New to RC boats, considering the titan for purchase.

[jrock29]

I would like to know from those of you with experience should i pack a swimsuit and dingy if i plan on using this in a lake or pond or whatever? It sounds like this thing handles well but you never know what can happen out there. any feedback would be great.

[stinger30]

i cant swim to save myself... however there was another forum i read with a bloke who had a r/c boat and could not swim and here is what he said about retrieving the r/c boat if it failed in the middle of the drink


he had a el-cheapo fishing line tied to the transum of the boat

a few helium balloons attached to the fishing line with a turn buckle that swiveled around


when u take the bout out the helium balloons will rise and create a triangle effect from your fishing line to the balloons back down to the boat

if the boat dies, just reel in the fishing line and your done


im yet to try it but it sure sounds fiesable

[qorron]

and it sure would look stupid ;-)

there are 2 things that can happen:
1st: the boat could flip over (either by nasty waves or hard cornering I suppose).
then you would have to get it.

2nd: the battery dies.
with NiMHs, there is no problem, they just get weaker.
with LiPos, it depends on how the cutoff is implemented.
if it just cuts power completely.. no.. TRX won't do something stupid like that, now would you?
I assume that it limits throttle to some minimum like 5% or even gradually decreases power to a certain level but never to zero.
if the cut off voltage is high enough, there is absolutely no reason to worry about the Lipos getting damaged.
unless of course, one continues to use the boat for an hour or more.
and even if this is the case.. a slightly damaged Lipo is better than loosing the whole boat (with the lipos in it).

can a TRX employee please confirm that the engineers thought the same way as I did? (or tell me that I was completely wrong)

[fisheydude]

You would have to have the string on a retractable thing or something. It sounds like a silly idea to me. If you go out as far as you can and then come back, you would be bound to run over the slack of the line that just dropped in the water.

You should buy and innertube and have it on hand

[makaveli72]

and it sure would look stupid ;-)

there are 2 things that can happen:
1st: the boat could flip over (either by nasty waves or hard cornering I suppose).
then you would have to get it.

2nd: the battery dies.
with NiMHs, there is no problem, they just get weaker.
with LiPos, it depends on how the cutoff is implemented.
if it just cuts power completely.. no.. TRX won't do something stupid like that, now would you?
I assume that it limits throttle to some minimum like 5% or even gradually decreases power to a certain level but never to zero.
if the cut off voltage is high enough, there is absolutely no reason to worry about the Lipos getting damaged.
unless of course, one continues to use the boat for an hour or more.
and even if this is the case.. a slightly damaged Lipo is better than loosing the whole boat (with the lipos in it).

can a TRX employee please confirm that the engineers thought the same way as I did? (or tell me that I was completely wrong)

You make some good points qorron; It would be nice if Traxxas implemented something where the boat would flip right back over in the event of a capsize.

[qorron]

well actually most boats do that on their own (except for catamarans).

they do this because the heavy parts are on the bottom and the light parts are on top.

catamarans are too flat and too wide but on the other hand, they do not tend to flip easily.

interesting: on all videos seen so far, they slow down every time before taking a corner.
e.g.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl7X8...eature=related

I wonder what happens if you slam the steering to the end while riding at full speed.
will it flip?
If I where trx, I would try everything to prevent this because this is guaranteed the first thing the average user will do even at 6S.

[pavmentsurfer]

I bought a Villain for my first real boat. It DID flip over and it DIDNT flip back... but, I had a cheap surfboard laying around (I can swim, but this pond was GROSS) so I just floated out on the surfboard, and brought the boat back. The boat didnt sink, it staying completely up on the water, just upside down. It also didnt fill with water in the radio compartment where my lipos were.

All traxxas VXL's have a throttle reducing LVC built in. The throttle is reduced to, I think, 50% when the LVC hit 3.7 volts per cell. It will run this way for quite a while until the voltage drops even further and the LVC shuts the power completely. On a car, I notice when the LVC hits. Its a drastic drop in performance but there is no way I could ever be so far away from the car that I couldent get it back to me before the 2nd stage of LVC shut it right off. With A boat I would assume its the same.
My biggest concern with capsizing this boat is the air vents on the back of the hatch. If they are present on the boats we get they would let the motor compartment fill with water when the boat was upside down. If your running lipos (that tend to run cooler) and your learning how to drive id suggest taping these vents closed. If your running Nimh... you might want to leave them open. Nimhs create WAY more heat.

