ALSO MY BOTTOM IS IN THE WATER!!!BUT AFTER U LUNCH THE BOAT YOU DONT HAVE PROBLEM...ILL TRY TO SENT SOME FOTOS
OF HOW THIS HOLE R.....
THIS IS THE INFO I FOUNT FOR THIS HYDRO!I HOPE THIS WILL HELP YOU!:::
Intro
When I first saw the pictures of the Pro Boat Miss-Budweiser I knew that this was the boat for me. I had gotten the RCBM magazine and read the article -they gave it a good review and a few months latter I saw the boat in the Hobby Shop. Wow! is all I can say I had never seem such a nice looking boat. It was RTR which is not really the type of boat that I would normally buy but the thing looked so good, and lately lack of time was one of my main problems for getting a Hydroplane designed and built at my rc boat dock. Here I will try to give my honest opinion of the boat I hope you find the information useful. I highly recommend that you read the Radio Control Boat Modeler review of this boat. I think it complements my article very well. Back to top
Getting Started
The boat comes RTR (Ready-to-run) according to the box. You do need to get a thin-wall glow-plug wrench, fuel and a glow igniter to get the boat running. There are some things that can be done to help assure a successful first run.
Boat Flotation: If the boat has extra space available in the hull, then you might as well add some more foam; it never hurts to have extra flotation! I found the boat had two small blocks of foam in the tip of the sponsons. If the boat takes on water all that will be showing is the tip of the sponsons. I added strips of Styrofoam in front of the fuel tank, around the radio box, and along each side the engine bay. You should always add insulation to the radio hatch. Incase of an accident it will float to the surface. Fiberglass doesn't float very well…
I used hot melt-glue and a hot-wire shaped piece of foam to keep the hatch from sinking to the bottom of the pond. Notice that I cut the front at an angle so that the cooling air vents where not obstructed.
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Electronics and water
The radio box for the boat is not very well sealed. The push-rods are too thin for the seals provided. Also the Servos are mounted to the bottom of the radio-box. If any water gets in the radio box it will give the servos a bath. This means that servo water damage will start occurring just after your first run. What can you do? Removing the radio box or re-building it entirely would require major re-work of the hull and hatch area, I chose to focus on the electronics instead and make them as water resistant as possible.
For this purpose I chose Corrosion-X available at hobby shops and some Auto-parts stores. This lubricant will adhere to electronics, motors and electrical assemblies and make them very water resistant. The only drawbacks are that when the product is cured it forms a thick grease that can slow down the servo movement until the small gears break-free from the lube-buildup. This servo slow-down usually occurs when you first start the model but goes away a few seconds of servo operation. For water protection I consider this an acceptable drawback.
Two small holes where drilled into the servo so that the Corrosion-X could enter the servo case. Holes only go through the plastic outer case of the servo.
The second thing that bothers me is the cheap through-hole receiver that is included with the JR Python radio. The available surface area for moisture to penetrate the components is just incredible just a little moisture will render the receiver useless. Most other manufacturers use surface mount technology for receivers, even in their budget radio controls. The best low-buck alternative is to wrap the receiver with a (2) water balloons and use a wire-tie to seal the servo wires.
What can you do short of gutting the receiver? I chose to cover the receiver with epoxy. I have other receivers done this way and they have never given me any moisture problems. Even the epoxied receiver goes blank after it's dunked in the water. I guess encasing this thing in a block of wax is not very practical. I suggest you go the balloon route...Back to top
Before starting the engine
Mechanically speaking I did not find anything that needed immediate attention on the boat before it was ran. I did chose to take the engine out of the boat and to clean and inspect it. I always do this with any new engine. I did not find any trash inside the engine for the exception of the exhaust port on the sleeve. There was some machining debris still present here. I flushed the engine with denatured alcohol and then with WD40. All the parts where coated with Marvell-Mystery Oil before being re-assembled.
The largest leak in the radio box was on the antenna mount. The glued on piece of fuel tubing will come off soon as you start working on the boat. I drilled out the hole a little more and installed a plastic tube meant to be used as a RC car antenna. I used a piece of fuel tubing on both the top and the bottom of the antenna base to seal against the hull and prevent the water from coming in..
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The first tanks of fuel
Even though the plastic fuel tank lid looks like a good idea it really isn't very easy to use. I found myself fighting with the tank just to get the lid on and off. I use a large 32 Oz. Airplane fuel tank as my "fuel bottle" for the boat. I inserted a piece of plastic tube between the tank and the carburetor line and just connect it to the tank. Squeeze the flexible airplane tank and presto!
Both tank lines are connected to each other to prevent the fuel from attracting moisture in the engine
The lines are disconnected and the fuel is fed in through the pink line.
With the tank full we re-connect the line to the carb. The boat is now ready for action.
