redbull08

I finally received mine today and like everyone else it is cold and snow everywhere. The car is great i just pulled it out of the box and was checking all of the screws to make sure they were tight. i was a little disappointed i got the yellow and black one and ordered the white and green one but who cares its GREAT!!!! Cant wait to break it in and have some fun.

trpastor

Congrats! Glad it looks good. Take your time during break in to be sure you think about everything before you do it. It will be more enjoyable if you don't make a bad mistake.

Let us know how it goes.

redbull08

Yeah i just printed off the break in that buggy put on here so i can read it as i am doing it. I think i am going to wait until the ground is dry plus i have to go spend 800 dollars on batterys then some Nitro for it. I will let you guys know how it goes. Thanks

Chubbysdad

My Feedback: (1)

Welcome. You will have alot of fun with it. As tempting as it is, do the break in. Also the color is not important, because If your like everyone else, you will get brave, and do somethings that will lead to a broken body, then replace with your favorite color

Xeller8

LOL!!....aint that about the truth?......I bought Energizer Lithiums and I think it was like 30 bucks worth just for ONE of my vehicles!

Oh well....they hold up VERY well and I'm sure eventually I'll drop some serious coinage on some really good rechargables.

Good luck with break in...hope you enjoy the buggy and we are looking forward to your feedback![8D]

Buggygovroom

800 bucks? what are you buying? platinum edition diamond top duracels and liquid gold nitro? From all the batteries ive bought i think it would have been smarter to get rechargabe AA batteries. Even though they lose charge from sitting... instead of buying a new pack every couple weeks i can recharge...

Stupidity 1 Me 0

trpastor

Hey Guys,

I could use a little help on this one. I'm replacing my main gear and I put the mid differential back together, but it is hard to spin the mid diff. I can't remember if it should be this difficult or not. Anyone know how I can be sure that it is not binding up too much inside?

Buggygovroom

I remember being able to spin it from underneath with a finger with the wheels off the ground. Are you replacing a broken one with an upgrade or same as before?

mozzzy_2000

Hey Trpastor, had my buggy out over the weekend to finally give a tune after the run in. Went pretty well overall until a wheel nut came flying off along with a wheel!. Fortunately no damage at all. Just a few questions though. I had it set up nicely by the LHS so its idling well & the run in was no problems after I got a decent plug igniter. Now it seems I have to lean out the HSN needle. I have began to do this in very small amounts. Starting off on the rich run-in settings done by the LHS I first noticed that it acclerates brilliantly but as it gets to top speed it starts to "bunny hop" & splutter as if the trigger was being squeezed on & off then it would stall every so often. So I started to lean out the HSN and noticed that it now runs at a steady idle, doesn't stall but still splutters, just not as much this time. As it got hotter tho, it sorta smoothed out a little, giving a tremendous top speed, but still was effectively spluttering. Is this indicating that it's most likely still too rich and the HSN still needs leaning out? I beleive that leaning out the HSN needle effectively leans out the LSN as well? Does that mean, that as you lean out the HSN, you need to adjust the LSN again? I've got a smart temp and at its hottest it was about 250F, averaging around 230. That would also indicate its still a touch rich wouldn't it? It wouldn't be a servo problem or something?

On the whole though its now idling constantly & seems to be getting easier to start everyday so at least thats a positive.

Overall its dam fun hey. As these things are not indestructable I don't think I'll abuse it quite like some of the guys on here have. Still an expensive piece of machinery in my eyes. I've already flipped it a few times already without little effort so I can see how easy it would be for things to go awry. Curbs at high speed just doesn't seemed to be a good mix hey. I'm lucky that I have many wide open parks & car parks to run it in without too much for it to run into. Too powerful to run in my street without risking major damage.

Could you also outline the difference between the LSN & the Idle screw(the little d*cky one thats a b*tch to get at) & their function please? Still a little unsure of their effect. By the way, that idle screw thats hard to reach, is dam hard to turn on my engine. Is that normal to be so tight? I haven't touched these 2 settings since the LHS tuned it. He said i should only lean out the HSN needle now.

Also is there basic maintenance of these cars even a novice can do?

Anyway a new wheel nut & I should be up & running again. Back to the park for more tuning.

Cheers for now!
ps. I feel almost guilty its summer here in Oz & the sun's shining....

Buggygovroom

It depends on the sound its making at higher rpm. If it sounds like its flooding and blubbery then you are to rich.. if its more of a "machine gun" raspy hesitation or what seems like just a quick loss of power, you are getting to lean. Easiest way to be sure is by going more rich and see if your performance gets worse or better. Playing around with it is the easiest way to learn but when in doubt go rich and if your results are worse then start to go leaner. Make sure your motor is up to operating temp before you make any changes to the needles.

