Benny Boy

Hi can any one please tell em how to make my hl tiger 1 water proof .

swathdiver

Keep it away from wet things! Ha Ha Ha!

There are lots of ways to do this. Are you prepared to relocate your electronics and make access hatches in the upper hull? Did you use the search engine?

kevinb120

My Tiger doesn't have a search engine...[sm=72_72.gif]

Harquebus

The trick to making the Tiger waterproof (how deep do you want to go?) is to treat the lower hull like a bathtub. All the holes for the switches, battery compartment, fastening screws and other leaks like the suspension arm attachment points have to be sealed. The switches need to be relocated to the top of the hull or the turret and accessible through the loader's hatch or other fabricated opening and the battery can be made more or less permanent (removal is by hull separation) by fabricating a recharging jack also accessible via a hatch.

One of the best attempts at waterproofing the HL Tiger 1 has been realized in this thread:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4646958/tm.htm
Good information there.


He meant using the forum's search engine located at the bottom of the RC Tanks main page. Almost every conceivable inquiry or question regarding RC tanking has been asked and answered on this forum. There's nothing really that hasn't been thought of already. Apparently we're pretty thorough around here. It would be advisable for all newbies to consult the older posts via the search function to avoid rehashing old information and causing excessive groaning and sighing....

kevinb120

I was just funnin, I have at least 30,000 posts in various forums

YHR

As I await the arrival of some new electrical componets I started water proofing my tiger. I removed the battery enclosure and glued the removable battery lid into the floor, giving me a larger flat floor. A Styrene "box" was built around the suspension , and then this was coated with silicone.

I bought Bearings for the drive axles. These are a tighter tolerance then just the stock plastic opening, meaning less water leakage. The bearings will be fitted when I mount the gear reduction back in place.

Here is a picture of my efforts so far. I think this will allow me to run the Tiger in water up to the top of the wheels.

zumzum5150

My Feedback: (2)

hi

what if you happen to break the plastic axis that holds the suspensian arm. how will you get to it when you've sealed access to it. I've already had to replace mine when I added metal tracks to my Tiger

martin g

Apparently good designers think about future maintenance issues maybe he glued those in with sealant rather than glue? which is removable?

First imprrssions from someone who hasnt done this, looking inside both the Tiger and Persh. You could run them both through a bunch of shallow puddles ( why would you want more?) with very little work, just dont stop for too long. Re-locate any electronics that are deck mounted, switches and pots and seal the holes with clear bathroom sealant, also raise the main PCB up say half an inch by packing it and using longer screws. Use a blob of sealant on the spring locaters for the suspension, just to minimise the ingress. You could stop there providing you have a drain to allow any water ingress out again, depends on how you use it, the odd play outside with the odd puddle a couple tiems a year, your sorted. Of course if you intend on parking the thing in a pond for minutes on end a different approach is required, but why? you also have to consider whether it will float, as if you seal it up too well, and do not consider its displacement, it will simply float and lift the tracks off the bottom, then you have snags. Unless you got a Sherman DD of course

I think the key is to make it 'splash proof' for most tankers anyway, I am more concerned about keeping water out of the top than the bottom.

The Pershing and Bulldog both have superior lower hulls, they stand higher and therefore the leak points are higher, my sons Bulldog is almost 2 inches to the drive wheel penetration, thats more than enough for wet ground play. Having said that, we have a 4ft deep pond, if he takes a wrong turn.....splash!, but then all tanks would suffer that, no matter how well bunged up.

I would keep it like it is and avoid deep water whenever possible, funnily enough...just like REAL tanks do. Driving into deep water is always a big risk and a last resort, for instance, you got to be sure the tank can climb out again once your in, no matter how good in water the tank is, if it cant get out..its a sitting duck!

forgive the pun

YHR

The styrene box is glued, but generally it is attached to the tank with clear silicone. This allows access if required. I have upgraded to Metal tracks, and I am wondering how this caused you to have trouble with the swing arms??? I'm new to this tank game, and the swing arm assembly seemed like it wouldn't be a source of too much trouble. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I haven't done the math, but I think a Tiger full of batteries and metal tracks won't float, so the idea of it floating away hadn't really occurred to me.

Water on ESC's is usually terminal. I remember the one time my F1 RC car ended up inadvertently in a puddle, and how that little excursion cooked the ESC, quicker then I could run to recover the car. So with that in mind, and the knowledge that this tank will be running in the mud, I thought I would do what I could to waterproof it.
I intend on mounting the electronics as high as I can to help the cause. I probably will also attach clear styrene to the underside of the grates in the top section to prevent any rain from falling on the electronics

The Bulldog is a much better platform then the Tiger when it comes to waterproofing. Higher clearances and a suspension that does not compromise the hull integrity make it much easier to water proof as Martin G mentions.

Personally I find the openings in the hull of the Tiger concerning, as they simply allow water to flow in. Good thing is they allow the water out just as quick, so if you are a gambler, you can hope you don't get bogged down in some wet stuff. I like the comfort of knowing that other then a complete plunge into water , the new upgraded electronics in this tank will remain dry.

swathdiver

I set up my Tigers' internal hulls the same way on the sides. I seal them with Clear RTV silicone in case I have to get at the suspension which I will on one tank soon because I bought the metal arms. I didn't remove the battery box yet, just seal it up and coated the electronics with CorrosionX. So far so good for small puddles and rain.

