Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC market.  
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All Forums >> RC Cars, Buggies, Trucks, Tanks and more >> RC Monster Trucks >> Losi Monster Trucks >> Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC market.
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Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC market. - 12/17/2004 12:39:12 AM   
ResB



Posts: 284
Joined: 12/15/2004
From: Yorkshire, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		I actually purchased the LST on a hunch not knowing anything about Nitro Trucks and the like. It would appear I made the right choice.

Now this isn't meant as a flame or anything but I purchased my LST on-line from what appeared to be a very good site. Models in Motion they call it and they charged me £479.00. When I received the LST, I noticed the box was kinda tatty but hey, I was excited about my first RC vehicle so I didn't care. After realising that I needed a few more bits and pieces to get up and running such as Glow Plug igniter etc it took a day or two to charge and get everything I needed.

Anyway, I noticed that the High/Low Gear mechanism was damaged on the thumb-turn and on closer inspection it was like it had been crushed with a pair of pliers. Also the metal sleeve was broken also. Not a biggy, I just spoke to the shop and they said they would send me another. A week l8r and still no parts arrived. Other issues which again no biggy, but 7 of the allen screws were not screwed in to the extent a 3rd of the screw was still showing. I also noticed an allen screw missing from the engine mounting! So, onto breaking the truck in, on my first tank the throttle/break servo jacked in. Replaced it today, which I enjoyed messing to be honest. So, tonight it's up and running again and I cannot wait until tomorrow to continue the break in. I'm not sure what is going on here but I wonder if it's worth bringing this up with LOSI themselves. Not good PR for their product. I feel like my LST has been used as a hospital car and used for spares...anyway...

I have a few questions. My LHS persuaded me to use 10% fuel in the first instance as I am a complete novice and he was worried I'd blow the thing up. I know the manual states 20% but I was wondering is it okay to change to 20% in the future perhaps running the truck in again. I have an immense history with tuning 2-stroke motorbikes and the like and it would appear that I perhaps should have gone with the 20%. Anyway, I've enjoyed everyone's posts in this forum. I'm learning the lingo and buying the parts that seems to be getting damaged a lot. Aluminium Diff covers (blue ones) etc etc.

Second Question. The guy at my LHS said that it will become law in the new year for everyone operating a Nitro RC car to have Public Liability Insurance. He says it's only £5 a year for £3m cover. IS anyone else hearing this or can confirm it?

Anyway, thanks for the vids, the humour and the knowledge, looks like I'm in for some serious fun. (excluding the urge to buy parts like they are going out of fashion)

< Message edited by ResB -- 12/17/2004 12:42:32 AM >

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LST #5413
E-Sky Honey Bee King II
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RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC ma... - 12/17/2004 12:47:47 AM   
Pinolelst


 

Posts: 1477
Joined: 10/5/2004
From: pinole, CA, USA
Status: offline 		Wow sounds like you got a pre-owned truck by the sounds of things.I've heard that you should stick with the nitro content that you break it in with but most folks run 20% fuel with good success.I don't know how going to 20% would "blow the thing up" maybe the person you talked to wasn't exactly as savvy as they should've been when it comes to nitro RC ??

Can't speak for the law comment as it sounds local to the UK but there's a fine group of upstanding UK based LST owners here who will no doubt be of great help to you.

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Losi LST's #2190,#8380 and XXXT MF2
TeamAE NTC3,brushless TC3,brushless RC18t

(in reply to ResB)
       Post #: 2

RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC mar... - 12/17/2004 12:48:33 AM   
wadesie93


 

Posts: 323
Joined: 3/12/2004
From: Mendota, IL, USA
Status: offline 		I broke mine in and still run it on 20%. As far as screws and messed up trans. I dont think that is prob. Losi's doing, sounds like maybe someone bought the truck, broke it and returned and you ended up with. I would go back to the HS you bought it from. If you used a C.C. you have a little bit of power there.

