Scrappy Frog - The Poison Dart

[jimmyshor]

I have no hair on my left hand fingers . And there is always room for improovment, since i have some ABS left, i have a friend who has a special heatgun, with a small head wich means detailing

Well, until then my panel is just fine.

As we speak, i'll go to a local shop to search for this:


Cameleon 3D - or whatever that is Hope i can find something nice

PS. Found the Jones'n sticker.

[jimmyshor]

Did not find anything i was looking for, so Scrappy stays white...on the other hand, today it suffered a "heart operation....".

My HPI Flux somehow lost it's settings (dont know why though), and even after remade the settings, it worked only forward. Rewireing it produced some smoke and heat, so...bye bye Flux.

Now, i use a Robitronic Speed star Brushed ESC (Rock Crawler Edition) and Axial 27T Brushed motor (the stock from SCX10). It works like a breeze. More agile and silent. Also the back changed to an 15A Turnigy, with ALU case - not bad.

Hate wireing and soldering....hate it bad.

I almost forgot - today, Gunnar pins arrived. Tomorow i will install them and see the carpet max steering -dig engaged endurance test.

See ya !

[DRV KRAWLER]

Can't wait for the review on the gunnar's. I hope you don't find the next WEAK link !

[jimmyshor]

AM i lucky or am i lucky ? The high power servo turned to the left makes a very strange noise, just like 2 gears shaving each other. That is without CVD's.....damn it....

[wheelstoo]

Hi,Looks great,i really like the all white.

[DRV KRAWLER]

Damn it Jimmy !

[jimmyshor]

Yes, indeed....f..k it.....

[Highlucks]

Originally Posted by DRV KRAWLER

Can't wait for the review on the gunnar's. I hope you don't find the next WEAK link !

Gunnar Review:

They work, Seldom break and are cheap as.

Say no more,

Chances are the weak link will be found, but eventually you will run out of weak links





Then its bullet proof

[gunnar]

Cool, shipping to far off lands worries me sometimes, good to know they got there. Hopefully they will hold up to your testing.

[jimmyshor]

Well guys, serving a glass of wine (home made, by the way, the best there is, no chemicals added - damn, that's good) i decided to share with you today's highlights....so here they are:

a) took of from my XR10 the LRP HD BEC (6V-10A) and installed it on Scrappy. Obviously, that asked for a full rewire operation)
b) finally, installed Gunnar pins
c) "pattented" next Poison Dart top panel "enclosure"

Regarding a) i cut some wires, soldered anothers, after all, i think i did a good job - if you consider that a couple of days ago i did not know how to solder.
Regarding b) after i installed Gunnar pins i did the "carpet test" - with my dig engaged, full steering left/right short bursts....nothing broke, everything is OK so far. I took off hardware steering limitation, in the pictures below you can see a nice amount of steering - enough for me and my needs.

A few days ago, i said the wheel wideners are not good - not necesarly changed my mind, but to use the benefits of CVD's and 0 ACKERMAN knuckels, i had to use those. They are Junfac Alu 13mm+ offset (they are short). Didn't take pictures without the WWs, but you can easily picture they rub the shocks like hell. Also took the upper side of the shocks out of the chassis. In the back you can see the Robitronic SpeedStar Crawler Modified ESC, totally under - so there are no more exposed parts.

Regarding c) - the pictures speak for themselves. Whenever i need to work inside (plug in the battery), just use the Velcostrap and that is it.

Here are the pics:

[DRV KRAWLER]

I just don't know how we as the human race got along without Velcro and Zip ties. I am so happy to here the Gunnars held up. I had all the faith in the world. I never installed the stock pins in my "PD" build. I saw the writing on the wall. Scrappy is a force to be recond with now.

GREAT JOB !

[jimmyshor]

Hello again friends !

I wish i could tell you Scrappy is almost finished and ready to rock, but unfortunately, it ain't like that.

