Old timer looking to crawl
 

I retired a couple of years ago and moved to a very rural community [near some of my wife's family]. I thought I would get back into RC to amuse myself. I am too old & slow to be a good turn marshal so that rules out racing. Trail walking and rock crawling, due to the slower pace, looks interesting and exercise is welcome.



I have always built my toys rather than buy RTR [not a choice until relatively recently]. I am sure I can build a kit if I can restrain myself from buying lots of bling/upgrades. Still, an RTR has its appeal.



My question to the forum is:
* Do I buy a kit and do the waterproofing as I go a long or just buy an RTR and do the waterproofing as part of normal maintenance?


* Is there an RTR that lives up to the waterproof claim?


* If I build a kit, is it a big effort do the waterproofing?


Thanks in advance
Ben

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

Hi Ben...welcome to the forum. Any chance that would be Burlington Ontario??

Crawlers are a great choice for some go slow fun. I guess it all depends on what you're looking for when you say "waterproof"? Most RTR's will be fairly water resistant as far as wet weather and puddle crossings and general splashing around. If you want to go in deep and submarine your way across the creek you'll most likely want to further waterproof on your own whether you go kit or RTR.

I'm not a deep water kind of guy so I have never taken any extra measures to waterproof and to date I have not had any issues....knock on wood. ;-)

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

Yeah consider all waterproof claims to mean splash proof. If you read the fine print none will say they are meant to be fully submersed.

Since you seem concerned about water what do you expect your conditions to be?

Personally I dont do any waterproofing aside from conformal coating my receivers. Though I dont run through creeks or submarine my rigs, its not much fun and adds a ton of maintenance.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

most new stuff like servos and escs and recivers are submarine proof but once you start getting in to electronic accsesories like winches and winch controlors and light controlers and becs and fans and other add on goodies there not waterproof in that case silicone works well for me also i use i use e6000 to seal up open holes aswell also ballons work and they sell waterproof electronics boxes that mostly just trap water when going full submarine
there are a.few companies that have waterproof ratings for there electronics if it realy worries you

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

Sorry Ferp but I gotta call BS on that, there are a handfull of products out there that offer a submarine proof waterproofing and you arent gonna find any of those in a RTR.


Theres splash proof and submarine proof, 99% of products that are waterproof are just splash proof.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

I guess that I watched too many YouTube videos.

I plan to avoid water as much as possible. It sounds like that removes the need to worry about waterproofing the electronics. Now I will use some marine grease during maintenance as a precaution.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
Pps: my Burlington is in West Virginia, USA. It is a small town in a very rural county that is probably a little warmer than Ontario :).

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

I don't plan to ford any creeks and definitely will avoid full submersion unless I am very unlucky. I just wondered if an unlucky splash would fry the electronics.

I watched a video showing the use of conformal coating and taking apart a receiver looked a little daunting. Needless to say, no such worries in indoor carpet racing.

I'll just wait to see what happens instead of looking for trouble that may never happen.

Thanks for your response.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

I think I over reacted after watching some videos. The responses here have put my concerns to rest.

All the responders have been helpful, thanks all!

Now on to the tough decisions that are mine to make... which car to buy, RTR or kit? I was amazed at wide variety of choices.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

I only do this because the specific brand of receiver (Spektrum) used to be waterproof but now it isnt. For all I know they still do the same conformal coating but just took away their waterproof rating.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

From my own experience, I would suggest a couple of RTRs that have been good for me:
Traxxas TRX-4 Sport (needs a stronger servo after a while), and Axial Capra (needs a small battery).
The TRX-4 feels more scale, the Capra is slightly better on rocks. Both have portals so they have some ground clearance.
I run them on 3S lipo (11.1v) for some speed and they have given me loads of fun :)

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

I started with a TRX4 RTR then recently got an SCX10ii Raw Builders Kit. I personally will never go back to RTR for these reasons:

1. Get to see how it all works. I was pretty lost on the TRX4 for a while, leading to some negligence.

2. Cheaper. All though it is more coin up front, you are ultimately paying less in the long run since you’ll be able to put good stuff in from the start.

