nitrointhemorning

Having taken delivery of a "custom" muffler / silencer, I discovered that both the "stock and the "custom" were nothing more than empty tubes with almost identical dimensions; this annoyed me so much that I took apart the 2 part stock one and wondered how I could modify it to make my 1.8 cc engine a bit more quiet. having Googled normal car (I'll call them silencers from herein cos I'm British) silencers, I discovered that they are mostly two tubes with holes in them which break up the airflow of the gasses and thereby decrease volume by ironing - out the pulses of the emissions. With that in mind, I have found some chromed tubing which happens to fit almost exactly into the "inlet" side of the silencer/ Using a bench grinder, I flattened - off two opposing sides of the tubing to facilitate drilling small holes in both sides of it, hoping not to accidentally match the holes (not that it matters too much if you do). Blanking - off the end of the tube with whatever you can think of that won't melt, the exhaust gas is forced through those holes sideways. I have seen many posts about using steel wool to pack the silencer and many an adviser saying NO! IT WILL RUST! Well, they do make some scourers which look like Brillo - Pads but have no soap and are very shiny, I thought they were plastic until I applied heat and they didn't melt; so I cut two pieces and stuffed them around the aforementioned pipe. I reckon I have taken 20 - 30 Db's off the sound and moreover have changed the note significantly from an annoying whine to a much more satisfying deeper note. (don't blame me if this breaks your engine - so far it's done mine no harm!).

RustyUs

nitrointhemorning, that's pretty slick by you cutting the decibels down. I've never touched a nitro powered RC before. Would you be cutting some of the power by doing what you did? Every once in awhile I get an itch for nitro. If that would ever happen, I think I would want my RC screaming like a banshee! For me, that's part of the lure. I know I shouldn't be like what I'm about to say, but if I ever get an annoying neighbor close to my house, it's game on, .... I'm purchasing a 1/8 scale nitro buggy!

Nothing eventful today for me in RCville. Overcast with showers . Just measuring, taking apart the T4.3, and getting gameplan ready for when turnbuckles show up. Going through my spare B4 buggy parts so I can sell them. By me getting rid of my buggy, it almost puts me in the mood to get rid of another RC that I don't use much anymore.

378

My Feedback: (4)

It's a matter of 'how much'. These engines are very sensitive to changes in their exhaust systems and gain a significant amount of power from having a very free flowing one, with the shape of the pipe helping shape the power curve.

Get one anyway! I'd...recommend less a 1/8 nitro buggy though. Kyosho Scorpion XXL is my next kit and I'm building it GP with an OS 30VG(That much power on a 2WD is gonna be nuts but I can't wait!), but I also have their Mad Crusher GP and absolutely love it. 1/8, live axle, three speed trans, big block engine. It's a brute.

nitrointhemorning

I'm not too sure about the free - flow, there is plenty of evidence in "proper" car data that indicates that both full - bore pipework and massive size silencers actually DECREASE power by reducing the "scavenging" effect of a factory tuned exhaust system unless everything "upstream" (ie. the entire carburation / inlet / engine) are similarly tuned to the max eg. polished inlets/ larger valves/ higher cam rates/ increased compression etc.. I get that we don't have to bother with most of this stuff with a 2 stroke but in effect all these silencers do is look ok and pressurise the fuel feed. Hey I'm no expert, and I defer to your experience but IMO calling something "tuned" when it's basically the same as stock and charging more for it really annoys me!

nitrointhemorning

Fair - play! I'm sorry but here in the UK you are rarely more than 500 yards from habitation (65 million in the size of something like Arizona) (don't get me wrong there are plenty of uninhabited places, but they are almost always covered in really tough plant life!) What can you do? As for the power, it seems exactly the same maybe a small loss top - end but at least I don't need 6 batteries per blast!

