Underwater Rock Crawling

[jrabenius]

Well, I thought I would invent a new sport - UNDERWATER Rockcrawling.

. . . It didn't work out quite as good as I hoped.

I spent last weekend converting my coil over suspension to a full droop suspension in an effort to increase performance. Everything seemed to go well.

I have a Koi pond in my backyard that is lined with large rocks - the perfect backyard playground complete with two dozen large truck-eating Koi.

Things were going GREAT - I drove all the way around the pond, climbed up the previously un-climbable rock, . . . and then I tried to do a pirouette (I have rear steer) on the top of the rock.

I could tell my transmitter batteries were getting low (the red light had been flashing for a while), and the response was getting sluggish.

I think I gave it a little bit too much throttle, and then the truck took a quick leap - right into the Koi pond!

. . . Now when I turn my treciever on, it glitches once and then nothing.

I took the reciever apart (traxxas 3 channel out of my TMAXX), and it had some water in it. I wiped it all out with rubbing alcohol and dried it with compressed air.

I wonder if it will work when it dries out . . .

I'm running HITEC HS-645MG servos. does anyone know if they are water proof?

Only the front half of the truck went under. Luckily, the truck landed on a flat rock at the edge of the pond, and then skidded off the rock and the front end went into the drink up to the windshield. The rear tires were still high and dry on the rock, so the Stampede tranny and (I think) the speed control didn't get wet.

Still, it was pretty cool! I'll post pictures of my Koi pond.

I think I'll waterproof everything now that I have it apart.

[Scottmisfits]

There are no woterproof electronics. The Emaxx and the Slash have water resistant stuff but it must be perfectly sealed, whicj is never going to happen unless it's dipped in a liquid silicon or something. And that would cause the stuff to overheat and shutdown as there will be no place for the heat that has built up inside to escape.

You might get lucky if you shut everything down in time and let it dry out completely, but it's kinda doubtful.

[ElChupacabra]

Originally Posted by Scottmisfits

There are no woterproof electronics. The Emaxx and the Slash have water resistant stuff but it must be perfectly sealed, whicj is never going to happen unless it's dipped in a liquid silicon or something. And that would cause the stuff to overheat and shutdown as there will be no place for the heat that has built up inside to escape.

You might get lucky if you shut everything down in time and let it dry out completely, but it's kinda doubtful.

I know a few guys that dont have ANY issues running underwater. Its all about the right waterproof electronics and "dry boxes" for everything you can waterproof. Both these guys run LRP waterproof boat ESCs...

[goobs]

Originally Posted by Scottmisfits

There are no woterproof electronics. The Emaxx and the Slash have water resistant stuff but it must be perfectly sealed, whicj is never going to happen unless it's dipped in a liquid silicon or something. And that would cause the stuff to overheat and shutdown as there will be no place for the heat that has built up inside to escape.

the emaxx and slash's electronics are waterproof the esc, and servos, but the reciever box is water resistent/ splash proof.
now for heat as long as you have descent air fow and some ventilation they'll be fine. mine have never overheated. as for servos just take the screws loose and put silicon caulk in the cracks and in the part where the wires enter and you'll be fine. you can also fill the gear section of the servo w/ marine grease - thats what i did and its never failed.
i especially love my slash esc in my scale truck
.

[constantmotion]

Originally Posted by Scottmisfits

There are no woterproof electronics.

There are some waterproof electronics
Most of Associated LRP ESC are waterproof
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXRXX6&P=7

[Scottmisfits]

They claim they are waterproof. Traxxas and LRP, as well as a few others. When I was working in a hobby shop do you really want to know how many people brought that kind of stuff back?

Try it if you really want to. I wouldn't waste my money trying waterproof stuff at all.

[ElChupacabra]

Originally Posted by Scottmisfits

They claim they are waterproof. Traxxas and LRP, as well as a few others. When I was working in a hobby shop do you really want to know how many people brought that kind of stuff back?

Try it if you really want to. I wouldn't waste my money trying waterproof stuff at all.

It obviously works. Dont be salty cause youre wrong and we posted photo evidence. Im sure your customers managed to break things or there were defects with the products they had. Nothing is perfect.

