Dmon1996

Thanks HDBEAST, I'm glad that my M26 will be a good choice (when it finally gets here).

The Tiger arrived today in good shape with a note from Raidentech stating my M26 is backordered. This in itself is not terrible, but it peeves me to no end since I had been in contact several times by phone and by their chat support about this order and not once did they tell me that the M26 was backordered despite looking up my shipping details. To top it off, now I get to look at my Dad's Tiger and sigh. It would not be fair to fire up his tank first, and he is on three weeks vacation right now (2 1/2 weeks to go). GRRRRR! The Tiger looks really good, the grey is painted on instead of cast plastic which is what I expected. A little rust and soot and it will look 99% (don't know if my Dad will go to the trouble of realigning the hatch on the turret or rotating the gun port on the turret). I am amazed at how detailed the casting is, the tools look like they could come off. Negative points are that the tracks on the front are a different color and are non-usable (but it did come with a few extra treads in the accessories). Beyond that, I am amazed at what I got for the money.

FYI: the package I bought from Raidentech was amazing- the Tiger and M26, both S&S, for about what some others were selling one for. I had expected on something that was two tanks and accessories in one box, but they were just making a package deal out of the two tanks. That was the problem- they ran out of the M26 just before my order.

Man, am I bummed.....

Of course, my Panther is coming on Friday (in theory). That gives me something to look forward to.


D'mon1996

swathdiver

I check out the stock on some of my preferred sellers on ebay and send them an e-mail telling them what I want. I get a discount and more personal service that way.

militarymight

good,idea as i prefer buyers to do this as it cuts out ebay fees.

madbadger

Hi no i dont have metal suspension arms, but at the end of the month i will have, im going to try a set of those track adjusters as well. Do you think its worth getting the metal road wheels?

Kev

madbadger

militarymightuk what price do you sell the metal suspension arms and the track adjusters for a tiger for? i am wanting some.

from what Ive seen, prices vary quite a lot on ebay and from shops as well, especially when they are small bits of metal that probably cost pennies to make!!! fair enough, i understand people need to make a profit, but some of the stuff people sell is racketeering!!!!!!!

Kev

madbadger

well ive fitted the metal suspension arms and the track still jumps off!!!! it must be the idler wheel as the other side is fine. I have bought the track adjusters but they are spring loaded and im sure it will compress the spring and still jump the idle wheel.

any ideas anyone???????

Kev

ManMachine

Hey Kev.

I have been running some hard tests to my tracks yesterday and I have the same problem, the spring is compressed totaly from the wheight and tension of the metal tracks. I have an idea to either block the current spring or change it to a much stronger spring. And I have also noticed that my fitting of the track tensioners is in error. The holes in the chassi are way to big wich results in no stability for the arm and that makes the whole thing bend. Either I will buy a new lower chassi and try again or I will try fill up the holes and make new ones.

Another idea I have is to place some kind of beam/bar or something similar, that screws to the empty holes on the tensioner base. The beam would prevent any further flexing.

I think the tensioners are made to be used together with the plastic tracks, anyone know for sure?

madbadger

Hi ManMachine, i thought that when the track tension units turned up. the thing to try and do is rather than them being sprung loaded, is to try and modify them so they are a solid adjustment. this way the track adjustment unit will not jump. But today i moved the idle wheel further out on its shaft and the track hasn't jumped off......and i had the tank running in circles in both directions for around 10mins. Success, the track stopped on, before it would jump off immediately. Im thinking that when the metal tracks were fitted, they pushed the axle which holds the idle wheel on, in to far and knocked it out of alignment, it didn't look out of line but it must have been. If i figure a way how to modify those track tensioners, i will let you know.

Kev

swathdiver

The Tiger running gear is a poor design as in real life. The wheels and idlers must be lined up near perfect or you will have problems. Once installed, I too had to shim one idler to line everything up. My idlers are so far forward that the paint on them has rubbed off from contact with the last road wheel. I've thought of rebuilding the rear area too in the future or just replacing the lower hull as this one is nearly 3 years old and has been completely rebuilt twice.

ManMachine

I will keep working on the tensioners aswell Kev, hopfully we can help eachother Nice idea to make solid adjustment, have to try that, thank's.
Ah yes, that remindes me that I took the orginal idler axels and made them a bit shorter and I'm not using the axel wich came with the tensioners. It proved to be to short. I'm using steel roadwheels. Not sure wht's causing my tracks to jump, but probably not all roadwheels are in a line or the idler wheel is still a bit off.

