Gerdia

Good day all, I'm new to the site and to nitro r/c. I have done alot of research and my new Tornado S30 is running like a charm.
I do have a couple basic questions that I have not been able to find the answers to. so if you folks would be so kind, here they are:

1. what life expectancy should I expect from the
motor
trans
tires
glow plug

2. What are good parts to keep stocked
3. whats a good radio system to upgrade to for under $100


Not too many tracks around my area so I plan on just having lite fun with it, in parks and dirt fields etc..

Thanks to all

Gerry

Foxy

It all depends on how well you tune and maintain it.

The motor could see anything from 20 to 60 liters of fuel through it before needing a rebuild, highly dependant on your tuning skills. You can tune an engine for insane performance and a short life, or normal performance and a long life.
The transmission will depend on how well you service the bearings and how you drive
Tires will depend on the surface and again on how you drive
Glow plugs are a total lottery. No way of knowing how well it will last. I've had plugs from the same packet, one last only 2 runs and the other half a season.

Good radio for cheap=Flysky GT3b (not the c). Should find one on ebay for 40 shipped.

Dads like rc too

I like the Traxxas Tqi radio, mainly because it will store I think up to 10 models in its memory. You probably don't need that right now, but if you add cars to your line up it's nice having just one radio linked to all your cars "less batteries to deal with". It's under a $100 on eBay for the radio and receiver, then once you have it you can just buy receivers for your new models and link them with your radio.

The tires may last awhile but the Redcat wheels crack or split very easy. You'll probably be looking to upgrade them sooner than later.

Like Foxy said, if you keep your engine running right, that SH .18 will run gallons of fuel thru it without problem.

Same goes for the tranny, keep an eye on things. Make sure everything is tight meaning where the output cups are. Like Foxy said if the bearings start to wear the drivetrain will get wobbly and wear other parts.

The Tornado is a great introduction to nitro RC. You'll learn the ropes with it and have lots of fun. The weakest part of that model by far is definately the cheap brittle wheels and the alloy shock towers which will bend if you just look at them wrong. If you upgrade the wheels and replace the towers with carbon fiber one's, you'll just have to keep an eye on your spur gear mesh and you'll be all set. Also in my opinion the Tornado runs much better in first gear compared to second. Second gear is just to tall for that engine. I just tightened the shifting spring on the tranny so it wouldn't shift into second. It had much more usable power this way.

nitrosportsandrunner

dont forget to check the motor mount screws. If they are not tight enough a jump could move the motor enough to strip your spur gear.

parts"
the 2 spur gears...
shock tower (the ones on my tornado epx get bent easy, till up upgraded)
dogbones

maybe the wheel hubs. I havent owned a s30 so I dont know how long those last....as they are not the same ones used on the brushless version.

as foxy said, motor life depends on how you use it, how you run it and how you take care of it.
glow plugs do suck. things like a poor tune, flooding your motor and such can cause them to go bad quickly.

another part some have fail is the steering servo. the one in my tornado has lasted a good long time, but some have had them strip.

tower pro mg996r servos off ebay are cheap and stronger than the stocker. they ship from HK, so buy before you need one.

I have a Arrma 2.4ghz radio for sale if you wanna upgrade! doesnt have model memory, but it does only use 4 "AA"s, has duel rates on both channels, its 3 channel and you can put the steering wheel on the left or right, for if you are right or left handed.

Gerdia

Thanks so much for the solid and quick responses, I will certainly follow all of the advice given.

I will do a search, but as far as servicing and maintaining the motor and tranny, whats involved?
I have seen a product called after run oil, should i use it? the instructions say nothing about it.
if anyone has a link to these it would be great, if not I'll try and find it. just looking for a short cut is all.

Again thank you all.

