How to make RC tank slow

[SteelBird]

Hi All,

I've got a HL Pantiger upgraded with metal tracks, high speed steel gearboxes and a HL 2.4 G remote controller. The upgrade package work fine (though not great), however, I have a few questions as following:
- I have been seeing tanks in clubs that they move slowly, how to make tanks slow? changing low ratio gearboxes?
- I also see some thread in our forum that some members waterproof their tanks. they claim that the motors work fine in water so no need to waterproof them. My question is since motors are electrical components, do they really work fine in water? there are holes on motors, if water, sand or mud get into them, will that hurt the motors?
- The tracks are very loose that they delocation easily, if I cut off one piece of tracks, it become too tight. any solution?

My new high speed motors and steel gearboxes

[tao]

I can't speak to the water proofing but for going slowly..get the lowest ratio gearbox-4.1 (four shaft) steel with bearings
for less drag. I am looking at fitting a smaller 8 tooth pinion which if it fits will be 20 % less than the 10 tooth. But barring that, what I did to get it really slow was 2-3 pairs of diodes(3A 100v Diode Rectifier) for each motor...slight reduction of voltage and top speed is reduced but my Kingtiger can really crawl along..easy to undo..I have mine as a plug in so I can run it either way.
Whenever you use diodes you need to maker sure the are reversed per pair..if not they won't do anything:)

[westyIII]

Re water proofing, its so low voltage motors will be fine underwater.

I took mine through very muddy and silty water, and still works 2 years down the line. Motors were standard, and all other electrical components were house in a waterproof plastic box. (I used a Chinese takeaway box, but looking at upgrading to one of the boxes Maplin sell.)

If you take it through muddy water, best practice is to rinse the motors out with clean water (when the missus is out, take your tank for a bath)...

[SteelBird]

I can't speak to the water proofing but for going slowly..get the lowest ratio gearbox-4.1 (four shaft) steel with bearings
for less drag. I am looking at fitting a smaller 8 tooth pinion which if it fits will be 20 % less than the 10 tooth. But barring that, what I did to get it really slow was 2-3 pairs of diodes(3A 100v Diode Rectifier) for each motor...slight reduction of voltage and top speed is reduced but my Kingtiger can really crawl along..easy to undo..I have mine as a plug in so I can run it either way.
Whenever you use diodes you need to maker sure the are reversed per pair..if not they won't do anything:)

Can you take a look at my gearboxes above, are they 3:1 gearboxes? Changing gearboxes doesn't sound so good to me because I've just change these gearboxes and they are ordered from China. It's a long way! Connecting diodes sound nice because I can source them locally and do it myself. However, can you be more specific on how to connect. a diagram and a photo would be appreciated.

For mudding, it's not so urgent so I would do it later. Not so urgent to take to the dirty battle.

[tao]

Run them end to end in pairs on a power lead for each motor. Though by dropping voltage you will lose some power
so ideally gearing down as low as you can first is best. 3A 100v Diode Rectifier

[greengiant]

On the water proofing thing. Clear clean water is not that great a conductor of electricity even at high ac voltages but any dirt that's wet is so keep that out of the tank so it can't mix with the water.
It's probably best to seal it up enough that quick trips though water don't let it fill the hull thru any larger openings. And as westy said open it up and rise it out also rinse out any dirty water including any that may have gotten carried into the wheel bearing and mounting arm points, let dry then re lube any gears and bearing points that may have lost lube into the water. Don't use regular lube at those points as fine grit will get stuck in it, instead use graphite powder like you buy to puff into lock key holes. Very slippery stuff and is water resistant and will have no effect of softening plastic like some lubes.

[SteelBird]

Is it possible to have a dual sticks remote control? I mean one stick to control the left track and the other control the right track.

[tao]

I have that on my excavator but that is with all the channels on a 9 channel radio being used. I am sure somebody on this
forum is doing that with their radio but to me the right stick throttle movement and left stick for turret, gun and elevation
is a nice set up.

[SteelBird]

tao, the above instruction regarding diodes reducing speed is about giving it less power so that it goes slower which means the tank lose power. it might not be able to crawl up slop if you do so. I think the right way reduce speed is using high ratio gearboxes. It might cost me another 50 bucks doing so.

By the way, I saw somebody posting on YouTube that his Tamiya tank has dual speed gearboxes. vow, that's great! I wonder if that would cost a few K bucks for that.

[tao]

Yes as I mentioned best way to start is gear reduction/ 4 shaft gear box. Then I added a few diodes and it still can pivot turn on carpet and crawl very slow. But max power will be reduced a bit yes.