James, good thinking with shims. I shall keep that in mind.

swathdiver

Last year and the one before that there was a lot of development on adjustable idlers right here on the forum. Most of them were not spring loaded, they did not move once set. That's how the real ones worked.

I took mine apart tonight as I had some unexpected free time. My idlers are worn out, the pin wobbles in them. I found some 3/16" OD brass that the pin fit in nice and snug, got out a 3/16 drill bit and proceeded to drill a crooked hole! I need a drill press! I have 2 sets of spare metal idlers for my other projects but I want to fix these. Once I get the hole drilled right, and sleeved with stainless tube instead of the brass I'll use some JB Weld to fill up the oblong part of the hole I made tonight.

madbadger

it tell you what im thinking of doing, getting a steel rod more than the full width of the tank base (idle wheel to idle wheel) and making a solid axle that runs from one side to the other. Then thread both ends so i can run nuts on both sides which will hold the idle wheels in place. Find the perfect alignment with the tracks/front drive sprocket, and shim with small washers between the body and idle wheel. Then I will have to file/grind the nuts until they are small enough to fit inside the inner idle wheel, once that's sorted i will cut off the protruding thread close to the nut, then tap around the thread to burr over the ends so the nuts cannot come loose. i think that would stop the idle wheels flexing on the body (as they do) because there is strength the whole width of the tank base. To stop my track jumping off was so easy, i don't think i needed to put the metal suspension arms on, i just pulled the idle wheel further away from the body. It must be 5-6mm gap between the idle wheel and the body, but its worked!!

I think i bought these track adjusters prematurely, don't know if im going to use them or not

Kev

fv432

hi kev just been reading your probs with the rear idlers and i have been debating this for about 6months now (and is what is holding up my build) if i had any hair i would have pulled it out [][]

you sound like your on the right track with the fixed beam as this is the route i'm going on mine
the ones in my build are from the tamiya tiger and are adjustable via a screw and spring setup but this is the mare on mine no room left heres what i mean http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_64...tm.htm#6432710

regards Rob

ManMachine

I like your ide Kev! And it has inspierd me to another idea, hard to explain but I will tell if it results in anything useful.

Your way sounds good aswell James, keep us updated

Agreed Kev, I'm disapointed with my tensioners. I think I wount use mine, somehow I'll make my owns (feels like wasted cash to tell the truth). They were working nice indoors, but when I tryed outdoors in the terrain.. total failure.

Rob, realy nice start with your Tiger. That suspension system looks fantastic! Nice going with the idler wheels, how is it working?

Speaking of throwing track, I gave my brother a Bulldog.. it never throws a track no matter how hard he pushes it.

madbadger

I noticed today (never thought of looking!) at the other side track (the one that didnt come off) and the idle wheel on that side moves side to side about 3-3.5 mm, now i have the other side sliding around the same amount, the track doesn't jump off the idle wheel. I just think its the limitations of the model. I will keep looking at the problem but if someone comes up with a solution, i would be grateful. I'm limited with what tools and modeling skills i have, ideas come quite easy but putting them into practice sometimes isn't possible. Real tanks have adjusters to stop the same thing happening. I do have an idea, if i could explain it to one of you model engineers maybe you could put it into practice.

I had a Kawasaki motorcycle in 1984 and to adjust the chain, you simply undid two allen bolts on the swing arm and then put a screwdriver into the axle head ( you didnt have to undo the axle nut ) and turn it forwards or backwards to adjust the chain, it was on a eccentric cam. I was thinking, where the pin that holds the idle wheel on, machine or cut out the plastic hole (look at manmachines tension mod) and make an eccentric cam with a axle rod all the way through to the other side of the tank. I have the drawing in my head but i don't know how to post an image on here. Can anyone see where im going with this? the only problem would be to make something to fix or hold the cam when the adjustment was made. If anyone wants to pass me there email address, i will draw the idea and email it to them. Even fixing the cam mechanism inside the tank and not on the side of the chassis.

