Retro R/C questions

Dutch Guy

Dutch Guy

Dutch Guy

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
24,560
Location
Amsterdam,The Netherlands
Now that my son is almost 8 I decided to take my old R/C cars out of storage but I have some questions as I forgot most of it.

They are a 1:10 Tamiya Thundershot and a Thunder Dragon, I think they are >20 years old now :eek:

I had an old 1700mAh NiCD 7,2V battery but the buggy only runs 2 minutes on that so I ordered a 3000mAh NiMH 7,2V battery, can I use the same charger with that battery and how can I calculate the charge time?

I can see I bought a replacement motor but I can't remember the difference to the stock 540 motor, it says Kyosho Mega Motor 14x2 Dirt Oval on it but how does it compare to a stock 540 motor in speed/running time etc?

I have an old 27Mhz remote, can I buy a new 1:10 buggy (if they fail to work)and still use the old remote by inserting the Mhz 'thingy' in the buggy or do I need to buy a newer compatible remote with a new buggy?
 
I don't think you can charge Nimh batteries from a NiCD charger. Well I've got a charger that does both but it is a setting in a menu.

The kyosho will be more powerful (pretty much anything was better than the 540s) but running time will be down to gearing rather than the motor.

Yes you can but will need to move over the receiver box not just the Mhz thingy (crystal)
 
I would buy a cheap NiMH charger as it will take roughly double the time to charge the 3000mah battery.

Try this - http://www.apexmodels.com/gbu0-prodshow/O-IP3020.html (it will need a 12v source)

The motor will be faster and will pull more juice so make sure the speed controller can handle it.

You can use the same transmitter but always best to try and use the same receiver combo.

On a side note if your still using White tamiya battery clips I would change them to Deans connectors as Tamiya connectors have a habit of melting together.

Ive race model cars and trucks since i was 14. Also if you really want som punch look at brushless/lipo kits.
 
Can you store electric motors forever or do they degrade when stored?

If I buy a new motor should I go with an engine that has a lot of turns or high RPM?

Is this correct?
Lots of turns = more power and better acceleration
High RPM = higher top speed but worse acceleration
 
matthab said:
I would buy a cheap NiMH charger as it will take roughly double the time to charge the 3000mah battery.
Click to expand...

Charge time will vary according to the charge rate.

Rough rule: capacity of battery / charge rate and add 10%
eg with a 300mA charger,
3000 / 300 = 10 hours, add 10% = 11 hours
 
Dutch Guy said:
I can see I bought a replacement motor but I can't remember the difference to the stock 540 motor, it says Kyosho Mega Motor 14x2 Dirt Oval on it but how does it compare to a stock 540 motor in speed/running time etc?
Click to expand...
Lol :D

14x2 sounds like it's a 14 turn double, which is 14 winds of wire round each armature and two lots of wire. Less turns means higher speed and more windings (eg double, triple) means more power and more battery consumption, so no wonder it eats the battery in 2 minutes :D

I have a 17 turn double with wet magnets which was pretty lairy but the stronger 'wet' magnets, which were the ones to have back then, made the battery last a lot longer with the same power output.

I think a stock 540 was about 20 or 25 turns and single wound.
 
Tomsk said:
Charge time will vary according to the charge rate.

Rough rule: capacity of battery / charge rate and add 10%
eg with a 300mA charger,
3000 / 300 = 10 hours, add 10% = 11 hours
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, I found a (cheap) 1A rapid charger so that would mean I can charge a 3000mA pack in ~3 hours which is acceptable.

There is also a 2A charger but they warn that the charge should not exceed 0.4x the battery, is that true or will it work anyway but warm up the battery?
 
Jonny69 said:
14x2 sounds like it's a 14 turn double, which is 14 winds of wire round each armature and two lots of wire. Less turns means higher speed and more windings (eg double, triple) means more power and more battery consumption, so no wonder it eats the battery in 2 minutes :D
Click to expand...
I see, so a 14x2 motor is fast and powerful but uses a lot of power :(

I think I will see if the original 540 motor still works and use that, I am not looking for too much speed now as my son isn't yet good at controlling and going too fast will mean a busted car most likely.
 
Motors don't like being left for ages. The one in my electric glider had gone strange and wouldn't turn. Just vibrated up and down.
540's are cheap anyway.
 
SimonCHere said:
Motors don't like being left for ages. The one in my electric glider had gone strange and wouldn't turn. Just vibrated up and down.
540's are cheap anyway.
Click to expand...
Found them for 8 euro, any advice how many turns I should get? (They are from 15 turns to 35 turns)
 
if your useing the standard manual speedo, the type controlled by a servo you need to stick with a standard 27t motor. Anything hot and it'll draw so much current it'll melt it.

As for cells, get a peak charger, the slow chargers will kill good NIMH's in no time.

As for the nicad/nimh charger issue. The first NIMH's had a very shallow peak and some nicad chargers couldnt spot this, however the later NIMH hv (high volt) cells have a much more noticable peak. Anyway if the pack is hot it's charged.

By the way I have a lot of odds and ends like this, motors, chargers, cells etc as I do a bit of racing and have quite a few cars so your welcome to message me with what your after. my email is at the top of this page:

www.ukmonsters.co.uk/robocain
 
Dutch Guy said:
euro
Click to expand...
Unrelated to this thread but quite comedy, me and my dad had to drive a Dutch hire car back to England from France at the weekend. Long story but we spent the day pretending to be Dutch and talking to people in English with fake Dutch accents. Dad sounded more Pakistani to be honest but nobody worked it out :D
 
Tried the car this evening with the new 3000mAh battery and stock motor and it ran great, speed wise it's fine for my son to learn R/C driving, I will try tomorrow with the 14x2 motor and see if the new battery makes a big difference.

My charger works fine with the NiMH battery even though they didn't even exist when I bought it, only problem is that to fast charge I need to use a timer that only goes to 30 minutes so I have to watch before it runs out to go on charging, but it works.

So I will leave it as it is now and not go crazy with upgrades just yet, first I will see if my son can keep the car in one piece, lol
 
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Switched the motor for the 14x2 one and it made a big difference, the car is so fast it's dangerous.

I made a ramp and the car jumped 12 feet in the backyard and landed in the grass and styaed totally stable in the air, lol
 
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