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Old 07-09-2008, 07:21 AM
  #451  
Wheelnut
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Why do people use other online sources to host their pictures? It is very easy to upload them to RCU and they will be there much longer than any picture hosting site. Not to mention the fact that you won't have to click a link and wait for another page to load with the picture.
Many times I have gone through old threads and wanted to look at some of the pictures that everyone was talking about in the thread, only to find that the picture hosting site had removed the pictures, probably due to the fact that the person let their account expire. Alot of the time the site was photobucket.
Old 07-09-2008, 10:55 AM
  #452  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Well, i still haven't found a great place, I was out at Sprague Lake at the boat ramp. There is a little pond in Post Falls too. Fish Lake seems like it would be good, other then that I really don't know where to go. I am still charging the packs for the other boat, he said to slow charge them the first few times, it has been 13 hours now for the first pack, this isn't going to work well camping this weekend. Maybe no Super Vee for the trip. I bought a Octura Y534 prop, is this one going to work?
Old 07-09-2008, 12:17 PM
  #453  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Wow the amount of performance gain with a simple prop and motor swap!

Was that the stock battery also?
Old 07-09-2008, 04:05 PM
  #454  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Yea, I was running the stock battery. After about 5 minutes though it got really hot. I dont think its made to pull more amps. Im gonna order up some elite 1500's to run. I dont really wanna go lipo its already hard to control. Cant imagine it with less weight. Hey you should come down to the river some time its pretty calm down their right under Beacon Hill.
Old 07-09-2008, 04:10 PM
  #455  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

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Old 07-10-2008, 12:29 AM
  #456  
Quadchuck
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Well, the Octura Y534 prop wasn't a good idea, over propped. Planed in a second, but seemed like the motor had a hard time pushing it, run time was very bad, and battery and motor was hot.
Old 07-10-2008, 02:32 PM
  #457  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio


ORIGINAL: Mauromj

Yea, I was running the stock battery. After about 5 minutes though it got really hot. I dont think its made to pull more amps. Im gonna order up some elite 1500's to run. I dont really wanna go lipo its already hard to control. Cant imagine it with less weight. Hey you should come down to the river some time its pretty calm down their right under Beacon Hill.
The VR3 is a high-revving truck motor, meant to be geared down, so the Kv (rpm per volt) is probably too high for direct drive in a boat.
Old 07-10-2008, 11:42 PM
  #458  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

I thought the same thing untill I ran it. I thought it would get really hot but it stayed nice and cool.
Old 07-11-2008, 12:42 AM
  #459  
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ORIGINAL: Mauromj

I thought the same thing untill I ran it. I thought it would get really hot but it stayed nice and cool.
oh, ok, it was just the battery pack that got hot - motor was ok[sm=71_71.gif]
Old 07-11-2008, 11:25 AM
  #460  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Hey guys - I cannot find anyone that has this boat in stock! Does anyone know of a place?!
Old 07-11-2008, 11:31 AM
  #461  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Try these places:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aquacraft-Mini-R...807081512r5518

http://www.rcplanet.com/ProductDetai...AQUB15&click=3

http://www.redrockethobbies.com/Aqua...kasterisk-.htm

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...od=dh-mini-rio
Old 07-11-2008, 12:01 PM
  #462  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Thanks for those links - everyone who I can actually talk to says no stock until late July
Old 07-12-2008, 04:45 PM
  #463  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

All you guys that are running this boat
Is it pretty good out of the box and how reliable is the engine?
Old 07-12-2008, 04:52 PM
  #464  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio


ORIGINAL: Chuck E. Cheese

i ran side by side with the ammo boat today, exact same set up except motor and esc and they were neck and neck. for this boat i'll save the $35 and build my mini-v also. dont get me wrong, my fast one is an ammo 24-45-2900 but this one worked well on both 2 and 3 cells (i was supprised for a $30 motor and esc combo). i will admidt that the cheap motor did get a little hotter with 3 cells, but still cool by electric motor standards due to the cooling coils.

another worthwile tip is to cut about 3/4" off the stuffing tube at the propeller side (about 1/2 of what sticks out of the hull) and run right side rudder only. i tried this in an attempt to get it to turn better (shorter wheelbase thing) which it didnt, but it did create a better ride angle and when i downsized to a y431 prop it was alot smoother ride on 3 cells. this didnt seem to make a difference with 2 cells and 2 rudders.
where did you get the motor and esc for $30.00
Old 07-13-2008, 09:27 AM
  #465  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio


ORIGINAL: monsterbrad

All you guys that are running this boat
Is it pretty good out of the box and how reliable is the engine?
Its pretty decent IMO.

Im sure you could take it out of the box run it as is for about 5-6 runs before you need to grease the porp shaft.
Old 07-14-2008, 06:39 AM
  #466  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

I still can't find one in stock anywhere
Old 07-14-2008, 08:49 AM
  #467  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Sweet! Just found one in red! Ordered it up along with a set of extra props just in case!