Kev

brel

went on vacation with a Kyosho Blizzard and came back with a Snow leopard tank
so I know own a HL tiger 1 and a HL snow leopard and a kyosho blizzard I just love tracked vehicles,

1002frans

hi who want 2 henlong tigers crap from day 1 have got a tamiya king tiger that must be built much better then h l crap my tigers has got metal g boxes and tracks but elextronics utter crap make me an offer and you can have them i stay in south africa

chinni

hello
could anyone tell what size screw is used on the panzer 3 battery compartment lid, and do you know if any site sells them ?
ta.

madbadger

this is for manmachine, those track adjusters, Ive had an idea, turn them around so the screw adjustment faces inwards towards the motors of the tank, this way when you screw the screw in, it will pull the adjuster away from you tightening the track and making it solid, it cant return the other way as the screw head is butted up to the adjuster, thus the tracks pulling tight the other way. Im sure the adjusters will fit the other way round as the screw holes are exactly the same which ever way it goes. Have a look im sure it will work, ive not tried it, i am looking on ebay for a broken tiger so i can modify the base of the tank rather than trash mine.......

Kev

madbadger

Well my smoke generator gave up finally, took it apart, couldn't see anything wrong!! but it wouldn't work...don't think i will bother with another, mind you just before it stopped working it was smoking like a gud'un.....thought it was on fire!!!!!!

ManMachine

Kev (madbadger), I have tryed turn the tensioners around and it might work. But the screws has to be regulated while not in place, hard to reach it otherwise so it will be some trail and error until it gets right. But the problem with flexing tensioners still remains. Might be solved with a big beam between the tensioners. Havent tryed any though.

And about the smoker, same with mine. It dosent eaven gets hot no matter how long I run it No idea what to do. I think I will remove it.

madbadger

Hi manmachine, i have an idea for that. drill a small hole through the bottom of the tensioner and through the tank hull, put a longish nut and bolt using a flat washer on the out side of the hull. You now have 3 points that are fixed to the hull, yes a strengthening bar between the tensioners would be beneficial or even if you made a L shaped bracket fixed it to the top inside screw holes of the tensioner and the _ part of the bracket, drill and fix it to the floor of the hull. or even do both, that way you will have 3 points of contact with the plastic hull......maybe worth looking at, im waiting till i can get a second tiger (a spares from ebay) then i will try to modify the tensioners and other things, at the moment ive taken a link out of the track, it looks tight but at least it wont come off.....its funny as it only needs half a link adjustment, the other side it ok.

Kev

madbadger

Well ive come to the conclusion that Heng Long tanks are a load of rubbish, the damm main board has blown again, this time big style. Running it today for around 10 mins then smoke pouring out of the front hatches.......cant see anywhere on the board where its burnt!!! but its doing the same thing again, left side track will only work in reverse....changed the board for this fault last time.

Pity i really love playing around in the garden with the tank. Shame its a pile of poo!!

Can anyone think or give me some advice on what to do next, i will order another rx13 main board, but if its going to keep doing this, i will repair it and then stick it on eBay. I paid £150 thinking i was going to get a decent model. I should have bought a Tamiya

[]

fv432

Have you got the old RX13 board still
as you've blown a drive transistor 4 black components that sit under an excuse for a heat sink[X(][X(]
Pretty simple to change (and you don't need a degree in electronics either)

Rob

Dmon1996

MadBadger: I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with your tank. If one of your transistors cooked there may not be any visible damage on the outside. But if I'm correct, you had the same problem before, so I'd say this is a symptom- not the problem.

So speaking in general, I would check the l/s drive motor- unbolt it from the gear set and physically spin the gear. Is it smooth running, or is it hard to turn? If hard to turn, either replace or tear it apart and see what's up. At the recommendation of this forum, I ordered two sets of motors from Hobby Lobby, with shipping it's like $10 a motor.

Next, try turning the gear that the motor gear meshes with- is the gearset smooth turning? Are they metal or plastic gears? If they are metal, do a break-in as outlined in the FAQ thread. I did so for my Pershing, and the change is phenominal! If you have plastic gears and it's rough or metal and you have broken them in, take off the track and see if it is still hard to turn. Maybe you have an idle wheel that is not turning, causing a drag.

Or see if the track links are smooth in their movement in the hinges- if they are sticking, the motor is fighting to bend them every rotation. If it is metal tracks and are sticking, I'd spray some graphite spray on them on the inside. The graphite spray is graphite powder carried in a rapidly evaporating carrier like alcohol or something like that. You spray and 30 seconds later it's dry- no residue to hold dirt, but it will have created a graphite coated tube for every pivot point. And it is a cool looking dark grey, works great for a paint as well if you want something to be almost black but a little silverygrey.

I'm no expert on these tanks, I'm just a newbie. But the board blowing in the same way twice indicates an underlying issue that you must find and correct before you will be happy. Don't give up, keep trying to find something to cause this problem before you put in another board- that board will blow if you do not find the cause first.

Hope this helps.