Scratch-Built Hydro

[Rumdog]

What will you be powering her with? Very nice build by the way.

[tharmer]

I normally power my wife with a stiff gin and tonic.
-t

[FloatDaBoat]

What will you be powering her with? Very nice build by the way.

I'm planning on using the Leopard 4074 along with a SeaKing 180 ... still trying to convince the wife that's what I need to buy myself for Xmas. I'll buy from Steven when he gets them back in stock - - Hoping for an Early Christmas !!!

[FloatDaBoat]

I normally power my wife with a stiff gin and tonic.
-t

Lots O Luck !!!

My wife (nor I - - quit five years ago) drink booze . . . .

[BakedMopar]

Nice build bro. I like the attention to detail. I'm all about that clean look myself.

[FloatDaBoat]

Nice build bro. I like the attention to detail. I'm all about that clean look myself.

Thanks.

I try to remind myself that taking the extra time to do the best job feasible is well worth the wait. The fast/easy methods don't usually provide the desired results I'm looking for.

[FloatDaBoat]

Brackets

I've fabricated my strut & rudder brackets to the point that I can determine the bolt mounting patterns, which are required to establish where holes need to be drilled through the transom. I use 1/2” plywood as a template & drill guide to ensure precise location of all mounting holes required, including the transom backing plate that the blind nut-serts are attached to. Once I epoxy the backing plate inside the transom, the hull will be ready for installation of the fore & aft plywood cockpit decking pieces.


A pic . . . .

[FloatDaBoat]

Phase # ??

DaPics are titled . . . .

[FloatDaBoat]

Motor Ordered

Steven has the 4074 2200KV Leopard motors back-in-stock (in black instead of red, which I prefer anyway), so I ordered one tonight. Once it arrives, I'll be able to fabricate my motor mount to achieve an optimal fit. Too bad the SeaKing 180A ESCs are still zero balance - - could have killed two birds with one stone.

[FloatDaBoat]

Trial Motor Mount

Here's a pic of the Leopard motor installed in the mount I've just completed fabricating. I had to incorporate an eighth-inch thick aluminum plate in order for the thrust bearing to make contact with the coupler, otherwise, I'd have had to trim some length off the motor shaft. The plate & aluminum 90 degree angle junction will be reinforced with 3,000 psi epoxy.


The mount will be attached to the hull with fiberglass cloth, & I'll add a rear “Y” support for the motor once it's epoxied in place.


Take note that the wires exit from the top of the motor, rather than the side, on this version of the 4074 that Steven now has stocked.


Xmas came early, as I've also received a Sea King 180A ESC from Steven as well.

[FloatDaBoat]

Motor Bullets

My Leopard 4074 came equipped with 4mm bullet connectors. Since the LiPo packs I'll be using have 5.5mm bullets, I wanted to keep all connections uniform (& higher current carrying capable), so I installed 5.5mm bullets on the motor [the SeaKing 180A ESC came sans connectors & will get 5.5mm bullets later].


Since the 4mm bullets are soldered directly to the motor's stator windings, I didn't want to remove them & chance damaging the motor windings due to excessive heating caused by multiple soldering cycles.


I had both OSE & HK 5.5mm bullets on hand. While the OSE bullets will accommodate 8 gauge wire easily, they were too loose of a fit for the 4mm bullets to make a good mechanical connection. However, the HK bullets (having a smaller diameter for the wire attachment) were almost a perfect mechanical fit. The original bullets are a mite long, so I cut the excess length off with a razor saw.


I utilized a 140 watt soldering gun to do the Dirty Deed … Crank-Up the AC/DC (faster; less heat transfer to the motor windings), clamping two small alligator clips onto the 4mm motor bullets to act as heat sinks. The small pool of solder remaining on the new bullets (required between the solder tip & bullet to promote efficient heat transfer), may be easily trimmed away using a sharp utility blade before applying heat shrink tubing.


*** I prefer a lead bearing silver solder for all my electrical connections, as it flows much more freely than the lead-free types. ***


DaPics - - Preparation & Soldered:

[FloatDaBoat]

Installed my motor mount base & outer stuffing tube. The mount is reinforced with 4 oz. fiberglass cloth gussets. The outer stuffing tube was epoxied in place using nested brass tubing to ensure precise alignment with the prop shaft strut.


Been doing a bunch of wet finish sanding (an outside job) as weather permits … still have quite a bit to do with 2,000 grit paper to get the shine to 'Pop' . . . .


Pics:

[FloatDaBoat]

Rudder & Steering Servo

Mounted the prop strut & rudder on the transom to establish where the servo steering rod should exit from the hull. My initial guesstimate is marked on the masking tape in Pic #1; the actual point where I ended-up drilling was 2mm lower.
Pic #2 is the servo in it's mount, which was secured to the floor of the hull with fiberglass cloth & thinned-down (using denatured alcohol) 30 minute epoxy.

[j.m.]

Just a tip, try a lower ISO speed on the photos, you've got lots of light available.

[FloatDaBoat]

The servo pic was taken under heat lamps in my bathroom with no flash, ISO set to Auto. Paint Shop Pro wanted to adjust the brightness much higher, but I prefer this more toned-down look.