The low speed needle controls the fuel/air mixture at idle to about 50% rpm. This is your overall punch off the line into the midrange rpms. The High speed needle is your fuel/air mixture from 50% rpm to max rpm AND your total fuel getting into the engine so leaning or richening the HSN also does the same to the LSN.

Also on the vertex is a 3 needle carb. I found I got the best results leaving the gold screw on the opposite side of the flange flush with the carb and forgetting about it. I also never had to touch the idle screw but the easiest way to get to it is to slightly pull upward on the muffler by the manifold and go from underneath the muffler with a screwdriver to turn it. It was tight on the vertex but don't adjust it untill you have your HSN and LSN dialed in and still have problems at idle. Such as You get no hesitation off the line but the car stalls when sitting less than say 10 seconds... or the car wants to move on its own at idle. Other than that you shouldnt really have to touch the idle screw.

I think all of us had a wheel come off when we first got these redcats Also be sure your batteries are in good shape. A good sign of failing batteries are things like this:

The wheels dont turn as far as normal when steering..
A good amount of jittering from the servos what might seem like interference, and my radio has also gone haywire when the batteries start to get low and the throttle control will start to turn the wheels instead of throttle/break.
Sudden loss in breaking power.

A good idea is to get rechargable batteries for the transmitter, but not the receiver. You can get a rechargable 5 cell pack for the receiver if you want to get the required voltage. The receiver requires anywhere from 4.8-6 volts and standard rechargables are about 1.2 giving you 4.8 which is pretty much the minimum required volts, but wont last very long so a 5 cell rechargable would solve this problem.

Thats about all. We got like a foot and a half of snow here so im stuck inside. I got bored and tore my car down to nothing and cleaned everything, oiled the motor and sat it down till the snow melts. Im about to go borrow a snowblower and carve a track out in the street

Buggygovroom

Next Project... get this to fit on the redcat

http://www.killerhobbies.com/browse_...sp/Item_ID/247

If it works its going to look badass

trpastor

Hey Mozzy

Glad you are having fun with it. I actually gave a brief mod to Darrin at Redcat about cutting downt the side panel making the idle screw more accesable. Not sure if he's had a chance to put it up though

As far as the adjustments - from what you describe I would definitly say it's rich rather than lean. And Yes - on the top end. BGV gave a good description of everything there. I would say if you have any issues with the LSN you will know just about as SOON as you hit throttle. If it's after a few seconds it's the high speed.

The idle should be fine unless it's dying on standstill or not standing still.

On the low speed needle, I fully tightened my LSscrew in (the bigger gold one) and adjusted the one on the flange side. Becuase the Big gold one seemed loose. Loose enough that it would move from vibrations over time just from running it. If it ain't broke don't fix it but you may have to keep this in mind if you start having problems with it (unless you've already set it like I have with the big screw in and adjust the flange side)

Let me know if yo ustill have confusion between the idle and LS.

Finally - you can do ANYTHING on these. I had no idea what to do and the instructions are Sh*^t as far as exploded views, but between 2 cars I have now taken everything apart except the front and rear diffs and the shocks (the insides of the shocks themselves).

I actually had a broken tooth on my main gear (ok 5 And so I had to take apart the mid diff and replace it and I took photos and will type up a tutorial for Darin to post also. Hopefully it should be up soon. But really you can easily tear these things apart down to screws and molded pieces and put them back together pretty easily. Just wait till it happens (the need for maintainence) and put in the resolve to get it done.

Goold luck

Buggygovroom

You can register at the redcat site and put up your mods i believe. I signed up and used my rcu name and posted a pic or two

oh and snow? mount a plow on your buggy!!!

thats about all

mozzzy_2000

cheers guys! Yeah I think I'm on the right track. I'll let you know how it goes.
In regards to rechargables, I have had great success with AA NiMh batteries of the Varta brand. Yes they are 1.2V on the label but that should always be taken "like a grain of salt". They actually rate a touch under 1.5V. I too thought it wouldn't be enough to power it but to my supprise, when fully charged they give out about 5.8V in total!! After a couple of hours they go down to about 5.3v & seem to do the job for several days. The only thing I have noticed is that transmitter range is fairly average so maybe thats because of the voltage or perhaps just an average am transmitter/receiver setup? These AA's are 2000mAh each and charge in 15 minutes from flat. The 6v hump packs are only 1200mAh which doesn't give you as much life. The ones I put in the car last several days, and the guy from the LHS said they would probably be better than the hump packs anyway. I would definately be giving these NiMh AA's a try if you already haven't. You would be pleasantly supprised I think.
Interesting & since I have a smart temp, I can tell what the voltage is at a glance. If they fail the voltage of course they can be charged in less than 15 minutes. Having said that I have not run out of batteries in the field. Just charge them after every day or two. I have heaps of these batteries & they power virtually all my "toys" very well indeed & I would highly recommend them. A little dearer than the hump packs but as they can be used in any appliance unlike a hump pack, they are far more versatile & economical.
Cheers

