RE: Walmart Submarine = Cool !
A quick web search turned up just what I was hoping for: others who have bought the Walmart Motorworks submarine and are interested in modding/tweaking it for better performance. I've found mine has a tough time with the currents created by the water circulation jets in our condo pool. Needs more power! The 7.2 V pack from my Firebird XL almost fits, but I think it's too heavy. I doubt the extra 1.2 V is enough to damage the electronics, so now I'm tying to configure just the right nimh battery pack for the sub. Once I had the submarine balanced just right (which can be a little bit finicky), it worked pretty well if I kept it in the calmer parts of the pool and away from the stronger currents. I'd be interesting in hearing about y'alls attempts to improve this interesting toy. Incidently, it's not an accurate model of a Los Angeles class sumbarine at all...but then, it's sold as a toy, not a model. I still think it looks pretty cool.
By the way, although the manual says not to take it below about 3.5'....I put too much ballast in mine on it's maiden voyage and it took several minutes to retrieve it from the deep end of our 8' pool...still works fine...guess it didn't reach "crush depth", lol.