New member New tank New problem?

[wibblywobbly]

One way around the problem is to mount the battery inside the tank, just cut away enough of the old battery box for it to fit. Use some tie wraps to hold the battery plug above the removeable flap. When you want to charge the battery just unscrew the flap underneath and charge the battery in the tank.

The battery compartment makes the lower hull rigid, if you remove the whole thing then a quick and cheap way to restore the rigidity is to cut a sheet of 2 or 3mm styrene sheet to fit it there, and hot glue it in place, then remount the board, battery etc on that. Again, leave a hole so that you can get to the battery plug from underneath.

The same goes for the magnet route, when the upper and lower are screwed together the hull becomes a very stiff box section, if you use magnets it will require some styrene bracing in the lower hull to stop it flexing.

[Tijai]

One way around the problem is to mount the battery inside the tank, just cut away enough of the old battery box for it to fit. Use some tie wraps to hold the battery plug above the removeable flap. When you want to charge the battery just unscrew the flap underneath and charge the battery in the tank.

The battery compartment makes the lower hull rigid, if you remove the whole thing then a quick and cheap way to restore the rigidity is to cut a sheet of 2 or 3mm styrene sheet to fit it there, and hot glue it in place, then remount the board, battery etc on that. Again, leave a hole so that you can get to the battery plug from underneath.

The same goes for the magnet route, when the upper and lower are screwed together the hull becomes a very stiff box section, if you use magnets it will require some styrene bracing in the lower hull to stop it flexing.

Thanks for the ideas.
Might make less of a mess with styrene. will weigh up the odds.

Might I suggest that when you fit a replacement "RX-18" Control Board that you buy a 2.4 "Digital" Version rather than using an "Analogue" RX-18 Control Board, that way you can dispence with Crystals and fitting a Smoker and Sound will be a simple case of plugging into the RX-18 allotted sockets,
The difference in price will be nominal.
You would be advised to ensure that you buy a matching Heng Long Radio,
As to any other Radio you should know that Heng Long/Taigen/Torro use a closed system of R/C which with a certain Australian exception precludes the use of any aftermarket Radio system.
To use an aftermarket Radio/Receiver with your PZ3 would entail changing your RX-18 for an aftermarket control board such as an ASP/IBU2/3/Clark etc, all of which offer advantages over the RX-18 but you pay quite a bit for those advantages.
There are many advantages to Digital including you can be rid of the engine bay mounted whip aerial which of course was never fitted to a real PZ3 and Digital means never having to worry about "Cross Talking" with another Analogue R/C user and of course there is a greater range in which your Tank can operate.
Shaun.

OK that makes sense. The reason I was looking at the RX-18 with seperate tramsmitter is that I had read somewhere that it gives more options for certain upgrades from different manufacturers. I think the general concensus was that the RX-18 2.4ghz with built in reciever could be restrictive. This could just be someones opinion though.

Shaun's right about going to 2.4 GHz. much better system. You can find them used in the UK for about 35 pounds, like this thread from Andy (Spartan Tracks).

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23521

If you contact Andy you might see if he'd go for 30 pounds. Over here in the states I sell a used set like this for $40, which is just under 30 pounds. Andy's a great guy so he might drop his price a bit to help a new guy get started.

Thanks Max I'll try to PM shaun and see if he has any left.

[Tijai]

Just as a matter of interest I believe it was this post which made me think the seperate board and receiver was the better way.
Less extra channels - although at this stage I have no idea if I would ever need them.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9738&p=85514#p85514

[Raminator]

That's a little bit out of date, but still might be relevant for you. It'll depend on how far you plan to go with your tank(s), but for £45 you can pair your existing 27 MHz electronics with an RC5HL and a decent but cheap radio. That should be fairly future-proof if you decide to upgrade the Heng Long electronics with an aftermarket solution (Clark, IBU, Elmod, et al) later on.

Personally, I'd skip straight to the aftermarket electronics since you've saved a decent amount of dosh by getting two tanks for the price of one.