mydartswinger

Hello fellow RC tankers,

I've been into RC for 9 years now in several different arenas. I've almost always had an RC car, even if it was just a Mini-T. I've had airplanes ranging from a micro aerobat to an 80" Spitfire, and I've had RC helis ranging from an mCX to a Raptor 50. Due to life events, I've been out of the hobby for a couple of years. Recently, I started playing the MMO World of Tanks, which has peaked my interest in all things tanks. Had I not started playing that game, I would've passed over a toy I found in my parent's attic that lead me down the path to posting here. A month or so ago, I was looking for something up there for my parents and came across a wired remote control tank toy that I had as a kid. I pulled it out of the attic, cleaned it up, and put batteries in it. Low and behold, it still worked after sitting up there for nearly 16 years.

That little thing got me hungry for something better. I did a bit of research and decided I wanted to get a Heng Long KV-1, but didn't know when it would be able to happen. So after several weeks, I hadn't really thought much more about it other than a fleeting thought. That is, until today. I was out and about just hanging out with a longtime friend of mine. We had time to kill, so we stopped in the LHS to see if they had any tank models. They didn't have any static models like I was looking for, but I did happen to see a Heng Long Tiger I sitting on the counter where they do the repair work. I went up and started talking to the guy that does the repairs about it. Come to find out, he was looking to sell it. There was a catch, though. It had supposedly been run with a higher voltage than required battery and the stock electronics by it's previous owner. He said that he ran the tank once for a few minutes on a 7.2V battery and the tank quit. He said it was the circuit board, he had found where to get the board for about $10, was going to order it, install it, and sell the tank for $40 once repaired. While I have never ran or worked on an RC tank, I figured that since I do have RC experience, I would be able to repair the problem myself. So I made him an offer of $20 for the tank "as-is", and we negotiated the price to $25. Other than the circuit board, the only thing the tank needs is a battery and charger. Since I don't have those anymore, I will have to get them.

Well, I get the tank home, remove the tracks, and open up the body to get a visual on the circuit board so I can make sure I find and order the correct board. Lo and behold, the black wire (I believe it's white on some tanks) going from the center of the power switch to the edge of the main board had lost it's connection to the main board. A quick. careful dab of solder and the wire is reconnected. Though I can't test it yet, I believe I fixed the issue without the need of any new electronics. Personally, I think I did good for my first RC tank. $25 plus battery and charger for an Airsoft, sound, and smoke Heng Long Tiger I in 1/16 scale. It has the radio, smoke fluid (not really an issue for me anyway, since I've got some that I use on O gauge trains), and about 1/4-1/2 the box of Airsoft BBs. Cosmetically, the tank is pretty good, seemingly only missing the machine gun, and a few broken tabs on the treads on the glacis plate.

I do have a concern about the tracks on it. After reinstalling the them, I noticed that the left tracks (looking from the rear of the tank) are tight with practically no sagging, while the right tracks sag a good 1/2" or more. While they neither track seems like it would come off, I am wondering if I should move a link at a time from the right track to the left track until they have an even sag. Should I even them up, or is there something in the way the tank runs that would require 1 track to be more loose than the other?

Eventually, I do plan on trying to make it more detailed and true to life, as well as some upgrades from stock. ATM, though, I'll just be happy to start running it.

The below pic was taken after I repaired (hopefully) and reassembled the tank.



Thanks and happy tanking.

Airbrushler

Welcome to the Hobby you will want more tanks eventually...lol
it just goes that way
Congrats on the Tiger I it looks in good shape you might have to count the number of links on each track make sure they are the same
i think they have 89 links someone else may know but i hear they run better at 88 links


oh i think i may have a piece you can glue on for your machine gun does it still have the LED for it

i have the WSN Tiger I not as durable as the HL, mine has very thin plastic

ausf

7.2 is the voltage for HL tanks. HL is notorious for bad solder joints, it's usually the first place to look so you're probably okay. There are aftermarket track tensioners for HL, Tamiya kits have them, but you may be able to get away with adding/subtraction links. In the photo, the left side track is pretty tight. It's a matter of ebngineering, it'd be hard to get track tension even on two sides without some adjustable system.

It's a good deal for $25. Any 6 cell NiCad or NiMH battery will do, shoot for the 2000 mAh range.

CHIEFSONN

Try to keep the battery length @ 5 3/8 max, allowing it to fit in the battery compartment,unless you open one end under the cover allowing a larger /longer battery.of 7.2volt with @ least 2000 Mah.as stated above.good score.

mydartswinger

It looks like the light for the machine gun is on the main gun mantlet. It doesn't even look like there's a light for the end of the gun barrel.

The tracks both have 96 links. I removed one from the loose side to get them to be at least of similar tension. Once I get the tank operational, the tracks will be the first thing I look at to get them right.

Thanks again guys.

mydartswinger

I'm back with a bit of an update for you guys, and a couple of questions.

First, the update. I decided that I'd rummage through my storage room to see if I could find a battery and charger that happened to be left over from when I was running the cars. While I was unable to find a battery, I did manage to find a decent charger. A [link=http://www.dynamiterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=DYN4044]Dynamite Vision Peak 2[/link] charger. I very rarely used it because I mostly used Deans connectors on all my batteries, and it was more of a backup charger (I used a [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHDJ1&P=7]Duratrax ICE[/link] charger as my primary charger), so it should still be OK to use (might need to head to Radio Shack to replace a fuse if needed, but the fuse still looks good, so I doubt it). I was hoping I still had and could find the ICE, but the Vision should be more than enough. That should save me some money in getting the tank going.