Are there any aftermarket props that can be added for better performance or anything? I tried to sort some mods out but the thread is pretty long now and I couldn't see if there was anything worth throwing in off the get-go.

So anyway - If I wanted to hop this puppy up, where would I start?
Old 07-14-2008, 11:10 AM
  #468  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

Have Epoxy on hand. When the boat comes out the box before running it loosen the rudder screws. Apply Epoxy around where the screws go. Fillet the arms. Let dry overnight the re tighten. These have a tendancy to split around the screw hole.

Next step is to ditch the flex cable right away and get some .047 piano wire/music wire.

I also did the ball links on the rudders...

Probably best hop Ive seen without basically redoing the whole electronics is the VR3 motor for $15. Adding 2S lipo is also a plus I assume.
Old 07-14-2008, 11:55 AM
  #469  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

How do you do ball joints for the rudders?2
Old 07-14-2008, 12:22 PM
  #470  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

You can roll up to post #70 or so for how to loosen up the rudder linkage so it doesn't break the control arm the first time you run the boat (or try to).

You're likely to break a rudder bracket or an arm before you break a prop.

An octura x431 prop is 1mm larger and gives a little more speed, but you can accomplish the same thing by allowing your NiMh pack to top off on trickle charge overnight before you run the boat (of course, you can always opt for both ;-). If you let the charger top off the battery pack, you'll have less of a problem with radio glitching or short range.

Remove the left rudder for a little bit more speed. Move the battery pack as far forward as you can without allowing it to hit the drive coupler. This helps the boat get on plane more quickly and it keeps it from looking dorky when your're bringing it in once the pack has run down.

Take the time to roll back through the thread
Old 07-14-2008, 01:12 PM
  #471  
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ORIGINAL: Nina Roses Dad

You can roll up to post #70 or so for how to loosen up the rudder linkage so it doesn't break the control arm the first time you run the boat (or try to).

You're likely to break a rudder bracket or an arm before you break a prop.

An octura x431 prop is 1mm larger and gives a little more speed, but you can accomplish the same thing by allowing your NiMh pack to top off on trickle charge overnight before you run the boat (of course, you can always opt for both ;-). If you let the charger top off the battery pack, you'll have less of a problem with radio glitching or short range.

Remove the left rudder for a little bit more speed. Move the battery pack as far forward as you can without allowing it to hit the drive coupler. This helps the boat get on plane more quickly and it keeps it from looking dorky when your're bringing it in once the pack has run down.

Take the time to roll back through the thread
Awesome thanks - do you know of a source for the X431 prop? I found the X430 and X432 but not 431. Also, the charger it comes with, from what I understand, is DC to DC. Do people stick with that one or buy another? I'd like to avoid buying another just yet til I get used to everything. Thanks. Oh yeah, and the battery it comes with is a 1100 mah, is there a reliable replacement that has more capacity without weighing the puppy down and or costing the entire bank?

Thanks!
Old 07-14-2008, 01:49 PM
  #472  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

You can find the x431 it if you google it or if you pm the guy on ebay who sells octura props. I've put off ordering a couple because I keep telling myself that what I really need to do is put those few $$$ toward a couple of liPo batteries, in which case the stock prop will be just fine.

The stock charger is a good little unit, but only works on 12v DC, so leaving it plugged into your car overnight only works if the accessory outlets stay on 24/7. I have a decent AC/DC peak charger, but I mostly use it for the 7-cell packs for my Hammer. I've got one of those thermoelectric ice-less coolers which happens to have a very nice switching AC power supply, so I run the Mini-Rio charger off that and just leave it on the workbench. I bought a 1-into-3 parallel charging harness from all-battery.com and I let all 3 of my packs for this boat trickle charge at the same time. That way they top off nice and slow and they don't even get warm.

Others on this thread with fancy chargers have said that they've measured the capacity of the pack to be over 1400mah, so the 1100mah rating is probably conservative, meant to be an indication of what it holds if only charges up to the point that you've trigger the peak detection circuitry in the charger and haven't actually let it top off. You can find identical packs on all-battery.com as well. Their prices on ebay are usually lower than if you buy off their website, though.
Old 07-20-2008, 08:58 AM
  #473  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

brushless esc for ammo
Old 07-20-2008, 12:53 PM
  #474  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio


ORIGINAL: Wheelnut

Do not use the stock battery with any type of motor upgrades with out upgrading the wires on the pack. Here is what happened when I ran it with my AMMO brushless motor.
I read this whole thread and somehow missed when you said this. I guess I should have read it twice, lol. as my battery looks just like yours did
Old 07-20-2008, 01:14 PM
  #475  
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Default RE: Aquacraft Mini Rio

I just modified the stock Mini Rio charger to have a molex connector that interfaces to my computers power supply. The computer puts out 12v over a yellow wire so I have it hooked up with a quick disconnect so I can go back and forth between a computer molex and the cigarette plug so I can charge the battery both in and out of the house.

It beeps when its done though - should I leave it plugged in and let it continue to charge? The manual says not to.


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