RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

because it looks like a ok boat to run wear i live thats why rougth water down here and mi al ways runing cars but i have also worked on boats all my lift too and i can do a project on it later on why are they good?

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

oh and i live on a island at the tip of florida and the only fresh water that we have down here is in our pools and the water surounding us is ocean side or bay side and it pretty rougth down here and i can all ways do stuff to it later on i just need somthing down here that is good enouth to hand light chopy water like 6in wave most of the time and i saw that boat and it seems all most perfict

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Alright, gettin ready to maiden my first boat project! The motors are mounted and look pretty cool. Since the motors are fairly heavy, I put in a hitec 645mg in for steering. All the electronics are velcro'd into my super high tech receiver box...(i.e. tupperware container...hey, whatever works, right?). The brass pipe sticking out of the starboard stern is the outlet for the esc water cooling. All that's left to do is plumb the water lines for the esc and bridge the motors to the esc. Regardless of how it performs in it's first test, I am stoked to get it in the water.

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

I think I can address that. I could have built a drifter or a Jolly Cat. The reason I went through the trouble of converting the Jack is because I wanted something diffrent. Now I wouldent go as far as an NQD....but I think that may be his motovataion. I for one can understand. Now if you picked an NQD hull becaus you thought it was a quality item....Well ya better lay of the pipe....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH..jk man. :)

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

That looks very nice. Good job

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Man! Very nice work. It looks very cool. Nice upclose shots too. Could you back the camera off a bit and show us what the whole boat looks like now? Also can't wait to see the vids:D

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

WOW you damn neer have the thing looking scale. Fine work!! Impressive!

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Well, I maidened the boat today. It performed fairly well, pretty much how I thought it would...it was a bit faster than I was expecting though. The boat isn't super fast, but it gets up on plane and scoots. On the first run, (which is the video), I ran the stock props. On a second run, I switched to NQD props which are 36mm and have less pitch than the stock 32mm props. They seemed to push the boat a bit better. The batteries got really hot on the second run...about 180 deg by the time I got the cowl off and measured. It looks like I'm going to have to go with 1 battery and 1 speed control per motor...I think the motors draw the power too fast. Also, my esc water cooling isn't working...not enough force to push the water through the system i guess...but that is fine since the esc never measured over 85deg. Maybe I'll put a scoop on the water intake to help force water through.

I still have some tuning to do...trim the motors down, adjust my weight distribution and I'll probably put faster motors in it....hell, I may just put all this in a decent hull soon.

[link=http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t144/fun4ej/?action=view&current=maiden.flv]Maiden Voyage[/link]

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

SWEET!!! That looked really good!!! U luky to live in california, its still a bit cold here.
Dan

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

it looks good. might want to move your batteries up to the bow of the boat however!!

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Very sweet dude. Thanks for the nice video. Where do you have the battery positioned? I think you need to move them forward quite a bit. It would get on plane quicker and I think it would help in the turns as well.

We posted at the same time Taylor:D. well I guess you beat me to it by a couple of seconds. But that was because I was typing more;)

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Great Build! Out boards are the best. When is the brushless motor going in? :)

Ryan

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Actually, the battery is as far forward as possible, right behind the flotation material....situated perpendicular to the length. The receiver box is right behind the battery, everything is as far forward as possible...with the exception of the steering servo. Those EP1's are really heavy...when I switch to the dual battery/dual esc setup, the second battery will help with the weight up front.

In the video, I was taking it easy getting the boat on plane, I also let off quite a bit in the turns....just trying to get a feel for how the boat handled...didn't feel like flipping the boat on its first run.

Am I correct in thinking that these 2 motors are drawing power from the battery too fast...thus heating up the cells? I am running one 3600 8-cell 9.6 volt pack through a ripmax sea sprint esc....14 and 12ga silicon wire throughout (I know, I know...horrible esc...)

