a nitro boat is a thankless exercise. The costs of reasonable components for an electric boat are now similar to nitro. Think of the batteries as a 1 or 2 year fuel supply. The biggest problem is that lipos will support huge current draws requiring expensive motors and speed controls. My efforts are designed to explore possible spec solutions that duplicate nitro power plants.

Lohring Miller
 
To understand batteries you need to know they are built from single (1S) cells. Cells are 3.7v and come in different ma capacities. 2000-6000 being the range most boaters use. 5000ma seems to be a staple. So 6 - 5000ma individual cells in series makes a 6S-5000ma pack. (22-2v). Take two of these connected in parallel and you have 10000ma capacity but still 6S. 22.2v. To get 7000-10000 ma capacity you are probably going to use a parallel system. I have some 8000ma 6S batteries but can only get 30C power. Under 7000ma capacity you can either use one large battery or use 2. If the boat allows like a mono or conventional hydro using 2 distributes the weight side to side and also dissipates heat better as you have more surface area. On my Q mono I use 2-6000ma 3S packs connected in series. (6S-6000ma) I can accomplish the same result with 2 6S 3000ma packs connected in parallel. Not many choices in batteries above 6000ma so to get more run time and take stress off cells going to 2 4000ma 6S packs in parallel gives me 8000ma. It sometimes comes down to what area you have in a hull to stuff batteries in and where you want the weight. First thing is decide your voltage needs then capacity. Back to my Q mono with a mid size motor (1521-3500w). I use 4000ma in a 6 lap heat propped conservatively. Pull more prop and I use 5000+ma and create heat. Run faster and stress equipment. A bigger watt motor will use more power also but run faster. Then I would go to 2-5000ma packs in parallel for 10000ma capacity and added weight. At the end of the day you want to come in with 25-35% capacity left in your packs. On a run with say a lap penalty you might go down to 15% left (3.5v per cell or so) and your entering the damage zone. It gets confusing till you start running and find out your boats parameters. I have bough a lot of cheap testing packs but once I know what the race setup is going to use I get the best batteries. I didn't mention C rating. 30C will work. 40C and above is preferable. You will see a couple mph and better acceleration. That and generally better quality packs. Not all manufacturers ratings are accurate! Thunderpower,Grimracer,Hyperion and Dinogys have been the best in my opinion. I have some Turnigy, Nanos. Gens Ace and Zippys that work fine but you get what you pay for. When I get a bad cell from Hobbyking it's not worth sending back just chalk it up. Hope this isn't too confusing. Get an individual cell meter there cheap and get to know your batteries after every run. Will give you an idea of your balance. I know if I come in 3.7-3.8v after a run I will have above 25% left. Under 3.5v per cell and I need to change props (down) or get more capacity. Under 3.3v per cell and you may have ruined the pack. Take care and let it cool where it can't set anything on fire. If my packs go down to 3.7v or less I will charge them back after they cool to 3.85v (storage) before I go home. Mic
 
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The low voltage part confuses me. If the cell voltage is 3.7, and you discharge past that you're damaging cells? Does that mean the voltage stays constant thru entire discharge? Just the milliamps go down?

Joe
 
I bought two pairs of 6s (22.2v) to hook in parallel. One pair are 5000mah so a total of 10,000mah and the other pair were on sale, 3700mah to total 7,400mah. Not sure how many mah needed for a race but I'll have a couple options to start with.

The Futaba and Hyperion battery checkers are handy they show the percentage of charge remaining and the cell voltages.

I've been using Dimension Engineering lipo cutoffs set at 3.3v and my 5 year old 2s packs are still going strong.
 
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Going below 3.7v per cell is kind of your warning track. Below 3.3 (unloaded) and you may not have a pack left. Fully charged cells are 4.2v and as the capacity of the packs is used the voltage does drop. Actually 4.2 is without a load. Under load you working voltage will be less. A cell cutoff set at 3.1 may be 3.6-3.7 when it comes in. This will all vary a bit with different equipment. Mic
 
So here's my question. What are you looking for as far as motors. Only description I've seen is the KV difference.

So what the difference in a Neu 1527 (1250 )KV

And a NEu 1530 ( 1100 KV)
 

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