NQD Budget Cyclone Build with Video#2
 

I just thought I would document my new project, making the cheapest and fastest boat I can. Now alot of People will say its a waste of money but hey I just like building things from scratch with no plans more than I like buying them ready made. And if I had the tools Id be making my own running gear as well.

So here is a price list of my purchased items not including postage costs. All prices are in USD as this is a mainly american forum.

NQD Cyclone X Hull 33" Ebay - $0.85
Feigao 8XL Brushless Motor - $47.50
Pulso WaterCooled 100Amp ESC - $67.50
UBEC 3A - $7.55
Tower Pro Servo - $7.55
Hobao 2CH AM Digital Controller and receiver Ebay - $35.00
Rudder, Tabs, and other bits from ex demo Super July Ebay - $17.00
Graupner Flex Coupler - $15.80
4mm Threaded drive shaft Ebay - $8.00
Wires and Deans plugs Ebay - $9.00
Mitre Board and other hardware - $5.00

Total - $220.75 USD

Most of these Bits are still on back order so this build could take a while. Plus I will use my existing batteries. 12 cells 3300Mah NIMH.

Here are the first pics of a fully stripped back hull top side and bottom.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

Here are some pics of the mitre board I have used to strengthen the inside of the hull. I was going to glass it but I just cant be bothered with that horrible sticky resin in such a hard to reach hull.
I have also sealed the inner hatch with silicon to make it as water proof as possible as you can see in the third pic.
Included is a pic of my reciver that I snaped off ebay at the last minute.

Oh I also didnt include the props in the above pricing as I already have a bunch. They are only worth about $3.00 each and I will have a 42mm and a 48mm for this boat.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

I am currently working on a cheep but fast boat too... Here is my setup

1x NQD Hydro 29'' $43 -that includes shipping
2x brushless 20-40-18L 3200kv and 2x 30A esc for only $60
2x drive shaft - $20
2x couplers - $10
1x servo - $10
1x rx - $20

thats around $160 so far, im trying to keep it below $200

Has this been tested

wac

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

I have just received my speed controller and deans plugs and have just finished making up a Y harness for them.
I have tried the new Y- harness in my smaller sunstorm boat, 12 awg wire makes a massive difference compared to 14 awg. I think the boat might be over 30Mph now.
Not bad for a little 380 Motor that everyone said was to small.

I have also finished adding foam to the canopy and the hull. I used expandable foam in a can for the nose and high density polystyrene for the walls. The hull now feels very strong and much firmer than before.

I'm still waiting on the motor, servo and other hardware to arrive, so I guess it will be having its first test in 1 - 2 weeks if all goes well.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

Time for another update.
I have installed the rudder and trim tabs I got from an old Super July. And have started the mock up for the servo.
I have also added the battery velcro mounts so they are raised off the bottom of the boat, if any water does get in I dont want any shorts.

There is only one problem, today after placing my order 26 days ago I finally received my Feigao motor from UnitedHobbies and guess what they sent me the wrong one. I ordered a Feigao 540-8XL and they sent me a Feigao 540-12L.

So now I have to send it back to them which will take 5 days, then they will refund my postage (hopefully) and will send me the correct one (again hopefully). I guess it will take them another 20 days to do that if they have them in stock . So I guess Im going to be waiting another month for my motor.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

Well time for another update.

Im still waiting for my Feigao Motor from United Hobbies it has now been 5 weeks since I first ordered my motor, and they sent the incorrect one. And 1 and a half weeks since I have sent the motor back. The are now sending me a 540 9xl as they sold my 8xl to someone else rather than holding it for me (they now have negative 3 in stock). They are now also refusing to refund my postage back to me, postage that I have now paid 3 times. (once to send to me, once to send it back, and once again for them to resend it to me) God I hate them.

But other than that everything else is ready to go, water cooling ports are in, rudder and servo are done, floatation and motor mount are done. I have evan stuck some metalic contact on the boat to make it look pretty. All I need is the motor and some water

Here are the pics:

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

It's a bit late now, but have you considered buying at Offshore?

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/products.php?cat=42

Steven is well known for his service.

Regards, Jan.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

yeah. buy local before you buy china ****.
Steven is very good with that stuff.
as well is Paul
www.buyfastelectrics.com

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

See, now I'm very glad I didnt buy a hextronic esc from them, besides being Chinese, apparently they dont care about customers. Like I said earlier I'll buy a brushless controller when theyre sold dirt cheap in the US. Till then, I love my 700sc.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

really because i'm hardly impressed by the 3 i own.
can't even hold a candle to the cordite in my opinion.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

I live in Australia
Buying from Hong Kong is alot more local than buying from the USA.
Buying the same motor from offshoreelectrics would cost $98.00 AUD and generally takes 3- 4 weeks for delivery
Buying from UnitedHobbies costs $67.00 AUD and takes 3-4 days for delivery.
But I must say I have bought stuff from Offshore Electrics in the past and I must say Steven is a credit to customer service.
he will always send the correct items and generally only takes 24 hours to send it once he recives payment.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

Well I finally got my motor, a feigao 540 9xl.

