RE: Official Jammin X1CRT Thread
Well, my CRT came today, and I'm really pissed off. This thing is supposed to be an RTR, but the tires weren't on it(they were in a separate compartment in the box) and there was no fuel in the tank! What a ripoff!!!
OK, but seriously, this thing rocks.
I'm a total newbie to nitro, and I was a bit overwhelmed at first, and it's hard to stop and think clearly about everything when you've got a shiny new truck sitting in front of you waiting to roost and jump and, inevitably, crash. The first kink in my "plan" was that the charger for the receiver batteries is an overnight charger. Crap. And I had no nitro. That's kind of an important ingredient, even just for breaking the engine in.
So, after I did the "assembly" required with an RTR, I loaded the truck and the tools and my oils and hour-charged battery and whatnot into the car, and after quick stop at Lowe's for some blue Loctite and stacks of batteries, I headed for Wolcott Hobby to at least pick up some fuel and hopefully watch a few people run.
I picked up a gallon of 20% and a glow plug wrench (note to OFNA -- how the hell are we supposed to get that thin gin there unless we already own a glow-plug wrench or happen to have the perfect nut driver? It's an RTR, don't forget, a lot of the target market doesn't own the tools yet) and was about to leave when I decided it was worth it to ask if they had a quick charger to crank up the receiver battery. I had ordered one last week, but still hadn't gotten it (it was waiting for me when I got home). They charged it up for me, and when I went to plug it in and drop it into the box on the chassis, I found a battery box that loads 4AAs. Huh, nice touch. Both options.
So at this point I had everything I needed, except for a few bits of knowledge. I knew the process of heat cycling the engine, but I honestly didn't know much about starting it. I scoured the engine parts diagram for about 20 minutes until I knew exactly where each needle was and what it did, then someone pulled up with a Revo and started prepping it. I asked if I could watch to see how it all worked, but of course it was a Revo and you just use the button -- even the gow plug is wired to the battery pack. He was a really nice guy, though, and explained a few things to me and showed me how to clamp the glow plug starter on, etc. The sound of that one-way bearing on the rotostart scared the hell out of me! He gave me a few tips and I managed to get it running, and I tweaked the needles for a bit until I was comfortable with it, then cycled it 5 times up to 200 degrees and back down. I also had no idea about after-run oil, so that was a good tip to get, as well as storing it with the piston all the way down.
I finally got it out onto the track after about an hour and a half of prepping and cycling, and DAMN does this thing rip. I cleared the triple perfectly on my second lap (I've never run on a track before either, always electrics in the backyard and on the streets), and had a blast ripping around for a tank, and then the shop closed down the track. I cleaned it pretty well with the air compressor, and discovered that the bottom of one of the shocks (the part that the bottom of the spring lock sinto) had disappeared. Oops. Anyone know where I can pick one up, or do I have to order a whole new shock? It wouldn't hurt to have spares, but I'd rather just pick up the one part for now if I can.
I can't race this weekend, my band is playing Saturday night and I have some friends staying with me to go to the show, but early next week I'll be able to give it a really thorough going-over with the loctite and load up the diffs with the greases I bought, as well as put some heavier oils in the shocks.
Holy mother of GOD what a blast that was. And it turns out that I love the smell of nitro exhaust. Whoda thunk?
Sorry for the long post, I'm just really pumped and wish I wasn't booked every night this week so I could get back out there for more. Maybe I'll do a couple more heat cycles at home. Plus with the new charger here, I can get some quick fixes in with the Bandit around the neighborhood.
- Raketemensch