[Ty@Tekin]

I lithium greased my servo and put my RX/ESC in Traxxas receiver boxes and drove my Scaler windshield deep through a small creek and it still works great.

[needs2hunt]

Originally Posted by Ty@Tekin

I lithium greased my servo and put my RX/ESC in Traxxas receiver boxes and drove my Scaler windshield deep through a small creek and it still works great.

what esc are you running? its must be a tekin... and do you have both the rx and esc in one box or 2???

heres one of our club members still running no problems...



and one of my truck taking a drink ... i'm running a mamba max and my rx is in a slash box... no problems to date and it has ween water ever time out...

[Scottmisfits]

Originally Posted by ElChupacabra

It obviously works. Dont be salty cause youre wrong and we posted photo evidence. Im sure your customers managed to break things or there were defects with the products they had. Nothing is perfect.

I'm not "salty" about it. I would sure love to know the little tricks that people use. Straight out of the box doesn't work. I never did think of the litium grease. That should work decent enough.

We did bring back a ton of those types of ESC's. They are not great out of the box. When we sold them we told them we wouldn't touch warranty with them, they would have to deal stright with the manufacturer. In more cases than one the manufacturer told them they wouldn't replace it because it went through water.

[allgm1]

I have a friend with a slash that is box stock,he submarines that thing all the time with no problems. Another buddy of mine just built a scale truck, he put his rx and speedo in a tupperware type container and did nothing to his hi-tec servo and drove it under water with no problems. So it is possible, would I do it, NO only because I can't afford to replace any thing that MIGHT get ruined.

[killjoyken]

Originally Posted by Scottmisfits

I'm not "salty" about it. I would sure love to know the little tricks that people use. Straight out of the box doesn't work.

Maybe not 100% of the time, but more often than not, all the Traxxas waterproof/resistant esc's I've tried have been completely submarined and continue to work.....straight out of the box.

There's even a video somewhere online of a guy submerging a Mamba 25 esc and motor in water and running them for a long time.

[badBKO]

I have the LRP A.I runner plus reverse, submerged it, wshed it off wiht a hose, never had any problems except for my receiver getting wet, and servo not water tight enough. Sorry Scottmisfits, looks like they actually domake and have some waterproof esc that work

[steveh]

we run our rigs in water all the time
we use a mix of screw top box and silicone waterproof esc mtronics...lrp ...
helium ballons with silicome and zip tie for reciever.
i dip servo in liquid electric stuff .
combos of this work great .

[Calicrawler23]

I thought you were trying to crawl underwater, but then you said it accidently fell in?

[resetpunk]

Originally Posted by Scottmisfits

I'm not "salty" about it. I would sure love to know the little tricks that people use. Straight out of the box doesn't work. I never did think of the litium grease. That should work decent enough.

We did bring back a ton of those types of ESC's. They are not great out of the box. When we sold them we told them we wouldn't touch warranty with them, they would have to deal stright with the manufacturer. In more cases than one the manufacturer told them they wouldn't replace it because it went through water.

there are a ton of vids on youtube of guys taking the emaxx and slash right out of the box and then submerging them..and this is only a few of them : /

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG9QXdmLwBw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AOIYHljtiA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2OIu9i8yOs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpEPQ7y-yAE

[Ty@Tekin]

Originally Posted by biteme

what esc are you running? its must be a tekin... and do you have both the rx and esc in one box or 2???

I've got each one in a RX box from Traxxas, the ones they put in the new Blast and the E-maxx, prob the Slash too. Running an FXR and Spektrum, the Spektrum doesn't really like to be underwater...

[miniwheeler]

My nomadio will loose signal sometimes under water:-(

[murdock]

the tupperware trick has worked fine for me for years

[jrabenius]

I took the ESC and the reciever apart and wiped everything out with rubbing alcohol and then re-assembled everything. It wotks like new!

I don't want to go through this again, so I put the reciever and ESC in the plastic box my Hitec servo came in - it is the perfect size, and has a nice groove around the lid that seals with the body of the box.

I'll silicone up the holes in the box where the wires pass through, and use electrical tape around the seam.

That should give me some cheap (free!) insurance in case I take another plunge.

I don't run in/under water on purpose, so hopefully I'll be OK.


John