And here are the final pics, all done.
Tomorrow is test day, I will be running it with 12, 3300 cells to see how it goes. If all goes well i might invest in two 8 cell packs.

And yes there will be a video I should have it up by Sunday.

Here are the final pics of the motor installed with my dodgy ESC mounting and 4 dollar water cooling solution. Note that some of the colour contact has already started to bubble. I should have invested more that 50c in decorating my boat. Oh and if you want to know how I coloured the window black. Black permanent Marker and a steady hand. My hope is that it will be going so fast that people wont see how crummy it looks.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

Well I ran the boat for the first time to day, put the 42mm prop on and powered it up and nothing but cavitation. The boat sounded like a blender and only went 5kph.
So fingers crossed I put the 48mm prop on , and right away it bit in and took off. Within about 2sec the whole boat started to jump out of the water, the waves were simply too big and the boat too fast.
So I brought it in to shore to check it, the esc and the motor were not evan warm, and the driveshaft was still intact.
I tried it again about 1 hour later when the wind and waves had died down alot but I could still only get it to half throttle before it started to bounce the prop out of the water from the bigger waves.

So here is a video with a few half throttle runs. I will have to wait for a day with better water conditions to see what it can really do. But I think it will really fly when I put it on 16 cells. So everyone let me know what you think.

http://media.putfile.com/Brushless-C...-Half-Throttle

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

Id love to let you know what i think but i cant open the file to view:(
I have a NQD as well use it as my rescue boat....ummm a fast rescue boat now theres a thought[&:]

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

The motors are the EXACT SAME minus a bearing. How can it "not even hold a candle to the cordite"?

Given both motors are run in the same, they'll run side by side all day long.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

Well the weather is evan worse today. Guess I will have to wait till next saturday.
Still no comments?

I also wanted some advise should I get two new 8 cell GP3300 packs to make 16 cells, or should I buy one new 6 cell GP3300 pack to add to my other two 6 cell packs and make the boat 18 cells with three packs? any ideas? will the ESC be able to handle 18 cells?

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build with Video
 

aha now i can see it??? Looks good even at low throttle, ive been waiting for good weather here in UK been nothing but floods n rain. But finally a dry sunny day so been down to try my new electrics and twin batterys out was a bit choppy got up to full speed but was a bit hairy with the boat on a few occassions getting some big air.
Just gotta sort by turning out now with the extra power it tends to spin out quite easliy.

Cant wait to see your video at full speed going well mate:D

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

Great run... Lots of chop and wind..
Push the batteries forward and pull the throttle wide open.. Easy for me to say..

Moppie

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

btw the way this takes you to an erroneous site, thx now I have to check my computer for spy ware/viruses.

and thx hellomynameisdookie for backing me up
a question why'd ya buy three?

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

No one have any ideas on how many cells and what config I should use. I wanna get them soon so I can get this thing up to speed.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build
 

sorry bud they are not.
bearings are a HUGE deal buddy. totally change the performance and efficiency of the motor.
they also have a different armature but still with the same number of winds.
they are not the same .

sorry it's www.buyfastelectricrc.com.
LOL
3 because i own 2 spec boats and it was only 45 bucks so why not.

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build with Video
 

Well here is a new video with the boat on some perfectly calm water at full throttle.
Basicly its not fast, I estimate just under 30Mph, esentially I need more and better cells.
Can someone please give me some advise of how many cells to run with my motor/ ESC config?

Also after that 2 min run the motor was still cool to the touch, and the ESC was barely warm at all and thats with a 48mm prop.
The only thing that was warm were the batteries.

http://media.putfile.com/Brushless-C...-Speed-12cells

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build with Video
 

Considering no one on this forum wants to give me any advise at all, I have decided to try 3 packs of 6 cell gp3300s.
So thats going to be 18 cells on a feigao 540 9xl.
Fingers crossed I dont blow the ESC or the motor


FeCalc suggests this will take me from 30 Mph to 44mph, again I will be sticking to the 48mm prop.

I will try to get a video but I will be alone and will have to film and steer at the same time. Im guessing there will be alot of straight line runs and very little steering.

Does anyone have any experience with going from NiMH to LiPO's at the same voltage? Is there a noticable performance increase in going to LiPO?

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build with Video
 

Love to help you out but i have only just started running boats myself i mainly race cars, you never know someone might help you:eek:

RE: NQD Budget Cyclone Build with Video#2
 

Dmanning from looking at your video your boat handle pretty well. I think you should give more throttle until the boat shows signs that it will flip. Before you decide on adding cells make sure the boat can handle full power on 12cells. 16cells may give you at least 33% more power so you can expect another 2- 3mph at least on 16cells.