The washington will be built to fast gun rules for use with the NYBG. I'm actually going to start construction after christmas, but I figured I'd start the thread now. I emailed rick at BC and he said he could have the hull mailed out this week. I just need somewhere to put it.
I should be getting most of the parts from BC. My brother is gonna tell my folks to get me everything except for the CO2 tank. I already have a 20oz.
How do you mean "too big"? A Washington/N.C. hull takes a 20 0z bottle quite easily, even flanked by two 12ah SLA batteries...
How wide are 12ah SLA batteries if they can flank a 4" wide bottle in a 9" wide ship? ?Depends on the voltage?
A 20oz bottle fit easily into my Richelieu. Even had some room on each side to mount a cannon valve + expansion tank and an ESC. It's enough CO2 to last 2 battles or one day. The down side is the bottle will only fit in the ship behind the 2 6v/12ah batteries mounted midship. On the Richelieu, it wasn't much of a problem because most of her cannons are located forward. On a ship with dual or triple sterns, there might be a problem. Another down side is unbalanced ship balance. The Richelieu tends to sink bow first unless weight is moved towards the stern. We think it is because an empty or partially empty 20oz has LOTS of bouyancy compared to a 7 or 9oz. If my Richelieu continues to sink by the bow, I may switch the 20oz for a 9oz and put up with refilling CO2 every battle. If you do go with two 6v/12ah batteries, I suggest laying them flat in the hull instead of standing them up. laying them flat will keep battery weight low in the hull for more stability (not that the NC realllyy needs more!)
I remember Don Cole's NC had a single 6v/36ah battery mounted mid-ship. It powered everything all day with power to spare.
No Don has to change it out after every 2 sorties, last year we tried it for 3, and it died at the end of the third sortie. My Roma uses the 650 series motors, and draw 1/3 the amps of the 550's. I'm able to run it all day, all 4 sorties with no problem. Did it on Sat and Sun last battle we had.
Well I'm pretty sure that the running gear i get will be the setup from BC. I'll email rick and ask him what the running gear is so I can get sufficient batteries and whatever BC doesn't sell.
Ok these are the dimensions of the batteries and 20 oz CO2 bottle, as used in my brother's N.C. 20 oz CO2 = 80mm dia. 12 Ah 6v SLA = 50 mm wide. so, combined size is 180mm, 0r 7.09" approx. Plenty of room for them in a 9" wide hull.
The hull and hardware kit are a definite for christmas. Everything else will soon follow since im gettin money from everyone else. But at least the parts I need first are coming first.
What motors are you using and what format are you building for? The most important thing is to find out the STALL current draw of the motors you're using, and get an ESC rated to that amount. As for which supplier, Mtronik (is that how you spell it?) makes some wonderful 100% waterproof marine ESCs that you can just drop in the bottom of your boat and never worry about again. I've used an Mtronik Viper Marine 15-amp ESC with my Spahkreuzer (drawing 6 amps stall) and It's still working after two years and 5 sinks. Should be good for another hundred sinks or so, too.
I'll have the motors in a week. The hardware kit and hull should be shipped by monday night. I'm building the ship for IRCWCC format.
The best thing to do is ask one of the guys in the IRCWCC what ESC's and motors they use. Not many of the IRCWCC guys post here; their email list is a better place to get IRCWCC specific information. I didn't run a NC when I was in the IRCWCC, and used (and continue to use) a MAG throttle in my ships. The MWC guys who do post here though are also a good source of infomation, and their variation of fastgun combat is close enough to be virtually interchangeable technology wise. Mike D
Donanton, once you get the motors you should hook them up to a multimeter. Measure the resistance across one, and calculate its maximum possible current draw. The formula is I (current, in amps) = V(battery voltage, in volts) / R (resistance, in ohms). Once you know the maximum possible current draw for one motor, multiply that by two to get the power draw for both motors. The most important thing about getting an ESC is not to exceed the ESC's current rating. Many ESCs are rated for 15, 20, or 40 amps, but some can go up to 100 or more amps. If you can't find an ESC with a high enough rating, then put a fuse in the circuit to blow before the ESC's amp rating is exceeded. One last note, don't use a receiver battery if you use an ESC. Using both at the same time destroys the ESC. I've lost one ESC that way myself, and I'm not making that mistake again.
