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RE: hovercraft go - 3/28/2004 12:42 AM   
gulfstreamI


 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: phillybaby

i brought this yeasterday, its a £30 version of the £80 Tyco one... thing is, it goes like a £30 copy.. short carpet, nope, pavement, not really, i even had it on a mirror yesterday... not that much lift. in the bath bubbles pored out the front and sides, nothing from the rear. will add some nose weight i think. probably a better lift motor too. the standard 400 size isn't enough, i've got a good 370 here or.. maybe the 9.6V guts will cope with my Wattage 10 cell pack
any advice well recived


phillybaby,

I just visited your website, Cool!!
I'm interested in improving the lift of the Taiyo r/c hovercraft that I got here from across the pond! . I got it from the local Discovery Channel Store for $65. I think it's the same as Tyco hovercraft you have over there.
So far I managed to seal off air leaks coming from the upper & lower joints of the battery compartment & the slot where the "wire" antenna is located.
On a cement floor with the lift motor ON, I noticed the Taiyo r/c hovercraft does have a lift on the FRONT END of 3-4 mm. I also removed the rear protective grill to lighten the hovercraft & to try to increase the airflow and push this baby forward.
I also replaced the original wire antenna on my hovercraft & replaced it with another wire antenna about 4" longer. Do you think that increasing the supply voltage of 9.6V to 12 V to the lift motor will result in an better lift? I 'm worried that this mod could pull the "rubber skirt" off this simple "entry level" RTR r/c hovercraft.

gulfstreamI

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/28/2004 2:29 PM   
jtatz


 

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Status: offline 		I actually just discovered this old thread.... I had the same question as gulfstream.

I bought a Taiyo Edge Hovercraft too.

I'm interested in building my own, or buying a kit and modding it....... but was curious if anyone had any luck re-engineering the Taiyo?

< Message edited by jtatz -- 5/28/2004 3:16:43 PM >

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/28/2004 3:08 PM   
tegwin



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Status: offline 		The taiyo is a pile of s***e basically. The way the lift works it would be hard to improve it. You really need a bigger hull so you can fit in more batteries and motors.

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/28/2004 3:16 PM   
jtatz


 

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Status: offline 		I figured that was exactly the case. I just bought the Taiyo Edge to play with..... but now I'm thinking about investing more time/experimentation/money into hovercrafting. I'd guess that the older Tyco Typhoon has the same problem? (I'd guess that most non-kit or small craft have problems)

I think that the rear propulsion motors might be 540s.... and I figured those could be replaced with more efficient, higher RPM motors..
But I was looking at the guts, and realized that the lift fan was crappy.

Is the consensus that centrifugal fans for the lift motor simply do not create enough thrust versus prop designs? Or is the availability of centrifical fan blades the bigger problem? I've seen some people build centrifugal fan blades piece by piece.

Thanks for the advice!

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/28/2004 3:26 PM   
tegwin



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Status: offline 		Thats a good question.

It depends on your skirt deisghn as to the choice of lift fan.

Centrefugal fans need less RPM to create a high pressure.

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/28/2004 3:31 PM   
jtatz


 

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ORIGINAL: tegwin
Thats a good question.
It depends on your skirt deisghn as to the choice of lift fan.

Centrefugal fans need less RPM to create a high pressure.


Thanks for the input. It sounds like I will probably end up building one and experimenting. I've read a fair amount on skirt design, but it seems like actually building the skirt and experimenting has a bigger impact than the theories of most efficient design.

I do want a lift fan - not just using the thrust from the propulsion fan.... and it looks like props are the most easily available.

What have others done for lift, other than use a prop or redirect air from the propulsion fan for lift?

Are there any companies that make centrifugal fans for scale models?

< Message edited by jtatz -- 5/28/2004 3:32:11 PM >

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/28/2004 3:36 PM   
tegwin



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Status: offline 		i have seen a model made with a centrefugal fan from the fume extractor in a cooker hood. that was interesting.

how you get the air is not important, the skirt efficiency is!

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/28/2004 3:40 PM   
jtatz


 

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Status: offline 		I know skirt efficiency is extremely important........... which is why I want to experiment......

I've seen too many debates about the best skirt design - and then when someone actually builds it - they get different results.

The discussions about finger skirts on water have been interesting... Good in theory, but in reality some people have had problems.

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/28/2004 3:46 PM   
tegwin



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Status: offline 		yea the physics in model and real hovercraft are very different so finger skirts dont work too well on really small craft.

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/29/2004 1:09 AM   
gulfstreamI


 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: jtatz

I figured that was exactly the case. I just bought the Taiyo Edge to play with..... but now I'm thinking about investing more time/experimentation/money into hovercrafting. I'd guess that the older Tyco Typhoon has the same problem? (I'd guess that most non-kit or small craft have problems)

I think that the rear propulsion motors might be 540s.... and I figured those could be replaced with more efficient, higher RPM motors..
But I was looking at the guts, and realized that the lift fan was crappy.





