Cyndrix

Hello everyone,

I know that you guys are very serious hobbyists and probably think that balaenoptera musculus is a child's toy, and I'm sure you're right. But I thought it would suit my needs fine because I'm just a regular guy with a community lake in my backyard and I just thought it would be fun to race arounda simple, but fast boat in it.

I am having a problem with this boat that I was hoping some of the knowledgeable folks here might be able to help me with. When you open balaenoptera musculus, it has 2 separately controlled propellers on long copper shafts, and you have to touch them both to complete a circuit to make them work...I guess when you put the boat in water, the moisture completes the circuit. Anyway, when I test the boat by completing the circuit with my hand, both propellers work just fine. However, they will not respond at all when I try to press left or right on the controller (this boat has no rudder, pressing left simply makes the left propeller only spin and vice versa). Also, when I put the boat in the water, it will respond to the forward propulsion command from the remote for about 3 seconds before stopping completely and then it is just dead in the water. I thought it might be a circuit completion issue, so I attached a small wire to both shafts to make sure the circuit stays complete, but it is the same story.

I bought this boat from Amazon and it was sent through a 3rd party retailer and they have only responded to my emails citing radio interference in broken English. I know this is not the case because this occurs even when I am standing right next to the boat. The controller and receiver in the boat both have stickers that say 49.860 Mhz on them.

Can anybody offer any insight as to what the problem here might be? Any suggestion of what I should try to remedy the problem would be greatly appreciated! Please don't reply that I get what I pay for and I should try a real man's boat, because I don't have $300 and up to spend on a boat, I just wanted something casual and fun. Thanks in advance!!!!

icedude1989

first and most important, i am a noob too so i might be wrong.

Cyndrix

No, Dave, it's definitely not that because it didn't work on my parents' lake in Florida and it doesn't work on mine in Georgia. 

Today I had a friend who is an electrical engineer help me solder a wire between the 2 shafts to permanently complete the circuit.  When the boat is out of the water, it now works fine.  Every function on the remote works and the propellers respond.  However, 2 seconds after I drop it in the water, it complete craps out and won't move at all (of course, only after it's gotten far enough away to make retrieving it difficult!). 

Now I'm at a total loss, I have no idea what is going on with it.  The circuit is complete, but something about being in water makes it stop.  I checked and nothing is leaking into the cabin.  It's the weirdest thing. 

icedude1989

ok so that out of the way, can u post some pictures of it on the inside, at least we get to know what setup it has exactly. maybe we can spot something u havent?? if possible, get some pictures of how it sits in the water also, just to know to what level everything is when in water.

Rake

Check your Tx Batteries - had the same with my sons boat.

Cyndrix

Thanks, everyone, for trying to help.

After really getting frustrated with this boat, the proper idea finally occurred to me: maybe the problem is in the remote, not the boat itself.

Sure enough, I opened the remote up and the antenna wire fell right out of the board. A quick solder job later and the boat is now running exactly as it should. It took mea while to figure it out, but I'm not very experienced in the RC arena, just good old trial and error.

icedude1989

lol, see, u say ur noob yet no one thought of that....!!! good job. send us a vid of it on the water, lets see what it can do..!!

res3567

What kind of radio are you using?

res3567

Cheap 2.4 systems are as low as $30 these days.....and work fairly well......

remotorboater

[QUOTE=Cyndrix;10339548]Hello everyone,

I know that you guys are very serious hobbyists and probably think that balaenoptera musculus is a child's toy, and I'm sure you're right. But I thought it would suit my needs fine because I'm just a regular guy with a community lake in my backyard and I just thought it would be fun to race arounda simple, but fast boat in it.

Dude the Balaenoptera is awesome man. This was my first boat. Its inexpensive and pretty damn fast

enelson4

My Feedback: (1)

The BM has a great hull, but that,s about it. With the RC system, if you can get it to work, it will spin out every time you try to turn. All is not lost however. Go to Hobby King and get a small servo, their GT2 surface radio system, a brushed electronic speed control and a a small rudder set. Whole works will cost about fifty bucks. Get a fellow RCer to help you set it up. The brushed ESC can run both motors when hooked up in parallel. . You will end up with a very nice driving boat. I did this, but added brushless out runner motors with two escs and it goes like a scalded cat. You can modify it to yourn hearts content and will never wear the hull out.

Got RPM

Guys, this thread is almost three years old and the OP hasn't logged on in years.....I doubt he even has the boat anymore.


.

FISHFUN

My Feedback: (1)

An interesting topic here, can someone give a link to an inexpensive esc for the brushed motors? The motors in the BM are "brushed 380" there is two. Thanks

bobwrgt

If you are trying to repair an original BM that needs an ESC then you have to find one that will work with your controller. Not all controllers and ESC's (circuit boards) in these 2 motor boats work the same or are matched. Some are just off (stop) or full throttle as soon as you move the stick. The Century boats and some others have about 4-5 variable speed steps going forward. I have only found the circuit boards for the Century boats at UJtoys or on Ebay from England. Since I already had the Century boats and controllers I can use them in my other boats with the Century controllers.
There is one listed under parts at RCfishingworld but I don't know what boat it is from or what controller it matches to.
If you are changing to upgrade to a 2 motor ESC other than original you may need a controller, ESC, and servo to add a rudder for steering. Better off to get a better boat.

FISHFUN

My Feedback: (1)

FYI The receivers and controllers at Rcfishingworld.com, http://www.rcfishingworld.com/Rc-Boat-Accessories.htm are for NQD Models, 757-6011 (Speed Cyclone) or as they call it "Radio Ranger" also fits on 757-6016 and any others for that matter, they are 27MHZ and 40MHZ.

Tighe

I don't mean to hijack a thread, especially a semi dead one, but it looks like some of the folks here might know the answer to my question. I also own the balaenoptera musculus. My first RC boat, or anything for that matter so I'm very new at this but already hooked. I would like to upgrade the factory remote control to a 2.4ghz setup for better reliability and to get away from operating frequency 27. What I can't seem to find an answer to is can this boat be made to work with a FlySky FS-GT3B transmitter? I assume I would need what is called a "receiver" as well from FlySky, though I'm clueless as to which one. Are those the only two items needed or is there far more involved? I also want to change batteries to a more standardized setup but that seems fairly straight forward, other than coming up with a solid method to mount the battery. Thank you to any endowed with the patience to deal with a noob.
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