Suggestions for Compatible Parts

[Motivated SporranParticipant @motivatedsporran37529]

Hello folks,

I'm a total noob and I'm looking for some help.

Long story short, a while back my son (9) and I dismantled one of his RC cars and converted the innards to a an RC boat adding propellers instead of wheels and empty fizzy drinks bottles as the hull. It worked remarkably well until I added a larger battery and fried the receiver. He had great fun designing and building the boat.

He now wants to build something faster with proper boat parts.

I've had a look on Amazon and found these RC water jets with steering nozzles and we would like to give this a try.

Link to Amazon showing the water jet & motor kit.

The issue I have is ensuring that I get a transmitter, receiver, motor, servo and battery which are all compatible. I've seen kits with transmitters and receivers, but I don't know enough to understand if these will be able to control the the motor and servo for steering.

Link to Amazon showing transmitter & receiver pack.

On top of this, I don't know which battery to get to allow it all to work and to run for sufficient time to make the project worth while.

I would really appreciate if anyone can give suggestions for a cheap compatible set for transmitter, receiver, motor and servo along with a battery to run all of it. If there is a pack for all of these things including the jet assembly they that would be ideal. That means I know if it's not working then it's something I've done rather than an incompatibility issue.

My son is super excited to build something so I don't want to let him down by wasting money on kit that won't work.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Motivated SporranParticipant @motivatedsporran37529]

Total noob build from scratch.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hi Motspor, and welcome to the forum.

The transmitter and receiver I have no experience of, but as long as it does work, it will be suitable for your project. Most servos should be suitable, you only need one for the steering, or two if you want to use the bucket reverse system.

The jet unit I DO have experience with. It is very powerful and also takes a lot f current to operate. In my installation, on a 2s Lipo pack, I was seeing WELL OVER 30A current draw, so heaven knows what it take on a 3s pack.

If running on a 3s pack you would then need a mighty capacity pack, over 5000 mAhr to get any sort of run time .

An ESC (electric speed control) of at least 60A will be required, with water cooling. The brushed 540 option avalable for the unit is likely to be much too weedy for high speed.

My boat (see it in Februaries issue!) didn’t need this sort of power and as I only had a small Lipo pack, I mounted the jet unit only, and via a double coupling, mounted a 28mm outrunner of 1400Kv, and this takes 10A on a 3s, with adequate thrust for my purposes, 30A esc and no water cooling.

However as you need to go fast, then you would really have to use the brushless unit as it comes and fork out for the beefier components. Please DO NOT get a cheap “240A” Chinese esc, it will likely just incinerate the boat. There are quality high power esc out there, you get what you pay for.

Ashley

 

 

Edited By ashley needham on 30/12/2022 09:25:23

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I always suggest for a first build that a tried and tested design is used, such as a well proven kit, that will also have plenty of available information available. Getting into the realms of Lipos jet drives and using your own design is a very steep learning curve with a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong.

I would recommend that you start with a Club 500 kit. This is a well tried design that has been around for many years and there is a wealth of information about them out there. You can build it out of the box and compete in Club 500 racing and, if all that goes well you can then have a go at something more competitive, even perhaps building another Club 500 with brushless motor and Lipos etc..

Using a well proven design with the motor, shaft, propeller etc all included and the speed controller ans radio set easy to identify you have a considerably higher chance of success. While a basic Club 500 doesn't look too exiting, racing them can be quite addictive.

Club 500 Link

It is also then very easy to suggest a well tried and tested speed controller and a radio package that will do the job.

Edited By Richard Simpson on 30/12/2022 10:14:20

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

If the priority is to get something nippy on the water reliably and without delay then I would go with Richard's suggestion.

The 'learning on the job' route, whilst undeniably fascinating and educational, is likely to throw up delays and possibly some frustration, not to mention overspending.

Starting with a proven design will make it easier to step up to the next level if that is what you want to do.

Colin

[Motivated SporranParticipant @motivatedsporran37529]

Hi folks,

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. Lots of things to think about!

The more I look, the more complex it seems to get!

I hope we can knock together something to whizz around the local boating pond.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

A Club 500 will do that perfectly for you and not cost a fortune.

You will need the following:

1) A 2.4 radio and receiver set for £40.00 Radio Link

2) A Mtroniks Speed Controller for £47.00 Speed Controller Link

3) A 7.2 V NiMH pack for £16.00 Battery Link

4) And the Club 500 kit itself for £75.00

Giving a total outlay of £178.00

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

MS. “Knocking together” a club 500 will guarantee results and by quite damage resistant, as well as being a,enable to customising.

if the price is a bit off putting, bear in mind that the NEXT model will be able to use the same radio, battery and charger (another cost, you need a battery charger for the Nimh), lowering the apparent cost by some £75 or so.

Ashley

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