HL Leopard Arrived

[wibblywobbly]

Just getting hold of a decent motor the correct size would do it. I had a good hunt around when I did the ZTZ but getting one the right shape seemed like an impossibility.

A good white cap should do it, as HL have used them on turret rotation units in the past. There are green, yellow possibly, black, and white cap motors. Thinking about it, the white cap is (if my addled brain remembers correctly) high revs, low torque, and it may be the lack of torque trying to shift a heavy turret that causes them to blow?

Rob

[Tankbear]

Picture of inside the turret



And I started a build topic here.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=11541

Ian.

[tankmad]

It looks a big improvement on the hobby power one a decent lick of paint and it would look the part.
Stevie

[MichaelC]

Hey Ian, is there somewhere you can look up the "colour" code of these motors ? I never knew that's how you can tell the different specs.

Also, my Leo seems to have the problem with the large turret ring right out of the box, basically it would go left from the 12 o'clock mark unless you give it a little push. Even then it is a hit and miss. I thought it might have been a cable getting caught at first, then realized that it is consistently at that position. Can't really explain why its doing it because the gears all look clean upon closer inspection.

Do we have a 'How-To' article on speeding up the turret rotation motor by replacing it with another one ?

HI Alb,

No guide it is simply a case of swapping the turret turn motor with one with a different colour end as that varies the speed. The reason it is necessary with this tank and the ZTZ99 is the turret turn gear is massive compared to other HL tanks and as a result the turning is very slow. When in the real tank the turret turns 360 in 9 seconds as the model stands as bought is more like 40 seconds! I've changed to a white cap motor rated at 3v which gets mine down to about 14 seconds, it does after a while burn out the motor but because of the large ring not much else can be done.

I guess I can put a quick guide together so other users are aware of the modification.

Ian.

[Tankbear]

Hi Michael,

That does sound odd (technically the larger gear gives the turret turn more torque).

Maybe plug the hull top into another tank to see if it the motor works better. Proving if it is the motor or the electronics/wiring.

Regarding the colours of the motor cap I do some searching to see but got a feeling it won't be standardized so just down to the motor manufacturers.

Ian.

[forgebear]

hi try changing the turret turn motor some times they are weak on one way round will go one way ok then when you want it to go back it wont
dave

[MichaelC]

Thanks Dave, Ian. Will try switching the motor tonight.

[MichaelC]

Hmmm..... Tried loosening the ring and didn't really get any conclusive result. At this point it looks like the motor is actually not powerful enough to turn the turret. When I put the tank on a slight side incline, the motor will not be able to turn the turret on the "uphill side". It would be interesting if anyone else who has a Leo to give this a try. I tried swapping the motor, but I only have a "blue" one and it is clearly too slow and not powerful enough as it won't even turn the turret at all (i.e. clicking sound and no movement).

The only other motors I have are the BB ones, but the metal pinion on them are so tight that I have not been able to remove them to try them out. FreakyDude also suggest that I should try playing with the contact point between the motor shaft worm gear and the first circular gear, but that doesn't seem to do much either.

I also noticed that the frame might have caused the stress on the gear/motor as well as if there is slightly twice on the frame the turret gear will again slip. I am wondering if Heng Long had stretch the gears and the power of the motors for the larger Leo and anything (i.e. slight twist of the frame etc) would basically cause the gear to slip.

Is it worthwhile to try to use the BB gun motor ? Is it more powerful or fast enough to be use for turret rotation ? (They are the "black" ones).

[Tankbear]

Hi Michael,

I've not tested the Leo but my ZTZ99 (which has same ring setup) will still turn when on side. And I've not had any of your issues in either tank so I don't think it is a Leo issue.

Regarding the airsoft motor yes use it, it is better quality, faster and I've been told got ball bearings in to make quieter. But like you say pain to get pinion gear off.

If you end up looking to buy a motor I think it is 130 speed, and I used a 3v 13000rpm one. I haven't yet for any reference material on the specifications to the different colour caps

Ian.

[MichaelC]

I decided to rip one of the rotational units from an old Panther which has a "blue" colour end and swapped it out and everything works now. The strange part is that the old rotational unit looks like it fit closer to the turret cog gear than the one that came with the tank ?!?! The mount is the same so I have to assume that somehow the unit that the tank came with the Leo is a little off ? I don't know, just feel like I am crazy or something and I am not going to bother taking it off again and put in the one that doesn't work and figure out what it is. Not going to fuss if it is working.

I will put the non-working one into the Panther and see what happens. Thanks so much again for all the advice. BTW, the "blue" motor also seems more steady and makes a more powerful sound. The one that came with the tank is "green".

Mike.