Hello all,

I've recently inherited a Chris Craft Runabout scale model that my Grandfather built years ago, about 1992, and that I've now inherited. It has sat unused, and I'd like some help getting it up and running, if possible. I've searched enough online to know that the controls are out of date, so I may need to rebuild it, but for now if Icould get some guidance on making it work, that would be great.

All of the parts are Futaba, excepting the drive motor. I'd be happy to provide model numbers.

I have everything, except directions. I have two ni-cad batteries, and a charger. I'm curious if the batteries are still good.

I've charged them, put them in the boat, allong with fresh AAs, and nothing responds.

I'd appreciate any help.

If it comes to it, I'd like help replacing the motor and controls with modern ones.

Thanks.

Check with Dumas. They have a couple if Chris-Craft kits, two of which I've built.

HughO

If it has a large silver speed control, that is the old Dumas speed control which is nothing more than a variable resistor working with a servo, replace it with a modern electronic speed control, that old speed control is the worst piece of equipment in the business, it even uses more power when the boat is not moving, has a low power limit also, I use a $40 Proboat electronic speed control (ESC), IT HAS A (bec) battery elimination circut, so you don't need a reciever battery to run the reciever, it pulls power from the main batteries, its water proof, and handles a lot of power. The two problems I have experinced are the slowest speed is faster than I like with a tug boat, I cant get that very slow almost idel speed, and sometimes I have to redo my turn on sequence. 1) turn on Transmitter on ( always turn transmitter on first and off last) 2) hook up batteries, 3)turn on esc switch. There are times when the esc does not work and I disconnect and have to redo everything, good luck.

and nothing responds.

Do the servos respond? You have three sub-systems to deal with. The transmitter, the receiver, and the speed control. First the transmitter. As it is of a fairly recent vintage, it might have a 27mhz or 75 mhz system. Does it have a status LED or battery level meter. If that shows good we can move onto the receiver.

Receivers are in more hostile envrionment and tend see more problems. Given fresh AAs, you might see some activity in the servos when you plug in. Check the channel number and make sure it is a match to the transmitter you have. Like many of us who used the old 75mhz channels, we had litterally too many transmitters laying around and grabbing the wrong one on the way to the pond was a common problem.

As for the ESC, hansvonpensch has it right. Mechanical speed controllers are not worth keeping. There are too many good low cost ESCs out there to consider. ProBoat is OK . I have one. Also check the Viper brand line of marine ESCs of which I currently own five. They too are resasonalby priced and waterproof. And they seem to offer decent low speed performance.

Battery elimination is nice but not well explained in many ESC manuals. If you want more info, we can help with that.

I would love to see you post a picture of this boat. What condition is the hull in? Was it fiberglassed? If the hull is in good shape, would you simply consider revamping all the electrical components? Reliability is as important as good looks!