Secondly, the questions. Since I don't have the manual for it, I searched online for a PDF copy, but the closest I could find was for the HL Snow Leopard. Reading through the manual and doing some additional research online has lead me to some questions regarding the durability of the tank and where I can run it. Is it really as delicate as the manual makes it out to be where it's strictly an indoor, hard surface tank? Would it stand up to outdoor use in 1/2"-2" grass, loose dirt, rough asphalt, climbing over roots, and climbing in and out of holes in the dirt? If it can't, what would be recommended upgrades to get it there? What I don't expect out of it is to go over jumps and high speed bumps like an RC truck would.

Granted, I know you get what you pay for, but if it can't handle the usage I have planned for it...wow. I don't mind doing repairs and upgrades to get it where I want it. Running cars, helis, and planes before this, I do expect to have maintenance on the tank to keep it up and to have to do some repairs as parts wear out over time or break whenever I have a "Ooops, duh" moment.

As for the battery I'll be getting, my LHS has these that I'll probably get one or the other of (hopefully by this time next week):
[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXXUN6&P=0]Duratrax Onyx NiMH 6C 7.2V 2500mAh[/link]
[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXXUN4&P=0]Duratrax Onyx NiMH 6C 7.2V 2000mAh[/link]

Airbrushler

hey Mydartswinger if you have metal gears and you have your tracks working good they can do a lot just not anything to jam up the in the tracks like small pebbles, stones, branches or even leaves sometimes
here is a video of the one time i went to a Can-Am battle here in Canada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3vn...yer_detailpage

Ronan87

Those HL tanks can do a lot.

mydartswinger

So basically, to get what I want out of the tank, I'll need something like [link=http://www.matomart.com/prodview.php?p=854]this?[/link]

Ronan87

Link dosn't work for me. What people are trying to say is if you want hobby grade fun out of a cheap toy, you need to spend some money (like any other hobby).

You can splurge on a Tamiya r/c tank or you can DIY with a Heng Long/Mato/etc r/c tank for less money.

What you need to do is make up some goals. For example:

Budget.
What i want to do with my tank (where to run it, am i going to join a club or even do IR battles).
What kind of upgrades interest me? Performance over Looks? Or looks over performance?
etc...

Your tank is perfectly fine, now you have to see if you are happy 'as is' or if you want to go to another level with it.

It's part of the fun deciding all of this

Perry S.

Hello and welcome mydartswinger.

I think the real question is slant 6 or 340........

Perry

mydartswinger

Sorry for the link, I guess Matomart doesn't like links directly to their product pages. It was their complete lower hull kit with metal hull, drive wheels, idler wheels, road wheels, tracks, gears, suspension arms, and upgraded springs for $299.

As for driving the tank, I doubt I'll be doing anything extreme, just cruising over the surfaces mentioned in my previous post. Probably won't be battling, as I haven't been able to find a group here that does battles.

Ultimately, I will be putting some work into detail to make it look more like the real deal and maybe add some weathering as well. However, performance is first and foremost. I got it to drive and tinker with, not sit on a shelf.

Perry,
Leaning Tower of Power all the way. Unfortunately, life got in the way of that too, and I no longer have the car.

mydartswinger

Update on the Tiger.

Picked up a battery the other day and gave her a whirl. Sounds came on as supposed to. Awesome. Machine gun sound and lights work. Great. Recoil works, but the hull wants to turn during the recoil. OK, maybe it just needs some trim. Go to move forward, it wants to go right. Same as with the recoil, maybe just some trim. Go to move back, it does the same thing. I try all the trims to it to get it centered. No dice. After a few minutes of messing with it, I notice an electrical smoke smell. NOT COOL.

I open the tank to see where the smoke is coming from and to see what's going on with the right motor/gearbox. The smoke is coming from the RX13 unit that this tank has (it doesn't have the newer RX18 unit) at the solder joint where I reattached the wire. It got so hot it melted the solder on the joint, releasing the wire. So it seems a replacement unit is needed after all. I did, after all, purchase the tank with the knowledge that it needed one. I was just hoping that the wire was all that was wrong with it after I found it loose. The right motor only wants to go in reverse without coaxing it. When I do get it to go forward, it goes very slowly. While inspecting the right motor, I also noticed one of the gears was cracked at the shaft. I guess an MG upgrade is in order.

Anyone know of somewhere other than Oz Armor that has the RX18 with wires? Or of somewhere that has the RX13? Since my tank has the RX13, I'm not sure if the wires on it are compatible with the RX18.

jarndice

Hi, If you go to UK E-BAY and look up FORGEBEAR or TANKFORCE1 you will see they both sell RX18 with cables and plugs, I have been a customer of both sites and they are fair in their prices and trustworthy, I have just been to FORGEBEAR site and he is selling a brand new RX18 complete with all cables and plugs for £23, it is compatable with the RX13 and 14, I should add that Dave Forgebear is a top gent and very helpful.

FreakyDude

mydartswinger, I have RX18's you can have for cheap, just pm me and I'll give you a price. if your going to upgrade though yopu may want to take a look at other boards. if you upgrade from the RX13 to the RX18 there is some work involved and if doing that why not go all the way and get a hobby class board like a Clark TK20?