The rear propulsion motors on the Taiyo hovercraft are small . Not even close to those 380 motors. They look more like those 280 "johnson motors".
The main lift motor is similar to a 360 motor. I still have to see if I can fit that 380-400 motor that I have here. It's about 10mm longer than the stock 360 "lift" motor.
The only modifications that I've tried here is using 12Volts to increase the response & it did increase the lift ,... a little! I also took out the rear protective grill on the twin propulsin fans to increase the airflow.

< Message edited by gulfstreamI -- 5/29/2004 1:11:27 AM >

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/29/2004 10:17 PM   
jtatz


 

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ORIGINAL: gulfstreamI
The rear propulsion motors on the Taiyo hovercraft are small . Not even close to those 380 motors. They look more like those 280 "johnson motors".
The main lift motor is similar to a 360 motor. I still have to see if I can fit that 380-400 motor that I have here. It's about 10mm longer than the stock 360 "lift" motor.
The only modifications that I've tried here is using 12Volts to increase the response & it did increase the lift ,... a little! I also took out the rear protective grill on the twin propulsin fans to increase the airflow.


Wow, I had looked at the propulsion motors briefly but didn't realize they were that small. If you do end up putting a new lift motor in, please let me know how it goes. I'd like to know if there is any difference.

How did you put +12V to the lift fan? When you say it increased lift a little............ Did you see any difference on water, or on pavement in terms of hover height? Or was it negligable?

I took off the grill for a little bit........... but I don't think that it makes a big difference in air flow. I was more concerned about keeping things out of the blades.

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/30/2004 3:00 AM   
gulfstreamI


 

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ORIGINAL: jtatz

Wow, I had looked at the propulsion motors briefly but didn't realize they were that small. If you do end up putting a new lift motor in, please let me know how it goes. I'd like to know if there is any difference.

How did you put +12V to the lift fan? When you say it increased lift a little............ Did you see any difference on water, or on pavement in terms of hover height? Or was it negligable?

I took off the grill for a little bit........... but I don't think that it makes a big difference in air flow. I was more concerned about keeping things out of the blades.


To adapt that 380-400 motor will require a little more imagination. The 360 "lift" motor supply terminals are directly soldered to the hovercraft's PC board.

AS for the power upgrade from 9.6Volts to 12Volts, you can do that two ways:
1) Open up your 9.6 Volt battery pack & connect the two extra 1.2 Volt rechargeable batteries (must be the same type & mAh rating) in series. You must use a 25-40 watt soldering iron & 2" of AWG#16 wire to accomplish this.
2) If you don't want to cut open your 9.6Volt battery pack, you can try this:
Use a 2 cell AA battery holder avalable from your local electronics store. You will have to open up the Hovercraft for this as you will have to "cut in" to connect this battery holder in series to the wire that leads to the power terminal. You can charge the two 1.2 volt batteries here on a separate charger or use them as you wish.

This increase in supply voltage didn't damage the lift & those twin propulsion motors. You have a LOT of airflow here to cool down the lift motor. I've run my TAIYO Edge hovercraft with this modification for at least 10 times already & it's still running OK.
The stock lift height on a hardwood or cement floor is about 1.5 to 2mm. With the 12volts the lift is about 3mm.
I noticed that with the stock voltage of 9.6volts after the hovercraft rubber skirt was inflated it was just steady on the floor. Using the 12 volts the hover craft slowly drifts to just about any direction you push it with just one finger.
My hovercraft's overall speed inproved a little & so did the turns. You can hear the higher RPM's of the twin propulsion motors.
I got the idea of removing the rear protective grill by just looking at the BIG hovercraft R/C's running out there. Most of them don't use protective grills. This definitely helped increase the airflow as the hovercraft was more responsive.

GulfstreamI

< Message edited by gulfstreamI -- 5/30/2004 4:18:07 AM >

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RE: hovercraft go - 6/7/2004 12:53 AM   
jtatz


 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: gulfstreamI
To adapt that 380-400 motor will require a little more imagination. The 360 "lift" motor supply terminals are directly soldered to the hovercraft's PC board.

This increase in supply voltage didn't damage the lift & those twin propulsion motors. You have a LOT of airflow here to cool down the lift motor. I've run my TAIYO Edge hovercraft with this modification for at least 10 times already & it's still running OK.
The stock lift height on a hardwood or cement floor is about 1.5 to 2mm. With the 12volts the lift is about 3mm.
I noticed that with the stock voltage of 9.6volts after the hovercraft rubber skirt was inflated it was just steady on the floor. Using the 12 volts the hover craft slowly drifts to just about any direction you push it with just one finger.
My hovercraft's overall speed inproved a little & so did the turns. You can hear the higher RPM's of the twin propulsion motors.
GulfstreamI


I recently bought a used Tyco Typhoon on Ebay. It's actually made by Taiyo as well, but a few years older. It's a little smaller, but seems to have a different skirt design and a higher hover height.

