kizwan

That is what I'm afraid of. I must change the way I'm driving my tank then. My Bulldog survived on the grass but that probably because I didn't try to run it at slow speed. Then the next day it failed after just few seconds on rough ground surface & at this time I did run it at slow speed which explains how the board fried. Lesson learned.

The Clark TK22 have true proportional drive, right? Protection from stalled motor? I'm planning to upgrade to TK22 & 2.4GHz later. I have two HL tanks to upgrade now. The second tank is the PanTiger which I bought cheap but without receiver & RX18 boards.

Trying to run the tank at slow speed on rough ground surface may lead it to draw too many amps which in turn fried the RX18 board. I have little fan here that I can use, rated for 7.2 to 7.4V. I think the seller told me can go up to 3S LiPo but I'm only going to use 7.2 NiCD/NiMH battery anyway. The fuse is between the power switch & RX18 board (red wire), right? How about between the RX18 & motor? I think I read somewhere about this.


Pics of my tanks.

kizwan

I ran my Bulldog on grass & rough ground until battery is flat. The new RX18 board handle it just fine. The suspension a bit stiff though. Anyone have any idea how to soften them up? Add weight?

kizwan

Running my tank on grass for the second time after replacing the RX18 board.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwM-DRTG4aI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVZyPpUVS5M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwrwULyR-N8

MAUS45

Got it working great now!!!

kizwan

Yeah, I'm glad my tank running as it should be. If I run my tank long enough in hot ambient, like 34 - 36C, the sound effect stop & light flashing but the tank still running. Considering this has happened before with original RX18 board that got fried afterward, I think this is overheating indicator. Anyone know about this? I think I read the manual cover to cover & it doesn't mention anything about this.

MAUS45

May want to add a Fan to the RX18 housing to keep it cool.

kizwan

Will do.

To Do list:-

1. add a fan.
2. add LED for machine gun. currently the front & rear light blinking when firing machine gun. I figured out how to stop the blinking, just need to figure out where I need to solder the wire for machine gun LED.
3. add LED indicator above the turret.

kizwan

Added fan to RX18 board. I use DC5V fan. Cut the housing for ventilation. The other wire is for tail lights.

MAUS45

Looks good!!!! Now you should not have cooling issues.

kizwan

I did it again!

I bought new RX18 board & also new metal black gearbox for my panther. Test run with only the lower hull. In a couple of minutes, left tracks starts lagging & slow in response when moving forward but no problem when reverse. I pick it up, checking whether the gearbox or motor is stalling. Look good because I can move the tracks with my hand, motor ok too. Put the tank on a block, start up the tank & press the throttle (forward), only right track moved & smoke starts coming out from the rx18.

Three RX18, two burned.

Max-U52

Have you thought about going to 2.4 Ghz? You can get this kit and it's plug and play.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Advanced-2-4...item19e29aed0c

I put these in all my heng long tanks and they work great. I plan to upgrade to a better TX eventually, but for now these work great.

kizwan

I will eventually upgrade to 2.4GHz electronics, just not now.

I just put the RX18 from my bulldog to Pantiger & it run without any problem just I expected. It's just kinda suck because out of three RX18, only one turned out ok. Going to get two RX18 more, hoping at least one have no fault. If not, I'll get 2.4GHz. Maybe try Heng Long 2.4GHz electronics first before upgrading to better 2.4GHz electronics.

Max-U52

I've got both, the Heng Long and the Taigen stock 2.4 Ghz units so if you want to see photos of something let me know. I have the heng long 2.4 unit in a mato all metal PIII but it originally came in a HL T-34. The T-34 now has the taigen kit from island-enterprises. Both run pretty darn good. I'm always happy to show off video so let me know if you want to see anything. And the machine gun sound in the Heng Long sounds much more like an MG42 than the Taigen does (that's just my opinion), even though it's supposed to be a Russian gun.

YHR

Where are you getting your RX18's from??? Inside the case stamped on the board there will be a revision number. Find out which one it is. Heng long upgrades these, and you want to make sure you got the latest version. I have had at least two RX18's go up in smoke for no reason, but that was a long time ago. The newer ones I have purchased are running in 12-14 pound tanks with no issue.

kizwan

All RX18 ver 7.0 boards.

Marc780

Kizwan, a good start would be wiring in a fuse...might save you from frying the boards! It's easy, just cut the wire from the power switch to the plug that plugs in the Rx and crimp on some female crimp on connectors, the blue colored kind. You can then just attach the female connectors right to the fuse (they have several kind of fuses naturally, i just use the "large" automotive not the tiny ones per the photo) I use 5 amp but this is low, if you want to be cautious though I'd start with 5, or at most 7.5 amps.

