Very new to the boat scene, have some questions...

[warren]

I had a boat given to me and after a couple cheap parts it was sea worthy. The factory esc was shot so i stole the one from my crawler and it was back in action.

I finally got it in the water today and for my first time running a boat it wss pretty cool. But after a couple full throttle runs back and forth across a 4 acre pond i pulled it from the water. I took the 2S Lipo out and noticed it was very warm which I've never seen before.

I'm running my axial AE-2 ESC for now and like i said a 2S Lipo. Not sure what motor is in it. So my questions;

1) is it normal for Lipo batteries to get warm with little to no air flow around them?

2) is there any way to keep the battery cool when thrashing on the boat?

3) what is a good CHEAP esc to replace the factory one with.

[EZCompany]

Sounds like you may have been pushing your lipos a little hard. Boats draw a lot of current and your lipo's "C" rating may not have been high enough. And you may have even been pushing the ESC too hard as well. Most boats have all water cooled electronics, so if you're planning on running it a lot you may want to get a proper marine esc. I'd say get stronger batteries for it, and maybe even change the prop to something with a lower pitch.

As far as what ESC to get, there's plenty on amazon starting around $25 and up. Without knowing much about your setup I can only guess that a 60amp or so ESC would be good for you. But that's just my $.02. I would also look for a water cooled esc. Plumb it before the motor for best results.

I did a little digging and discovers the stock ESC for that boat is an aircooled 40amp. You can get them for around $50. Although I'd upgrade to something water cooled and has a higher amp rating so it stays cooler under load.

Link for stock ESC: http://www.proboatmodels.com/Product...ProdID=PRB2314

[THUNDER PRO]

Boats are more picky about about alot of the powerplant set up. A higher c rating on your batteries, yes. Higher amp rating on the esc, yes. Efficient prop shaft with less drag and prop choice to not over load the system is a must. There are soo many different factors to deal with that it makes the most tunable on road cars look easy. My best suggestion is start cheaking out some of the fast eletric boat forums to get a better understanding. I have run many different types of boats for many years from gas weed eater boats with multiple engines to nitro to fe boats right down to tiny pool boats. Some of it is science some of it is trial and error and some is just plain vodoo magic.

[warren]

Thanks guys. I was hoping to just get this thing going without dumping a ton of money. I'll check out hobby king for some batteries and an esc. The one from my rock crawler is a 106 amp esc and it made the boat move pretty quick, so I'll look into one in that amp range.

What C rating lipo is good for boats? My crawler barriers are only 30-40.

[eric113]

What boat are you running? You never did say. Also your pics don't work.

General rule on battery's for boats, 50C minimum..more if you can afford it. Boats are different animal from crawlers are power hogs.

[warren]

It's a pro boat apache. I'm guessing all stock. The guy who gave it to me used to work at hobbico so it might have some aftermarket.

[eric113]

You need to ditch the ae2 and get water cooled esc. If you fry the ae2 from heat.
Sea king makes good esc that race guys use. I look into to the 120a sea king it be able handle up to 4s.

What plugs are on your battery? If your using deans,don't.
Deans are not rated enough for boats and that probably why your packs were getting hot. EC5 connectors or 5.5 bullet connectors at minimum. I look into 5000mah 2s 50c packs. Gen ace makes good packs and will get you by for little while aleast.

[calcagno45]

Originally Posted by eric113

General rule on battery's for boats, 50C minimum..more if you can afford it. Boats are different animal from crawlers are power hogs.

+1!! Boats will drain lipo packs faster than anything else RC. As advised, make sure the packs are good, connectors are big enough and you have a good water cooled ESC.