blitzkrieg65

Patrick Swathdiver meant the Afterburner, the afterburner is to run larger motors!

Remember EL Mod will pick up on a loose track, pin pulling out, snag in the carper, gear box tweeked long before you do! It really works everytime my KT starts driviing funny something is wrong with the drive train!

the Blitz

swathdiver

Read the Watts Up Meter manual and think I figured out how to measure current at the motors, board, etc. Have to connect an auxilliary power supply and use my black source and load wires. Don't have a connector to plug into Watts Up Meter. Have to go out and get one tomorrow. Have to finish wiring up the tank anyway, need new, smaller smoker and on/off switches to make room for larger volume control. That will necessitate a new plate too. Also want to shorten HL wiring harness instead of tie strapping wires together, the TLS isn't far away, just needs enough room to move a little and is now 2-3 inches at least too long.

I did a video but lighting was bad and you cannot see the Meter's screen. Might try again after final wiring is done.

caragan1970

Hi Swath,

As Blitz mentioned, I was referring to the Afterburner, why wouldn't the booster be enough for your tank?
We will have almost the same setup but I did not get the EL MOD Afterburner. Do you think your
tank is already heavy enough hence the use of the Afterburner or is it just a safety measure
to protect your ELMOD by prefering to overspec your tank setup.

I was under the impression that the Afterburner is really for 1/6 tanks and bigger, expecially
using the Bigbooster Unit.

Can you talk us through your decision in doing so...

Thanks & best regards,

Patrick C.

swathdiver

Sure Patrick,

I wanted to run more powerful motors in this tank. I chose the Jamra 480 HS. They're rated to pull 5.8amps each! However, reading some posts from our friends over at the Panzerketten forum they're running those motors with 3-1 gearboxes and HL boards/El Mod with success. I figured the 3-1 gearboxes would cut down the amperage draw but wanted a safety margin and that's where the Afterburner comes in. Now during testing I did run the motors through the Booster only but limited the total amperage draw to 2.5amps which was about 1/2 throttle.

Didn't have much time today for tanks, as soon as switch wiring is done I will measure amperage from the motors and post my findings for you.

caragan1970

Hi Swath,

Are these motors the ones you got? I found this in this link..

http://alshobbies.com/shop/lookupsto...?pc=5916&Desc=

Where did you get them and how much? Can the 600 motor fit the HL Metal gearbox?
Any suggestions?



Patrick C.

swathdiver

[link=http://hillcott-electronics.net/newstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_24&products_id=36]Hillcott[/link]

I got them from these fellows, they're leven less money now! Super Sale Price! The difference between yours and mine is only the bearing. They turn the same rpms. Yours have the bearing, mine doesn't. Since these aren't turning full rpms all the time I figured we wouldn't need the fancy bearings.

If I was going to run standard gearboxes I would run the older model Jamara 480s which turn fewer rpms and draw less power or Graupner Speed400s again. The 600 is way too big! As it was, I had to remove the flux rings to get these motors to fit in the tank.

swathdiver

Patrick and Phil,

Did some more testing just now. Hooked the Watts Up Meter to the HL Board and Booster for Motor Control and drove the tank, no amperage recorded at all. Did the same thing to one of the motors and averaged 2.6A holding the tank in place while it spun the tracks at full power. Pressing down on the front end showed a max of 3.19A. If previous testing around the house is any indication, it'll probably max out around 4.5A at most per motor. This is supposedly within spec for the Booster. I say supposedly because some El Mod documentation says 5A, the FAQ 4A. The Afterburner is said to be able to handle 10A per motor yet mine has a 10A fuse, not 20A. Probably an oversight.

So if you run the exact same setup as me with the Jamara 480 HS motors and 3-1 gearboxes the Afterburner will be added insurance. If you don't it will probably run just fine, just make sure to have a fan blowing on it because I got mine warm during testing without the Afterburner. Make sure you cool the Blaster, that's the HOT one! The others stay at room temp.

Due to space limitations under the turret I ditched the 360 turret mod to save a little space. Might put in another version if this thing gets converted to laser battle system. Anyway, I had the turret back on but it wouldn't move. While I was seeing what the holdup was one of my rugrats kept saying Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, after I said to wait a second... Daddy, Daddy, Daddy... SNAP!!! Busted the hinge to the metal hatch! ARGGHHH!!! It never ends! Fix 3 things break 1! Glue wouldn't do it, had to wire brush it all off. Soldering didn't work either, more wire brushing. Tried the glue again, nope. Where's that wire brush. More heat for the solder, put the pen torch on it, nope, just burned fingers! That wire brush is somewhere amidst all these tools... Ohh yeah, I have some Quick JB Weld, that should do it! Curing now as I type this!

Hopefully the upper hull will make it back on today, everything will fit and I can take it outside for some video. Yeah Right! That'll be the day!

swathdiver

Interior Pictures and VIDEO!!!

