One of the biggest dilemmas facing the RC Model Boat Builder is which combo of motor/batteries to use, there is literally 1000s of combinations to choose from depending on what type of model boat you are building & also the type/size of prop can have a huge effect on the speed of your model boat, after all, seeing a TUG boat zipping around the lake at 30mph+ (as fun as some might think!) would just look ridiculous & vice versa when watching a model speed boat on max throttle chugging along at 5mph will also be a little unrealistic!
Therefore, choosing the right setup is essential & for myself who is a newbie to scratch builds & also the fact my build is BIG! it was a daunting task as most available motors from model shops are for RC models of much smaller scales. So as expected I had to source the motor by other means. The first thing I had to do was figure out what RPM motor would be most suitable & what voltage I should use. After scouring the net for days/weeks I come to the conclusion that a 12/24v 3-4000rpm motor is what I would need. The first one I bought was 12v & ran at just over 4000rpm no load. But the problem with this one when tested was the torque didn't quite seem enough? ..maybe a faulty motor? Or maybe it was just that there wasn't enough oomph! .. So my second motor I managed to source was basically a similar spec but 24v instead of 12v, it was also slightly larger in size than the 12v motor & felt slightly heavier. Even though it's a 24v capable motor I'm running it using 12v only which means I will get longer run times & works perfectly & after my first water test, My Tug was steaming along nicely at scale speed.
The batteries I'm using are 12v 22Ah, I will be wiring them up in parallel, this configuration will combine the Ah of both battery's so in turn will give double the run time without the need to swap battery's.
The batteries I'm using are 12v 22Ah, I will be wiring them up in parallel, this configuration will combine the Ah of both battery's so in turn will give double the run time without the need to swap battery's.
List of the electrical components my model will use:
- Futaba T6K (V2) 8 Channel Transmitter
- Futaba R3008-SB Receiver
- Sanyo Eneloop AA Batteries for Transmitter
- 12V Motor Hi-Torque Motor (Runs at roughly 3000 RPM)
- Savox SW0231MG Waterproof High Torque (15kg) Servo for Rudder
- Action Electronics P98 ESC
- Action Electronics P107 Distribution Board
- Action Electronics P103 Parallel Power Board
- Voltage Display Monitors
- Beier USM-RC 2 Sound & Light module
- 25w 12v Speaker
- 12v LED's (Nav lights / Deck lights & Wheelhouse lights etc)
- Home Made Steam Simulator Unit (SSU)
- Turnigy Receiver On/Off switch (used for turning the SSU On/Off remotely)
- 2x 12v to 24v Step-Up Converter
- ....Lots & Lots of wire!!
Click on Image below to enlarge
Motor & BatterysElectric Box
I decided I wanted to put all my electrics into a box to offer protection. So i made this box using bits of ply & Perspex, I also decided to fit a 12v fan to the case to help keep the temperature inside the case low. The fan is connected to the Beier USM-RC2 module & I have programmed the module so the case fan operates at 60% & it will also automatically switch off if there has been no signal from the TX after 1 min. It will automatically turn on again as soon as there is a signal again from the TX (Such as forward on throttle)
Misc.