My work area and house are quite dark for taking pictures, none have really turned out.

ssocr

Hmmm..... I stay away from deep water with my Tamiya Tiger. Mud, yes. Water, no. Although I have driven through shallow water that does not go higher than 1/4 up the wheels so the hull does not get wet. Even if you seal the hull, what about the wheel bearings? If water (and mud) get into the bearings the wheels don't turn so good.

zumzum5150

My Feedback: (2)

good to know which silicone to use. Thnx to all you guys... I'm also planning on sealin the lower half. I'm sick of just running inside the house when its pouring cats and dogs.....

Swathdiver, where can one pick up the corrosionX?

YHR, can u tell me the specs on that bearing. I can go to the LHS and pick up a pair.

thnx

martin g

Quote YHR.....I haven't done the math, but I think a Tiger full of batteries and metal tracks won't float, so the idea of it floating away hadn't really occurred to me.

Well good point but if real tanks can be made to float, so can yours, providing you sealed it up and the displacement was greater tan that of the water it occupies...it will float.

zumzum5150

My Feedback: (2)

I generally run the tank over some heavy terrain. I initially had about 5 oz of stick on lead weights with the plastics trx and had not once seen a problem. I removd the weights and changed over to the metal trax and things started to happen. i'm more cautious on how absuive I drive the T1 these days.... LOL regardless of the breaking parts I still won't be going back to the plastics trax. I enjoy fixing aswell as listeining to the clanking noise of metal as the tank goes by....





[quote]ORIGINAL: YHR

I have upgraded to Metal tracks, and I am wondering how this caused you to have trouble with the swing arms??? I'm new to this tank game, and the swing arm assembly seemed like it wouldn't be a source of too much trouble. I guess I'll find out soon enough
..

swathdiver

Your local marine supply store may have it, I bought mine off of eBay. It is sticky messy stuff. Make sure you are done with all of your modifications before you apply it to your electronics.

YHR

The bearings I used are Team Associated 8X16X5 Ball bearings Part number 25236. These were epoxied to the inside of the hull with great care. I was afraid of reaming out the the plastic opening to the size of the bearing because the plastic seemed to thin to support the bearing. By gluing it to the inside of the hull I was able to keep the plastic material as additonal support for the shaft. The tolerence through this bearing is tighter then the plastic opening. Test fit the bearings on your output shafts first. One side fit perfect, but the other side needed to have the output shaft filed and emery clothed down to allow the bearing to slip over the shaft. Stange, but true.

There used to be a little "slop" now there is not with bearings in place. I am hoping this will result in a better running tank.

Martin G, I can't argue with physics and agree with what you are saying. My hunch is that a tank full of batteries will not have sufficient displacment of water to offset the weight of the tank. I'll put the theory to the test and let you know what happens.

uly

could try coating all boards and batteryconections in vasaline or silicone grease this should keep the water off i used to do this on boats and subs only other way is to make a sealed moduel like in a sub

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Hi i just recently got corrosionX for my boats and scales 4X4 trail runners and rock crawlers .
I did a test by coating a reciever and speed controller board that is made of one unit with corrosionX i left it under water in a cup and it worked under water after 9 hours and i decided to take it out..after this i then did all my rc's recievers servos and escs with it.
You can get it here look at the right you will see it in a slide show and just click on it for info.
[link=http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/MainPage.htm]corrosin x[/link]

Look at the pic!

martin g

Not sure if it is the same stuff, but back along at work we used to have a product that was a water displacing agent, it came in a spray can, you simply sprayed the boards and switches etc and it resisted water ingress and displaced any water currently on teh units. Would love some of that...are we talking the same thing here?? if so, recalling how good it was, its all youll need.

Did a search...............................This is good stuff,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ACF50-ACF-50-C...QQcmdZViewItem

Its sold here for bikes, but it leaves a non greasy residue, perfect for the iside of your tank on the motors and boards, non conductive and gets rid of moisture there already. Worth a couple quid and one application will last around 12 months, I got some just to preserve the internals anyway.

Just anothe ridea

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Hi that looks like it would work but the corrosion X is like a light oil spray and it will leave a thin coating and get into all the creavises on the boards and stuff better...I would go with the corrosion x.

zumzum5150

My Feedback: (2)

shenlonco, that is exactly what I wanted to see. I like to see promising results and pics justify them. i'm off to find this corrosionX. BTW, got the bearings at the LHS for $5 a pair.

update y'all, found a 16oz of corrosionX for $16 but the store is out.their placin an order for me. they even have corrosionX heavy duty...

martin g

Yes I would prefer it to be sprayable too, but that said, it does leave a layer for 12-18 months which is as good as CX if not better, and i guess you could simply brush it in, there arent very many crevices in the tanks, in fact very few at all. Its $10 cheaper than CX too. I will go guinea pig on some and let yall know.

Either or I guess

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

I would get the corrosion X with grease it will not flow under the parts that are soldered on the pc boards.