[H2O~Boy]

well actually most boats do that on their own (except for catamarans).

they do this because the heavy parts are on the bottom and the light parts are on top.

catamarans are too flat and too wide but on the other hand, they do not tend to flip easily.

interesting: on all videos seen so far, they slow down every time before taking a corner.
e.g.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl7X8...eature=related

I wonder what happens if you slam the steering to the end while riding at full speed.
will it flip?
If I where trx, I would try everything to prevent this because this is guaranteed the first thing the average user will do even at 6S.

I'm also very curious as to how this boat will handle high speed turns. But if you look under the overview of the titan, traxxas states that this rudder system will be able to provide full-throttle turns.
I hope that's true, i'd love to see this boat handle that well.

And pavment, I'm still not positive if those vents are real or not. I may have to ask them. But personally I think that's unnecessary for it being everything is water-cooled. After all the villain has been fine fully sealed as well. I guess we'll hafta wait to find out.

[filmmaker]

I would like to know from those of you with experience should i pack a swimsuit and dingy if i plan on using this in a lake or pond or whatever? It sounds like this thing handles well but you never know what can happen out there. any feedback would be great.

First, never ever swim after your dead boat in the water!
but a small boat to float in is a great idea

[nitrobaby]

A tennis ball or rubber ball tied to fishing line and a real is a common tool on the boat racing circuit. It is good for as far as you can throw. It might be smart to make sure there is something on the deck of your boat that the line can snag on to. Sometimes the antenna post is too flimsy. Some drive screw into the deck at the nose of the boat.

[filmmaker]

A tennis ball or rubber ball tied to fishing line and a real is a common tool on the boat racing circuit. It is good for as far as you can throw. It might be smart to make sure there is something on the deck of your boat that the line can snag on to. Sometimes the antenna post is too flimsy. Some drive screw into the deck at the nose of the boat.

and not just racing but sport runnig to
I also have a Rio ep that is my rescue boat

[pavmentsurfer]

Hey Filmmaker, are you on offshoreelectrics forums? I was on there (under the same name) trying to build a brushless rio and A guy who had one as a rescue boat was helping me out.

[filmmaker]

Hey Filmmaker, are you on offshoreelectrics forums? I was on there (under the same name) trying to build a brushless rio and A guy who had one as a rescue boat was helping me out.

I am over on OSE

[H2O~Boy]

Just as an update about the cooling vents on the hull.
Traxxas says that most likely those are simply for show, they aren't going to be funtional. Esp considering everything is water-cooled anyways.
And as for specs about the vxl-6s, the trx engineers haven't released anything yet, so we'll just hafta wait for those.

[filmmaker]

Just as an update about the cooling vents on the hull.
Traxxas says that most likely those are simply for show, they aren't going to be funtional. Esp considering everything is water-cooled anyways.
And as for specs about the vxl-6s, the trx engineers haven't released anything yet, so we'll just hafta wait for those.

On FE Boats, there really is no such thing as cooling vents...
Batteries would get wet!

[nitrobaby]

and not just racing but sport runnig to
I also have a Rio ep that is my rescue boat

Yes it is good for sport running too. My point was if it is good enough for the more intense use on race day it will be a very good option for sportsters.

I had also used a contraption once or twice that one of the other boaters got from an old Boat Modeler Magazine Article. It was a dual pontoon looking rig with an electic motor in each pontoon. Navigation was managed by the amount power distributed to each engine. Well anyway the pontoons were rigged together about 2 feet across from each other with a catch bar at the rear. It requires a bit of hand I coordination for when you boat gets way out there but it worked good.

Here is a similar set-up here for those who don't have access to a full size retreive boat.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=760156

Also...

For new guys that are interested. You can get yourself acquainted to bunch of local guys that should be happy to help you out. There is the following...

North American Model Boat Association (NAMBA)
Nationwide and Canada. Most wide spread organization
http://www.namba.com

International Model Power Boat Association (IMPBA)
Largest Organization but concentrated in the East and more so in the SouthEast
http://www.impba.com

American Power Boat Association (APBA)
Nationwide but very sparse in membership. Mostly focused on full size racing.
http://www.apba.com

These groups aren't just for racers. However, they do run events all through the year and have several fun days and weekends when anyone can come out and just fun around. They all run electric, gas, nitro. NAMBA even host Battleship seek and destroy competitions. There is usually a wealth of knowledge available at such events and sites where people are often willing to share what worked for them including equipment.

