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05-22-2010 | 07:32 PM

dhoyt7141

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Joined: May 2010

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From: San Luis Obispo, CA

RE: HK Small Bolt Hydro same as HOTR

This Guide was last edited at 9:01PM PST on June 4, 2010

I bought the Small Bolt from HobbyKing about a month ago and have had quite the learning experience. This is my first RC boat and I have enjoyed every moment tinkering with the Small Bolt. Here is some informationI have collected including batteries, servos, props, and more which I have personally tested in the boat.

<hr />Parts and Replacements
Battery Fits? aRT?
Turnigy 2200mAh 3S 25C Lipo Pack Yes 8 - 14m
Turnigy 3300mAh 3S 30C Lipo Pack No -
ZIPPY Flightmax 1300mAh 3S1P 20C Yes -


Replacement Servo Fits? Reliable
HXT500 5g / .8kg / .10sec Micro Servo Yes, Modified Servo No, worked for 5 runs
Corona 929MG Metal Gear Servo 2.2kg/ 12.5g/ 0.10sec Yes, Modified Boat Yes, metal geared servo is perfect

Propellors Fits? Comments
Octura x432 Yes Amazing, I cannot believe they are not shipping with a 432 by default
Turnigy 4mm AquaProp 43x26x9mm No Shaft diameter is too big for stock shaft. Prop is also probably too big for motor

<hr />Notes
Receiver Waterproofing
<ul>[*]You must waterproof your receiver. I am using an AR500 (Spektrum DSM2) with a balloon and two zip-ties to seal it. See Here[/list]Hatch Seal
<ul>[*]The hatch for my boat is warped and does not seal well to the body of the boat. This is the main reason for me waterproofing the receiver, my boat fills about half full with water every other time I run it. Last time, however, I was able to get a good tight seal on the hatch and ended up with very minimal water inside.[/list]Plaining (no, not planing)<ul>[*]Using the 2200 mAh 3S 25C Turnigy pack, the boat doesn't plain well starting from a dead stop. Playing with the throttle can usually get it plained out and running smooth. Also, having too much water inside the boat will give you troubles trying to get on plain.[*]When initially launching the boat, I set the throttle a third up and launch the boat with a bit of inital speed. This gets the boat on plain right from the start and makes the experience much more enjoyable.[/list]Propellers<ul>[*]I purchased an Octura x432 from the OffShoreElectrics website. It is made of Beryllium Copper and is an amazing upgrade from the size 430 propeller that comes stock with the small bolt. Unfortunately you must sharpen and balance the propeller before using it in the water. I also had to work on the area where it locks on to the shaft to get it to fit properly. After about 7 minutes of work, it fits just fine and is sharpened enough for my standards. I took the boat out that afternoon and was amazed by the results. The boat planes out very well and is an amazing upgrade from the stock 430 prop. I honestly can't write in words how amazing the difference is.[*]From HobbyKing, I bought a Turnigy 4mm AquaProp 43x26x9mm to see if it would work with the small bolt as someone had recommended it in a review on the HK website. When I got the prop, I noticed it was way too big for the small bolt. When I put it on the drive shaft, the shaft hole in the propeller was much too large for the boat. I put my Octura x432 back on the boat and threw out the Turnigy prop. I posted a picture below of the three propellers in comparison. They are the stock, Octura x432, and the Turnigy 43x26x9mm.[/list]Servos<ul>[*]After replacing the stock servo with an HXT500 and having that fail on me as well, I went with a Corona 929MG metal geared servo. After one run with this servo, I am very pleased with the performance. Unfortunately, I had to make some modifications to the stock servo housing. I tore it out completely and used medium CA with accelerator to secure the Corona servo in place. I would highly recommend this modification to anyone looking for good performance and possibly much better reliability.[/list]Zippy Flightmax 1300mAh LiPos<ul>[*]These batteries are significantly smaller than the 2200mAh Turnigy 3S 25C LiPos I usually use and fit much easier in the boat. I have not been able to test them out yet, but they look like they will do just fine. However, The only problem I have is that they are 20C at 1300mAh which gives a max draw of 26amps (1.3Ah * 20C = 26Amp Draw) and the stock ESC is rated at 30amps for the small bolt. The only issue I can think of right now that might come up is the battery may get a little hot, but that is to be expected and I will have to run the boat slower to compensate for it. I will update this post when I have been able to run these batteries. See these batteries in the pictures below, I have pictures of them inside the boat and also in comparison with the 2200mAh Turnigy LiPos I use.[/list]<hr />Photos
<div style="text-align: center;">See the ImageShack web album here for the Small Bolt.
(Due to the terrible quality of this forum's text editor, I've created a web album on ImageShack which I regularly update, see the link above.)
</div><hr />Videos

<div style="text-align: center;">(As I make changes to my boat, I will upload more videos as best I can. I highly recommend watching videos in HD.)</div><div style="text-align: center;">[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlgtN_xHMys[/youtube]

</div><hr /><div style="text-align: left;">Questions</div><div style="text-align: center;">(If you have any questions about this boat, I'd be more than happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability. You can either ask them here on the forum or via PM. I hope this information helps!)</div>

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Basstronics

Have you found the source of your leak yet?

I think its the water tube inlet!<div>

</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">I have tested the boat sitting in a bathtub with the hatch off. There was a leak in the water outlet opening, but I sealed that with silicon sealer. The leak I have is in the hatch where I have to tape it.
</div><div>

Quote:

ORIGINAL: plane-addict

Did you guys buy that boat from Hobbyking? I saw some video's from it and it seems a little speed demon to me.

</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">I bought mine from HobbyKing, yes. But I got the replacement prop from OffShoreElectrics
</div><div>

Quote:

ORIGINAL: tman52806

So, does the stock servo work okay or not?

</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">I replaced mine with a Corona MG929 metal geared servo. The biggest problem with the stock servo is that it is not strong enough to overcome the opposing force of the rubber waterproofing hose on the servo arm. The turning was terrible with the stock servo and using hi-rates was way to much stress. I would strongly suggest tearing out the stock servo and using medium CA and accelerator to hold a Corona MG929 in place. The CAholds very well and the servo has enough torque and power to turn the rudder correctly.</div><div>
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