IMAI Elephant 1/16 Prob

[andrewrc]

Antique like IMAI 1/16 Elephant : tried hard to get it back to life , but no luck. 2 x driving motors just totally dead like .
( Use Heng Long Crystal ). Think might be something wrong with the receiver ?

there are some cables from back panel , if anybody know how to sort them out and plug into the receiver ? Thanks.

[tankme]

Wow, that's an AM receiver...pretty old.

[Xiaoshan_Sailor]

Need to get Jerry Carducci on this since he owns a few.

[jcarducci]

This Jerry. First, congrats on having a truly unique model; Imai's Elefant will never be replicated. I also have Hooben's
and Asiatam's and they don't come close.

Sorry to say I'd lose the ancient equipment and replace it with a decent modern radio and IBU board or similar system. Test the motors
separately if you are unsure about them.

I the Imai model warrants a regular radio and good control board. If the motors are the original 540 Mabuchi can motors they were good quality and unless they were abused at some point should be more than enough to power that Elefant. Make certain there's nothing loose in the gearboxes, lubricate them well but make plastic card covers for these as they love to spit oil when running. Check the running gear for anything loose as well. Sorry if they sounds redundant or silly but the Imai isn't your average model; many bits to keep track of and replacement parts aren't easy to come by. The main gun elevation, if original isn't its strong point to expect finicky behavior from it.

This is an old song to those who know me but the Elefant should be operated ' Slow and Majestic'. Especially considering it's likely decades older than most people on this forum- the production was stopped in the 1970s; Id run it only under the best of conditions.

I just offer the advice and opinion for what it's worth. No one has to follow it. I have not run any of mine in years.

Good luck and have fun.

Jerry

[jarndice]

Jerry it is people like you who make up the very soul of the Forum,
Thank you very much

[Sub]

Hi.
If i may offer some advice re the radio issue.
It will NEVER work with Heng long crystals...they are 27 meg FM ( frequency modulation) the receiver installed is AM ( Amplitude modulation) the two are not compatable.

Furher more Sanwa is a strange radio at best as the pins on the servos / receiver are set up differently to all other radio standard practice. The pos neg and signal are in a different position to ALL other radios.

Also you MUST HAVE A Sanwa 27 meg AM transmitter with matching Sanwa 27 meg AM crystals to both the transmitter and receiver.

If you do not have the correct items as above you will have to upgrade to a new radio set ( 2.4 ghx recommended that has the right number or more of the channels required.)

Also if the model has any electronics installed such as servos for elevation, traverse and speed control, they will no doubt have the pins in the plugs set for SANWA and they will need to be re arranged to match the new radio industry standard pin configuration.

I note in the photos supplied the Sanwa plugs have been attached at some point to the electronics wires (red/ white/ black) which will help you put the wires in the right order, you just need to buy some modern plugs with wires on and splice them into the red / white / black electronic wires.

All sounds a bit daunting BUT its actually very easy to do..

Regards.
Sub.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Jerry and Sub,

I might be an outlier here, but what about finding the (SANWA) AM transmitter (from some RC airplane hobbyist?) and keeping this AFV as an example of outdated technology? Here's an example: I happened upon one of the early HengLong Pantigers, the one with the "programmable" function allowing one to set a short routing which the tank will repeat. It's hardly vintage like this Elephant, but it's a hoot and an example to save unmodified.

Above all, I say BRAVO to you, Andrew, no matter what you choose to do. Keep us informed; I'm cheering for ya!

[jcarducci]

Jerry and Sub,

I might be an outlier here, but what about finding the (SANWA) AM transmitter (from some RC airplane hobbyist?) and keeping this AFV as an example of outdated technology? Here's an example: I happened upon one of the early HengLong Pantigers, the one with the "programmable" function allowing one to set a short routing which the tank will repeat. It's hardly vintage like this Elephant, but it's a hoot and an example to save unmodified.

Above all, I say BRAVO to you, Andrew, no matter what you choose to do. Keep us informed; I'm cheering for ya!

I'd say make the old system available to those who collect such things. If the goal is to get the model running as well as possible
then that dictates a new system; a new system that doesn't have to be expensive. A new system will allow more careful operation
of the model. If that old system was OEM Imai equipment I'd say sure make an attempt to make it functional however it isn't. IMO
nothing is gained by trying to get an outdated AM system functional and depending on where the OP lives it may no longer
even be legal since frequency allocations and bandwidth standards have changed a lot globally since that equipment was made.
At the very least an AM system could be victim to interference from without and within.

Jerry

[Met5]

Hi Jerry, when I have finished the model currently under construction I will put my hand to my IMAI:

What do you think of the Gear Boxes? Are they reliable? I was thinking of changing them to something more modern.

my Imai was built, primed but not finished. The mechanisms and electronics have to be installed

I was also thinking of taking it apart completely and then reassembling it.

What do you think?

[jcarducci]

Hi Jerry, when I have finished the model currently under construction I will put my hand to my IMAI:

IMG_20210202_121134.jpg

What do you think of the Gear Boxes? Are they reliable? I was thinking of changing them to something more modern.

my Imai was built, primed but not finished. The mechanisms and electronics have to be installed

I was also thinking of taking it apart completely and then reassembling it.

What do you think?

I believe the original Imai gearboxes are reasonably good quality. They used all brass gears so keeping them well lubricated
is key to their longevity. Some of the gears in the gear train as with all gearboxes of this type will spatter lubricant everywhere
in the model if allowed to so making simple plasti-card shields to prevent this is a good idea. As old as the model is I'd highly
recommend preventing oils and grease from getting all over the inside especially the floor as these compounds will eventually
attack the plastic causing cracks and ultimately failure. the area where the gearboxes are attached to the floor in particular is
subject to cracking. I would NOT recommend painting the interior floor of the model again as the combination of any oil and paint
will make a sticky mess.

Above all and I can't stress this enough: run the machine at moderate speeds. If possible support the model's body with blocks when not in use. I must confess I used to do this but don't presently though I should. As I write this I need to pull mine out, dust them off and give them the once over.

Jerry