HI,

Hope someone can help me. I bought a second hand Hydroplane with most of the kit already built, it just needs radio gear adding and some finishing touches. But it does not come with the manual and that what I need help with.

I need help with the C of G, it is about 29" long and 13" wide and I think it's a Miss Bud copy or something very simalar, it is powered by a Mabuchi RS 550SH motor, how many cells should I run with this boat? I am thinking about changing the motor, what would anybody suggest?

Thank you for any help, this will be my first eletric powered boat and I'm quite excited to see her run.

Please put some pictures in your gallery, they say more than a thousand words.

Jan.

Hi,

Don't realy know how to post pics in the gallery, but I do have the link to ebay from where I bought it with pictures attached;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...EBWN%3AIT&rd=1

I know that it looks like a toy in the pictures, it looks miles better in the plastic.

Hope you can help

Click the Gallery button on the bottom line of your own posting, click on Add photo and follow the instructions.

I could not make the name of the manufacturer, do you have it?

The 550 motors mostly run on 6-7 cells, more cells will require watercooling the motor and a perfect setup, otherwise a puff of smoke and probably a swim will be the result...

In general the COG with hydroplanes is just behind the sponsons end, shiftyour batterypack around, till you reach the best setup.
Run it with the original motor first, when you get the hang of it, driving and proper setup, than consider adding more cells and/or a hotter motor. Anything beyond the original can end in disaster very quickly, so get some experience first. (please?)

If you have any questions, post them!

Greetings, Jan.

Thanks for the help mate,

The motor is already water cooled, with it's water jacket already fitted and the tubing already done. You're right of course that I should run it with the standard motor till I know the boat a little better.

The kit is made by Ritual (Australia), I've never heard of them before. Has anyone else?

Hi, Flashman,

Put some pictures in your gallery, details, side and rear view would be nice.

No doubt there are more rigger/hydroplane drivers, who can give you tips.

Greetings, Jan.

I ran this boat fo rthe first time today and it seems a little under powered. It could not get onto the plane. I tried first with a 6 cell pack then with a 7 cell pack put it would not plane.

I think that the C og G is about right, when I moved the pack forward he nose seemed to sub, i.e. go into the water.

ANyone got any ideas? Any help at all?

Oké Flashman,

There are a number of things to check:

Is the drive train running smooth? No old grease in the propshaft, or no grease at all?

Does the motor rev as high out of the water as in it?

Do you use a prop with sufficient lift?

Have you tried launching the boat with a push, so it's on the plane from the start?

Is the motor running very hot? If it has been doing that for a long time, the magnets will weaken, losing the motor power.

Hydroplanes need a high revving motor, if non of the above works/applies, try a motor with more RPM

What type (mAh) cells did you use, were they freshly charged, or the day before?

See what works for you, the next step would be modding the sponsons and maybe adding a running pad, but in order to advise you on that, I need the pictures I mentioned above.

Greetings, Jan.

Thanks Jan,

I've checked these things and the drive train is fine, quite smooth.

The motor seems to rev as high out of teh water as in it

I did try to launch the boat but pushing it, it just falls back into the water.

The motor does not seem to get that hot, you can out your finger on it without problems

The Cells I used where freshly charged, the first 6 cell pack was a 1400 mAh and the 7 cell pack was a 2400 mAh pack

I'm going to try a faster motor I think, what would you suggest, it is currently a Mabuchi RS 550SH motor, (the same used in Kyrosho models) can I replace it with the hot ups used for these models?

I will get a picture very soon I promise, I've also just bought a Nitro offshore powerboat so I'll post a pic of that one too.

Sounds like all you need is a good prop, try a red plastic kyosho prop to start,,, these are decent, & cheap, and are about 42mm which is the size I think you need.

Thanks buddy, I'll give that a go

Hi Flashman!

If your propshaft has M4 thread, you can also try the hydroprops from the Graupner K-series.
The suggested 42 mm Kyosho prop is a bit too large for my liking, start with a 36K and work your way up, on my mono1 I use a 37,5K on a 600 motor and 7 cells GP3300, anything larger makes the motor smell funny...., so keep an eye (and finger) on your motor!

Greetings, Jan.

Cheers guys,

I'll give this a go, won't be able to get to my local hobby shop until Saturday so it'll have to wait until then.

Thanks for your help and I'll let you know how it works out

HI,

I changed over the motor last night to a higher power motor. It did seem to move better but still did not get onto the plane.

I'm going to buy a smaller prop at the weekend to ssee if that will work. ALso I've borrowed a 8 cell pack and am going to give that a try.

Will a 700 motor make it any better, or will I need to run lots more cells with a 700 motor?

By the way I've added some pictures to my Gallery, I will add some more, better pics at the weekend.

Flashman,

Take a few pics, that show the side of the boat, the rear (transom), not at an angle, but head on, so I can see (hopefully) why the thing won't plane.

When you go prop testing, also try one with a lot of lift, so the transom it lifted more.

Greetings, Jan.