Sorry the picture isn't good, but the arrow shows the fuse, its orange. The black part is where i wrapped the connectors with elec tape. Use the insulated kind of female connectors and you won't need the tape


You might have a wire or two shorting out inside your chassis-or they could have botched the wiring at the factory, or made a bad connection, or some insulation is missing or worn off a wire. I too use only the HL 2.4 Ghz system. The taigen system is supposed to be good, i know it costs more, $110 for the taigen system and you can get the Heng long system for $80 but you have to add your own fan to the box. But once you flue on the fan obviously, you can just change the Rx as you need to and keep reusing the box and its fan.
I want nothing to do with the RX18's, they take all the fun out of it for me-just can't make em work. The 2.4 Ghz works dead reliable so that's what I use, nothing but.

YHR

The Version 7 is what I use. I have really good luck with RX18's. I wonder if it is the momentum feature of the DBC3 that adds to this good luck?

In all sincerity I have RX 18's in all of my tanks, and they work fine. My latest Leopard two is heavy with Metal suspension, wheels, tracks, new HR high torque motors driving Metal stock ratio gears. I have shown video of it super spinning on grass.

Have I had an Rx18 failure yes? But not lately. When I have had them fail it is usually within minutes of installation, calling into question the QC on the components.

My advice if you want to lose the RX18 is move to a Clark board with its standard servo signal protocol. Gets you into hobby grade radio and away from the proprietary stuff.

With Mato having a standard 2.4 ghz radio out, you have to think the new Mato tanks have something else coming as well. So Mato may be supplying inexpensive, standard 2.4 ghz tank control systems soon as another option just around the corner.

kizwan

@Marc780, thank you. I should have put a fuse but it was supposed to be a test run with new RX18 & new steel gearbox. The tank was on a block when the board fried. I checked the gear & motor, no problem with them that can caused the motor to draw too much current. It also burned at the same place, same FETs (near the battery connector). Basically the left motor doesn't turn when trying moving forward but does turn when reverse before the board fried. I did checked the gearbox & motor and found nothing that can stop them from turning. Just to make sure nothing was wrong with the gear & motor, I use RX18 from my bulldog to test them. It ran without any problem.

@YHR, I was hoping for good experience with RX18 but it's not happening to me. I just ordered HL 2.4GHz system for $23 to try it out. I definitely going to upgrade to Clark board soon.

My bulldog feels really heavy now with the metal tracks, sprocket & gearboxes. I unable to get metal tracks for the Pantiger though. Paint & weathering are next.

kizwan

After second RX18 board fried, I decided to try HL 2.4GHz system instead. Here is the 2.4GHz "Hobby Grade" radio.




If anyone thinking I'm joking, I'm not kidding (well the "Hobby Grade" part is). I bought the HL 2.4GHz MFU board & the 2.4GHz transmitter board (without the casing/body).

Before:-


After (for the connector for the right gimbal; connector to JP1 on FM/AM board, connect it to CH2 on 2.4GHz board & connector to JP2 on FM/AM board, connect it to CH1 on 2.4GHz board):-


HL 2.4GHz MFU installed:-


Good news is it doesn't burn when test run last night. It's not Clark or IBU but at least it's 2.4GHz, meaning longer range & I can control the volume & smoke generator remotely. If I'm correct, look like the HL 2.4GHz MFU that I got is new rev because I can see "2014" printed on the board (the RX18 v7 is "2010"). Good to know HL still improving their 2.4GHz MFU.

YHR

When we use the term "hobby grade" we are referring to the fact that you have a transmitter, receiver that can run standard servo's. The HL and Taigen 2.4 ghz radios do not do this. They are proprietary and are to be used specifically with their MFU. You won't be able to take this radio and run other rc stuff with it.

kizwan

I know. I didn't said HL 2.4GHz radio is hobby grade radio. It was just a joke. I thought I make myself clear in previous post.

YHR

I didn't see your comment between the pictures.

kizwan

No biggie.

dash69

I also had a rx18 powered bulldog. I found the stock gearing did not allow the tank to climb anything. Grass was tough as well. It had no torque. The system was working too hard. I replaced stock with 3 to 1 gears. Instant improvement. Best upgrade I have made. Now all have 3 to 1 gears. It really reduces stress on system. All 4 tanks are powered by rx18s. My bulldog goes anywhere now and low speed performance is easier and more tank like. I recommend replacing rx18 and use the money saved for the gears. My rx18 with wire harness was 23.00. I will post site later. I am going g with the DBC 2 which can be plugged into any rx18 and again improve tank like driving. My 2 cents went to several dollars. Rant over. Right gears work.

kizwan

The gearbox I'm using already 3 to 1 gears (steel). The stock gear quite good IMO. I did try steep climb (I'm guestimate more than 45 degrees) with the stock gearbox & as long as the tracks can grips, it can climb. With the added weight from the metal gears & tracks, it running little bit better (not too fast like with stock gears), even on the tall grass. I just need to add weight at the front because it looks floating on the grass. I didn't try climb yet though. Correct me if I'm wrong, with the added weight, I think the 4 to 1 gears is suitable for climbing.