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LST hopped up - Lunchbox (why not) - Revo 3.3

(in reply to ResB)
       Post #: 3

RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC mar... - 12/17/2004 12:51:11 AM   
jefx



Posts: 3562
Joined: 8/19/2003
From: mach pk, IL,
Status: offline 		Wow, sorry to hear about the condition of your truck out of the box. That is not normal. Mine was set up very well out of the box. My LHS had opened it before I got there (it was the first one they had ever recieved, and it was recieved the day before the actual official launch in the U.S.), but of course everything was still intact. They are a good bunch of guys, and we know each other pretty personally, they were just curious to see it in real life.

Sounds like someone did some tampering with your truck before you recieved it. I don't think that would be on Losi's end of the deal, but probably from the place you ordered it from.

20 or 30% fuel is a better choice for this engine than 10%. But 10% won't hurt anything, it just won't be as powerful. Once you break an engine in on a certain percentage (10%), it's not a good idea to use anything else. However, I've heard that you can switch to a higher percentage as long as you go through the break-in process again.

We don't have any insurance laws like that here in the States.

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Who farted??!!

(in reply to ResB)
       Post #: 4

RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC mar... - 12/17/2004 10:07:43 AM   
bigstu85


 

Posts: 50
Joined: 9/9/2004
From: peterborough, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		i first used 16% to break in my engine and found that i wanted more power so i decided to up the nitro content to 25%. it is possible to change the nitro content to a higher amount as long as u rebreak in the engine (as jefx stated) i reset all needles back to factory settings and slowly re tuned it back in. it runs fine now and has loads more power. 1 hint is to keep checking the temp of the engine while changing the nitro %.

look on here for the public liability insurance, loads of info about it:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:gH3uW1EtOWkJ:www.brca.org/brca_insurance.pdf+Public+Liability+Insurance+for+RC&hl=en

where about in the uk do u come from resb??

< Message edited by bigstu85 -- 12/17/2004 10:18:38 AM >

(in reply to jefx)
       Post #: 5

RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC mar... - 12/18/2004 7:53:01 PM   
ResB



Posts: 284
Joined: 12/15/2004
From: Yorkshire, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Thanks for the replies guyz. Sorry for the delay in responding....thought I better get some Christmas Shopping in...

The HS have not been particularly helpful. I will not be buying anything further from them, but I am going to let the UK agent know about this particular HS as they were initially blaming them. The car itself looks as though it is new. However, as people have perhaps broken parts on their LST it appears that rather than order the parts from Helgar or where ever they might well have taken them off of mine. This seems plausible to me...makes me feel it little better....

Pinolelst - The LHS (not the one I bought the LST from) intimated he's been racing for 30 years, but as I'm the noob, I wasn't in a position to comment accordingly. However, with a little research it has been proven that what he told me isn't entirely correct. All comes from experience and what you guys get up to. That’s where the real time info is learnt IMO.

wadsie93 - Think I'll change to 20% once I've had a little more fun with it. I knew I should have gone for 20%. Ah well there you go...

jefx - I'm sure I read one of your posts recently when you were the first to get your LST and everyone just stared in awe... In fact I believe it was that post that got me all wound up and I couldn't wait to get it run in.

bigstu85 - Thanks for the link. Will read through it tonight. Thanks for your comments also. I live in a village near York, plenty of fields out this way... (Just not allowed on them LOL)

Thanks again all, but perhaps you can tell me when is it gunna stop raining!

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LST #5413
E-Sky Honey Bee King II

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RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC mar... - 12/18/2004 9:18:02 PM   
Nippy_Kangaroo


 

Posts: 148
Joined: 11/17/2004
From: Sheffield, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		I'm also breaking my engine in using 20% but ran into a few problems when i melted the gears
Apex models and microtech racing are great places to order your stuff from, I have ordered quite a few parts and tools from these over the past couple of weeks and I cant say one word wrong about them, very helpful and a speedy service (usually 1-2 days delivery if they have parts in stock) and while I'm a noob myself I feel like I have learnt a lot from repairing and reading/posting comments on here.
I'm hoping to finish breaking my engine in tommorrow if the weather holds out.

