tomtraveler

Twin prop electric, that must be in the water to run. Everything is charged, but nothing happens.
Suggestions?
I can't tell what brand it is. It says Double Horse on the cradle, but there are no other identifying names on the boat or the transmitter. There is a K-Marine decal if that helps.

Angel727

My Feedback: (5)

I will check the connectors between esc and motors. If you have corrotion x use it to prevent oxidation in all your contactors or connections when putting the boat for the winter.
Good luck.

R.J. West

its gonna be a process of elimination. i would start with the transmiter and reciever batteries, and make sure your getting a signal thru by working your rudder back N forth with your radio. Then work your way into the boats electronics. check all connectors and make sure they are connected properly. You may want to disconnect your ESC and hook it up to a different boat or motor just to see if it works. you can hook up your battery to your motor direct for a sec to see if it works, stuff like that, you just got to go down the line and see whats going on...Good luck.

black talon

My Feedback: (5)

my guess would be one or more dead cells in your batt's.

mfr02

Check #1 Is the transmitter battery working? Does the TX indicate that it is working?
Check #2 Is the receiver battery working?
Check #3 Can you turn the props by hand?
Assuming that your meter says the batteries are OK and the props turn, connect the two shafts with a piece of wire. This simulates the boat being in water and allows bench testing.

tomtraveler

Thanks for responding, but...
The light is bright on the TX
I checked the charge on the battery with a meter and it is good
The props turn by hand
I connected the two shafts with wire and when I turned everything on
Still nothing.
Bummer

suggestions?

tomtraveler

I'm pretty new at this.
How can I hook the battery up directly to the motor. Do I clip the battery terminals to the motors (there are two on this boat) somehow.
I will check on all the connections, although I didn't see any loose wires before.
What is the ESC? Like I said, I'm new at this, but enjoy using my boat a lot, when it was working.

mfr02

Most model boats have an Electronic Speed Control for the motor, and a servo to work the rudder, connected to the radio receiver. Yours looks to be one with a combined radio and motor control. and no rudder control, steering being effected by differential operation of the motors. From the picture, there doesn't look to be any access to the wiring between the motors and the control box without disconnecting wires.
Avoid at all costs applying battery to the outputs of the control unit. There are (or should be) protection devices in there which will suffer.
Just a thought - is there a wire soldered to each prop shaft outer?
Another thought - mostly these boats use the shafts as electrodes and need conductive water to complete the circuit, clean water and/or dirty shaft outers under the boat might prevent operation. There might also be a "different" sensing circuit.

black talon

My Feedback: (5)

if you have access to a multimeter check each cell to make sure there's not a bad one.

cyclops2

Did you ever find ANY water in the RC part of the boat ? If yes. Then corrision has probably ruined some contacts.

tomtraveler

No water in the boat. It was always well sealed.
Yes, there is a wire soldered to each shaft outer. It was on each of these outer shafts where I connected the wires. Not the inner shafts .
Should I have tried to connect the "inner" shafts with the wire?

Are you suggesting that part of the battery pack might somehow be bad? The battery tester I have has positions for 6v and 9v, but this battery says it is 7.2v  there areonly two wires coming from the battery. When you are suggesting one "cell" might be defective, you are referring to the battery, correct? Or something else?

R.J. West

yes it's possible to have a cell in a pack go bad, do you have another 7.2v pack to try?

black talon

My Feedback: (5)

yes with a meter that can read 1.2-1.5 you can test each cell.

mfr02

The only really useful tests on batteries is to check the voltage under load, as this shows up problems that can hide when bench testing. The safety lobby people have a lot to answer for, and really ought to be made to work on equipment that they have caused to be specified for a while.
The connections on model equipment are manufactured assuming that anybody using it will be mentally deficient, and with no sense of self preservation, so no "live" parts are accessible easily. I have the reprehensible habit of getting at insulated wires by poking a pin through the insulation to get a measurement. This works on insulated wire, and importantly, on battery packs. NiMH packs are made of a series of cells, the casings (-ve) of each of which can be reached, with care, so that the case is not stabbed, by this method to allow checking the voltage of each cell under load (i.e. with it switched on)

tomtraveler

I'm going to see about obtaining another battery pack.
I live in west suburban Chicago area. Know of any knowledgeable hobbyists in this area I might be able to contact?

R.J. West

Al's Hobby shop in Elmhurst is THE best hobby store in the midwest.... http://store.alshobbyshop.com/

Ask if cindy is still working there, she is the boat guru over there....

tomtraveler

I went to Al's Hobby this afternoon. Mike was the "boat" guy. At first not very helpful, as it was not something he sells, or that he seemed at all interested in helping. He finally did take some readings. The battery was fully charged, so that was not the problem. He tested the juice going to one motor and it was fine. The other was -0-. So there is a bad connection, bad motor, bad "control unit?". Not sure if it is worth pursuing, but I am going to re-solder the connections and see if that makes any difference.
If I have a dead boat, any suggestions on a fast, inexpensive replacement?
Electric vs Nitro????

mike_o

Tomtraveler,

that depends on what kind of person you are. I think it's safe to say that a fair part of the members (including myself) of this forum are into the hobby becausewe enjoy working with the models, and as soon as they drive/sail/fly, we move on to a new project or improvement. If you are not such a person, then ditch the boat and buy a new, better model. Check the reviews here, and find something you like.

If you are, however, interested in working on improving your model, the situation is different. I have considered buying a boat similar to yours, replacing the receiver with a decent (fully proportional) system, replacing the motors with perhaps some 480 race type (or even brushless, though the drivetrain might not live long) with dual ESCs and a V-tail mixer to get the steering right. Next step woul be getting a better (Lipo) battery, experimentingwith prop size, etc...

good luck!

Mike

tomtraveler

Thank you for your response.
I am continuing with this hobby and purchased a small but fast RC buggy!
I am also going to upgrade to a better boat that will allow me to tinker with when something weird happens.
Appreciated all who sought to help me with my now dead boat.

Tom

black talon

My Feedback: (5)

RIP
Next!