mozzzy_2000

Took out the buggy again today. Think I've just about got it tuned in I think. Performing really well with no stuttering, constant idle & starting more or less first pull.
Getting some pretty scary acceleration & top speed happening. I would say a top speed of around 70-80Kph easy.
Now I have a pretty good idea when its rich. What are the signs when you have it too leaned out? Mine got pretty hot, around 270F. Is that now too hot? I had plenty of smoke so I don't think it was rich. Also it is a dam hot day here, about 36C/99F so is that going to effectively make the engine run hotter? Should it be richened up or leaned out on these hot days?
Cheers

Buggygovroom

As strange as this may sound... cold days = richer, hot days = leaner. You can tell if you are to lean by looking for a few things. During acceleration if you stutter, or just lose power you are on the lean side. You will have to listen carefully to tell the difference. Its not the rich blubbery hesitation, its more like just a quick drop off in rpm. You can also tell by deceleration if you are to lean. From high rpm if your engine spools down and sounds like a machine gun, or something like a cat purring you are to lean on the high end. Once it hits low rpm if it holds a high idle and seems to want to keep revving you are to lean on the LSN.

I would keep going small turns rich untill you notice visible hesitation, and then go an 8th of a turn lean and leave it at that. As for smoke you really cant gauge it with smoke very well cause different fuels smoke different amounts. some smoke a lot and some very little. Going by temp is more accurate than watching for smoke. 270 seems kinda high... i would try to keep it between 220-250 F at most.

You will have to make minor adjustments from day to day and never make adjustments on a cold engine. If it sounds like you have a good engine setting but its not up to operating temp.. (about 220F) it will only lean out as the temp increases. Hope this helped

trpastor

Hey Mozzy

Glad to hear you're getting it going pretty well. These things are fast even straight out of the box. As far as leaning out and temps - I have found a lot of variation in engines, and wouldn't go simply by temp either. Go by sound and get it to where it sounds lean (like BGV suggested) and then richen it up. I wouldn't personally worry about the temp at that point. I think some run hotter than others and my temps (when I've done a high speed pass and brought it RIGHT in to gauge) are about 270 also. Thing is - maybe my gauge is reading a little hot and maybe I'm temping it quicker than others do. That can be 15d. F difference.

Also - I personally would rather run this thing fast and buy a new engine or rebuild if it blows. The reason being that I have yet to blow an engine - so when I do I will then know what was too hot too lean etc. I bought this thing to go fast

Wish it was damn hot here (27d F)

rczero21

Hey everyone my name is jerry I sell red cat racing cars online. I have opened up a store here on rcu with all the redcat racing models as well as a lot of the parts. The parts will all be posted by the end of the week. If there is anything you need as far as parts or even a new rc car maybe a volcano or any of the other great redcat racing vehicles please e mail me or visit my rc store here on rcu.
Just goto the rc stores search and type in redcat racing and Jerrys rc cars store will come up. If there is something that you need and it is not posted yet please just e mail me and i will get right back to you with price and availability.
I hope to talk to you all soon.
I also offer lower prices than on the redcat website plus a parts discount. I will be happy to help anyone who needs anything for there redcat racing rc car
Thanks
Jerry D
Jerry' RC Depot

Xeller8

Heres a good question for everybody...

Who can tell me what the difference is between a standard crankshaft and an SG crankshaft??

I am seeing this as I am researching a new motor for my 'Cane XP.

So far I have not seen ANY explanation as to what "SG" stands for...I spose it will be something simple that if I thought hard enough I'd figure it out...but my head hurts...LOL!

trpastor

Hey BuggygoV

I found some chrome wheel nuts and hubs that would complete your ensemble. I think I paid $16 for both. They are kyosho and I got them locally but I'm sure you can find them online somewhere.

mozzzy_2000

Hey cheers guys. Good idea putting a thread up. You guys have been very helpful for a novice like me. Steep learning curve yet you seem to pick it fast. Took the buggy out again today. Another dam hot day here in Perth. didn;t realise it at the time but it was about 39C, which is 102F for you guys! A few things I noticed. It would stall if left to idle too long when it was dam hot. It happened twice when I would bring it in to top up the tank. The temp was over 270F. Would that most likely be the fuel igniting too early, essentially boiling off before being burnt? I noticed on both occasions that there was very little fuel in the line & since the tubing runs right next to the engine I was thinking thats what's happening there? In any case upon cooling it starts right back up again. I did have to change the glow plug, which is the second one to go although this one handled most of the run in process.

