DieHarder

Hey Fr8cture, did you have to change the bullets on the leopard motor and Hobbywing esc when you put them in? Or did they have the same style bullets and plugged right together. I'm putting a shopping list together and trying to figure out if I need to buy bullets.

fr8cture

they are both using 6mm. Each of them come with extra bullets for the esc/motor also.

DieHarder

Oh, yeah I see now in the Leopard motor description that it says it comes with the ones for the ESC as well. That's cool. Thanks man!

crispyspa

I have the v1 with the 80a Esc and run on 6s no problem. I use Turnigy Nano tech 5000mah 65-130c and HXT 4mm connectors, only because that's what comes on the Turnigy batteries.

The first problem I had was the flex shaft. When it was inserted into the collet at the factory, one of the wires snuck out and they didn't catch it. They sent a replacement right away. I was however able to save it by clipping off the errant wire and silver soldering the end of the shaft, If you want to know how to do it, I could post the video I made.

The second problem was the lid latch system. just cheap. I lost the inner hatch when I flipped it and the outer hatch came off. I now have a piece of foam siliconed to the inside of the inner hatch so it floats. I did try other hatch tapes over the years, but I've found that the 3M clear electrical works best. (aka Grim racer radio box tape)

The third problem is the "epoxy" they use to "secure" all the wood bits to the inside of the boat. The last flip I had literally dismounted everything. This was good though because it prompted me to move the battery trays forward and get better balance. I used gap filling superglue to remount everything.

I installed one upgrade before the first run. A thrust bearing at the prop and a retaining ring on the flex shaft at the motor collet so if the collet loosens, I won't lose the flex and prop.

My first adjustments were to raise the stinger all the way up and aim the prop down as much as the stuffing tube would allow. Those, along with the battery placement make it run wet but give a nice default position to gauge other future adjustments upon.

Here is a video of the last time I ran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTq_zME4ZUU

For some reason You Tube truncated my video and it cuts short.

fr8cture

the v3 has a different hatch and none of the internals are made of wood. Watching your video you have alot of cavitating going on.

DieHarder

I've been reading the RC Groups thread - http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2300607 and I'm finding it very informational. Thinking of running the Leopard 3674 1900kv with a X642 prop. One guy on there said that he ran the X642 and X442 and got the same speed on each. The X442 gave higher rpms (supposedly) and made up for the different pitch. My logic says that a X442 would be a good route because it should get out of the water faster and still have the top speed.

Fr8cture, I curious why you opted for the 1400kv? It seems everyone is having the most luck with 1900kv.

crispyspa

Yup, I saw that. the V3 seems like a lot nicer boat in and out. This is my first water propped boat, so I'm kind of in the same boat as the OP (pun intended) with the learning curve.

Which section of the vid had cavitation before or after moving the batteries forward, and how does one cure it or even recognize it?

fr8cture

I went with 1400kv for reliability. Those two say they are working well but who knows for how long. Saw caviation through the whole video. Its the nose bouncing. It seems to be common with the blackjack especially the older versions. Looking up blueprinting the blackjack on youtube.

DieHarder

Man, blueprinting? I don't think I'm gonna take it that far with my Blackjack. I myself can't just ruin the nice finish and I really don't want to repaint it. Tonight I started thinking of doing the 1700kv and a X642. Do you know what those numbers and letters in parentheses mean on the kv listings? I'm stumped.

fr8cture

those have to do with the winding type. Doesn't really matter. I originally ordered the 1700 but emailed them to change it. If I'm unhappy I will go to a 1700kv. As for the blue printing I'm not going to either. I was more recommending that to the guy with the v1 as the older ones have alot more imperfections that the v3 does.

DieHarder

Oh ok. Yeah I've seen a lot of V1s that bounce, not so much the V3s so I was a little thrown off there. lol

I think I've finally got it just about figured out. I'm either gonna run 1900kv w/ X442 or 1700kv w/ X642. I'm probably making this harder than it should be...

I was also looking at getting the OSE upgraded strut but read of the bushing sizing issues on RC Groups. Like you said earlier, it wouldn't match the rest of the components being silver. The idea about drilling out the end of the strut and putting two 1/4" OD lead Teflon bushings in sounds really good to me, I'll probably end up doing that over ordering bushings from China that may or may not fit. I've got a drill press, so it shouldn't be too hard. That way the strut would still be black as well.