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Yes the two motors are pulling alot from the one battery pack. It will really lite up when you put in the dual battery and esc upgrade. I thought you were on two batteries, shows how much detail I read:eek:. Outboards turn like the boat is on rails. So let her fly around the corner once and lets see how she rides. I am sure it will be like shes on rails. Don't forget to vid it;)

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

remember the COG as well because the motor are far above the water it may lean a heck of alot.

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

As the owner of the profisherman, I can say it is not likely to lean at all. The profisherman is a very small boat and has the same heavy motor and it doesn't lean at all. I really like the way it rides. That is why I have held on to it for so long.

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Really Kewl Fun!! With a little more work on the CG and running 2 packs in seires and maybe a diffrent set of props she will prolly make 20, 25 eazy. Kinda makes me want a couple Graupner GTX650s for a little scale cat...

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

I don't think his motors can handle 12 cells. Probably have to run the battery packs in parallel. I think a 14 cell set-up would be good.

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Sweet its looks like the off shore power boats that comes down here every year i think im going to get that boat because i relly dont care about the haul relly i mean i have worked on boats all my life pretty much and i got all kinds of i deals floating around and i can mod the heck out the hall and it runs great for the waters down here i relly just need somthing down here that can handel the waters thats all.

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

You are correct. The specs for the stock motors state that they can handle up to 9.6 volts each. So I'm planning on getting another 8 cell pack and 2 new speed controls, run them in parallel of course...This ripmax esc I have seemed to work just fine...(didn't seem to get too hot with the water cooling not working as planned)...but, the watercooling plate on the esc is plastic...and plastic isn't the greatest conductor of heat.

As for counter rotation, It's got a bit of starboard torque roll, so it looks like I'll be adjusting the timing, countering the motors and looking into some new props. Wait, this brings up another problem, getting a reverse threaded driveshaft.....

One of these days I'll take the boat into my studio and get some decent pics of it

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

So, on the first run, I noticed my ESC watercooling wasn't working, so I added a scoop to the water pickup. If I can get my hands on another 8cell pack and a couple speed controls, I'll get the boat back in the water this weekend...There seems to be a severe lack of RC boat support at the lhs's here in San Diego...no one carries much of anything for marine applications.

I also included a pic that shows my interior layout...the battery was located just forward of the receiver box

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

You Could order a pack and another ESc from where ever you got it from, and you would be running the weekend after this one for shure.
Dan

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Just watched the video. Very nice. I don't think you have to worry about COG issues. Just add more power. The faster water flows under the rear of that boat the better it's going to handle. You've proven something! Good job!

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

yeah good work man, the NQD cat has never gone so fast!! yes you are definatley drawing too many amps from that pack, the twin pack setup will fix that hopefully, only thing i would have done differerent is mount the outboards nearly as high as i can get them so the centerline of the prop is about level with the bottom of the sponsons and i would have had the outboards wider apart, line on the back of each sponson.. just cause thats how a lot of the real boats.

I Noticed there wasnt much of a rooster tail, how deep are your props, you may be able to raise the outboards a little and cut that amp draw back

RE: NQD Cat--Outboard conversion
 

Yea, I would have liked to mount the outboards wider apart too...just like the full size Skaters...but to do that, I would have to do some serious modification on the transom of the hull. There is a step-in on the transom where the sponsons meet the tunnel. I would have to cut out and rebuild that section in order to get the motors mounted any wider. Right now, they are as wide as possible.

As for the height of the motors, they are currently mounted with the cavitation plate in horizontal line with the bottom of the sponsons. Yea, pretty deep. The motor mounts have space in the mount holes so, they can move up about 4mm without re-mounting the motor mounts. I was told that these EP1's aren't meant to be run as surface piercing drive's so thats why I mounted them so low. Oh well, it's all in the learning process...right?

I have 2 more speed controls on the way from steve at offshore, the proboat's. And I'll get another battery tomorrow from the lhs, so we'll have another test run this weekend.

I'm having fun with this build, but the deeper I get, the more I want to put all this hardware in a decent hull!

Thanks for all the comments