RC10 B3 buggy - noob alert

[veedubmaster]

hi all,

total noob here to the RC world.

my story is my 11yr old son came home wanting an RC car as his friends had £650 ones I explained I could buy a cool VW for that money but he didnt understand

anyways, following a post on Vzi I got offered the B3, knowing nothing of them I was offered the buggy, charger, 2 batteries and the controller for £50 all in.

seems we got a pretty good deal. I called at my local model shop and got talking to the lad there, he's an ex RC racer and gave the buggy a little TLC, cleaned the motor, got it running again properly, re soldered some joins and tubed up the aerial, all for free

we've had it out three times now, first on grass, batteries lasted 5mins each, second time on some local sand dune/jumps and got roughly 8-10 mins each battery then the last time solely on tarmac and got over 10 mins per battery.

ive got loads of questions but if you're like me I love looking at pics of anything cool so i'll stick some pics up and ask questions later.

thanks

Glenn & Joel (joel is 11 btw)

[Jay Dub]

Cool. The B3 is a great car, and still has good parts availability. If you are looking for more run time, look into a Brushless motor/speedo combination. And then a Lipo battery/charger combo. Sweet body too BTW. -Jeff

[sneako43]

Whatever parts you can't find for the B3, check for the Thunder Tiger Phoenix BX - it's a B3 clone.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0005p?&I=TTRD0631&P=X

I just rebuilt a B3. It's a great buggy.

Jay Dub is right; the upgrade to a Brushless system and Lipo batteries will make a huge difference!

[CamplinP]

Welcome to the site. If you have questions this is the place for good, honest answers. I swear some of the members must have worked in the Associated research and design back in the day.

[veedubmaster]

thanks everyone for the comments

im still trying to learn the lingo so to speak.

brushless errr is this to do with the motor??

lipo, i did a very quick search on these when we first got the buggy, google sites seemed to lean towards them being volatile, is this correct, ie if not charged in a correct sequence etc they'd blow up

what run time say on tarmac would a brushless (whatever that is) and lipo set up give us, for now with the old batteries im seeing nearly 25 mins total run time for both

the guy I bought it off warned me they were addictive, needless to say my ebay watch box is full of buggy stuff now

[slow_jun]

Welcome to the dark side,

Well for the blowing of lipo, i think that is a thing of the past, with the ever increasing of charger technologies. But an ever vigilant
Racer would always do the ABC of lipo care.

- do not over charge more than the required Amp. And do not charge your lipo and leave it unattended.
-use an esc (electronic speed control) that has auto voltage cutoff. Do not let each cell fall below 3.3v.
-when storing the battery leave at least 70-75% charge on it.

Brushless will lessen the maintenance on your motor and the lipo will lengthen the run time of your kid's B3 from 25 to 45 minutes,depending on the specs f the motor and lipo.

Get a BL (brushless) cmbo and a lipo and an decent charger that can balance the lipo while charging.That way you will illiminate the lipo burn out.

My 6yrs old is running a 8.5T BL n his truck and man he can drive

Goodluck in your google searches.

[airbats801]

If you want longer runtime with what you have either invest in a nimh charger and some 5000mah packs or lipo with some lipo packs. No need to go brushless imo.

faster you go the faster you are gonna destroy something when you hit it.

[veedubmaster]

thanks again for the laymans version of brushless & lipo

tbh, im not interested in going "faster" yet

the buggy is plenty fast for the first 5 mins anyways, its just longer run times would be great.

[slow_jun]

Yup you can aleays go with the higher turns (T), like 13.5 and above,thd benifits of BL is greatr in the long run, coz of the maintenance as compared to brushed (IMHO), no more changing of brushes, seting of com, lathe etc... Also one reason i came back after 20 yrs of absence. Hahahaa...

Anyway its really up to you, for me less maintenance less head ache.

Cheers!!!

[jwscab]

the other thing to consider is that the brushed motors(especially older models) are not really designed for long periods of operation without a cool-down period, especially as you go to lower winds with more RPM and power. If you run them this way, they will overheat and begin to break down. If you are looking for more runtime, it may be beneficial to step to a brushless combo simply for the durability.

I am considering one of the newer associated brushless combos for around $100.00 on tower and other places, the 3300kv or 3900kv combos with ESC.

[veedubmaster]

im a little anxious to dive into spending alot as this is his first RC car and although he loves it we all know how the interest level of an 11yr old works

does that brushless combo you mentioned include the lipo stuff as well or is that totally seperate. I may take a run down the local model shop and ask them to cost up everything, give me a better idea I think.

[jwscab]

they are seperate things. the brushless motor needs a brushless speed controller, but they can be operated with any type of battery, but have features that enable you to use certain chemistries, like LiPo or LiFe, which require a specific cutoff voltage to avoid damage.

just one thing to remember, walking into a hobby store to price things out may lead to sticker shock. I endorse working with your hobby store as much as possible, but also look through internet stores. you may find that what they offer is only a few dollars(euros?) higher than an internet store, in which case, it's worthwhile to build a relationship. otherwise, you may find that they offer things at full retail plus profit, and may actually offer something that is almost double the cost compared to buying from the internet. particularly with Lipo batteries. there are enough variations and manufacturers out there that you should be able to get a good lipo pack for under $50.00(US).

[jwscab]

oh, and one other point to make is that if the motor is running well, the speed controller works well and all you are looking for is more run time, it might be cheaper to do what we all used to do back in the day--just run multiple packs.

having 3 or 4 packs will give you that much more run time, with a short battery change period, which give the electronics a chance to cool off for a minute or 2.

Nicd or Nimh are very cheap these days, so you might be better off just picking up a few more packs, and have them charged up before you start running.

[SteveK]

I agree; stick with whatcha got for now, and upgrade after you learn what all the new stuff does. Get yourselves a couple decent NiMH packs for now, and just have them all charged up before you go out. It gives you a chance to give the car a once-over when you stop to change the pack too. Research is a big thing; search online when you're thinking about something new, and see what reviews pop up. Also there are a lot of how-to videos on YouTube, with some good reviews as well. Magazines are good for the pictures and usually informative, but you'll notice after a while that NOTHING ever gets a poor review.

I don't know what the guy that sold you the car was talking about; I've been doing this for 23 years now and have about 30 cars and I haven't found it addictive at all...

[veedubmaster]

guys, i totally agree from a starter point of view and also cost POV too

i think until i know for sure its not just a fad with him i'll get a few more nihm packs and try that for longer run times

i'll check back soon

thanks all