DieHarder

I saw the water outlets on the HW 180A esc are a fuzz smaller than 7/32". I'm guessing 7/32" tubing should work well, how'd you do it with yours? I didn't see the sizes mentioned anywhere on RC Groups.

fr8cture

Just pushed the tubing onto it. It's a tight fit.

DieHarder

Cool, thanks.

Alright, so I went ahead and ordered some of stuff:

-OSE Upgraded Flex shaft
-Hobbywing SeaKing Programming Card
-Proboat Grease Gun System
-OSE 3ft 7/32" Tubing
-Octura X442 S & B Prop
-Leopard 3674 1900kv Motor
-Hobbywing SeaKing 180A ESC
-EC5 Plugs
-3/16" ID 6mm OD Lead Teflon Bushings
-Waterproof Hatch Tape

Tonight I'll be ordering two 3S SMC 7200mah 60C lipos and a Savox Servo. I think that's everything I'll need to put it all together reliably. I've read some bad things about the stock discontinued Spektrum servo and would really like to change that out. I'm looking at getting the Savox SC 1258TG servo and doing a balloon wrap on it. I was going to get a Protek 100T, but then read of the terrible glitching issues and how quite a few reviewers were having the same "lock to lock" problems with it. They also took it off sale, so it's back up to $50. For $10 more (only $5 after the coupon code) you get some titanium gears and a coreless motor, so I'm game for that.

Did you get your batteries?

DieHarder

I went with SPC 7200mah 70C 11.1v batteries instead of the SMC ones. Also bought the Savox 1258TG servo and a Dynamite 25T aluminum horn. Everything should be here today except the Lead Teflon bushings. They're on a snail-powered boat from China.

DieHarder

Fr8cture, I've found that the Leopard motor male bullets and the Hobbywing ESC female bullets plug together nicely. It doesn't look like I need to change any of the bullet connectors for it to work. Did you change connectors when you put yours in?

n5n442

In fact,I think you have much knowledge of product and experience to recommend product.

liambarr

you won't overload it by changing the prop and it will run perfectly fine on those batteries. To be honest your questions sound like your panicking to much? Just plug and play my friend. I have the 29, 24, and the 9 and the love being nailed. The only thing I will say is stay clear of weeds and stuff as I've chewed a couple props

crispyspa

I went ahead and got a v3 and was not happy with the speed, barely made 50 MPH even on 6s. I changed out the stock prop with an Octura M440 and got a bit more out of it, but what really woke it up was a Leopard 2200kv 4074 motor and a full replacement of the stock flex shaft to delete the teflon tube and use a full 3/16 shaft. If you don't delete the teflon, you WILL melt it and destroy the stuffing tube and flex shaft. (please don't ask how I know that) I've made 72MPH once and pretty reliably get 65+ and about 6 minutes of run time, mostly full throttle. Just a tip. If you do this, plan on re securing the battery trays if you crash. I did get a CNC 42mm prop from OSE that I plan to try this spring....maybe I'll get to 75+.

RCaddict80

not entirely true..i just bought a brand new miss geico 29 v3 and been reading all kinds of stuff on internet about the electronics overheating on 6s and the system isnt set up for 6s. ive only had my boat out twice and i bought 2 lectron 7600mah 75c 3cell lipos and this thing screams! i had it full throttle 70% of my runs because
im not that hard on my toys and after each run my motor was 106 degrees, battery 82 degrees,esc 96 degrees and motor connectors 86 degrees. outside temps was 70 degrees out. all this reading on these forums really had me scared because my batteries cost my $200 for the pair. one thing i did do before even concidering putting boat in the water was i didnt like the big clutter of wires where the battery connectors are at and the motor wires. ITS JUST A HUGE MESS AND LOOKS AWFUL!! so i unscrewed the esc, turned it around so the battery wires are tucked underneith the front of the hull, i made 2 extention wires plugged them in and ran them on each side of the motor tray zip tied them to the carbon fiber tray and it really looks sweet!!! no more wire mess-streaching the battery connectors across the motor and looking like crap, plus the dynamite logo on the esc is now the same direcion as the logo on the motor! i would advise anyone who has a mg29 v3 or bj29 v3 to make the same mod as i did turnig the esc around and making battery wire extentions