RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

I am looking at fitting 3:1 gearboxes into my Tiger to boost the gradient performance on my Elmod set-up. Has anyone got any recommendations, links etc

Many thanks

Rob G

RCCommand will shortly have a steel machine cut version of the 3:1 diecast gears. Price was around $80 as far as I recall (mine have been on back order for a month now ::) )
I have a set of his standard ratio steel gears, they are a huge improvement in smoothness over the diecast "mystery metal" Heng Long gears (altho the speed of the tank is way too high)

Otherwise take a look at the Asiatam brass gearboxes.

Careful!  El Mod is programmed for certain gearboxes.  The newer ones may enable the user to change settings but the older ones do not.

My Tiger has 3-1s with 480 motors.  It makes so much power that it could pull the idlers off and is hard to drive in a straight line because the boost to correct resistance encountered over-corrects because of the power of the motors.

Most El Mod setups are made for the original gearboxes with the high speed black capped motors.  You can safely add Graupner Speed400s in their place.  Changing to a different pinion will increase tractive effort without adversely affecting the El Mod.  Use my calculator to see which works best for you.

I have the latest version Thinktank with Soundblaster III. Contrary to popular belief, you can only fit two types of motor to these (Thomas at Elmod states that these are the only tried and tested motors).

Original HL
Jamara 480 Pro (not the 480 BB)

I tried Graupner 400's, and the 480 BB's before I learnt the hard way. They will melt the esc's in seconds. I currently have the HL white caps which are ok on the flat, but really struggle on an incline of any description, hence me wanting to try the gearbox route.

I can change the settings to a certain extent, and would even consider a 9.6v battery pack if I knew someone who had done the same with the same boards with a measure of success. I think The Blitz has fitted 3:1 boxes in his KT, and looking at the video on You Tube it seems to run ok.

I also timed the battery life, a high spec, fully charged, 3300 battery will last precisely 15 minutes with the Elmod.

Strangely, if I install an HL RX14 in the same tank it has around 5x the power and climbs over any obstacle using the same HL motors with absolute ease. I can also run the Speed 400's on an RX14, they work just fine and are currently in my Bulldog which has been abused something rotten with no ill effects.

Thomas tells me that the esc's on the later boards are the same as the earlier ones, but I know of people who have fitted upgraded motors to the old one (with afterburner) without any problems. It's a total mystery as to why the later boards don't seem to cope with upgraded motors without frying. If the HL boards are ok , why aren't the Elmod ones?

I would dearly love to know what the issue is with the new boards and what they are designed to handle?

Rob G

Not sure why the Speed400s melt El Mod, they draw scarcely more power then the intended motors, the black capped motors are the originals.  The White Capped ones were not supposed to be used, they turn too few rpms.  White capped motors on a 3-1 gearbox would spin a Tiger sprocket 105rpms!  Normal speed is around 268rpms.  I would imagine that someone who used Speed400s and blew El Mod did NOT use the 7.2V version motor.  The Speed400 is available in 6.0v and 4.8v versions which draw considerably more amps.

The reason the TK-RX14 is more powerful might be because the motors get full voltage from the battery.  El Mod limits voltage to 5.5v and boosts above that to overcome resistance.

I have the 7.2v Graupner Speed 400's, and they melted my esc's. This was on a test bench with the tracks raised off the ground, and no resistance. Hence why I am using the HL's. I had quite a dialogue with Thomas and he never mentioned anything about using HL black or white caps, so I use what I have, which is the white caps.

It was my belief that the white caps produce more torque, but if what you say is correct, then would the black cap motors produce more power to climb gradients using standard HL metal gearboxes?

All info gratefully received.

Rob G

Hi Guys have tried allsorts of motors/gear ratios and can confirm swaths findings about the 6v and 4,8v speed 400s they eat batteries for fun,havnt blowen a board yet but I allways fit a fan have had a Tiger 1 which weighs 18lb with home made gearbox 3,5 :1 ratio with 480 motors running on an rx 13 it has tons of torque ,thought about fitting el-mod to it but after all the news about burnning out have to wait till I can fit (afford)Tamiya DmD/mf units.

  regards pete

Hi,

I have (two of) the old El-Mod system.

"and is hard to drive in a straight line because the boost to correct resistance encountered over-corrects because of the power of the motors"

I also use 480 motors but the 17000rpm version and prop radio.  
I Have tested this setup with HL radio. The prop radio give you way better control. So maybe the combination of HL radio and the 22000 rpm motors (which if my memory serves me correct, is the type that Swath is using) is not optimal?

"I also timed the battery life, a high spec, fully charged, 3300 battery will last precisely 15 minutes with the Elmod."

Something is fishy, measured my current draw at the battery, and with all "bells & whistles" on it draws 6A. My stock 1700mAh last 15 minutes...

"El Mod limits voltage to 5.5v"
Just on Tiger settings, if you go for Pershing settings you will get 7,2V (And quicker turret traverse)

Well, just my 2 cents..

Regards

Jake

"Just on Tiger settings, if you go for Pershing settings you will get 7,2V (And quicker turret traverse)"

hell, Jake, I never knew that...I will give it a go!!

Twas true about the battery life. I drained it down, then charged at 1 amp until the peak detect came on, then trickle charged a little longer, then let it cool. 15 mins? My Tigger also has all the bells and whistles but it seems that trying a few gradients just sapped all of the power out.

Hi Wibbly,

Pershing/Bulldog settings for the old system.

For the new (your) system: US WW2

"Jumper settings
The tank model is determined by the jumpers 1 to 3 (on - jumper set, off - jumper removed):

J1 J2 J3    Description
on on on  User defined (only when ThinkTank Configurator is used)
off on on  German, WW2, plastic gearbox
on off on  German, WW2, metal gearbox
off off on  German, WW2, 3:1 reduction gearbox
on on off  US, WW2, plastic gearbox
off on off  US, WW2, metal gearbox
on off off    T-34
off off off    Fun tank"

I think that you should get more time out of your 3300 mAh batterypack. Battery pack ok? Charger ok? Check current draw at battery, if your battery goes empty in 15 minutes your total current draw should be app. 12A!

Best regards

Jake