919newbie

Hi Newbie here. I have an Altair AA102. I am frustrated with the short battery life plus one of my neighbors bought a brushless motor boat that’s a lot faster. Can I swap the motor in my Altair for a faster brushless motor? If so,what batteries would I need to power it?
looking for advice and ideas.
I am handy enough to to turn screws and solder. I am not an electrical engineer so please translate the technical stuff for me if you can. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks!

Hydro Junkie

According to the manufacturer's website, the boat is only really made to run at 20 MPH so being slow should be expected.
Now, with that said, I don't see any reason why you couldn't swap out the brushed 390 for a brushless EXCEPT for the fact that you would also have to replace the speed controller with one compatible with a brushless motor. One thing I also saw is that the plastic prop has a very low pitch on the blades, probably to keep from overheating the motor, battery pack or speed controller.

919newbie

Thanks for your insights. I appreciate it!

birdo

That boat runs on a battery of 3.7 volts. You might be able to get away with increasing the volts, but looking the battery it's not based on anything RC Grade.

Hydro Junkie

I was kind of looking at that too, Birdo. I figured the OP would be told by ESC's instructions how much battery pack voltage he would need to get the boat to run without damaging anything so...........