Hello guys!

New guy in forums and R/C world too, and as normal from a beginner I come with some questions, but first some background about the project.

As title say I got a M1A2 Abrams from Hobby Engine, I find it a fun an very cheap (price) tank and love it, but I find it to be a bit slow in general and I'm not a fan of plastic tracks, so I was getting the idea after watching a YouTube video, to upgrade my tank in a small way, but got no idea if it will work.

First get a new set of gearbox with metal gears, was thinking of this one:
Henglong 3869/3879/3888/3899

In said video, this guy used a Tiger I metal tracks and, but they will work? If yes, this would be good?
Mato Metal upgraded Tracks, sprockets, idler wheels parts set for Heng Long 3818-1

For turret traverse also noted it can go 360 degrees and painfully slow, this is solved with a new unit?

Also I leave link for the video that gave the idea to try this:
http://youtu.be/0YETidyolnY I know some guys will go for the "Buy a better tank" way, but here in Mexico city are a bit expensive and rare to find, a Tamiya 1/16 King Tiger is over 900dlls and you still need to buy a controller for it, sorry for the long post and thanks in advance!

Also I got another question, this time about batteries, I play airsoft and moved long ago from NIMH to LiPo batteries, so I got the idea to change the stock battery (7.2v 800mAh) to a 8.4v 1100mAh, but when I looked at both batteries something was wrong, stock one got the polarity inverted compared with the airsoft one, pics for reference (Left new battery, right stock one)



Extra voltage will damage something?

And when looking in tank's insides the question continued, black wire is really ground? If yes I only need to invert the tamiya connector in tank to use the new battery, right?

I know you're looking to not spend a lot of $$$, but you may want to save a bit and wait for the Heng Long M1 to come out soon. The hobby engine tank takes a lot of work to
get reliable performance. This tank shouldn't really break the bank either.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-t...s-hl-tank.html

Thanks for the input Benny, and don't mean to be rude, but you got any idea in in my current trouble/question?

As for the battery, red should be + and black should be - as usual. As for the gearboxes, anything will work....as long as you know they are not drop in replacements. Your going to
have to possibly fabricate a mounting plate for the Heng Long gearboxes to mount to the existing mount holes of the original gearboxes. You'll also have to measure the output shaft
length on the gearbox your going to use to make sure it's the same length as the orginal so the drive sprocket and road wheels are in alignment. This is why I'm saying save your
money and more importantly time and wait for the Heng Long, but just my opinion.

i would not recommend using the 8.4 in the tank. You are taking a chance on burning the control board up. Stick with the original connecter configuration if you can.

Herman

First, you mill kill the electronics with an 8.4 battery. They can barely handle the 7.2. Second you are really opening a can of worms with these tanks as you can try and upgrade them all you want and they will still fall very short of your expectations. I have been through the most extensive upgrades and mods you can do just short of paying hundreds of dollars for the Tank Zone lower hull.
No matter what TU's and tracks you use you still have the issue of the road wheels not being designed for center guided tracks.
I even went through the trouble of designing and having center guides and sprocket adapters made and marketed. In the end It takes a huge commitment and a lot of work to make these models even close to hobby grade and if you do not have any real modeling skill and scratch building capabilities, the aforementioned advice to wait till the HL M1 gets here would be your best bet. Run the tank as it is for now and save your money for the much better model coming from HL.

So better to stick with stock battery then, I guess if I want to use more powerful batteries I need to change the electronics.

@Avenger2040, I think you meant 7.4v, not 8.4v battery. Lipo 2S battery is 7.4V (2 cells x 3.7 volts). If you want to upgrade, upgrade to the Heng Long electronics first. As for metal gearbox, I think I saw a thread here someone show how to fit Heng Long gearbox in Hobby Engine tank. If the cost to upgrade or budget is an issue, I agree with others, better save up & get Heng Long M1 when it get there because you probably want metal tracks, gearbox & wheels on that tank too.

Simply put, the cost in money and time to get the HE M1 up to a reasonable performance level will cost more than the HL M1 coming out soon. they will be here in the near future so save so time , money and energy and wait for it. That is the best advice you will get. Back when all we had for an M1 was the HE alot of people went through some pretty tough work getting them built . It just isn't necessary now unless you just have to take on the challenge. Unfortunately at the moment i dont have access to my old files and photos of what I did and what it takes to get the HE in really good working condition . Then you may think twice.