The Robitronic ESC (even the manufacturer claims it's Crawler modified) is far away from the real needs of a crawler owner (even a beginner). The f...king hill brake does not work. Besides, the stock SCX10 motor (Axial 27T) proved to be a shitty performer when comes to crawling. Yesterday rock test proved that. Even more, stage 2 Proline foam on the front wheels is nothing but a bad choice, as the tyres were hard and had a big f...king 0 grip. WTF ??? Above all this, at some point of abusing Scraapy, a blue smoke came out from the engine...after i got home i realized that the engine was too f... hot and the side shield was keeping the heat from going out...

So i went back home after 5 mins of d!cking around, found my old HPI Flux ESC and went to my friend to figure out what the problems are.

I dont know what he did, besides rewiring the ESC, the first test was a success (my last test with that ESC resulted in some heat and smoke and the lack of rear movement). So, as we speak, i'm using again the HPI flux ESC, the hillbrake is a fact, not just some product sheet specification, i am back to my old 21.5T Brushless sensored motor (wich works like a charm).

After yesterday's experience, i can confirm that Gunnar pins do the job - GUNNAR pins RULZZZZ !

What's left to be done:
a) finish rewiring
b) need to short some wires, as i hate long wires....big time.

I almost forgot....very important issue...Even if i use wheel wideners from Junfac, the wheel nuts will not remain tighten, they get loose and i dont know why. The classic nuts also. Both the Junfac and classic wheel nut are brand new. I got the same problem with the front and back wheels too.

I dont want to overtight those as the delrin wheels might brake of the pins might crack (been there already). How about using a bit of threadlock ?????

PS. The zip ties from the top panel (the ones from the top) were replaced by screws, as i drilled the delrin bar.

[Blader]

Hey mate,

how shall I begin?
First: you did a fine job with your Crappy, have fine ideas!! I like him so much.
I feel and suffer with you, it's always not funny if something doesn't work as hoped.
Two things make me worry: I'm planning to drive the 2stage Proline foams in my white dot Rovers. Hope, they will work better than yours, I read and heard much positive.
My Robitronic Crawler esc works fine with his 17.5T friend. The hillbrake doesn't close fully, the car rolls, but very very soft. For the moment it isn't a prob for me.
Did you programme the esc correctly? I've got the programmer, helps so much!

I drive nearly the same wheel wideners and the nut come loose too.
Loctite blue helps.

For your """c) "pattented" next Poison Dart top panel "enclosure" """, which is very usefull because you must not always cut the zip ties if you want to work at the car, I can tell you that I use neither straps nor zip ties.
Look at my pics!!
The panels are held by "Bladers patented air hooks".


Blader

[jimmyshor]

Got you man, right now i just entered my home. In a few minutes i'll get to work, and keep you updated. Talk to you guys later.

See you!

[jimmyshor]

Well guys, did some mods/repairs/fu(kups...here it is:

a) shortened some wires for a cleaner wiring
b) the red wire from the ESC went off the soldering hole (bad soldering the other day - fu(k that ). Resolder it just for test, needs full attention & repair
c) did some tunning to my steering bar.
d) drilled one delrin bar and instead of velcro now i use screws.

Regarding c) one problem that i had was the noise that sometimes when returning from full steering (or going to full steer) appeared. After closing analizing the issue, i found the problem: the flange pipes. Earlier in this thread i told you i use some hardware limitations to the steering (when using stock cups, not the CVDs). Removing those limitations when switching to CVDs (wich consisted basicaly in some 8 or 10mm diameter spacers) caused some noise to appear (similar to a piece of metal breaking). Well, the flange pipes used were bigger than the steering bar (i mean thicker), so there was some space between the screw and the top of the flange pipe, that causing the trouble.....so i've had put my Dremel to work and got it just fine, not everything is smooth. I dare to push it even further and say that is the main cause why people are not using the CKRC BTA steering kit (wich in my opinion is better that AXial's). Anyway, i bought is used from Ebay, but i had to work it a little bit to perform as i wanted).