I have used 10%, 15% and 50% nitro fuel and the boat works well with all of them. The needles have to be tweaked when you change nitro contents to keep the engine happy. I suggest that whatever fuel you decide to go with it should have a minimum of 18% lubricants. More oil will translate into an easier to tune boat and more successful launches, plus the engine will last longer. I suggest you do the evaporation test with a graduated measuring cup to really see how much oil your fuel has. You might be surprised! Just remember oil is more expensive than methanol...
All of the engine break-in tanks where done on the shore with the boat on the stand. It was not hard to keep the temps below 200F with simple needle adjustments. After the 4 or 5th tank the engine started to wake up and respond well to throttle changes. The engine started up well and did not act up while in the break-in stages. Back to top
Before getting wet
Go over the boat and inspect all the screws in the drive-line. I had to make a notch on the upper deck to allow access to the drive dog screw to tighten it. I lubed the shaft with Prather water proof cable grease checked the radio and made sure the radio trim was set properly.
I found it easier to install the hatch tape with the tuned pipe and the turbine cowl removed. It's only three screws...
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The maiden voyage
Well after checking the engine I got the boat on shore gave it a gentle toss and the boat dropped into the water like a wet rag and the back sunk into the water -It looked like a real expensive tug boat. The engine was able to swing the cavitating prop while almost being fully submerged (Mental note: This engine has torque!) Did a couple of half-ass tosses but the boat would not launch. I got someone to launch the boat (Discus Style with the three mandatory spins) and the boat started picking up speed and got on plane. The boat was running "okay" the rear seemed like it was running a little wet. The engine still was rich so I decided to ignore the style and just run a couple of tanks while the engine finished the baby runs.
Launching the boat requires some forward momentum as well as a flat landing. It may take a couple of tries but after a while I did not have much problems self-launching the boat on my own.
The boat was not able to finish a tank. It looked like it was sucking plenty of water -but I could not find the point of entry. Apart from water pushed up the prop-shaft I could not think of anything else. Back to top
Engine trouble-shooting
The engine quits before you get the cowl installed...
Note: All the following scenarios are to be followed with the boat safely sitting on a boat stand.
Scenario #1
The engine is probably loading up on fuel and flooding. I would first try to increase the throttle trim to get the engine to idle at bit faster. If this still does not work I would look at what the boat does as you give it throttle with the prop out of the water. The engine should sound "fat" (meaning with plenty of fuel) when you jab the throttle. If the engine smokes and stumbles transitioning from low to high speed then I would look at leaning out the low-speed needle.
Scenario #2
If the engine takes a long time to pick up RPM and there is plenty of smoke coming out the tuned pipe (indicating a rich setting) Then I would look into leaning out the high speed needle.
Scenario #3
If the engine's RPM's are going up and it quits while idling then the low-speed needle is probably too lean.
Scenario #4
If the engine revs up aggressively and follows the throttle servo with no lag it probably means you are running too lean. If after a run there are signs of overheating like: Steam coming from engine, lower portion of glow element is dark brown (like it's burnt) or if the glow plug platinum element has a powdery gray finish then you are probably running the engine too lean.
On the water engine problems...
If the boat seems to loose power then the engine is probably overheating.
If the boat is running too rich or if you have too much water cooling then you will see the boat run slower but will still see smoke coming from the pipe and there will be no evidence of overheating. If the boat is easy to re-start shortly after you bring it to shore then you know it's not overheating. You can make a coil with annealed copper tubing and wrap it around the tuned pipe coupler to pre-heat the water before it gets to the engine head. The water cooling on the Miss-Bud is not a super-pressurized water jet like on other boats so I don't think that you would be over-cooling the engine head.
Engine is acting up...
If the engine is acting differently than before then look elsewhere for the problem. Check fuel lines, water cooling lines, glow-plug. You can also back-flush the carb with WD40. Carb needles do not need to be tweaked every 10 minutes... Once you get the carb adjusted you should not need to mess with it very much unless the weather has changed significantly. Back to top
Fist Impression
My first impressions is that is a nitro beginner boat that actually does what is expected. In my opinion No nitro boat is compatible with a complete beginner to RC boats. Too many thing to keep track of -start with a nitro car or truck then jump into the boats. The boat is very predictable and is good mannered even if you try to drive it like a maniac. My only beef with the boat is that it sort of ignores your rudder commands for a second or two before the boat reacts... like it's dead at the stick. When the dam thing reacts it feels like you're driving your Grandma's Cadillac. I've driven other .12 size catamarans and it has sort of spoiled me- Got used to turn on-a-dime control! Still the boat can be run even in smaller ponds, just give yourself plenty of space to turn. Back to top
Quick fixes to common problems
The boat sucks water…
Before I installed the Auto-bailer I could not even finish a tank of gas with the boat on full plane. After installing the Auto-bailer I could easily run the mill + do 6 laps and had fuel to spare at the end of a race-heat..
My pit-buddy also noticed this when he picked up the hull after a run, it was not 5 lbs. heavier than when he launched it like it did the weekend before. The Auto bailer is installed in the lower left rear sponson. The bottom of the auto-bailer is almost flush with the bottom of the ski.
