da-ninjabreadman

Hey guys, since I know very little about RC cars I came here for some advice on what to purchase. This car will have to be waterproof and able to fit in a 10-12" diameter pipe. I do drainage tile work in fields and I need something I can lower down and drive along the inside to inspect the pipe. So it can't be larger than 10" in any direction. It needs to be water proof because there's water running down the pipes (hopefully). and it needs to be able to carry a Gopro and a small to medium size flashlight. I don't think the radio signals will travel too well under ground so is there a car that attaches to the remote with a wire? It would have to be a pretty long wire at around 100 feet, of course the longer the better. So if you guys can steer me in the right direction that would be wonderful!

turok007

almost everything i have seen like that has a cable. also you will have to mod the wheels as if it falls over you will have to pull it back and start again.

SyCo_VeNoM

HPI mini recon maybe its about 0 inches long by around 7-8 inches wide
one other issue is its not waterproof out of the box, but if you switch the ESC to something like a XL 2.5

Or maybe a mini brushed E-revo those are waterproof, but like 9 inches wide, and a little bit more then a foot long, but if you remove its wing it will comedown to about 11 inches its main bonus is that it has wider tires, and needs minimum work. If its too fast you could get a higher turn motor, or something like the HPI GRU off a wheely king, and it probably would work in slowing it down drastically.

On either I'd remove the shocks, and replace them with custom made links so the suspension wouldn't bottom out from the added weight as you are not aiming to be a speed king so the suspention would probably only hurt it.

As for the controls.... as long as you are at the end of the pipe, and have LOS it SHOULD work. Other option that MIGHT work is to look for an old AM radio/raciever combo, and put a long as hell wire on the radio, and have it end near the antenna for the RC that should work not sure how far you need the sucker to go.
Also I would attach a steel wire to it for retrieval in case something happens

da-ninjabreadman

the E Revo with the gear kit might work. The smaller the better though, ideally I would like to be able to lower it down a 11" diameter vertical pipe and then have it drive horizontally down the pipe, so it wouldn't necessarily be line of sight. So i'm not sure if there's RC cars that use a wire to control it?

These are the things your talking about right? http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Traxxas-...-/291115866479

http://www.hpiracing.com/en/part/87634

SyCo_VeNoM

yea thats it
Actually the Mini brushed slash might be a better fit its a tad narrower, and the front and rear bumpers can be removed. Otherwise its the same thing. I will be honest I'm not 100% sure if the revo has the 540 motor mount or the 380, but the slash definitely has the 540. If the revo has the 380 you can get parts off the slash (I think it was like $15-20) to convert it (motor mount plate, and radio box from what I remember).


As for doing it on wire... there is one option I can think of, but you would have to use something like a cat 5 cable that has multiple lines.
basically you would have to gut the radio, and make 2 of these http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=275749 circuits. (instead of a potentiometer use the triggers, and wheels potentiometers) or something like 2 of these if you don't want to do any building http://www.ebay.com/itm/Multi-Servo-...-/271429979363 just on the ESC you would have to disconnect the red wire so it don't feed power back into the tester. The AM idea I said potentially would work though saving a lot of hassle.

da-ninjabreadman

it's going to need a tether, so i was thinking that I could attach the tether to the controller antenna and use it as a sort of super long antenna that follows the car. would the steel cable transmit the signal?

CafeenMan

Sounds like you need a boat or sub.

cumquat

kind of a stupid question but is steering important? if not, there is an extremely easy solution. go brushed. you can rig up a wire relay that connects the battery to the motor with wires running back to a switch that you control. this would completely negate any radio interference. otherwise, syco's idea is better than anything i can come up with.

as for what model to go with, this is definitely small, bit might be too top-heavy with the gopro and flashlight mounted http://www.amain.com/product_info.ph...kker-RTR-Black

phmaximus

If it was me I would make a tracked vehicle with 3 tracks at 120 degree angles to each other so it has no top or bottom... If u get what I mean.

da-ninjabreadman

steering really isn't important, because I won't be able to see where i'm going anyways, and it's simply following the curve of the pipe. This seems like the best idea so far, thanks! The model you recommended doesn't seem to be waterproof though, that's defiantly a must.

cumquat

waterproofing is the easiest mod on any RC. you can use silicone glue (brand name is shoo goo) to seal up all seams in the electronics cases. if you really want to make sure they are sealed, you can take the electronics apart and smear the silicone all over the board. silicone is non-conductive so no shorts will occur once it sets fully. however this is likely unnecessary.

supertib

i am not sure how well the radio signal is going to work inside a 12" pipe........

SyCo_VeNoM

well hmm could look into a RC tank actually henglongs are quite cheap (I mean some are under $100)
rip off the turret, rip out all the electronics, and as you said steering isn't a must you don't have to bother waterproofing it as you can just run it off wire. just wire up the 2 motors to a cat 5, or telephone cable, and just have a forward reverse switch. It would also give you plenty of room for the camera mount.
If the tank is too wide you could cut it down the center, and use a piece of wood to make it narrower, same with the length(would have to pop the threads to make them shorter)

da-ninjabreadman

would this one work fine? Almost seems too cheap, but it's the correct size and looks fairly simple. I don't have much of a budget because professional systems can be $2,000+ so if you have some better suggestions for tanks then go ahead.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Heng-Long-M4...-/221325509707

SyCo_VeNoM

hmm I was thinking 1/16th scale, but if that is the right size it probably would work fine. I'd still recommend you use something like bell wire to run the motors to make it simpler, and not need LOS.

If you need it wider just cut it in half and bolt the 2 halves to a thin board
Not like it will need to be pretty for drainage work

phmaximus

whats going to stop it driving up the side of the pipe and ending up on its roof????? lol u guys are funny

SyCo_VeNoM

Well if its one of the tanks I doubt that would happen as the threads are hard plastic and wouldn't have the traction needed. Personally I'd have some kind of 1st person live camera(maybe a cheap security infared camera) instead of running it blind

Next edition

You could put some trainee bars on the roof of the rc car to stop it from falling over ,if it were me ill get a little cheap rc and a heap of speaker wire to run it to the transmitter.

but I wouldnt pay more than $20 to get the job done

plasmaedge

id go for a cheap 4wd buggy, something thats either a cheap rtr or kit (doesnt have to be a high end brand name)

brushed and remove all electronics other than the motor and solder wires directly to the motor terminals.

lock the steering straight with some turnbuckles or glue

run a thin rope attached to the back of the rc and run the motor wires along the back attached to a battery, and a switch, (or maybe a mechanical speed control?)



the reason id go with a buggy is because of the fact that youd have to pull the rope and motor wires behind you and the further you drive the more wire and weight youd have to pull along....

phmaximus

I just don't think it would work very well
The 1/24 HL tanks have rubber tracks, And the 1/16 HL would be to big.
the tank would require modifications so it wouldn't float away.

depending on the budget.. The OP could buy a 45ft USB pipe inspection snake for about $65
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/45ft-15M-...49c6bbc&_uhb=1

or

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sewer-Vid...c09b10a&_uhb=1

or

http://aitrents.com/pipeline-inspection-camera.html