Avenger, listen to these guys they know. I have one of these and here's the list of upgrades needed: New Gearboxes with mounting plate, adding upper return wheels for the track, spacers in the wheels so you can use standard tracks (leopard work well), new sprockets, gutting the electronics and modifying to rx18 and adding DBRC3 with benedini for the sound, a clark board or elmod since the sound is unique. You will have to gut or replace the barrel since as it is, it is impossible to get a flash mounted in it. You will end up also going with servo recoil and elevation (right Brett LOL). All you will be ultimately left with is the shell and the rotation motor. I have had mine for almost 4 years. Phil Pflueger did many of the mods and it has cost well over 600. It is still a quirky tank. I would wait for the HL. The gearboxes will be there, the RX18 is easy to upgrade etc etc.

I got access to a free 2.4Ghz multifunction unit with HL control and a turret turning gearbox, but still I see that the main idea is to throw this tank to the garbage, right?

It depends on what you want to do with the tank. The HL will be a lot better quality overall. When I did mine, there were only 2 options for the Abrams, the Hobby Engine for 150.00 or the Chinese all metal for 2000.00. I did convert a Hobby Engine Leopard to an RX 18 with new gearboxes, spacers for the wheels, sprockets etc. I could drop a DBRC3 in it, the problem is the difficulty of mounting a flash with the springs in the barrel to shoot the "bullet"
It still is a tank with inferior suspension etc.

I only want a tank to roll out for fun, not for show (I'm the only one with a R/C tank in miles) that can run for years and be repaired easy,if it throw smoke or not is the same, sounds are not realistic, don't care.

Tank R/C in Mexico City, hell in Mexico in general is not know at for that there is not events, battles or the like, you got your R/C and play with it alone in 90% of the times.

Well then, keep it, run it, have some fun with it. When you are ready to step it up a notch, buy a HL, get the DBRC3 and Benedini with a good speaker. It's easy to setup, doesn't cost a bundle, and you'll have sound and looks.

Yeah, keep the tank. I still keep my oem Chinese tank even though it only good playing on smooth surface. It have rubber tracks which can easily come off when maneuvering on the carpet & grass. I'm planning to painting & weathering it.

If you must upgrade, upgrade the electronics first. It seems speed is the main problem. I'd do it if it's not expensive.

Btw, can you easily get spare parts for your tank over there, especially tracks?

I will upgrade the tank, just need to figure out if the multifunction unit is all I need to change to get it to run or need something else (I still get the "get a new tank" answer) for that, spare parts for any R/C must be imported or buy them at 300% cost in the sooo few local stores in the city.

Truthfully the drive train is the biggest issue with these tanks so they will not last long in stock trim. That is the big draw back. Go ahead and upgrade everything if you want. No one here ever said throw it in the trash. The thing is you will have a hard enough time getting anything for it where you are located and you wont have anyone nearby for a quick fix.
the very few people who have worked on these tanks have already given you the best advice your going to get.

Ok so it is my turn to chime in here with a few points.... first of all, these RCU guys know what they are talking about. I work in the RC tank business and I make it a point to research other tanks and mods once I hear about them. Let me tell you, HE is one of the most difficult ones to upgrade from what I gather. I personally myself do not have a HE tank to compare with, but I trust these guys and have seen some of the difficult build logs for these tanks.
With that being said, a set of gearboxes, tracks, and drive/idler wheels you have already gone past the total value of this tank. So be aware of the cost beforehand, I have done that too many times Also, a RX18 can be run off a 2 cell lipo. This is a point I try not to get into, nor promote. NIMH is perfectly fine for most all activities in a RC tank. Also most motherboards will not have a LVC for lipo, but for NIMH. So even if you can run a lipo, there is a chance of completely ruining it on the first run as you have no LVA or LVC to warn you. Now, a LVA (low voltage alarm) is very cheap and is put on the balance lead of the lipo. When it detects any cell reach a predetermined value you set (usually 3.0-3.6V) it goes crazy and starts beeping to warn you voltage is low. Once again, lipo is not needed, but will work for most boards. Please consult with your manufacturers on their recommendations first.
Also, if you want to see the HL Abrams, here are a few pics. At the point when I got this, there were only 2 of them floating around.

As you can see there is plenty of room to work with on the inside. Also Taigen will be making upgrade parts Can anyone say metal lower hull?

Erik once i was absolutely sure HL was releasing an M1 I completely stopped all work on my HE M1. It even has a complete ElMod system in it. I will be getting the HL because I know from alot of experience it is much easier to upgrade and build on an HL chassis.
For the most part everything is done for you except what ever custom electronics you want so there really is no other choice.

Erik, Do you have any idea when we will see the HL Abrams in the US?

From what I hear they are hoping to get it out by the end of the year. BUT, the Chally2 has been done for a long time now. Let's just hope it is this year