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJuTgGFjqeU]Watts Up Meter Video Link[/link]

[link=http://www.rcuvideos.com/item/WL6CLTQVN69GRNB1]Watts Up Meter Video 2[/link]

Patrick, tank now weighs 11.0 lbs. Center of gravity is a little off, I forgot to add weight to the front to bring it up to the 4th roadwheel. It's now between the 4th and 5th.

swathdiver

Scouted out a nice area for a photo and video shoot and headout out with the tanks after dinner. Unfortunately the skies were full of clouds and it started drizzling so we left the camera in the van.

The PZIII did not like driving through the wet sugar sand. It kept getting stuck and had to be picked up to release tension on the tracks to get all the packed in sugar sand out.

The El Mod equipped Tiger didn't bat an eye. An awesome feature of the Afterburner was then when the tank encountered resistance such as loose sand or climbing a hill you could hear the motors spool up to maintain speed, it was AWESOME! Lost a helmet off the turret when I ran it into some bushes but at least the new front mud flap didn't break off! There was a really sandy area that had been churned up from all of us walking and standing in this one spot earlier, picture the top 1/4" sand all wet and underneath dry and everythings churned up.

Now the drizzle started to turning to rain so I throttled up the Tiger and you could hear the motors spin up as it blasted through all that churned up sand! It was going and going and then started to slide down an embankment and the motors spooled even more! Finally it burst through and passed me but something didn't look right from behind! It threw both tracks just as it stopped! Ohh well, that's tankin'! Tomorrow will be spent cleaning all the sugar sand/mud out of the running gear on both tanks. If it dries up and I can find a more hospitable spot we'll take some pictures and video and post for your enjoyment.

blitzkrieg65

Cool James thanks for the update, and I must have missed the pictures and the video on the testing real nice! I don't think that the 10 amp fuse is an oversite the amperage boost is in the afterburner and the fuse should be in line with the power to the tank! I believe that fuse it there if the Afterburner should fail, otherwise under normal conditions you will not see over 5 amps on that line!?
On a side note you got me motivated to install my rear idler adjuster man are they excellent, my Tiger 1 has never ran so good! I have to add a washer to mine because they slopped a little from side to side, but I would say it gives you almost a 3 link adjustment range ay! Well I like my Tiger 1 for the first time, and seeing yours makes me want to maybe even do a little more to it!
I hope the weather clears up looking forward to your video!

Phil

The Blitz

swathdiver

Thanks Phil, I had to add a washer to one idler to align everything up but not the other. I forgot who, one member told me that the adjuster screw aligned with the armored covers on the back of the tank. So I bought from Tower screws and nuts that matched the original and a 3/32 nut driver. Made them work but they really don't line up. Might try to take one off tomorrow and see if I can get a screwdriver at an angle in there without taking the whole tank apart.

The fuse is between the junction block and the Afterburner. It's possible that the whole tank might draw 10 amps especially after todays sugar sand adventures! What a mess. I just spent an hour getting the tracks back on and most of the sand out. Poor little PZIII had sand tightly packed inside it's wheels, a couple quit turning so I had to split them (I use RTV) clean all the sand out and put them back together. So much sand came out of the tracks that it's enough to fill up a 20oz cup with a little left over!

We'll see how the weather is tomorrow after mass and try again.

swathdiver

Big Duh Confession Folks!!!

I previsously said that I was disappointed that my airsoft gun didn't work after the El Mod conversion.

It works just fine if you take the safety off! [:-]

I deleted the safety switch on my M26A1 but have kept it on the other tanks the kids drive.

So please accept my apologies El Mod and fellow tankers! [&:]

fv432

swathdiver

Right behind the Bulldog, Tiger 211 rolled into the motor pool. The tracks are worn out and those asiatam idlers have given me fits but El Mod and those 480 motors have performed flawlessly these past two years. Both are coming out though for future projects. Going back in will be the original setup which you can see pictures of in the first few pages of this build. Tracks and idlers will stay as I suspect they could not handle the additional power of El Mod and those 480 motors. We shall see.

Asiatam 89:1 gearboxes are in great shape, cleaned them up and put them away; same with the Jamara 480 motors. Pulled out the original gearboxes, took them apart, cleaned them, re-assembled and broke them in again with orange pumice hand cleaner. They spin like a top, about three seconds after a good twist on the axle shaft! Went to put them in the tank but they wouldn't fit! So that's what those big ugly holes in the Asiatam gearboxes were for! [:-] Had to pull them out, take em apart and put holes in the sides to clear a screw for the suspension arms. Broke them in again, put fresh grease and they're snug as a bug in a rug back in 211s hull.

Next up is the simple but tedious task of wiring everything back up. As I was getting started the Honey Do List made its triumphant return so that ended my moments of free time!

Pictures to follow.

swathdiver

Notice: This tank is now available along with its supporting unit, the 212 PZIII.