3. More customization. It’s a blank slate. So many different ways/directions to go with a kit.




_________________
79 F150 SCX10 ii
TRXWalker

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

well i have alot of rigs and some rtrs that have spent alot of time underwater there not rated as ip67 like the new stuff but im still running them underwater and havent had one failure yet

hers a brand new rtr running underwater

https://youtu.be/evKbC-wSljk
heres another one stock servo and reciver and a 1060

https://youtu.be/-x8y8XtlQGA
and this one is going deep

https://youtu.be/I3kZbuP0x7A

and some jugg buster with the cheapest electronics ebay had to offer dueling new rain escs and gool rc motors and a cheap axial flysky rtrr eciver

https://youtu.be/ekG_UExgxKU
another one of the jug

https://youtu.be/6JkGdnC_N4s
proof is in the puding in color

like i sead most new stuff is sub proof but you can get ip67 rated waterproofing if avarage waterprrofing isent good enuff

remeber the radio signal will only go about a inch through the water thats realy the only thing holding these rigs back in the water in my opinion

also worth noting that video of the clod buster is about 5 years old and its still running the same escs the same $5 servo and same reciver ive never changed the bearings or done anything to it other than run it hard and put it away wet
the everest 10 is still going although this year i completely redid it and when i took it apart everything was in such good shape i put the parts on another build lol
i did replace a few bearings in the gen8 they dident hold up to long but the stock electronics did fine
th3 new gen8 axe has a ip67 waterproof rating atleast on the rtr motor and esc and im pretty sure the servo does too

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

In the past, I built a lot of kits so I lean that way. But, the progression of complexity from simple pan cars to very complex touring cars makes me wonder if I really want to tackle a full frame-up build of a crawler. Just opening a box, pulling out a car & controller, sticking in a battery and having fun has some appeal. Also, with a kit, you have to avoid the "buy the best" tendency with all things not in the kit like motors, wheels, tires, radios, etc. Now, I am not complaining, all this is part of the fun. I just need to decide what is right for me as a retiree, on a fixed budget with an itch to get going.

I have had plenty of fun with Team Associated in the past so I am leaning towards a 1/10 Element Enduro kit. I understand the value in knowing a car inside and out. However, the Traxxas TRX4 Sport RTR is very tempting (instant gratification 8)) well built option.

Today I am headed to nearby hobby shop (only 90 minutes away) to check out the options. Plus they have a crawler course and indoor electric rc buggy races to watch. I'll try not to drool on the merchandise. :D

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

Ferp420, Sounds like you had lots of good times!

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

I spent some time today (Saturday, March 13th) spectating around a VA Scalers comp Irish Crawl at Adrenaline RC in Winchester, VA.

It was my first visit to this facility. Everybody was very focused on the event... watching other contestants, tinkering with their cars, post-run analysis. I was impressed by the wide variety of crawlers and it boosted my interest in getting back into RC.

After all my video watching and forum reading (RCCrawler is a real goldmine of information), I have decided to get an Element Enduro builders kit as my entry into crawling. I just have to dig all my RC gear and tools out of all the boxes in the basement of my new house so can be ready to start when my order arrives.

Thanks for your answers to my questions.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

Cool to hear you got something in the works! If you don't mind where is the crawler course you mentioned? I'm about 1.5hrs out of your area but I'm wondering if its in the opposite direction lol.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

Just my opinion go for a kit and pick your own electronics waterproof?? Debatable in my experience most waterproof is ok for normal running unless you want too totally want to submerge your rig, the main problem is the switch, which i and a lot of others have removed. Use marine grease, dialect grease on connections if using brushless motor especially,

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

https://www.adrenalinercracing.com/

also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AdrenalineRCRaceway/

"...Winchester Virginia. A large clay off road track with a hobby store". There is also what looks like an outdoor nitro track (without lane marking when I was there). According to Google Maps, It is 42 miles from Hancock to Winchester and driving time is 51 minutes.

When I was there yesterday, the facility was hosting the Irish Crawl put on by the VA Scalers. The crawling area is a 1.5 acre scale park maintained by VA Scalers (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vascaler/ ). I just found this out and do not know the rules for access to the crawling course.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

TY for info I might have to check it out sometime.

Re: Old timer looking to crawl
 

There is something about electronics and water that has always kind of made me question the efficiency of waterproofing in the newer equipment.

I guess I still relate to the old mechanical speed controls from the Tamiya days.

However with that being said even though Axial says not so submerge, I tested that theory and was very impressed with now wet these can get and still work.

I wasn't worried about the ESC or receiver I thought for sure the motor would short out.

Very impressed with how advanced this hobby has become.