Leads me back to air temp & glow plugs. What glow plugs are you guys using? I didn't realise they're so many. The default one that came with the engine died during the run in process. Not sure what type it was now. Didn;t think to keep it at the time. The next one, the LHS put in & was an OS A5. That one lasted considerably longer but died today. Only the top half of the plug coil glows. Could that indicate something? Again too hot?
The plug I replaced it with is an OS#8 which seem to be more responsive when I first started it up. anyway do you use different plugs for different weather conditions? What plug would you use for a dam hot day, like today for instance? Is it going to make much difference what temp plug you use? I would think that a slightly colder plug would be better on these hot days & a warmer plug when its cold?

Should I be even runinng the car in such hot conditions anyway? Not sure how hot it gets in your summer time but it really can be dam hot here hey and I even noticed that the smart temp was reading about 140F just after sitting in my car for the journey.I was noticing some interesting things today. Of course it ran a lot hotter but that it was performing very well & it seemed that it could have been leaned out even more. Leaning it out just makes it hotter though doesn't it, so would it be better to run it slightly rich on such a hot day? Its not a dry heat either. very very, god awefully humid heat. I have read and you guys have also confirmed it should be run lean on hot & humid days. But as I leaned it a smidge more it ran even hotter, like 290F & when it was idling it stalled. But when running it seemed like it wanted to be leaned out even more. I wasn't game to push it though and left it where it was. Gee it was getting some awesome acceleration happening at that point & I was seriously starting to run out of space it was going so dam fast.

In terms of maintenance, I was wondering if there are points where you should grease etc? I imagine you'ld have to take it apart? Also whats good to clean these things? The the rear shocks for instance are covered it crud. Whats the best method to clean that out? Taking the car apart is a little daunting for a novice like me! All I can imagine is not being able to put it back together.
Anyway guys sorry for all the questions hey but I'm going to "pick ya brains" for as much help as possible.
cheers
Matt

Buggygovroom

Mozzy,

On a really hot day its probably better to run a cold plug. Also, I do not run the short plugs that came with the engine, the long plugs do work fine with those engines. Here is a decent write up on the subject.

http://www.osengines.com/accys/choosing-glowplugs.html

A slightly rich setting is an all around good idea in a non race setting. Especially if you are in a wide open area with a lot of breathing room its better to run even more rich with some noticeable hesitation. A few tanks of constant wide open throttle is extremely unhealthy for an engine. Leave it more rich so it can get the required lubrication so you dont turn your engine into a paper weight I have an image down below how my line is run.

Also i found some plans for a nice set of ramps fairly easy to build. Heres a link and my ramp below. They are hinged and can be height adjusted with a length of chain and fold up to store away

http://nitromonkey.com/rampplans.shtml

trpastor

Hey Mozzy

I think BGV got your main questions answered about the glow plugs and tuning. On the whole it sounds like you are a little lean. But it depends on what you want to do. See how much she can take or back it off and have it last longer.

as far as doing maintainence and mods to your car it is easier than you think when you just start taking it apart. I put up a tutorial on reaplacing the main gear and reoiling the center diffs, but I just put it up on redcat and the photos are small there. I gave a copy to darin that he said he was going to post in the "official" mod section but I don'tk now when he might get that done. The larger photos are much more empowering for someone to do it themselves. I'll attach one that's full size here

I'll also upload my mod I did for cutting the wing out to acess that pesky idle needle more easily.

Really you take it apart then you'll be able to figure out how to get it back together. Just tape pieces together so you know what's what when you go to reassemble (see mod) http://www.redcatracing.com/mod_details.cfm?mod_id=32

Good luck

Xeller8

O.K...since no one stepped up to the plate about my question I did more research and found the answer...

For anyone interested...the SG crank is the one you want when looking for a buggy motor....the output shaft is longer and threaded for bigger flywheel and clutch assemblies...these types are most commonly used in 1/8 buggies .21 and larger motors..

I took the plunge and ordered a motor today....should be here Friday!

This is what I decided to try...it is the motor used in the Mayhems and is also the same motor as the Dynamite Mach .26 that Team Losi uses in a lot of their trucks and buggies....it's a 7 port 2.75 HP motor and comes with 3 carb inserts 6.5mm/7.5mm/9mm...(which I think is really cool!)....it sounds like a hell of a motor for the price and my LHS had good things to say about it...they said they are a pretty tough motor with scads of power and they are even matching the price I found on-line.[8D]

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=SWK8085

trpastor

Hey Xeller8

Sorry abou that. I really didn't know what the letters designated and didn't want to sound the fool. Glad you figured it out though. Let us know how it drops in.

I'm kind of thiking when I get another I may put in a .21 and try to race it against everyone's $600+ buggies.

at $129 that one is hard to pass