Hi everyone!

Thanks for answering my previous posts. Picked up a Bulldog yesterday, the store said I should be getting the Panzer III a about a week !

Heres the problem, when I drive the Bulldog, it seems to be listing to the left side. Meaning if I push the controller stick all the way up, the tank will steadily move forward but more to the left. I tried fiddling with the trim to no avail. I left the tank running on a box; the tracks on the left do seem to be running at a slightly lower speed. In addition the springs seem a little stiffer as well. Anyone have any suggestions how to resolve this? Otherwise its another trip back to the shop [:@]

Try swapping tracks (put the left track on the right side and vice versa). Does your Bulldog have metal gears? If yes, then the left gears might be binding. If you have the S&S transmitter, then you should be able to move the trim below the right stick to the right to compensate.

Thanks for the quick reply Richard. Not sure about the metal gears. Does it come standard with the normal S & S unit?

I tried working the trim. Helps a tiny bit but the listing is still too obvious. And please correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that because of this problem, when I adjust the controller to the right to compensate, the maximum speed seems to be reduced. Will try the switching the tracks tonight. I assume its only a matter of taking out the pins?

On my Panzer controller, I have to push the trim slider all the way to the right for it to go straight.

Metal gears come standard with the S&S unit if you order the tank from Mato Toys.

Correct. Ideally, you don't want to use any trim at all. I believe the trim reduces power delivered to one motor to slow it down.

You only need to take out one pin per track. Check out the RC Tank FAQ thread at the top of this forum for pics.

Dang.. if that's true, then my Panzer is slower than it should be because of the aforementioned 'all the way to the right' trim setting... If only my other controller wouldn't have died.. *sigh*

Just tried switching the tracks. Helps a little but still lists. So looks like its either the wheels or the motors. (I suspect its the motors). Any more ideas?

Well, for me, it's the radio. I know this because my old radio that came with my Bulldog worked fine with the trim centered. My new radio that came with my Panzer, as I mentioned before, has to be trimmed all the way to the right for it to move straight, and that's with both tanks, Bulldog included. So maybe that's your problem too, the radio.

Do you have another HL radio you can switch out crystals and test it?

@kindredd,
Try opening the tank up and checking the gearbox for a gear that's binding. Each gear should be free enough to rock back and forth a little when gently pushed with the tip of a screwdrive. If a gear is binding in the gearbox, it will be sticky and take a fair amount of force to move it. The sides of the heng long gearboxes are held apart by standoffs, and sometimes they're too short and the gearbox pushes in on the ends of the gears and binds. When the manufacturer catches this, they insert washers on the ends of the standoffs, but on my PzIII, they missed one side. If this is the problem, either bend the gearbox out gently or insert washers . Probably a good time to break in the gearboxes and motors while you're at it (see the FAQ at the top of the board).

@bhop73,
If the tank ran straight with one controller and needs trim with a different controller, it's probably the controller that's at fault. Basically the contact board in the joystick isn't properly centered, and the trim is re-aligning it correctly. I doubt you're actually seeing any performance decrease, as technically when you "trim it the side", the controller is sending a proper "straight" signal.

David

Yeah.. that's basically what I was saying.. heh, heh.

Right, I'm just sayin that your PzIII is probably running at full speed and not suffering. Didn't want you to fret about it.

D.

Ah.. that's good to know, sorry if I sounded ungrateful.. It was a long day at work and I guess I missed the whole meaning of the message...

Spin all the road wheels and the return rollers to make sure that they are spinning freely. Check the wheels and the tracks for plastic flash.

Remove both gearboxes from the tank without disconnecting the motors from the board. Then push the right stick up slightly to see if both motors spin at the same speed or if one motor starts spinning before the other.

Once again, thanks to everyone who responded to my posts. After fiddling with the unit a few times today, I decided that it would be best to just get a replacement unit. I am lucky enough to be working nearby the HL distributor and have taken the Bulldog to be replaced. My new one should be here later today, so I will tell you all how it went. Safe to say that should enything like this ever happen in the future, i will be more aware of what I need to look out for.


Cheers!