Gerry

Dads like rc too

I don't think you'll get a consistent answer to the after run oil question. The first technical answer is "yes, you must use after run oil". I hardley ever use it. Most of the fuel today says you don't need it. I think it depends on many circumstances. I store my trucks in the house. If I know I'm not going to run for more than two weeks, I'll put a few drops of 3 n 1 tool oil in. Other than that I don't worry about it. If your storing out in a cold garage or humid shed I'd put more consideration into it. I know many people swear by it and say they use it after every use. To me that's overkill.

u4iia

I am two years into the hobby with my S30. I am certainly still learning the hobby, however, here are the parts I keep on hand:

Dog Bones. I have both bent them and had the "T"s break off the ends
Complete Tranny
a foot or so of fuel tubing
Front shock tower (unless you upgrade to the thicker, milled, stuff)
Muffler coupler
a S30 small hardware pack (comes with o-rings, body pins, and various screws for your s30.
1 servo. I use the HiTech 645 Metal Gear Servos. They are a tad slower (but tourque) than the stock servo, but, thats awsome for me since this thing is a rocket in 2nd.
Antenna tubing.

I have replaced two bent base plates and put a hole in a muffler (high speed crashes, lol) I have replaced a pull starter. I have had to take the one-way bearing out for a washdown with brake cleaner. (wasnt grabing).

Foxy

After run oil is a total myth, in general it is utterly and totally pointless. One might choose to use it for long term storage (like 6 months or more) if they lived in a wet country, or if your engine will pass any time in a damp environment (or potentially damp environment, eg a shipping crate in a wet airport, so worth using before you ship a car).

Since I feel like typing and I have 5 minutes to kill...

The purpose of after run oil is to protect your engine internals from the hygroscopic nature of nitromethane fuels. Hygroscopic means 'attracts water', water is bad for engine internals. Nitromethane is so intensely hygroscopic as to be able to pull the water out of the very air.

The part of the fuel that is hygroscopic (nitromethane), is also the part of the fuel that evaporates the fastest (ever wondered why nitromethane feels cold even when it's warm? It's because it evaporates so fast, it takes the heat from your skin as it does so). Therefore, in a hot engine that just ran dry, any remaining nitromethane in the engine evaporates almost instantly, leaving your engine internals coated in their favorite oil anyway, the oil that is in the fuel.

ARO was created by the hobby to sell more cheap oil for exhorbitant prices.

Finally, if you really don't believe me, or just want to use ARO for your own peace of mind, be aware WD40 does the job better for a quarter the price (WD40=Water Dispersant 40 ).

Foxy

For extra trivia points, did you guys know that WD40 is called 40 because it took the manufacturer 40 attempts to get the formula to meet NASA's standards.

Gerdia

Thanks again everyone, great info here.
I'm looking into a new radio system so all your suggestions are greatly appreciated,
I do want to keep it below $100, the Traxxas tqi looks real nice.
oh, and Foxy, thanks for that trivia. Did not know that about WD-40, I'm going around sharing that info now.



Thanks

Gerry

Gerdia

Excuse me for the dumb question here, but I was reading up on the Traxxas tqi and the skfly radios and got a bit confused.
I can use either of r\these systems in my tornado s30, correct?
and will the telemetry of the traxxas work with my redcat?

thank you

Gerry

Foxy

I can't speak for the Traxxas TQi, though I do own one, I've never used it, lol. It came with my mini revo and was pretty much immediately discarded due to its cheap plasticky feel.

The flysky gt3b is a generic 2.4ghz full featured tx. It has all the main adjustments (as does the TQi) without an ipad or multiple button presses (it has an easy to use giant screen and scroll wheel for settings etc), it will keep memory of your settings for up to ten models, and costs a fraction of the TQi. When I race I use a Futaba 3pk, its old, but its still one of the best radios around, more settings than I would ever use, and I miss nothing when using the flysky, it has all the settings that I actually use, and none of the ones I don't.

The two best things of all about the flysky are the cost of the unit and the cost of receivers. The unit WITH a receiver will only cost you 40 bucks and additional receivers are 8 bucks each. It has been for a long time, and remains today, the best radio bargain around.

The TQi advantage is the telemetry, and though I haven't personally ever used it, it's just sensors, they shouldn't care what car they are going into. Traxxas cars sometimes have little special places in the plastics built in for the sensors, which other cars obviously don't have, but a little imagination should be all that's needed, if at all.