nikko seawolf
10-27-2010, 12:11 AM
#152
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RE: nikko seawolf
nice!!!! this thread ends up becoming dead, then every now and then it gets revived. and those lights are insane, what did you make the housing out of for that light?
11-23-2010, 01:09 PM
#154
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RE: nikko seawolf
New prop installed, the other one was broken during shipping from a guy on ebay. I bought 2 from kenfleang. Thank's again kenfleang. Almost ready just need some rechargeable C batteries. 
09-23-2011, 09:13 AM
#156
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RE: nikko seawolf
Hi and thanks very much to all for the info here. I hope the thread and Sea Wolf will keep going for a few years yet. Shame it is no longer in production.
I was looking for a submarine as a present to a grandchild and came across an unused Sea Wolf on uk eBay. It was hard to find much about its workings except for two or three videos on YouTube, but these pages have been very useful.
Anyway I have just been to collect it and found it had its leaflets and box, all in virtually mint condition, and could check that it had the right bits such as the two types of ballast, and that the main rubber sealing cap was intact and not perished. Its history is that it was purchased about six years ago and from the look of the battery compartment it had never even been tested with batteries.
With 2300mah C and 2100mah AA NiMh batteries installed, it needed 6 ballast discs, and 13 small weights down the rearward end of the compartment, in order to balance on the deep side of the markers. Lateral balance only needed one small weight on the right to make up their odd number. My example had the charging socket location blanked off although a label referring to recharging was still present.
The hold-down hatch for the internal batteries is not very robust and it needed a bit of checking to understand how the tabs fit and to locate it so the latch could be closed without forcing something. The heavier sprung negative contact for the C batteries needed squashing a bit so as to avoid distorting the hatch too much, and the similar AA contact had to be opened up to make things work. There was a leaflet included to clarify this and labels were present to show which way round the batteries went.
I thought the instructions were good, although the way the ballast rings fitted could have been clearer. It became obvious there is no need to unscrew anything to get them on but, if you do, I found that the prop-retaining washer has slots in it which need to be lined up with tags on the prop (or was it vice versa?).
I did not take anything apart to discover the magnetic drive couplings etc., which I just read about here, but everything seems well worked out, such as the end bearing/support for the prop and I am not surprised that this model can keep working for years as people have reported. As a child I had an aluminium Triang speedboat with a much cruder electric motor which was indestructible, until I took it to pieces.
I seem to have picked up a couple of bits of misinformation somewhere. First, that the motors operate spontaneously on and off to balance the sub and, second, that there is a variable volume device or to stabilize it a different depths. In fact the motors only operate unexpectedly when the receiver is swamped by holding the transmitter too close and, although there is a buoyancy ball in the bows, this is presumably just to stop it disappearing, along with the sealing cap, if it falls in. I doubt if the sealing cap would flex much to have any adjusting function at the normal 2 or three feet operating depth.
The proportional controls for rudder and motor speed are a luxury and make all the difference but the functions are otherwise commendably simple. The introduction claims only two channels but it has three when the independent dive motor control is included, even though it is just on/off via the button on the transmitter. It seems a good safety device for the dive motor to stop working when radio contact is lost, to prevent the sub from sinking to its doom or from disappearing for ever in the murky depths! Unfortunately, if water gets in I guess the marginal positive buoyancy would probably be lost, with the same result.
I have only tried it in the bath, and claimed it was 'to make sure it works to avoid disappointment', but its size and appearance are quite impressive, with good steadiness in the water and scale-like speed and movements to fire the imagination. Pity it does not steer in reverse but I must try not to keep playing with it.
By the way, could you explain how some submarines use a pump or 'syringe' to alter buoyancy - once air has been expelled to dive, how it the water replaced with air again to surface?
Regards
Chris
I was looking for a submarine as a present to a grandchild and came across an unused Sea Wolf on uk eBay. It was hard to find much about its workings except for two or three videos on YouTube, but these pages have been very useful.
Anyway I have just been to collect it and found it had its leaflets and box, all in virtually mint condition, and could check that it had the right bits such as the two types of ballast, and that the main rubber sealing cap was intact and not perished. Its history is that it was purchased about six years ago and from the look of the battery compartment it had never even been tested with batteries.
With 2300mah C and 2100mah AA NiMh batteries installed, it needed 6 ballast discs, and 13 small weights down the rearward end of the compartment, in order to balance on the deep side of the markers. Lateral balance only needed one small weight on the right to make up their odd number. My example had the charging socket location blanked off although a label referring to recharging was still present.
The hold-down hatch for the internal batteries is not very robust and it needed a bit of checking to understand how the tabs fit and to locate it so the latch could be closed without forcing something. The heavier sprung negative contact for the C batteries needed squashing a bit so as to avoid distorting the hatch too much, and the similar AA contact had to be opened up to make things work. There was a leaflet included to clarify this and labels were present to show which way round the batteries went.
I thought the instructions were good, although the way the ballast rings fitted could have been clearer. It became obvious there is no need to unscrew anything to get them on but, if you do, I found that the prop-retaining washer has slots in it which need to be lined up with tags on the prop (or was it vice versa?).
I did not take anything apart to discover the magnetic drive couplings etc., which I just read about here, but everything seems well worked out, such as the end bearing/support for the prop and I am not surprised that this model can keep working for years as people have reported. As a child I had an aluminium Triang speedboat with a much cruder electric motor which was indestructible, until I took it to pieces.
