New Guy - St. Paul, MN

[jwinker]

Hey guys, I have been reading the forums for the past few days, so I figure I should sign up and say thanks to all the positive input I have read.

I have a 10+ year old RC10DS that is getting a refresh. I haven't used it in several years, the battery is shot, and yes, that is the original terrible MSC in the pictures.

I'm planning on upgrading to an ESC and LiPo battery in the next few weeks, new wiring and etc to go along with it. Maybe a mild brushless motor after that.

Will keep you posted!

[SFC K]

Welocome fellow Minnesotan! I love thta body on your DS! Should move out quickly with a Brushless set-up.

[jwinker]

Thanks SFC_K!

I've been out of the scene long enough that all of my former cohorts have kids or grand-kids to tend to nowadays. Even the places I used to know are no longer the same, but I'm starting to learn about the TC's scene once again. I'm hoping to head to St.L-P once I get this thing up and running to hit an open afternoon or weekday evening and actually re-learn how to drive. From what I can tell in my parking garage, either this car has gotten WAY worse over the years, or I have!

HUGELY-INTIMIDATED by the thought of racing with a bunch of experienced 15-yr old kids with cars 10+ years newer than mine! Hahaha!

[SFC K]

You will be surprised how quickly you will pick it back up. Its like riding a bike. BTW, where is St. L-P?

Start up a new thread in the RC-10 section when you start rebuilding your DS. There are a lot of folks here to point you in the right direction to get that set up right. A simple ESC change and addition of a lipo battery will wake that up even with a brushed motor.

[jwinker]

St. Louis Park - the MMR guys. I saw their posts in the Minnesota regional forum & I hope I can catch some open track time without having to compete? Hahaha!

I used to live out there, so I adopted the St.L-P abbreviation previously. I guess now it's just automatic for me.

[jwinker]

Sorry, my bad! That was the rctech . net forum!!!!

Since I can't post external links, MMR is located at:

http - colon, backslash, backslash - molzermoweryracing-dot-com

[jwinker]

It has begun!!!

This weekend, I picked up Phase I parts:

*Traxxas 4000mAh LiPo Battery
*HiTech X1 Charger (amazing! - it doubles as a compact motorcycle battery charger, which I needed anyway!)
*Castle Creations Sidewinder3 ESC (brushed-mode, so I didn't replace the motor)
*Various wires, connectors, body pins, etc.
*Bought local from Hobby Warehouse (http://www.myhobbywarehouse.com/ ---- HUGE help!!!! Great guys!!!!)

*New soldering iron (unexpected - GRRRR!!!!) --- This was purchased from Menards, a $12 China cheapo.

I had previously stated my Phase I target was 10-minutes of runtime. Behind the scenes, I also set my budget at $250. I came in well above expectations and under budget. Well...technically *JUST* under budget when you factor in the soldering iron issues. Really, I replaced an expensive Weller soldering iron with a cheapo "Tool Shop" thing, so I'm still at a global-loss. I'm going to counterbalance THAT by focusing on the kick-splode motorcycle charger I purchased for 1/3 the cost of an equivalent "Harley-Davidson" branded compact battery charger. Ok, so for the CAR ITSELF, I spent around $150 and about 2 hours of actual work...I call it a win!

It's quick. I like it! MY GOD - it's quick! Even with the old brushed motor!

I ran it down in our parking garage (~65*F) for a battery cycle, and I tried to run it HARD. The motor was warm-ish, the ESC was barely above room temp, the battery was fine. It ran for well over 15 minutes before my radio batteries started to give out (turns out, they were from 2004?) and the range went to crap. I did some tight figure 8's for a while longer, but eventually the radio was too annoying to continue. I have a set of NiMH on the way for the radio and the LiPo was still at about 30%. I'm good with that!!!!!!!

I nabbed some throw-away 3M uber-sticky velcro scraps from work to mount the ESC, the switch & some small zip-ties to do some wire management. I need to disassemble the electronics and CLEAN everything now that I ran it down in the gritty parking garage.

I have another thread in the On-Road section about new rims & tires - I think Phase II is now going to focus on that piece. I want to replace the rims & tires with something very standard and the body with something inexpensive and disposable. I'll keep the DS Merc and original wheels for historic purposes and burn the crap outta the standard wheels for fun!