(in reply to ResB)
       Post #: 7

RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC ma... - 12/18/2004 9:36:24 PM   
TazsLosi


 

Posts: 5
Joined: 12/16/2004
From: , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Yeah i had the same servo break the first time i used my lst,

(in reply to Nippy_Kangaroo)
       Post #: 8

RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC ma... - 12/18/2004 10:07:07 PM   
lstmanuk



Posts: 295
Joined: 10/18/2004
From: scotland, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		im sorry to hear that you had such a bad time with models in motion as that is where i got my truck from and mine was fine...

i would like to hear more about this insurance thing...i work in my LHS and i dont think they have herd anything about it

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team losi LST

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RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC ma... - 12/19/2004 6:52:11 PM   
ResB



Posts: 284
Joined: 12/15/2004
From: Yorkshire, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Nippy_Kangaroo - I think I'm going to change to 20%. I will use up my remaining Gallon of 10% then go back to factory defaults and run it in again. I have bought a number of spares from Microtech and they have been particularly good. I have not ordered anything from Apex but I'm sure to over the coming months. I wish Apex would show you if the item was in stock before you ordered the parts though.

TazsLosi - I bought a HiTec HS-645MG servo which cost me £36. The guy in the store convinced me to go for metal gear which was able to produce 9.6kg of torque and a speed of 0.2sec/60°. It was a tight fit though. I had to take the servo base off to get it in through the existing aperture.

lstmanuk - Perhaps so. It was only a matter of time that it happened to me. I have put it down to character forming and experience. I don't know any more about the insurance but the link that bigstu85 posted made common sense to me. I am going to look into it a bit further but in this ever increasing world of "compensatory" claims, it might be a good idea.

I ran the LST with a few more tanks of fuel today and everything went well. Now for the tuning, but will have to wait until the weekend...

< Message edited by ResB -- 12/19/2004 6:54:55 PM >

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LST #5413
E-Sky Honey Bee King II

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RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC ma... - 12/19/2004 8:16:51 PM   
mtdriver



Posts: 149
Joined: 11/18/2003
From: llanelli, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Ok here goes I run on O'Donnel 25% nitro in the lst no problems 30% would also be ok for a big block engine

It is ok to increase nitro content in your engine as long as you do a partial break in again

But it is not acceptable to go down in nitro content as that would be bad for the engine

I run 20% nitro in my MT2 stadium truck as recomended by manufacturer but re tuned in to 25% with no adverse effects.

If any higher nitro content easier to tune in the engine and keep the tune, I also find higher nitro content runs cooler.

Of course it is not all down to nitro content do not forget oil content as well I would recommend 16% oil content for rtr vehicles

And if experianced in racing possibly down to 8% oil content but only if you know what you are doing.

As for insurance here is where you get it from http://www.brca.org/ and is £12 a year or £10 a year if you are a member of a club

Hope this info helps

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Regards mtdriver

(in reply to ResB)
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RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC ma... - 12/19/2004 11:12:37 PM   
ResB



Posts: 284
Joined: 12/15/2004
From: Yorkshire, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		mtdriver - Thanks for the info. However, you have kind of confused me. When buying fuel I thought it was the Nitro content you specifically looked for. I didn't realise I had to take note of the oil content to. I thought that one determined the other. Also, it was my understanding that higher Nitro fuels ran hotter, not cooler.

Thanks again for the info.

< Message edited by ResB -- 12/19/2004 11:14:36 PM >

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LST #5413
E-Sky Honey Bee King II

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       Post #: 12

RE: Yet another new LST owner, and a noob in the RC ma... - 12/19/2004 11:34:52 PM   
LST-UK



Posts: 462
Joined: 10/11/2004
From: , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		yes higher nitro content will run cooler. i would recomend model technics to a newbie as its full of oil, its quite messy but is safer if your tunning is not spot on. Then move on to o donnels when a little more experienced...


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LST-Basher\Racer
LSP-Racer

(in reply to ResB)