54" Bonzi Fountain build

[ScarabChris]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzz..............

This build is taking to long.....................

Things are frozen up here and I need to boat vicariously through others.......

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz...... ................

LOL.....Damn dude give me a break. Just because its sunny and 70 degrees here doesn't mean all the parts I need are in a hugh RC boat stock room in my house.

I ran the boat with the z-drives and had they worked out the build would be about done, but now I am starting over.

[ScarabChris]

OK I tracked down some props, they came from DasBoata. What a prompt guy with answering emails. I should have them on Christmas Eve hopefully in time for a test run before we have to go to the family events.

These are stainless steel 6017/3

[ScarabChris]

Getting closer! Got the drives and rudder mounted as well as the motors. This rudder was part of a dual rudder set up I got from Top Secret boats. It looked sweet as a dual setup with the tie bar but these rudders are huge and I simply couldn't put both on this transom without it looking very cluttered so I separated them and used one in the center. I think it looks OK and will perform well.

I test ran the motors once I got the shafts and drives connected and they are super smooth and quiet. Full throttle and no vibration at all.

I still have to make the battery holders, mount the ESCs, RX and route wiring but I can do that after the test run. I have the above pictured props coming today, should be here around noon and I will be able to do a test run.

[Make-a-Wake]

Drives look great! One thing though.....................are you sure you have enough rudder blade in the water? Looks like you may have less than two inches below the bottom of the transom..................

[ScarabChris]

Got 2.25" exactly from the keel. This is a measurement I am familiar with from my gas boating days.

[forescott]

Keep an eye on the water flow with those dual inlet pick-ups. I use those on a couple of hulls and they don't flow the water too well. I definitly like the aluminum hardware better than the scale drives!

[befu]

Drives

Bummer about the Z-drives, those looked really good.

The surface drives also look great, but you do lose some of the scale appearance with the rudder. Still, this will be great to see run and get some performance ideas from. I still want to build a 54" scarab again someday, and this will give many people some good information.

do you need any vinyl cut? Also have a masking film I can run through the cutter, let me know.

PM'ing you with a question on the z-drives.

Brian

[ScarabChris]

Yeah baby!!!!

Did a test run...wow these motors scream. And what a cool sound, silent until you stomp on it.

I just did a run in my canal and I could barely get to 1/2 throttle before the boat was gone. And being at the end of the canal my only point of view was with the boat coming at me or going away from me. And with the boat going away from me all I could see is rooster tail.

I'm going to take it out on the real boat this weekend and get some video.

These props seem to work good, the shafts are so long I has to use a bushing so the nut would be tight.

This was only a quick run so no real temp reading yet. The motors, ESCs and batts were barely warm to the touch. I could see water coming out of the ESCs but not the motors, I think there needs to be more speed to force the water through the motor jacket.

I'm not done with the layout in here yet. I got a few cool ideas. Stay tuned.

[LarrysDrifter]

Keep an eye on the water flow with those dual inlet pick-ups. I use those on a couple of hulls and they don't flow the water too well. I definitly like the aluminum hardware better than the scale drives!

I ran 2 of the dual outlets in my EKOS-each line fed one part.I still could not see water coming out if the outlet.Nothing ever ran hot,but still never saw any water coming out.Ive seen guys make pickups from bent brass tubing cut flush with the floor of the hull.I think this will work much better.Dont want to see you burn up anything.

[blackcat26]

Those drives look great Chris! Is the rudder gonna be throwing some wash into those props in the turns? Looks close but hard to tell.

[Make-a-Wake]

Hi Chris, from what i can tell from the pics your motor cooling jacket has the exit line at the wrong end. For max. pressure and cooling you need to have the water inlet on the shaft end down low and the exit on the other end at the highest point. This will allow the water jacket to fill up and cool the entire motor. This could be the cause of very little exit flow.

Looks great!

[ScarabChris]

Just got back from the family Christmas festivities. Man did I eat and drink a lot.

Those drives look great Chris! Is the rudder gonna be throwing some wash into those props in the turns? Looks close but hard to tell.

Yes in turns the rudder throws air into whichever prop its pointing at. No real way around this unless I extend the rudder behind the props. Common issue with twin props and single center rudder. On a single prop you put the rudder to the right of the prop so in the usual clockwise running course the rudder is throwing air away from the prop.

But I'll tell you the boat turns very well, just not at low speed. No sharp turns at idle speed.

Hi Chris, from what i can tell from the pics your motor cooling jacket has the exit line at the wrong end. For max. pressure and cooling you need to have the water inlet on the shaft end down low and the exit on the other end at the highest point. This will allow the water jacket to fill up and cool the entire motor. This could be the cause of very little exit flow.

Looks great!

There is very little angle in the motors. The water enters on the bottom front of the motor and exits on the top rear. Water is going through because the lines were all full of water after the run.

I'll run it hard on Sunday and get a close look at whats coming out the outlet. Its tough to tell when the boat is heading toward me at 50 MPH.

[forescott]

These are the best water pick-ups you can buy IMO. I've used em all and this one flows the most water by far, and the little bit of drag created is not even measurable.

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...?prod=oct-ocsw

[ScarabChris]

OK......I finally got to open this boat up. It fly's! And when I say it fly's I mean just that. I can't get past 3/4 throttle or the entire boat gets air born. And I have it trimmed out pretty god. She is level and stable. Its just insanely fast.

Sorry no video, conditions would not allow it. I was out on the real boat by myself and the current was pushing me around so I had to drive the RC boat and maintain position on the real boat. And with the speed of the 54 Fountain there was no way I was going to attempt to video.

I was running it with just the 2 batteries and surprisingly I had a decent run time. Just to keep the boat in the water I put one of the extra batteries in the hull and it still wanted to fly. Its got to be 70+ MPH.

Another thing, I need to put the rudder behind the props, turning sucks unless you're going 30+ MPH. This rudder was part of a dual rudder. So I need to find out if they make the same dual rudder that is long enough to go behind the props, if not I'll have to make an extension.

I'm getting good water flow through all the lines, I can clearly see the two streams coming out each side. The motors and batteries were barely warm to the touch but the ESC's were a little hot. Surprising considering they are getting the most water flow.

I'm going to correct the steering and get a buddy to go with me to video this week. By then I'll have a GPS in there so we will know exactly how fast.

[forescott]

Awesome! It's a great feeling when you spend soo much time and money on a project and you get great results like this. Can't wait to see her run!!