@Blader - mate, i did not mention (i think i didn't at least) - my wheels are not drilled. Perhaps that's one reason why i had such sh!tty results. I followed you advise and used a little blue threadlock for the wheels. In a way, i am glad i am not the only one having this issue, as i started to think something is wrong with me . Hope you got my drift Personally i am glad the ESC is working for you and - if you need an extraone you know were you can find it

What do you think guys, would it be a good thing to drill out a few holes in my wheels ? (Eritex)

I ordered some Losi springs, i intend to use them with Traxxas i bought last week but did not mount them as i dont like the very stiff springs (not for crawling).

One thing and i am done: i noticed some days ago that at very low speed (1 wheel spin / second) the motor (and with it Scraapy) starts to shiver. As i increase the speed (significantly) the shiver dissapears. The slipper pad is just changed, the slipperpad is tightened to MAX....what's going on ? There are moments when low speed is needed (and high torque). Is it because is a brushless engine ? Or something is wrong with the system ?

[jimmyshor]

Entered ESC's settings and changed the neutral range parameter (switched to narrow [6] from normal [9]). I noticed (hope it's not placebo) some improovement, not much though.

Thinking about quitting my front axial schoks with internal springs, as the right one after doing a full traveling in does not perform full traveling out (just half of it), and Scrappy remains in a strage position, just like he "lost its right foot".

Compared yesterday the Traxxas short ones, they are about 1cm shorter than current configuration, i need do find a solution quick on that one (does anyboby know longer rodends bended 3mm from Traxxas ?)

[Blader]

Oh no, there's nothing wrong with you....maybe...you're a little bit crazy...just like I am...and that's OK !!

I think you should drill holes, the tires will work much better.

The little Losi mini-t springs, I've got the sets of 3 different, are so fine with the bigbores. A good buy!

The slipper I used for my sons AX is also junk, and that's with a 55t brushed. Now that he knows the AX better and understands more, it is useless.
Another fact: with the slipper the spur gear comes out of the gearbox a little bit more, in some situations the MIP touches the spur gear.
Sooner or later this will be a case for the dentist.
I'll throw it out soon.
As you should do...

How long are your shocks?
Mine are about 8 cm in front and 10 cm rear. They became a little bit longer (about 5 mm) with my caps mod.
That should be enough.
You can find different Traxxas rod ends on ebay.


Blader

[jimmyshor]

Well, my friend, crazy i am oh yes.... Big time

So, dont have much experience in the RC brach, but, the first model where i saw a slipper clutch was my old Savage x4.6...didn't understand at that time what the hell was that for, but after bought my first "Crawler" - HPI CK - i understood perfectly. Loved the slipper at my first Axial (RTR). But, i like to think i moved forward and gained some experience, and dont really need a slipper clutch anymore. So, any guide to remove it ?

Trivia: still run my first Scorpion's transfer case. Last week changed the spur gear - the second one in an year. Both were replaced by my fault only.

Don't know the precise measurements of the springs, only know that with my current setup i get almost 3'' of belly clearance. If i replace the front shocks with shorter ones that i have will result in 2.5'' (at the best) - not very happy with that. Dont like very low setups, never did.

I asked about the rod ends, as i searched the net, didn't get if those rod-ends are 3mm or 4mm tapped.

[Blader]

Hey crazy man, here's the other one

To remove the slipper, take the manual to see which parts you need, then take you spare parts box and search...
Has he been in the AX before? Or did you install him?

I've got about 8cm ( 3.5") of clearance with my shocks. That should be ok.

The TRA 5347 are large 4mm ones, the 3mm rods I use are TRA 5349, but they aren't very long. I also used TRA 1942.
You have the choice..

Blader

[jimmyshor]

Has been there since day 1...never payed much attn, as it didn't bother me that much. Ocasionally opened the tranny to put some grease from time to time in there.