378

My Feedback: (4)

Some of them are marketing wank, some of them do work. The stock pipes that Associated included with most of their smallblock RTRs do a TON for low-end torque. On my NTC3 I've run that pipe and a more speed-shaped internally baffled 'silencer' from CEN Racing(What came off my old Fun Factor), on the same 20% fuel and OS 18 CV-RX engine. Now, while that brute of an engine could do a four wheel burnout on command with either pipe, I noticed it was a LOT stronger off idle with the AE pipe on. And not really any quieter on the CEN pipe either. And I see that again in my SC10GT, which has the stock AE 18 engine and the same exact pipe. Pulls like a freight train right off idle even when tuned a bit too rich even for my own tastes. You can see it in the video I linked the other day, pretty much as soon as the motor clears its throat the drive tires are spinning in place. And that's only on 20%N 15%O fuel with a kinda stale OS 8 glow plug in an engine of unknown history(I bought the truck used off eBay).


Whether the pipe actually does anything for the engine is up for debate on a pipe-by-pipe basis, but I'm pretty sure if I did youtrick with either of my AE torque pipes I'd see a significant drop in punch.


I will say that you're doing some fascinating work, though. Can you get a dB meter involved? And some video? I....might actually try it on my NTC3 since that engine is so far above and beyond what the car can handle(OS designed it for OG Pro-15 Tmaxxes) anyway that any power loss won't be a big deal.

GattoConGliStivali

Finished installing the servo on a new-build chassis right before I have to go to work.
And I'm going to receive new 3-inch rally tires and wheels set today ,and body shell tomorrow!
I'm building an off road truck based on TT02, just like a TT02T. Have to do it my way because TT02T is out of stock everywhere I can reach. I'm not using 90mm tires because I will have to cut the wheel wells really wide, that would probably not be good looking.

suburban_hooligan

fabbed up an ESC mount for an RC10 buggy

nomis38

Rebuilt shocks on one model, and added a super bright LED light bar to another

378

My Feedback: (4)

Current sitrep:

* Ran the CA-10 on a 1/10 carpet offfroad track. No joke, full send and everything. Thing comes down like a ton of bricks and all I broke on it was a steering servo that had already been broken once before.

* Ran the SC10GT some more!
* Ordered, received, test drove an RC10B4.2 to run on that track. The track's indoor so I can't use my SC10 on it, thus, the B4.2. Gonna get it down there this wednesday!

* Took the NexSTAR down from the wall, patched some holes in the wing covering, and test-ran the engine...on 20% car fuel. Sodding thing fired up like it had been running ten minutes prior and I swear it turned 3k RPM more than it did on 15% airplane fuel. Only ran it for a minute or so, but I'm strongly considering feeding it a steady diet of 20%N car fuel blended for bashers. Will have enough oil in it to satisfy the oil req's, but the power...mmmmmm.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

Replaced shocks. Who'd a thunk a plastic piston going up and down inside an metal cylinder that's bathed in silicon fluid would wear out the metal cylinder, not the plastic piston? Not me. But that is apparently the case. I'd done my vehicle maintenance and was checking the shocks on the car, and noticed that one shock wasn't giving that damping action you want. It just fell like there was no damping at all. I replaced the piston with a new one, no difference. Ordered new shock bodies and replaced that one that wasn't damping the spring action. That did it! Funny it was just the one shock. But now I know what to look for, and yeah, metal shock bodies DO wear out!

suburban_hooligan

i haven't done anything in weeks. i need to place an order so i can get some stuff running and get some projects done.
im a speed control away from my RC10T being a runner. iv got an OG RC10 that needs a motor, ESC, and receiver, and tires. got an RC10L that needs an ESC, receiver, and possibly steering servo. iv got an OG 6 gear RC10 that needs a bunch of stuff. got a couple of 1/8 scale nitro drag cars on deck that i need to dig into. got (a mostly home made) electric drag car that im going to get a body and custom make a chassis for. and that's on top of still wanting/needing to change the ESC in my SC10, finish the rear body mounts on wheely king, put a light bar and headlights on the wheely king, and finally finish putting the Bolink Eliminator back together.
2019, iv got a full plate!

