THE AMPHITRUCK

Started by jbkiwi

24 updates 185 likes 79 comments
jbkiwi #21 of 25 1

AMPHITRUCK

After the trucks' swim this morning, I noticed that the ESC felt hot,- shouldn't be, as it's a 40A Hobbywing car ESC, and the brushed geared motor only sucks 5A stalled. I decided to try a fan on that, as well as the motor fan to see if it's the ESC overheating and reducing power (can't see why it should unless it's rubbish).

I mounted a fan on the ESC and linked it with the motor fan auto circuit. Now when the motor reaches 30c, the ESC fan comes on as well. Have a couple more geared motors with lower ratios coming from Ali Exp, but not holding my breath on them coming this month (one was ordered on the 4th and still not shipped !) hopeless lot.

Vid of the truck 'bathing' in the estuary 😁
Liked by EdW and Len1 and
6 comments
  1. Rowen
    Captain
    Note your AliExpress comment. I have had enough of these shysters.
    You order something with an expected delivery date. Then the date is arbitrarily moved. The delivery can now be months after it is needed.
    My advice, is do not unless you can accept 3/4 months delivery on an order
    Liked by jbkiwi and Colin H
  2. jbkiwi
    Fleet Admiral
    HI Rowen, some of the sellers on Ali Exp are very good, just depends on which one you pick and the method of shipping they use. If you accept the free shipping option, all those apparently go to a consolidator in China, who waits for the airline with cheapest shipping option before sending them on. They may then go to another country (stated often as arrived in as destination country,- doesn't mean your country unless specified) and sit there waiting for the same thing.

    Ali Express std shipping is another which can be rubbish, I've found that Yan Wen special line and a few others are a better option, but there are no guarantees with any of them. I had something sit in Uzbekistan for 5 months before it moved on, looked like it had been trampled by yaks when it got here a month later.

    I have had some sellers send things by shippers I've never heard of, and the item arrives in a week or 2. Sometimes you will pay for better shipping, but the person sends it by a cheaper method. If you ever get that, report them to Ali Ex and they might get banned. You have to remember that a lot of these sellers are students or people selling part time from small apartments, and are not proper businesses as such. Ali Exp is just the middle man, but they are quite strict with sellers who try and go outside the rules, IF you report them.

    For marine stuff, I've found that the Tilkiea Model store is one of the best (99.2 % pos). They have a good range of props, jet units, shafts and other bits, which I've found to be quite good quality, and their shipping has been reliable so far,- bit slow at times but reliable.

    I've found Ali Exp itself, to be quite good at resolving disputes if you have all the relevant info and pics for them. Boils down to - Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances as the old saying goes 😁

    JB
    Liked by Len1

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jbkiwi #22 of 25 1

AMPHITRUCK

Time for a local beer ad to go with he truck (label even has a nautical theme.) My son and I had it with dinner tonight,- nice drop. Produced near Wellington.

JB
Liked by EdW and River Rat and
3 comments

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jbkiwi #23 of 25 1

AMPHITRUCK - TOWBAR FITTED

Decided to add a towbar to the truck so I can tow the Hartley cabin boat and runabout (still doing a trailer for that). Trying to do a decent launching vid, and the truck is a bit more to scale than he jeep,- also has better grip, being a lot bigger and heavier and having a 4x4 rear drive.

Took a bit of bending to get it right, and had to slot a couple of places to be able to adjust it all to the right position. Probably around 60+ tweaks to make it fit, as it was a difficult shape to do, and the 10mm x 3mm ally strip was tough to bend in the small lengths. Just needs 2 more screws for the back angle and a file and paint and it's ready to test on the boat ramp.

The length of the whole outfit is 1.5m now,- more of a load to take to the beach😁
Liked by EdW and River Rat and
3 comments
  1. jbkiwi
    Fleet Admiral
    Hi Steve, just finished swapping a receiver over, as the truck and boat were on the same TX, (forgot about that)😐- using the HK 6ch now. Also changed one of the TrackStar ESCs for the prop drives, as one motor was lagging. Reset both ESCs but one is still slightly behind (must be the motor,- slightly different wind) Reset the main ESC as well to get the sound to sync ( have to reset things if you change TXs) Took a while, but seems ok now. Only problem with the 6CH is, I'm a channel. short now for the fire monitor pivot, (using the 9x before)- can always siamese that to the water rudder servo if I need to.

    JB
    Liked by stevedownunder
  2. hermank
    Rear Admiral
    If it was no put onto the table you couldn’t notice that it was a model!!!
    What an beautifull piece of engeneering. If I was wearing a hat I would take it off! Really deserve a standing ovation for such a masterpiece!!
    Liked by jbkiwi

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jbkiwi #24 of 25 1

AMPHITRUCK at the beach.

Took the truck out for a run yesterday, but the water was a bit rough/surging to swim it,- didn't want to risk salt water getting in. Had a loose connection so the main ESC (has 3) acted bit jittery at times unfortunately, (hasn't run for about a year) vid 1

Seeing the videos on the media section seem to have disappeared, here's a link to it swimming previously. Vid 2

JB
Liked by EdW and davidm3 and
1 comment

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jbkiwi #25 of 25 1

AMPHITRUCK at the beach.

Thought I'd try the new camera for another vid. Estuary has changed shape completely now the sand's back after last years' storms, and is just right for the truck. Good sheltered spot for boating. The bubbles you see occasionally are from thermal activity in the area.

JB
Liked by DuncanP and stevedownunder and
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