pyt9898

Hi everyone,

I just bought a lightly used Villain EX from my buddy, and I'm looking to do some upgrades to it. Where should I start? Props, water cool the motors, Lipo battery packs? Any ideas would be great!

Thanks

rebuilder

You should probably water cool the motors first, cooler motors=more speed, then you need to get some quality batteries, 7 cell would be optimum, 4500 mah minimum. You can also get the octura prop upgrade which are sold at many different rc online stores, but the most important is the cooling and the batteries. I changed mine over to lipos, 5000 mah 7.4v x 2 = 14.8 volts, alot less weight and more amperage supply. If you run lipos you need a low voltage cutoff to not ruin your batteries. If you want to change motors, you can get titan e-maxx motors which are 21 turn as opposed to the titan marine motors in a stock villain EX which are 23 turn. These are just some suggestions, but mine runs great with the lipo, 21turn,water cooled setup.

pyt9898

Thanks for the reply Rebuilder,

When you upgraded to the Lipo batteries did you have enough adjustable trim to keep the boats bow from boucing up and down? I have my drives trimmed all the down right now to avoid the bow of the boat from bouncing up and down. Did you add weight to the front? I would also like to ask you if the water exiting your motor coolers is a good size stream, or is it barely coming out?

Thanks for you help!

rebuilder

I didnt have to adjust my trim, However, my boat is a Villain IV with all the "EX" upgrades. My trim is about 80% percent down. My cooling discharge stream is a good 8 inch stream out both sides. Are you running it now withtwo 6 cell packs?

pyt9898

I am running it with two 3000Nimh six cell packs and they are heavy. The boat came with the water cooling mod, ut it seems to stream out the speed controller alot more than the motor cooler side? I don't no if it is installed right because I don't have the owners manuals. Any thoughts?

Thanks

rebuilder

Are you running one water pickup for the motor cooling coils with a "Y" splitter? I run one water pickup for each coil, two pickups, two exits. If you're running one pickup it may be why your discharge is less. If its putting out a small stream it may be ok, like a one to two inch stream, but if its just dribbling that may not be cooling well. If you run two 7 cell packs you will get more speed and they weigh a little more, it may keep the bow down, or you can install trim tabs for ride adjustment. If you dont have 7 cells, try adding a little weight to the front battery compartment just for trial to see if 7cells would keep it down if you get them.

pyt9898

Yes, I'm just running one water pickup. There is a "T" splitter installed and one water line goes to the speed controller and the other to the motor coils. I plan on running the boat this weekend, and I'll see how much water is coming out of each discharge hose. Did you mount both your water pickups side by side? If so, I would like to see a pic of how you did that.

Thanks again

rebuilder

Yes, side by side in the middle of the prop shafts, you only have half of your water intake running thru two cooling coils i take it. I dont think that is enough cooling, for me anyway. I'll post a pic tomorrow of my setup.

twoolley08

My Feedback: (4)

this is how i have my IV set up right now not sure if rebuilder has his the same or not, im waitin to see his pic too!! I just got the lipo batteries too! I was running venom 6 cell 3000 mah and WOW what a difference between the batteries.

twoolley08

My Feedback: (4)

oh and also I started with the one water pick up for both motors and it didnt do good at all, it barley moved any water and i do not have a water cooled esc, the twin pick ups are great.

pyt9898

Thanks for sending the pic's of your boat. I can see from the pic's that the set-up you have is the way to get plenty of water through each motor coil. The way mine is presently setup, the water goes into the "splitter", then has to travel through one motor coil on the starboard motor and then make its way to the port motor coil....I like how you have it setup so the water enters from in between each motor, this makes more sense!  What is below your two water pickups? Is that just a drain plug that you installed, or did that come with the boat?

Thanks Again!

twoolley08

My Feedback: (4)

its an autobailer, i need to take everything off the stern and seal it all up good because she leaks in between the two hulls. i like the idea of the two pick ups because with the one you get cold water into one motor and the other is getting the warm/hot water from the first motor