I seem to have picked up a couple of bits of misinformation somewhere. First, that the motors operate spontaneously on and off to balance the sub and, second, that there is a variable volume device or to stabilize it a different depths. In fact the motors only operate unexpectedly when the receiver is swamped by holding the transmitter too close and, although there is a buoyancy ball in the bows, this is presumably just to stop it disappearing, along with the sealing cap, if it falls in. I doubt if the sealing cap would flex much to have any adjusting function at the normal 2 or three feet operating depth.
The proportional controls for rudder and motor speed are a luxury and make all the difference but the functions are otherwise commendably simple. The introduction claims only two channels but it has three when the independent dive motor control is included, even though it is just on/off via the button on the transmitter. It seems a good safety device for the dive motor to stop working when radio contact is lost, to prevent the sub from sinking to its doom or from disappearing for ever in the murky depths! Unfortunately, if water gets in I guess the marginal positive buoyancy would probably be lost, with the same result.
I have only tried it in the bath, and claimed it was 'to make sure it works to avoid disappointment', but its size and appearance are quite impressive, with good steadiness in the water and scale-like speed and movements to fire the imagination. Pity it does not steer in reverse but I must try not to keep playing with it.
By the way, could you explain how some submarines use a pump or 'syringe' to alter buoyancy - once air has been expelled to dive, how it the water replaced with air again to surface?
Regards
Chris
09-24-2011, 10:14 AM
#158
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RE: nikko seawolf
Hi Deathwish
Thanks for your reply. I found this on eBay at rc-sub-workshop (H.K) to explain how to use the pump to compress air, as you said.
and maybe an electric flight esc, with failsafe on the throttle channel, could open the valve when radio contact was lost...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oey7q...layer_embedded
Regards
Chris
Thanks for your reply. I found this on eBay at rc-sub-workshop (H.K) to explain how to use the pump to compress air, as you said.
and maybe an electric flight esc, with failsafe on the throttle channel, could open the valve when radio contact was lost...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oey7q...layer_embedded
Regards
Chris
09-14-2016, 08:21 AM
#160
Just thought you might like to see my Seawolf with a few mods.
The neatest thing about this sub is the carrying case I adapted so it could travel on airlines and be safe. This has done a lot of miles and survived without a scratch on my quickly done paint job.
My main complaint with the Nikko subs has always been poor radio range right out of the box. After talking with a nice tech at Nikko, he says what I get is about all they are capable of ... about 50 to 60 ft on the surface and much less in a pool. I'm not able to get more than a few feet away in the heavily clorinated public pool where I went on vacation. I'll be selling this one and finishing my static diver.
The only other thing that was a problem last year was a broken main drive shaft magnetic coupling cup. I made the mistake of letting somebody else run it and he enjoyed doing panic stops a little too much and cracked the cup. Nikko were very good about supplying spare parts and I've now also got a spare prop on the shelf just in case.
Although this "pool toy" has been fun and taught me a lot, I've decided to go with a conventional radio system and a different sub for next sub season.
Lee
The neatest thing about this sub is the carrying case I adapted so it could travel on airlines and be safe. This has done a lot of miles and survived without a scratch on my quickly done paint job.
My main complaint with the Nikko subs has always been poor radio range right out of the box. After talking with a nice tech at Nikko, he says what I get is about all they are capable of ... about 50 to 60 ft on the surface and much less in a pool. I'm not able to get more than a few feet away in the heavily clorinated public pool where I went on vacation. I'll be selling this one and finishing my static diver.
The only other thing that was a problem last year was a broken main drive shaft magnetic coupling cup. I made the mistake of letting somebody else run it and he enjoyed doing panic stops a little too much and cracked the cup. Nikko were very good about supplying spare parts and I've now also got a spare prop on the shelf just in case.
Although this "pool toy" has been fun and taught me a lot, I've decided to go with a conventional radio system and a different sub for next sub season.
Lee
05-28-2017, 07:24 PM
#161
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Leak stopping
Not sure if anyone is still looking at this thread but here goes. I brought my three Nikko subs out of retirement and tested them, one old yellow Ocean Explorer and two black Sea Wolf subs. All three sank in the bathtub, one very quickly, the other two after a couple of minutes. Only one had motors working, the other two appeared seized through lack of use. I have stripped all three subs, dried them out, sprayed WD40, dried in the sun, and so far have myself two working subs in that the motors and mechanisms now turn. I haven't tested them in the water yet as there is still the business of water getting in somewhere. I can't see any obvious cracks and the round seal for the dive propellor housing looks fine. Would it help to ensure a seal to put vaseline jelly on the seal, or would that damage the rubber? The big rubber cap that goes in front of the battery compartment looks intact for all three - if this is where the water is getting in, how can you tell? It seems a tight fit to get the front part of the sub onto the seal.
Putting everything back together was straightforward except for the dive propellor assembly. Does anyone have instructions and/or a diagram to help me with that bit please?
Putting everything back together was straightforward except for the dive propellor assembly. Does anyone have instructions and/or a diagram to help me with that bit please?
09-19-2021, 01:01 PM
#162
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Nikko sub frequency?
I am working on a nikko sub and swapped the internals inside the watertight compartment, however i think the frequency is different than either of the controllers i have. Is there a way to identify on the board which frequency this board is operating on? Thanks CJ
09-27-2021, 06:21 PM
#164
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I dont seem to be able to post pics yet.The frequency on the pc board seems to show a 26.590 on a red crystal, but i have never seen a transmitter in this frequency for nikko. Anyone have a transmitter to match this?
