DieHarder

One problem I'll run into with EC5s though is charging through them. I have a Venom Pro charger, so I'll have to make an adapter. The Castle bullet plugs sound legit though. Have you ever run EC5s? I use the stock EC3 connectors in one of my planes and hate them (will be switching over to Hobbico Star) because they pull apart SO hard. I mean, you lose your grip on it and then end up yanking the wires trying to disconnect them. I fear that the EC5s will be the same way since they're a similar style, I don't really want that.

fr8cture

I have some ec5 sitting here and the bullets don't seem that hard to pull apart.

DieHarder

That's good to hear.

DieHarder

There are two other plugs that I've heard can take quite a bit of current and that's the XT60 connectors and the Traxxas plugs. I'm pretty sure the Traxxas Spartan uses the Traxxas plugs for their 6S setup, I wonder how they hold up.

fr8cture

I've used traxxas plugs before. I stopped using them because they are such a huge pain to solder and install into the casing. Gotta solder them on just perfect so they fit into the casing.

DieHarder

Gotcha. Never mind the Traxxas, just read about a lot of people taking the Traxxas plugs off their Spartans because they melt like the Deans. EC5s or 5.5/6mm bullets seem to be the popular routes.

DieHarder

I've been looking at a couple of upgrades I think I want to do right off the bat. Check these out from OSE:

Upgraded Strut: http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...?prod=ose-1390

Upgraded Flex Shaft: http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...-bj29-v3-cable

Double Set Screw Coupler: http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...ct-ocfhe5mm15d

I was hoping to get all these and possibly a dual water pickup setup. OSE has quite a few different styles of pickups, I was wondering what style you're going with. Thanks again for your help!

fr8cture

Well My boat showed up today. Has two small chips by one of the holes the hatch goes into but whatever. This whole returning the battery thing is a mess. USPS is playing ping pong with them.... As for those upgrades I was told the strut isn't a necessary upgrade. Also it's not black like all the stock components so it would look weird but thats just me. I'm waiting to see if this guy will make me a dual water pickup that bolts to the mount the rudder is on before looking at other options. Was the option I liked most but nobody sells something like it.

DieHarder

Wow. They just can't get away from the 'damaged on arrival', can they. That sucks. Is it under the canopy though?

I see what you mean about the strut, that would look funny. I'm considering ordering a boat tomorrow night without batteries. Maybe get batteries in a few days, I just want to see this thing in person and allow time for the possibility of returning, since that seems to be a common thing on this model... lol

The rudder mount mounted pickup sounds legit, like to see how that works out if he ends up making you one. One other thing I had a question on, all the pictures I see of the BJ29V3 make it look like a faded red or orange. The picture they have on A-main Hobbies or a couple on Proboat's website make it look florescent bright yet deep/dark red and less orangey. What color specifically is it in person would you say?

fr8cture

its like a fire engine red maybe? its bright. No not upder the canopy its right in front of where one fo the canopy pins goes. you can see it looking from the top.

DieHarder

Cool. I was hoping it would be a strong bright red. Sorry to hear about that.

fr8cture

yeah I emailed them to see what they say but told them there is no way I'm sending it back again.

DieHarder

Just ordered mine. No batteries, just the RTR. With Amain Hobbies offering the Memorial Day 10% off coupon, it brought the total down to $386.99 so I'm happy with that. Fingers crossed that it shows up without chips, said it should be here on or before Monday next week.

fr8cture

Awesome, hopefully you have better luck than I.

Mg1234

I've been a car guy a long time too,just got my first boat,I chose a traxxas Spartan simply because the local hobby shop could help with the learning curve and warrantee ,ran it about 30 times this past weekend in the bay ,really fast on 6s ,on the edge of blowing over,5 s is also an option ,I run 5s on a bunch of my 1/8 buggies where 6s is over the top,so on the boat I run 5s to just run around markers,then 6s to do top speed runs ,I noticed my boat was a little slower on top speed by the end of the weekend ,lubed the drive cable every day ,it needed it,but maybe the plastic prop got a little worn ,ordered a 442 balanced prop off ebay,if you run wide open all the time you may damage your lipos ,they can't do max discharge for long periods of time

DieHarder

Good for you! Although there's no way you could run it 30 times on a 3-day weekend without running at night or having a dual charger and not allowing proper battery cooling times. Running wide open keeps the water cooling at it's max performance to keep your electronics a reasonable temp. Bleeping and running the throttle at half or so will heat up the ESC/motor much quicker and push the peak amps of the lipos and the ESC. If you get high enough C rated lipos, a big enough ESC, and a really nice water cooling setup, you can run your boat just about however and not damage anything.

I'm interested in how you've setup 5S in your boat without offsetting weight and CG.

fr8cture

You get your boat yet?

I ended up selling my stock electronics. Bought a Leopard 3674 1400kv Seaking 10a esc and a X642 s&b prop.

DieHarder

Tracking says it arrived in Muskegon (a city away), but has the delivery date as Monday. That's awesome man! How/where did you sell your electronics? You're using the X642 with 6S, right?

fr8cture

Yes 6s. I posted on multiple forums. Guy on RcTech bought them.

DieHarder

Cool. Selling them is a great idea, otherwise a great 4S setup ends up wasted under the bench when someone else could be using it. I finally came up with some $$$ for SMC batteries so I'll probably order a couple either tomorrow night or right after the boat shows up. Have you water tested your boat/setup yet?

fr8cture

No, still in a battery mess sadly. Usps is killing me.

DieHarder

My boat showed up today. Flawless, literally. I can't find a scratch, chip, or asymmetric decal on the boat. Everything looks great inside as well. I'm very happy with it! It looks a lot cooler in person than I was thinking it would. Those EC5s look much more legit than the EC3s I have on some other batteries. After watching a few YouTube videos, it looks pretty easy to solder them too.

So now I'll be ordering the batteries soon, but I'm also on the hunt for what kind of flex shaft grease to use and the correct tape. Gonna go read some threads... lol

fr8cture

I bought the dynamite marine tape and Grim racer speed grease.

DieHarder

I think I'm going to get the OSE hatch tape. You get a 100ft for $3 and if I tack it on with my order of other stuff from them, shipping is minimal. And then for grease, Proboat's grease gun system looks pretty cool. It's a gun that you just screw a tube of grease on and use. It's $20, but the gun is like full metal and 5oz is a lot of grease. It's either that or the Grim Racer grease. I've heard a ton of good things about the Grim Racer stuff, not much on Proboat's.

Tape: http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...rod=hatch-tape

Grease Gun: http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...od=dh-dyne4200

fr8cture

Ahh bought the tape with my boat.