378

My Feedback: (4)

Hah. You and me both. I've got:

* Restore my NTC3 so I can drive it again.

* Get my NexSTAR in the air

* Get my B4.2 settled into its life of carpet racing(Already tell it's gonna need a new motor, stock 3800kV brushless motor isn't even as powerful as the AE 18 in my SC10GT ._.)

* Build some sort of RC playground in my backyard that would let me run my SC10GT like it's supposed to be run.

* Build a Kyosho Scorpion XXL kit(GP of course, OS 30VG in the back!)

* Perhaps pick up one of those Rovan Baja 5B clones and throw some hydraulic brakes on the front axle.

* Finish my CA-10's flatbed trailer

* Build a race hauler trailer for the CA-10 to pull the B4.2 around in(Which will also double as a pit box).

* Rig proper head/tail/brake lighting and FPV systems on my B4.2, my SC10, NTC3, Mad Crusher GP, Tamiya Grasshopper, get FPV and navlights fitted to the NexSTAR...

suburban_hooligan

NTC3, good times. old school nitro TC's are where it's at. i restored by HPI Nitro RS4 2 a few years ago. runs like a champ

i just dove in!
yanked the stock ESC out of the SC10 and put it in the RC10T, it's some dry shoe goo and a servo horn away from being a runner.
dug out the 6 gear car and am throwing it together, making a parts list. iv got more parts for it than i thought, so it's going together fairly smoothly

378

My Feedback: (4)

Noice. Mine got retired because the front end was just plumb wore out. Every joint in the thing needs to be refreshed. 7-8 years of doing dusty muddy donuts with a monster truck engine in the car took its toll, I guess. Last time I drove it the torquesteer was so severe you could see the tires swerving halfway to left lock without any steering input.
Ahh, the time honored 'borrow parts from this to get that going' tradition.

suburban_hooligan

iv had planes to rob that ESC for a while. that ESC only has a 3900kv limit and i put 3900kv 4 pole in the SC10 with future plans to upgrade the ESC. i just sped up the process a little that's all.
so the RC10T now has the stock 3300kv motor and ESC from the SC10. should be a pretty good combo for that truck.

also, rigged up some body mounts on the RC10L so it's got an old Bolink Nova (read RJ Speed 70's SS sedan) body on it now. it's got the "Mexi poke" going on in the back cause it's a 235mm car and the body is only 200mm. but it looks kinda more old school that way so im leaving it.
also started messing with the steering in the RC10T. i need smaller ball cups on the steering linkage, the bodies on RPM cups i have on there are smacking the servo big time. iv got some cups with smaller bodies ill try tomorrow. thinking about trying a different (longer) servo horn. otherwise im going to have to bend something up.

378

My Feedback: (4)

Perchance, is it an SC600-BL? That's what my B4.2 has in it and I think it might be having some thermal issues. Car runs fine for about 15-20 minutes, then it starts acting like it's bouncing off LVC, derating, not accelerating at all, just 'blipping' along. Let it sit just a few seconds and it's back to donut city for about a minute or two, then relapses.

If I could find my disused Castle SV3 I'd just throw that in and wash my hands of the matter...

suburban_hooligan

my only issue with it is occasionally the fan sounds weird and occasionally has a miss to it. but the ESC itself (throttle/brake/reverse) has never had any issues.

the SV3 is what im planning on putting in the SC10

378

My Feedback: (4)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WfhsUCnHX4m3cdpc9

That's not normal behavior. Not at all. And it's not gonna be very fast on the track when it starts acting up...

suburban_hooligan

it's always done that. as soon as i turn on the ESC the fan goes full tilt boogie. if you let it sit for a few seconds it calms down/slows down for a couple seconds. then snorts a line of coke and shotguns a redbull and goes back to full blast. it even does that while you're driving. it's done that sense day one so i figured it was normal and never gave it a second thought. the sound im hearing occasionally sounds like the fan is out of balance and at certain speeds becomes noticeable. but sense the fans a separate unit from the ESC i figure once it craps out ill just unplug and replace it.