Also... They all provide insurance so that you are covered either primarily or secondarily after you own insurance runs out or primarily if you are not insured, should any mishap take place to yourself, a spectator or the property you run at. NAMBA just has it for $45/yr. I am sure the others are around the same.

[H2O~Boy]

On FE Boats, there really is no such thing as cooling vents...
Batteries would get wet!

I brought up that because it has been asked whether they are real or not. I was informing them.
However you could have air vents to keep things cool. When your moving at speeds, the water spray over the boat that could get in would be getting forced rearward & into the rear bildge. Water doesnt spray forward when its coming in towards the rear. The most it could ever be would be a light mist too insignificant to affect the batteries unless the boat flipped.

[filmmaker]

I brought up that because it has been asked whether they are real or not. I was informing them.
However you could have air vents to keep things cool. When your moving at speeds, the water spray over the boat that could get in would be getting forced rearward & into the rear bildge. Water doesnt spray forward when its coming in towards the rear. The most it could ever be would be a light mist too insignificant to affect the batteries unless the boat flipped.

bad idea
if you have ever raced and I'm guessing you have not.. when you get behind another boat at full tilt, it would fill up the hull with water
also when you roll or flip the boat and its up side down, it would fill the hull very quickly and try and sink the boat, and all the electronics would be in water...
FE boats should be kept as water tight as possible

[filmmaker]

Also...

For new guys that are interested. You can get yourself acquainted to bunch of local guys that should be happy to help you out. There is the following...

North American Model Boat Association (NAMBA)
Nationwide and Canada. Most wide spread organization
http://www.namba.com

International Model Power Boat Association (IMPBA)
Largest Organization but concentrated in the East and more so in the SouthEast
http://www.impba.com

American Power Boat Association (APBA)
Nationwide but very sparse in membership. Mostly focused on full size racing.
http://www.apba.com

These groups aren't just for racers. However, they do run events all through the year and have several fun days and weekends when anyone can come out and just fun around. They all run electric, gas, nitro. NAMBA even host Battleship seek and destroy competitions. There is usually a wealth of knowledge available at such events and sites where people are often willing to share what worked for them including equipment.

Also... They all provide insurance so that you are covered either primarily or secondarily after you own insurance runs out or primarily if you are not insured, should any mishap take place to yourself, a spectator or the property you run at. NAMBA just has it for $45/yr. I am sure the others are around the same.

Good stuff!

[nitrobaby]

bad idea
if you have ever raced and I'm guessing you have not.. when you get behind another boat at full tilt, it would fill up the hull with water
also when you roll or flip the boat and its up side down, it would fill the hull very quickly and try and sink the boat, and all the electronics would be in water...
FE boats should be kept as water tight as possible

Yep! Keep em sealed for Electrics.

I like them though because nitro needs to breath so I will be opening them up.

[H2O~Boy]

bad idea
if you have ever raced and I'm guessing you have not.. when you get behind another boat at full tilt, it would fill up the hull with water
also when you roll or flip the boat and its up side down, it would fill the hull very quickly and try and sink the boat, and all the electronics would be in water...
FE boats should be kept as water tight as possible

When dealing with racing this boat yes I agree that's a bad idea because there will be excess water rushing in from other boats.
But being that most people that own this boat will be simply cruising their lakes or ponds, it's not that big of a deal. It's not enough water to worry about ruining anything.
I've gotten plenty of water in my villain because the hatch doesn't seal too well or from flipping it, but what do ya know, everything has always been fine, even my lipo's.
If these boats were meant to be 100% dry on the inside there wouldn't be a need for the waterproof electronics now would there.

[nitrobaby]

When dealing with racing this boat yes I agree that's a bad idea because there will be excess water rushing in from other boats.
But being that most people that own this boat will be simply cruising their lakes or ponds, it's not that big of a deal. It's not enough water to worry about ruining anything.
I've gotten plenty of water in my villain because the hatch doesn't seal too well or from flipping it, but what do ya know, everything has always been fine, even my lipo's.
If these boats were meant to be 100% dry on the inside there wouldn't be a need for the waterproof electronics now would there.

I see both of your points but for entry level guys I would say it's best to keep it simple and just say don't do it. After all malfunctions don't happen because of exposure to dryness but they do happen from too much exposure to moisture so why risk it when there is no need.

[filmmaker]

When dealing with racing this boat yes I agree that's a bad idea because there will be excess water rushing in from other boats.
But being that most people that own this boat will be simply cruising their lakes or ponds, it's not that big of a deal. It's not enough water to worry about ruining anything.
I've gotten plenty of water in my villain because the hatch doesn't seal too well or from flipping it, but what do ya know, everything has always been fine, even my lipo's.
If these boats were meant to be 100% dry on the inside there wouldn't be a need for the waterproof electronics now would there.