The drive-dog pin falls out...
Notice the brass collar that surrounds the drive-dog joint. Some people are having problems with the joint. The drive-dog pin is ejected from the assembly. In this photo the drive-dog looks crooked, the drive-shaft was removed as part of the regular post-run maintenance. I always seemed to have problems getting the original plastic spacer back in the drive-line. So I replaced it with a 3mm shock O-ring.
5mm threaded and 5mm smooth bore drive-dog set by OS Engines
If are having problems with the durability of the stock drive-dog I suggest you look into a set sold by OS Engines. The Female is threaded for a 5mm engine shaft and the male-end is drilled to accept a 5mm shaft. If you install a small piece of brass tubing and notch it so the set-screw bites on the 3mm shaft it might work. Traxxas also sells a male dog-bone but it is drilled for a 4mm shaft.
The boat wont turn...
Make sure you have adjust the steering throw trim to the maximum setting. It will give you needed steering capabilities when running on smaller ponds. Make a mental note that if you turn the steering wheel all the way to the left the servo will bind and you will put stress on the rudder assembly. If you cannot mentally limit your use of left steering input then re-adjust the steering travel limit so that the servo does not bind when you use full left and right on the steering wheel. Down the road most users will change out the radio, hopefully with one that has end point adjustments. At this point you can adjust it to suit your needs. Back to top
The Next Step…
After fine tuning the carb and installing the auto-bailer the boat easily gets on plane (Still needs a good flat throw).
The next step for the boat is to experiment with different props and change the way the pipe is mounted to make it easier to adjust the pipe length and get a bigger rudder to get some more control.
Quick hop-ups
Running a stock prop with a stock length pipe on a stock engine with so-so fuel is not going to make your Hydro ballistic against the ever growing fleet of red hydroplanes so what can you do?
Octura Y535 Metal prop. I found that the boat launched better with the metal prop -even with less than perfect launches. I balanced the prop but there was some extra vibration caused by the extra mass at the end of the shaft. Make a mental note there are no bushing or Teflon-lead bearings that I could see in the drive train. Performance of the metal prop was very close to the stock prop -Most people would not even notice it. The only good thing is that the metal prop can be tweaked for better performance. If you aren't to good with metal props stay with the plastic prop.
Other Props
I tried some lifting Octura 1732 and 1735 props and the boat would not launch. Other alternatives are the Octura X435 and X635. Rum-Runner-Hobbies are importing some three bladed anti-cavitating props in the 35mm size.
If you want to wake up the boats handling get you some nice aluminum hardware. This is from Octura Marine Supply.
Fullers Fast Electrics Wedge Rudder (With water pickup)
http://www.drcwebservices.com/ffe/hardware.htm
Small hardware is available from Octura and Fullers Fast Electrics (Ignore the "Electric" part of the name) Electric size hardware is perfect for small block(.12 to.18) powered water craft.
Installing a new rudder can be as simple as drilling out the brass bushing to 3/16 or as complex as replacing the entire drive system with an aluminum bracket and rudder arm.
Changing the tuned pipe
I would look into a MAC tuned pipe for .10- .15 (2.5) engines. The shape is similar to the stock one but the stinger is a little longer and has a larger diameter. Before changing the pipe I would look at adjusting the pipe length to try and pick up some needed RPM's from the stock engine.
Changing the engine
This would be one of the last things that I would change at least until the stock power-plant gets worn out. Unless you have gutted the drive-shaft and installed and adjustable flex-cable setup I would not recommend getting a replacement engine that has too much power. Without the ability to adjust things in the tail end of the boat the handling could go from great to terrible in an awful hurry. If you are planning on racing in the A-Hydro Class then you have to change the engine as a .129 size engine is the largest that you can use.
If someone twisted my arm to change the engine I would install one of the new Traxxas 2.5 engines. I would replace the stock forward mounted tank with two side-by-side tanks that would fit alongside the engine. I would then place some lead-ballast in the nose of the boat and some near the CG to keep the boat from flying off the water. If you run in windy or choppy weather I would recommend to remove the horizontal wing from the rear of the boat and replace it with 2 thin carbon fiber rods. This way you still retain some needed strength in the back. If the scale look is not critical for you I would remove the two rear winglets all together. The stock rudder would have to be replaced and the turn-fin would probably also need to be looked at. Back to top
Wrap-up
If all out speed & performance is your thing then this boat is probably not the best or easiest to outfit for this purpose. The engine bay has plenty of room for a larger engine -even a .21 engine could be fitted in there! The only problem is that the rest of the boat would have to be rebuilt to handle the power. If you start with a well designed racing hull the end result will be a faster, stronger better performing boat that cost the same as a highly modified Pro-Boat Miss-Bud.
I hope this article helped you in some way
Eric Perez
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TAKE CARE PEOPLE
GEORGE GREECE