Revell Gato 1/72 - Newbie no more Part duex

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • He Who Shall Not Be Named
    Moderator
    • Aug 2008
    • 12254

    just pulling your chain, Alec. And when/if you use the Pam, go easy on it, taking care not to get any on the surface of the model.

    David
    Who is John Galt?

    Comment

    • trout
      Admiral
      • Jul 2011
      • 3545

      David, the Pam treatment is a one time treatment? just to see treatment? or a more regular thing you would do (part of the pre-mission check)? Arrrrgh, Thank you Mr. Merriman (in my best pirate voice)
      If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

      Comment

      • He Who Shall Not Be Named
        Moderator
        • Aug 2008
        • 12254

        one time ... Arrrgh! ... on time, matey!
        Who is John Galt?

        Comment

        • small sub guy
          Lieutenant, Junior Grade
          • Dec 2009
          • 45

          Excuse me i dont mean to hijack the thread,but...
          will there be a retrofit kit to convert sub drivers to SAS?

          Thanx

          Comment

          • He Who Shall Not Be Named
            Moderator
            • Aug 2008
            • 12254

            Originally posted by small sub guy
            Excuse me i dont mean to hijack the thread,but...
            will there be a retrofit kit to convert sub drivers to SAS?

            Thanx
            No problem. The thread got stupid there for a minute, anyway.

            At this time I don't plan on a SAS retrofit kit for old SD's. But, something for Mike and me to consider -- depends on demand.

            David
            Who is John Galt?

            Comment

            • Snipah
              Lieutenant
              • Jul 2012
              • 67

              I demand the price goes back I just ordered a Gato SAS SD ......... you just made me sell my 1st born... no wife... much prefer to sell her....... lol :-D

              Comment

              • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                Moderator
                • Aug 2008
                • 12254

                Sorry, pal!
                Who is John Galt?

                Comment

                • trout
                  Admiral
                  • Jul 2011
                  • 3545

                  Got some more pool time in.
                  Click image for larger version

Name:	Gato_09_2012_2.jpg
Views:	2
Size:	98.4 KB
ID:	73356
                  The good news after an hour or so of running her, she did not sink or rest at the bottom! The not so good news is it took some tweaking to finally get her to dive. Then it ended with her acting erratically And me breaking the barrel of the 40mm and the bow light support, grrrrr. All fixable (again).
                  Some of the erratic behavior is chattering servos and speed controller surging. Rear going down (very end of day). This time I think I need to re-calibrate the ADR2. All stop and the Gato was level. move forward and the aft would go down and bow up. The one other thing I noticed, when going in reverse, the rudder's click-on connector would disconnect. I may have to replace it with my connector.
                  Sam got some sub time in too! Did a fine job.
                  Click image for larger version

Name:	Sam_8_running the Gato.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	80.2 KB
ID:	73357
                  Last edited by trout; 10-02-2012, 04:51 AM.
                  If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                  Comment

                  • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                    Moderator
                    • Aug 2008
                    • 12254

                    OK, I know the problem you're having -- something Andy has warned us about for years: we're way over-taxing the ESC's built-in BEC.

                    My GATO and big SKIPJACK were evidencing the same problem: Using the dinky BEC which is only rated for 1.5-Ampere service (in a system that peaks at nearly 3-Ampere) things would work fine till the ESC and it's BEC warmed up, then things would start glitching as the receiver bus failed to deliver the current demanded by the devices aboard. Just as you observed with your boat, Tom, over time, things got worse. Gremlin city!

                    The GATO and 3.5 SD's pull a lot of current for the many devices and (with the 1/72 SKIPJACK) larger servos they contain -- way, way over taxing the ESC's little BEC. You need a dedicated, high capacity BEC in there, pal.

                    The solution is to stick a dedicated, high current capable BEC into the SD, and all of the gremlins will go away. They're now available from Caswell. Here's the BEC you need: http://www.sub-driver.com/electronic...r-circuit.html
                    Who is John Galt?

                    Comment

                    • trout
                      Admiral
                      • Jul 2011
                      • 3545

                      Thank you David! I will try that!
                      If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                      Comment

                      • vital.spark
                        Commander
                        • May 2010
                        • 274

                        David,

                        How about a drawing on how to isnstall the BEC?

                        Comment

                        • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                          Moderator
                          • Aug 2008
                          • 12254

                          Simply hard wire the input red and black wires to the battery cables, and make up the BEC's output J-plug into an unused port of the receiver. Done.

                          Oh, and when you do that, disconnect the red wire from the ESC's lead so you don't parallel two BEC's on the receiver bus.

                          Sound good, Andy?

                          David

                          David
                          Who is John Galt?

                          Comment

                          • alad61
                            Commander
                            • Jan 2012
                            • 476

                            David I am running with a 7.2v pack @ 3600mah rather than the 11.4 Lipo packs. So should I be looking at the bec too? As I too occasionally suffer similar things with my Gato.
                            Cheers,
                            Alec.


                            Reality is but a dream...
                            But to dream is a reality

                            Comment

                            • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                              Moderator
                              • Aug 2008
                              • 12254

                              Originally posted by alad61
                              David I am running with a 7.2v pack @ 3600mah rather than the 11.4 Lipo packs. So should I be looking at the bec too? As I too occasionally suffer similar things with my Gato.

                              Yes, Alec. You too.

                              Only recently did I start having the same problem you, Tom and others were reporting from the field. And it only occurred in my GATO and 1/72 SKIPJACK. Consultation with Andy Lawrence convinced me that the MTroniks BEC was being over taxed by the load presented by the many devices and servos within those device heavy SD's.

                              It does not matter the battery size or capacity, Alec. The issue is how much current the little BEC within the ESC can squirt through the receiver bus. As it turns out, the ESC's BEC does not have the capacity we need; it was designed for the low load of a model boat with maybe one servo -- not the many servos and devices we employ in a SD. The ESC's BEC can only sustain a 1.5 Ampere current flow continuous, and a bit more for a short period of time. However, if over taxed (as in the GATO and 3.5 SD's) the little BEC will overheat and fail. The problem we're seeing is the BEC's inability to pass current demanded by the system, not your battery, Alec.

                              So, do as I recently recommended for all GATO and 3.5 SD customers: spring for the high-capacity, 5-Ampere BEC, plug that into the battery and receiver, and your glitching problems will go away.

                              Get this ... Now! http://www.sub-driver.com/electronic...r-circuit.html

                              And when you put it into your SD, disconnect the 'red' wire from the lead between ESC and receiver -- Andy warns against having two BEC working in parallel.

                              David
                              Who is John Galt?

                              Comment

                              • trout
                                Admiral
                                • Jul 2011
                                • 3545

                                I just ordered the BEC from Caswell. I will let you know how it goes.
                                Peace,
                                Tom
                                If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                                Comment

                                Working...