Fergk

Hi all,
I bought my son this 1/16th King Tiger for his birthday, which we have 2 days now. It's my first foray into this RC scale hobby.

Anyway, the tank worked fine the day we got it. Last thing at night I put a very small amount of smoke fluid down each exhaust. This morning, when the controller and tank are switched on, the headlight on the tank flashes on and off.

When I press the 'lock' key on the controller to start the tank, it briefly stuttered the engine sound, but any other attempt to control the tank, just shut the engine noise off. As of now, the tank does not respond at all, except for the flashing headlight.

Any ideas what I've done, or what could of happened??
Thanks
Ferg

Fsttanks

Assuming you are using the stock battery and charger. It sounds like the battery power/charge is to low and the tanks MFU seeing this will not “start” the tank.

jarndice

Classic sign of a flat battery.

Fergk

I've charged the batteries fully, both the tank and controller. I still have the same problem. The boys were playing with the tank for about an hour this morning and it just stopped.

Any thoughts on what might else cause it to not work?

Shark27

Depending on the tank and how it is driven, typically the 2000mah battery only provides enough power for 40min to one hour of running time sometimes less.

How long did you charge it for after they ran it this morning?

If you are using the charger that came with the tank figure on about 4-6 hour for a full charge NIMH batteries will get a bit better after they have been cycled a few times. When they run out of power the tank just stops don't be alarmed.
Steve

Fergk

The battery that came with the tank is 3000mah. I charged it last night for about 3 hours, and about 4 hours today. I'll try again tomorrow. Thanks for the replies!
hopefully it's just that

Shark27

With the stock wall wart type charger you will probably need to charge it for six to eight hours the longer the better those chargers are not very good.

You may want to invest in a real charger that provides information on the state of the battery and automatically cuts off once the battery is fully charged.

Tenergy, Duratrax Onyx series, IMEX all have comparable chargers most of these will charge the battery much faster..

Crius

Where are you|? If in the states I would get something like this.

https://www.taigentanks.com/chargers...ories/imx10525

I usually advise you get the best charger you can, but if on a budget this will suffice and is a zillion times better than the charger that comes with the tank. If you get more tanks you can always get a better charger later.

Enzo_K

Playing with the tank for 1 hour will drain a 3000mah battery. And the tank will shut down right away when you try to start it with a flat battery.

Fergk

I'm in Ireland- I'll try a different battery with a different connection, like those mentioned above I.e xt60..
Just a shame after spending a bit of money on this kit, the battery is useless.
At first I thought it might of been the smoke fluid, as I turned the tank on its side just after I poured a few drops in the exhaust to put the battery in, and thought maybe some leaked internally.

Shark27

I think your expectations regarding the battery that came with the tank are a bit optimistic. What kind of run time did you think you would get out of the 3000mah battery? How much does your tank weigh? Any metal parts like tracks, turret, etc.?
All that adds weight. If you want to extend your run time try running without the smoke generator on, they suck up a lot of power.

I run 5000mah batteries in my tanks, that allows for about three 15-20 minute tank battles, then I change them out with fresh batteries.
Steve

Fergk

Well, it's my first tank and I didn't do a lot of research. It was my sons birthday, due to covid19, I'd to buy online.

Sorry I if come across naive! The tank weighs about 10 pounds and has plastic tracks. I'll look into buying a larger battery. I just tried again now after 8 h charge and still nothing

Live and learn!

BcuriousR

Do you have a multimeter? You could test the voltage to see if the battery is charged. You're not naive, just learning. I get grief on this forum for using the stock batteries in my tanks during battles. But They've always lasted through at least one 15-20 minute battle through dirt, hills and a village, in fairly heavy tanks. You may have received a bad battery, bad charger, or maybe something more serious, but I doubt it. A good charger is always a sound investment if you continue to RC.

Pah co chu puk

Sounds like a battery problem to me too. If you are using the stock charger that came with the tank you should use this formula to figure your charging time.

If the battery is 3000 mah (mill amp hours) and the charger output is 400 mah, then you divide the 3000 by the 400 to get 7.5 hours to fully charge the battery. The charger output should be shown on the part you plug into the wall outlet.

Wozwasnt

1 hour with a stock battery in a KT is pretty good.

Because of the wide tracks it needs more power when running around (especially when turning). Stick the battery in a Pz III or M4 and it'll run a lot longer.

Also the terrain you run it on can make a huge difference. It'll run a lot longer on a tiled floor then on carpet.

If you take it outside these things hate gravel, wet sand and soggy snow (fresh snow can be OK).

heritage19

Did you ever get it figured out, bad battery or bad tank.

Fergk

Could of been the battery. I ordered a new one online, as well as contacting the shop I bought it from, who arranged a collection of it by courier today. I'll be expecting the new battery any day now...
Let the shop look into so.

Jarlath

Just remember that the batteries that come with these tanks are the cheapest POS Batteries that are available from China. I've had "3000" mAh NiMH batteries come brand new that performed like 1000 mAh and others that would not hold a charge at all. One of the reason I switched to LiPo batteries. Just be aware that LiPo's have their own quirks.

jarndice

[QUOTE=Jarlath;. Just be aware that LiPo's have their own quirks.[/QUOTE]
Taigen advise against using Lipos when the Taigen Tank has the V2 or V3 board.fitted.

heritage19

Good luck, I hope it works out for you. My first tank was a Taigen T-34 and it wouldn't even start. After I got the new one, it turned out to be one of my favorite tanks. Still have it in fact.