If it's just a matter of splicing the input voltage to 12V, that's easy enough. Thanks for the response.

I know that you've also modded the cheap Walmart subs (I bought one after reading your posts, and bought a Traxxas prop) - in your experience are the control/received electronics fine with the higher voltage on most consumer grade toys?

I'm guessing there is some sort of voltage regulator circuit for the control electronics...

< Message edited by jtatz -- 6/7/2004 12:54:00 AM >

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RE: hovercraft go - 6/7/2004 2:08 AM   
gulfstreamI


 

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quote:



I recently bought a used Tyco Typhoon on Ebay. It's actually made by Taiyo as well, but a few years older. It's a little smaller, but seems to have a different skirt design and a higher hover height.

If it's just a matter of splicing the input voltage to 12V, that's easy enough. Thanks for the response.

I know that you've also modded the cheap Walmart subs (I bought one after reading your posts, and bought a Traxxas prop) - in your experience are the control/received electronics fine with the higher voltage on most consumer grade toys?

I'm guessing there is some sort of voltage regulator circuit for the control electronics...


jtatz,

Almost every r/c toy that hits the market, no matter what kind or who made it ... can be modified to a certain extent. It is up to the individual owner of these toys to decide how much or, is it worth the effort, or simply just willing to experiment.

I found out that you could upgrade the twin propulsion motors on the Taiyo aka Tyco hovercraft.
They may look different on the outside but they apparently share the same if not similar circuit boards.

A few days ago I spotted two (2) Mabuchi 390 motors with splined shafts that was on sale at Ebay. The dimensions of the Mabuchi 390 fit the hovercraft's propulsion pod housing. These motors have a higher RPM output than those propulsion motors that are currently installed on our hovercrafts.
I haven't gotten around to installing those mabuchi 390 motors, but I'm sure they will give this hovercraft a slightly better performance.

I'm focused right now on the "entry level" Radio Shack r/c speed boats. The R.S. Tsunami & R.S. Gamma Ray boats. These use 7.2 volts and their propolsion motor can easily be upgaded for better performance.
I've already posted a few mods for that boat in this website. More still to come,.... IF anybody's interested.

GulfstreamI

< Message edited by gulfstreamI -- 6/7/2004 3:45:50 AM >

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RE: hovercraft go - 7/6/2004 9:08 PM   
Hover Dude


 

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Status: offline 		this is my second hover craft. it took me 3hrs to build and is made of some styrofoam i had lying around and black plastic trash bags. This hovercract ROCKS. it out performed my griffon ( plans from model-hovercraft ) ok so it is not much to look at but it is made out of left over material. if ne one wnat more info or even plans just ask. o yeah power system is jamara pro 480 spinning 6*4 prop running on 8 cells.

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RE: hovercraft go - 7/6/2004 9:11 PM   
Hover Dude


 

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Status: offline 		here are some pics of another hovercraft i am building.

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RE: Hovercraft - 3/21/2007 11:15 AM   
hoverferry-2006


 

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Status: offline 		Never let anold thread die...

Here is a picture of My hovercraft, the Princess Margaret, whilst under construction.



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RE: hovercraft go - 3/21/2007 7:09 PM   
Umi_Ryuzuki



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Status: offline 		Hoverferry,

I hope you give us regular updates on your construction.
I have often considered building a SR-N4 Hovercraft.




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RE: Hovercraft - 3/22/2007 4:19 AM   
MalcolmL



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Status: offline 		So do I - keep it coming please. I've just changed clubs where there is now a huge lake or pond and only last week, I revived my thoughts of building a HoverCraft ...... MalcolmL

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RE: Hovercraft - 3/24/2007 1:26 AM   
gulfstreamI


 

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Status: offline 		R/C "hobby grade" hovercrafts like yours will always be interesting to work on. I'll be making more modifications to my Kinetics USN L.C.A.C-1 Hovercraft this summer. Hopefully we could keep this thread going. I've ceased work on those Tyco hovercraft, too much work for so little gain.

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RE: new hovercraft pics - 5/6/2007 2:41 AM   
boatman


 

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HI ERIC HERE I SAW THE HOVERCRAFT LOOKS COOL .WHERE DID YOU PICK UP THE KIT AT OR ARE THERE PLANS
THANK THE BOATMAN

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/6/2007 3:03 AM   
boatman


 

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Status: offline 		kF01 HI BOATMAN HERE
I SAW THE HOVERCRAFT MODEL LOOKS KOOL I WAS WONDERING IF I COULD BUY A SET OF PLANS FROM YOU LOOK FORWARD TO HEREING FROM YOU THANK BOATMAN

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RE: hovercraft go - 5/6/2007 3:14 AM   
boatman


 

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Status: offline 		HI BOATMAN HERE
I SAW THE HOVERCRAFT MODEL ITS ASOME JUST RAN ACROST THIS POST THE OTHERE DAY .
Are you selling any of these or are there plans for sale on these hovercraft looking forward to
hereing from you thanks BOATMAN

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