378

My Feedback: (4)

Heh. Well I found my SV3 and the soldering station is warming up, so it's kinda academic for my B4. But I'll say this: The Mamba Micro X in my CA-10, and indeed this SV3(That's where this speedo lived for a while, as it came as a combo with the 5700kV 4pole I put in that truck), neither have ever done this.

SV3 can handle up to 7700kV in a light buggy like the B4.2, too, so I can run pretty much whatever CC 540 motor I care to throw in this thing. I might just go with something of a 5700-7700kV rating, too, this thing tops out far lower than I feel a BL/Lipo buggy should.

suburban_hooligan

well thanks to one smaller ball cup and one slightly smaller and longer ball cup, the RC10T now has kickass steering! the turning radius on that thing is amazing!
although driving it earlier reminded me that im not a super big fan of the ESC. from a dead stop if you stab full throttle it feels a little laggy. then again i seem to have that complaint about all non censored set ups so... i might have to drop the pinion another tooth or two. not super happy with the low end. the thing doesn't wake up and boogie until it's already doing 10-15mph. that's a little up there for me. i like low end punch cause i don't have a lot of room to drive these things.

378

My Feedback: (4)

yeah my SC600 was doing that too, only it'd also sometimes just flat out not boogie at all, pottering around with all the performance of my ancient Tamiya buggy on its ancient silvercan. You can see it doing this in my clip there, every last time I try to make a pass down the street I have it pulled WFO.

Even when it did decide to scoot, it wouldn't out-pull my SC10GT, which is....just not right. Even if the stock motor in a B4.2 is a 2-pole, it should pull harder than a tired smallblock RTR engine in a truck 2lbs heavier. In a drag race, the B4.2 would about 80% of the time get the holeshot purely because it doesn't have to spool up a centrifugal clutch/clear its throat(The other 20% of the time it'd do the bogging thing and never really launch at all), but the SC10GT would just run off into the distance as soon as the clutch bit in, passing the B4.2 by the end of the scale 8th and checking out completely before the end of the scale quarter. In reality it should be getting its arse handed to it on a silver platter by a brushless racing buggy weighing 2lbs less and running on a potent 2s lipo.

Haven't really had a chance to drive it with the SV3, will find out wednesday when I get to the track. But I anticipate it's going to launch MUCH harder and it's going to be much more predictable with regard to acceleration. Moreso if I can find my castle link and dial the punch control back a bit, last truck I used this ESC in had a glass driveline and I had the punch control set to just 10%. Still set there far as I know.

suburban_hooligan

rigged up the rear body mounts on the "wheely box" (wheely king with parma lunchbox body). i really should have waited until i had the rear mounts before i drilled holes. using the rigged up front mounts and think "hell ill just buy another set of these" was a bad idea sense the set of these i needed is an HPI part and discontinued. so anyway im now one available post away from having the body fully mounted and did it without having to drill more holes in the body. so good times

378

My Feedback: (4)

Since my last update:

* Finally got the CA-10 back to a driveable condition. FPV system is back in, fan's working, only thing left is getting the winch ESC back in. Also got a park flyer Rx in it so the seat will fit properly. Its old receiver will be moving into my NexSTAR 46, which is....the first time I've used a Futaba air receiver in an actual airplane. GG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyxrBHOEhXs&feature=youtu.be

* SC10GT now has a gyro and they're calling for a snow dusting tonight. Tomorrow I get to see if it lets me drift that thing!

* B4.2 got some good track time in. Finally. So much fun. Mostly traction rolls, also does wheelies. Turns out that motor's not as weak as it felt in the driveway... SV3 ESC works a treat, none of the misbehaving the SC600-BL did, though I might wanna turn the punch control down a bit to get it to stop pulling wheelies.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...dwOWs5RXB4cHN3