DF, R/C question...

[Ladogaboy]

Hey, DF, I know you posted a little while ago that you got a T MAXX for Christmas. Congrats!

Anyway, I was just wondering, because I'm thinking of getting back into R/Cs again, if you have any suggestions. I've mainly worked with electric in the past, but have some experience with gas- personally, I'd rather not deal with the hassle of gas.

For me, I'd probably prefer to go with something electric, but gas isn't out of the question. hehe, I'm also thinking of maybe getting a boat, too. Just for the hell of it! :P

[Nanotech9]

if you get a boat, you also need a retrival boat, or be able to swim out to where it dies out int eh midfle of the lake :eek2:

are you looking for a buggy, street, truck, 2wd, FWD, 4WD,...?

HP Racing makes some very good quality products for a nice attractive price. They make from trucks to street racers, to mini's.

[SpeedEng]

towerhobbies.com is a pretty good place

[Ladogaboy]

Actually, I was thinking of a 4x4... and the more I think about it, gas might be pretty sweet. :D

Oh yeah, and since we have a "real" boat, a R/C one won't be that hard to retrieve. ;)

[Ladogaboy]

That's nice. I like the E-MAXX, but unfortuneately, I don't like the price tag. :(

Oh well. I'm thinking of something cheaper, but I guess I'm either going to have to do what you did and find one used, or maybe look around some of the local hobbie stores.

The reason I'm thinking of maybe going with a boat is that I could probably do most of the body work and such on my own. My dad used to make R/C planes, and still has a lot of the equipment and supplies laying around.

I was looking at some of the Radio Shack R/Cs, but they are pretty sh1tty. If I were going to spend that much in the begining, I'd probably just save up for an E-MAXX. Dilemmas, dilemmas...

[nhbilly]

Hey my cousin got the T MAXX...the gas powered one......that things looks like it will take your leg off going at you and 25MPH:eek:
Oh and I almost $hit a brick when a gallon of 20% Nitro cost $29.99:eek: :eek:

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by nhbilly
Oh and I almost $hit a brick when a gallon of 20% Nitro cost $29.99:eek: :eek:

Yeah, that's why I want to stick with batteries. In the long run, they are a lot cheaper. Once you get about a dozen batteries, it's not that hard to keep them charged and replaced in your R/C. Well, unless you use it a lot. ;)

[Nanotech9]

Originally posted by Ladogaboy


Yeah, that's why I want to stick with batteries. In the long run, they are a lot cheaper. Once you get about a dozen batteries, it's not that hard to keep them charged and replaced in your R/C. Well, unless you use it a lot. ;)

at $90 for a descent battery, you're talking over $900 dollars. Plus, when you run them hard, they die in less than a year.

figure $30 for a gallon, and a 10oz tank gives 15min of runtime. Theres 128 Oz in a gallon. Thats 12 refills = 3 hours of runtime. $900 dollars worth of fuel is 30 gallons, which = 90 hours of runtime.

Average actual runtime a week is 2 hours. (3 or 4 hours spent, but only 2 hours of ACTUALL run tim.) It would take 45 weeks to run out that much fuel, if you really ran it EVERY week, 2 hours a week. After about 3 months, you'll run it 3 hours a month. By next X-mas you'll realize you you haven't run it in a whole 2 months.

Now, if you run electrics that much, you'll be replacin the motor at least once in the year. a Good replacement motor is $40 - $70.

Plus, unless you actually have all 10 battery packs charged all at the same time, you won't be able to run a full 2 hours in a day. You get about 15min. per pack, with the last 5min of runtime being less than full power.

The best thing about gas, is when it runs out, you just fill her back up and go again, and not wait for a bettery to charge back up :)

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by Nanotech9
at $90 for a descent battery, you're talking over $900 dollars. Plus, when you run them hard, they die in less than a year.


Wow, where are you buying batteries? In the past-I've priced them recently- I only used the cheaper batteriers: about $15-20 apiece.
And they take atleast 2000 charges before they start going sour. If each battery pack (or pair) lasts about 15 mins, that means you get (in theory) around 30,000 hours per battery. I know that is ideal, and you probably won't see half that battery life, but still, it is considerable.

As for wearing out an electric engine, in all of my experiences, electrics last as long as gas. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the gas engines are more expensive than the electric engines to replace.

Either way, electric is still less of a hassle. Right now, I think I'm just going to wait on a deal for a decent 4x4 electric.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by DarkFury
I can understand where Ladogaboy is comin' from with not wantin' to mess with gas, but the big fun in owning a T-Maxx is buildin' it up, hoppin' it up, and runnin' it up.

Yeah, I like building stuff, but I'm a little short on cash, so I'm trying to make it go as far as it can. I think for the buildin' it up, hoppin' it up, and runnin' it up, I'm going to get a boat maybe.


Originally posted by DarkFury
This is why it is a "hobby" and not just a "toy". It takes time and money to maintain, but in the end... it is definitely worth it in my opinion.

Now what are you trying to say, DF? :hmm: I just want a toy, not the hobby? :angry:


hehe, j/k :heh:

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by DarkFury

Just do like me and keep scouring the web for deals... one will eventually come up. :thumbup:

haha, that's why G|A? is a man's best friend!!! :D

Anyway, though, you did get me thinking about those 2400 mHa batteries... :hmm: If they give you that much more time, I might just have to do an upgrade from the cheapies... :hihi: