rtbn2fly

Removable waterproof hatch.
I ran my boat runs and handles great however was out messing around in 30 degree water everything iced up only had throttle control later ( 1 1/2 hours later to walk around lake to recover boat).
There was water inside the rx and battery area as well as servo's filled with water lost both and had to replace Rx and battery.

Any help would be great the cover that I have is screwed with 8 screws as well as silicone around the cover.

I need this to be able to be removed to charge the battery and on off switch.

dadkins

I use a small disposable gladlock contair and poke a slit in the lid for the wires to pass thru - keeps my RX batteries and switch all nice and dry, and easy to pop the lid seal to turn switch on / off.

dadkins

Also, get rid of that wood prop to many weeds, moisture and chance of splintering...in your eye... or worse.

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Dadkins is correct.

boatnut

I have been using a homemade switch cover.
Cut a water bottle top below the ring , glue in radio box lid.
Use a mini switch and you will have room for the battery
charge leads. Use the screwon top to seal, makes a easy
to use rx switch.

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Poster #5 i read that some where else and if it works, that's what counts.

DONS BOAT WORKS

My Feedback: (3)

I use a Rubbermaid container.

dadkins

I likes me the gladware container - I did however notice all that cold air and snow blowing over the top of the container make a heckofa lot a condensation on the lid of the tupperware inside and out - I give it a thorough dry out after each run - keep my rx dry.

You can barely see it under the motor mount

203_morris

I put my reciever,rechargable battery pack in a balloon and my hatch cover is a peace of lite weight aluminum with a computer mouse pad glued to the bottom of it with contact cement ....nothing has ever gotten wet on me,works very well need to find a mouse pad that is soft rubber ,and not to thick be sure it's ,,,,,,not foam...

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There's 1 item not mentioned here is waterproofing the wood inside the airboat. I use thinned epoxy on the walls, floor in each compartment. I see by the picture where cover lays on top of everything. Best to inlay cover so you have a smooth surface so water can flow right on over.. I know it sounds like a pain in the butt but sure beats buying equipment if you don't need to. Ok, i looked again real hard and answer is where plexiglass ends. Answer to that is to glue another piece of wood where rudder wires come thru. Just glue a piece of wood, not a whole piece , so it is flush at top and down to or close to top of wire. Next, i would cut plex so it ends in the middle of the support piece, then where indented area should be extended all the way to the plexso cover will lay down into indented area and tape the seams. The way it is now , your letting water flow right on in. Not chewing you out but making life alittle easier. Now on mine , i cut ply wide enough and glue under the top so when lid is put on it lays flush. I just do all 4 sides and tape. I've done this for quite awhile but mine are electric as gas motor are taboo!

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203_morris, looks like piano wire for antenna! You haven't modded yet where no rx antenna is used or 1 with a 8" antenna. Careful of that antenna so you don't poke an eye out or someone else. That could bring on a lawsuit but you can curl wire in a loop and your covered.

1QwkSport2.5r

The pics aren't super clear of that cover you made - is sitting on top of the hull or recessed to be flush with the rest of the hull? If it sits on top currently, I would find a way to recess it to be flush with the skin of the hull, and use Radio box tape or clear packing tape to tape around the edge.

You can't see the packaging tape in this picture, but the cover is flush with the skin and sealed all the way around. The skin/cover is only 1/32" birch with epoxy on both sides. Not strong enough to screw it down so I just tape it. I bought a roll of Radio box tape for $4 which is a lot stickier than the packaging tape I was using. No water in my radio box ever, and my control cables dont even have pushrod boots on them.

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Cottage Grove; my rudder wire runs thru 1/8" plastic tubing used in planes and angles down about 10 degrees and i put grease forced down the tube and never a drop of water gets in. BTW, the unit of yours sure looks great. Do i see a water rudder?

1QwkSport2.5r

Thank you! Yes, there's a wet rudder on it. This is an old picture - Assembled but not ran on the water yet. I've since changed the rudder and prop. I do have air rudders for it but after a few mishaps running it on land, I've decided to keep it water only with a wet rudder.

I use sullivan semi-flex cables in the boat I have pictured. I used Dubro semiflex cables with pushrod boots on my Hyrdo airboat.

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Good idea on DuPro semi-flex cables. I have used the airplane gold cable that comes in a package with other stuff and works good as long as the run isn't to long as it loses strenght due to no support for a majority of cable. I'll look that up. Thanks for the tip on cables. Weather here has been a yo-yo and stay windy alot of late. Thanks for the reply.

dadkins

Mikeup - I didnt even realize our boats are almost twins- fraternal-. check out the HEAVY DUTY tupperware type container - I discovered a few crashes and the batteries were crashing thru the side of the crappy little gladlock container.

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Man-o-man does your boat look great. I'd be afraid to put in the water, looks like a mantle piece.