Are my batteries shot, Charger, Or both PROBOAT IMPULSE 31

[scd2747]

long story short I bought a proboat impulse 31 about 2 years ago from my local hobby shop. I had it into the water 1 Time and it would not seem to stear properly, go over 5-10 mph, and will actually lose signal right in front of me. I was running 2 (2 cell lipos). I put the boat away just returned from over seas and now have my mind set on getting this thing back up to par ASAP. Im new to the whole Rc world so i apologize for any half informed or stupid questions.

so here is the list of problems currently delaying this boat making it into the water.

1.Dog chewed up antenna portion of the Radio control while i was gone. Can this be repaired or will it need to be replaced? any ghood suggestions on low decent possible replacements.

2. This boat has never functioned properly and i have a feeling it was bad out of the box. Should I upgrade this boat,and just junk all these stock parts. Im looking for a Bad ass setup.

3. when I attempt to charge my lipos (venom 2 cell 5000 mah,it literally will st on the charger for the entire 120 mins and then go up to 700 mah or so. Are these batterys bad, or is this charger junk.

Thanks I dont know what im doing wrong but im dying to get this right.

Thanks guys

[kendt]

No such thing as dumb questions. better to ask than throw away good money for nothing. If you mean the plastic antena on your transmitter? Not sure if it can be replaced but try it out it may still work if its not totally gone.
If you want a bad ass set up your better off with something else. Its worth it to try and get yours sorted out for experience and possible a few dollars toward a new one.
Not sure what is going on with the impulse, perhaps someone who has owned one will jump in.
As for the batteries its hard to say but your charger may not be on the right settings.Do you have a manual for it?

[J.W. Pepper]

No such thing as dumb questions. better to ask than throw away good money for nothing. If you mean the plastic antena on your transmitter? Not sure if it can be replaced but try it out it may still work if its not totally gone.
If you want a bad ass set up your better off with something else. Its worth it to try and get yours sorted out for experience and possible a few dollars toward a new one.
Not sure what is going on with the impulse, perhaps someone who has owned one will jump in.
As for the batteries its hard to say but your charger may not be on the right settings.Do you have a manual for it?

I have one (V1), there's several threads on this forum regarding the IM-31's, based on my observations & the comments made by others, it seems a bad batch of them ended up leaving the factory. The issues I had were minor compared to what others have experienced / reported.

Other than some minor factory defects, there's absolutely nothing wrong with these boats!! You want a bad ass boat?? Invest about a buck & half in 'er and your dreams will be true.

What I've done to mine...
Sold stock ESC & replaced with Seaking 120A, sold stock radio, replaced with Tactic TTX-240 (under $10 total for electronics). Stock ESC requires propreitary program box ($20), Seaking uses the same one as my trucks - free, already had it.

Rreplaced stock flexshaft... http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...able-impulse31 - far superior to stock - well worth the $25.

Motor coupler... http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...ct-ocfhe5mm15S - I've nothing but bad luck with set screw couplers - this one is well worth the $10

Trim tabs... http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...d=ros-spdt-150 - bolt on replacement for stockers, not required per-se, but makes fine tuning far easier.

My rudder had burr's around the water P/U hole, I'm following these instructions... http://manuals.hobbico.com/aqu/aqub24-25-tech.pdf - to address that issue, cost?? Free if you have a set of jewelers files. The rest of the hardware (motor mount & transom) is fine for a starter / fun FE boat.

I'm replacing the stock cooling lines with this stuff... http://www.funrcboats.com/ProductInf...tid=LARGEWATER - 1/8" I.D, slightly larger than stock 3/32" and far more pliable, I already had a couple / three feet in my parts box, Steve sells this stuff... http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...ng-1%2F4-clear.

Have product questions?? Fire Steve an e-mail, knowledgeable, helpful, usually replies within 24hrs and ships quick.

LiPo's, you said you were oversea's for a couple years. All batteries loose they're charge over time, even if there just sitting in the closet. After 2-years of non-use, good chance yours went below the LiPo 3v/cell minimum, if true, they're probably toast. Charger... you didn't mention brand, no comment.

Welcome home and good luck.

[Skullcracken]

You're woes are definitely the stock esc. Mine did the same. Definitely dump the stock esc. I started off replacing just the ESC with a Seaking 120 and ran stock motor on 4s. A little slow because the stock motor is 1800kv i believe. I then tried the stock motor on 5s and ran around 45mph. 5s worked but really pushed that setup. I then upgraded to a 4074 2200kv and went back to 4s, but did two 4s lipo's parallel. The heavier weight of the lipos seemed to keep it in the water better. Good 50+ mph setup. Thats a start, then to fine tune things you don't need to read anymore than J.W.'s post above.

[J.W. Pepper]

You're woes are definitely the stock esc. Mine did the same. Definitely dump the stock esc. I started off replacing just the ESC with a Seaking 120 and ran stock motor on 4s. A little slow because the stock motor is 1800kv i believe. I then tried the stock motor on 5s and ran around 45mph. 5s worked but really pushed that setup. I then upgraded to a 4074 2200kv and went back to 4s, but did two 4s lipo's parallel. The heavier weight of the lipos seemed to keep it in the water better. Good 50+ mph setup. Thats a start, then to fine tune things you don't need to read anymore than J.W.'s post above.

You're right, the stock motor is 1800Kv, what about replacing it with the 2030Kv from AQ UL-1?? Stock motor on 4S = 26,640 rpm's - AQ on 4S = 30,044 rpm's.