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Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 1:06 pm
by daviddunlop
Good morning
Now that this new board has been out for a while and a number of members have had a chance to play with it, what is the general opinion about it? Is it worth switching to from one of the earlier boards? What are the advantages/disadvantages?
The IR option at this point is not high on my wish list, but the smaller size and plug in features have appeal.
Did they put tougher guts into it and does it overheat compared to earlier versions.
Mato presently just sells a full upgrade with TX etc, but really all I would need is the two RX boards and supporting cables.
Comments appreciated.
Best regards,
David
Re: Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 10:27 pm
by fv432
Hi david
i have an rx18 board and have noticed a slight improvement in the sounds and apperently the fet board has a higher amperage ive heard 6-8 amps where as the 14s only maxxed at 4-5 amps not sure on that
the disadvantages plugs not that good and by that i mean they dont connect to well would and what im doing to mine is removing the plugs and hard wiring to the board (i do this to all my boards
)
the fet board is enclosed and would benefit from petes (971 wrights) fan mod
personally im modding mine by moving the fet board from the housing and putting the fets onto a heat sink and fan hoping to reduce the risk of killing it
Re: Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 11:46 pm
by BREL
I have just done the fan mod to the RX 18 that I have in my tiger, I am also trying to work out the best way of fitting one into the bulldog so that I can fit a fan to the board and some ballast at the front of the tank and also try to keep the speaker in its original place but I am failing quite badly
Re: Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 3:11 am
by daviddunlop
Thanks for the comments. I was wondering about the enclosed aspect of the RX18, particularly if one is inclined to hang a lot of metal in the powertrain and perhaps even go with a full 3:1 reduction in the gear boxes.
As to cooling the RX18, I was exploring RCCOMMAND's website this evening and noticed he has an RX18 with a blower mounted on it for $37.00 USF.
FV432 (By the way, a chum of mine over here has a nicely restored one. Quite the beastie!). I know how you feel about electrical connectors that pop loose when you least need it happening. On the other hand I find myself somewhat leery of overcooking the HL boards when working on them with an iron, or accidentally crossing connections and not noticing until I next power it up, so I have begun to like the plugins a bit more. I now use a small dab of clear silicon on the top edge of each connector when popped in place and haven't lost one yet. They still remain easy to separate when one needs to as well.
Best regards,
David
Re: Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 7:12 pm
by fv432
good tip with the silicon dave
dont find much probs soldering the board and even drilling out the pin holes for hard wiring
nearly bought an fv432 myself a few years back just the running costs stopped it
buy the way is the universal carrier in the picture yours?
just wondering as a friend of mine has a real one its a canadian version with the ford flat V8
kind regard rob
Re: Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 2:30 am
by daviddunlop
Yes Rob, the picture is of my Universal Carrier the day I brought it home from a farmer's yard where it had been sitting for 20 years. It was a June 1944 Mk II compliments of Ford of Canada.
Oddly enough, it was the wiring on the FV432 that nearly drove my chum mad trying to sort out. If I recall correctly from all his drink enhanced babbling, every single electrical item had it's own line to earth and he was not used to it. He much preferred the common ground approach in North American designs. But I guess he got used to it...or the beer...as his next project was a Ferret!
Cheers
David
Re: Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 7:14 pm
by fv432
wow gluton for punishement i remember my father trying to convert a 6 volt willys jeep to 12volts
would love to see some pics of your carrier and maybe get some of my mates and show you
Re: Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 10:42 pm
by STEINER
daviddunlop wrote:
Thanks for the comments. I was wondering about the enclosed aspect of the RX18, particularly if one is inclined to hang a lot of metal in the powertrain and perhaps even go with a full 3:1 reduction in the gear boxes.
As to cooling the RX18, I was exploring RCCOMMAND's website this evening and noticed he has an RX18 with a blower mounted on it for $37.00 USF.
FV432 (By the way, a chum of mine over here has a nicely restored one. Quite the beastie!). I know how you feel about electrical connectors that pop loose when you least need it happening. On the other hand I find myself somewhat leery of overcooking the HL boards when working on them with an iron, or accidentally crossing connections and not noticing until I next power it up, so I have begun to like the plugins a bit more. I now use a small dab of clear silicon on the top edge of each connector when popped in place and haven't lost one yet. They still remain easy to separate when one needs to as well.
Best regards,
David
I have fitted the RX18 board into my HL Tiger. (Carrying a lot of metal) Although, I have yet to fit a fan, I have fitted three in-line fuse holders. One each between the pos side of the 3.1 gearboxes/motors and the board ( 3 amp quick blow fuse) and one between the battery and the board ( 5 amp quick blow fuse ) After a lot of hard driving in long grass, whilst making a turn, I popped the 5 amp. Simply replaced it and away you go. No more blown boards. ( I went through a lot of RX13s ). If I fit a fan like Brels, I would hope to have the ultimate protection for the board, if there is such a thing. :-\ :-\ Another important thing as the guys on here will tell you, is to make sure your g/boxes and motors are well run in and the drive sprockets and idlers are correctly aligned. If not, this could create a power surge and result in a blown board.
Re: Is The RX18 Worth It?
Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 3:12 am
by thebronze
I purchased the IR upgrade kit from MATO and was disappointed...The RX 18 DID NOT WORK...wasted $$$$ as far as I'm concerned :-\