It's a huge deal when you flip a boat and it starts to sink because it has holes in the hatch for no reason at all..
and all the electronics get soaked

and about the waterproof electronics... hello, we are talking high volts and lots of amps being used and waterproofing keeps the smoke in and our costs down because Traxxas does not have to replace every esc that gets wet

[H2O~Boy]

I never said that I would recommend air vents in the hatch, I was simply stating that this boat won't have any, which was originally questioned by another member.

As for waterproof electronics yes they will protect them. But if these hulls are as tight as they are supposed to be theres no real need. After all the old boats didn't have any waterproof electronics did they?
It's not like a standard electronic is going to need to be replaced by a little bit of water. They may not be waterproof, but they are resistant nonetheless. I've driven my rusty vxl through water & snow with no problems. They're more durable than you think.
Btw what is this "smoke" you speak of? Your electronics shouldn't be smoking, just fyi.

[filmmaker]

I never said that I would recommend air vents in the hatch, I was simply stating that this boat won't have any, which was originally questioned by another member.

As for waterproof electronics yes they will protect them. But if these hulls are as tight as they are supposed to be theres no real need. After all the old boats didn't have any waterproof electronics did they?
It's not like a standard electronic is going to need to be replaced by a little bit of water. They may not be waterproof, but they are resistant nonetheless. I've driven my rusty vxl through water & snow with no problems. They're more durable than you think.
Btw what is this "smoke" you speak of? Your electronics shouldn't be smoking, just fyi.

Bro get over it... no one wants wet electrinics
Traxxas did a great job with this boat, they did it right!
And a little bit of water can ruin a great day of boating..

[H2O~Boy]

Dude I never said traxxas did something wrong. They always hit the nail on the head, which includes this boat. I was just saying if the electronics get a lil wet they will be fine. That's all.

[filmmaker]

Dude I never said traxxas did something wrong. They always hit the nail on the head, which includes this boat. I was just saying if the electronics get a lil wet they will be fine. That's all.

you had made comments about having holes in the cowl to help cool things...
and I've said and others that's a bad idea
things are water cooled so this would not help plus when, not if but when the boat flips it will try and sink, filling the hull with water and that will be a bad thing
all is good

[31794ty]

My biggest concern with capsizing this boat is the air vents on the back of the hatch. If they are present on the boats we get they would let the motor compartment fill with water when the boat was upside down. If your running lipos (that tend to run cooler) and your learning how to drive id suggest taping these vents closed. If your running Nimh... you might want to leave them open. Nimhs create WAY more heat.

What vents are you talking about? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsfT7qoCm9A Do you see any vents?

[pavmentsurfer]

Its not in the video... its in the pics on the traxxas gallery in the pic of the rear hardware. You can clearly see 2 vents on the back of the hatch. Im not trying to cause any issues here... I just know ive flipped my Villain a few times and was worried that if I flip the titan it will sink. I agree they may not be present on the Titan when we get them... just curious.

[filmmaker]

Its not in the video... its in the pics on the traxxas gallery in the pic of the rear hardware. You can clearly see 2 vents on the back of the hatch. Im not trying to cause any issues here... I just know ive flipped my Villain a few times and was worried that if I flip the titan it will sink. I agree they may not be present on the Titan when we get them... just curious.

Stickers...

[theconman5150]

i second filmaker.
they look too shiny to not be stickers

[H2O~Boy]

That's a great picture that shows the boat much closer filmmaker. Where'd you find it?

[radicalray]

I would like to know from those of you with experience should i pack a swimsuit and dingy if i plan on using this in a lake or pond or whatever? It sounds like this thing handles well but you never know what can happen out there. any feedback would be great.

I wonder what happens if you slam the steering to the end while riding at full speed.
will it flip?
If I where trx, I would try everything to prevent this because this is guaranteed the first thing the average user will do even at 6S.

All boats will flip at some time or another. Need some time of retrieval method, dinghy works great, I use a second rc rescue boat with a foam padded pvc scoop out front to pick up my dead or flipped SV 27 or UL-1.
Waitin for Traxxas to get a FE boat. Time to buy some 6s Batteeries

[filmmaker]

That's a great picture that shows the boat much closer filmmaker. Where'd you find it?

right here on Traxxas