The future of RC- H power

This isnt high speed related yet, but I wanted to post on this new upcoming technology for use in RC cars. Hydrogen power. Keith43221 built and tested a H-cell TT-01 and did a write up on his blog. This is what he has to say:

Got the car working this week after a long process getting everything needed for the car together. The car runs great, and I have been having a blast. The fuel cell bogs down if I gun the throttle, but other than it, its awesome! Slow accelerations and throttle management are key. After hard turns, the fuel cell will bog down, and I'll back off to give the cell a few second to get back up to speed, then I'm right back on the throttle. After coming in from my last run, which lasted 75 minutes, I decided to add 3 degrees of camber and some toe-out. Tomorrow I plan to test that out, and get some good video. Also tomorrow a bunch of Ferrari's are getting together across the street (awesome neighbors, lol) so I'm going throw the F450 body on it and see if I can fit in. Size doesn't matter right? And one more thing I plan on doing tomorrow is having my friend with a newly bought radar gun to come down and get some speeds off the car.
Feel free to ask questions, I'll write more as I think of it.

Nic Case's Test cars and Contest cars

Pic of Nic's cars with bodies for testing:

bodies for WFRCCC 2007:

Crazylarry2's TwinForce

These were done with two polyquest twenty 20c 3700 3s packs in series

Nic Case - first in the 1.3 second range @96.99mph

It happened Saturday August 18th, at the MHRA's points race in San Bernadino Ca. Nic is the first RC drag racer in the 1.3 second range. He has this to say:

Thank You

Sometimes, being lucky pays-off ! LOL

Thanks for all the gracious help from the Jim Schauer ---(RAINMAN-YOU-DA-MAN).

Mark Rollings was in the other lane. And I have to say---- I don't thing I would have squeezed the trigger like that if I wasn't racing against Mark. He had the jump on me, and it felt like I was playing catch-up. When I went though the lights first---I was happy, just to WIN. But the record ET, was a real surprise! Thank You Mark , for making this old guy focus! LOL

The names are obviously wrong on the slip, but ,what the heck,------- it was a rush!
Brushless power & Lipoy's are KING. I'm very happy with my Grand Motor Sports dragster.

A Big Thanks to all the Good People with the MHRA. You guy's made it a --- fun, smooth program ,with a friendly atmosphere.smile

Records are made to Broken--------Who’s Next?
Nic Case

Nic's set-up:

I ran a
GMS Dragster
Castle Creations Mamba Max 7700
On 4s Kokam 2400's
TM 2.95" Dia-- 1.95" wide tires
66 tooth spur
11 tooth pinion (32 pitch)

Video: tcolesen's HV Electric Savage Speed Run

Tcolesen posted some pics of his crazy fast electric Savage:

I attended the WFRCCC (I was the guy with the rock crawler, for those who saw it ), but I didn't bring anything. Now, I wish I had started on this project sooner so I could have challenged the guys in the MT class.

I had a Savage laying around for a good 8-10 months, collecting dust. The idea was that I would convert it to electric when I got the chance, so I did. Except this is a high-power electric! Here's what I did to the Savage:

-worked on the diffs, filled them with oil and set the mesh just about perfectly (very smooth, yet very strong), and installed the 4-spider gear setup with the HPI aluminum diff cups
-bought a Castle Creations HV-110 brushless airplane ESC (using a PiStix adapter for car use)
-bought a Feigao 540 12XL, and installed two Boca 5x11x5mm ceramic bearings
-hooked up and mounted 10s2p A123 (33v 4600mah, capable of 5HP peaks)
-made a completely custom center diff and motor mount
-rigged up a custom mechanical brake setup (Hyper 8 dual disks with HPI pads, custom linkages)
-custom mounted the steering and brake servos
-bought HPI Phaltline tires on wheels, belted the front tires with strapping tape, and reglued all of the tires (HPI can't glue worth a ****)
-installed HPI CVDs in the front

And here are the results:

Video: Nic Case's 116 mph 1/12 scale "streamliner"

Nic Case running a 1/12 "streamliner" at the WFRCCC at California speedway on July 28th 2007.

Coolest transmitter mod you will ever see:

Matt Shumaker made these awesome mods for his transmitter. He modified his transmitter to accept a 9db antenna to improve range. He also modded the steering wheel to increase the travel of the steering wheel without minimizing the steering endpoints on the car. This significantly reduces how twitchy an rc car can get at high speeds:

Here are pics of my modified DX3. It is running a 9DB gain antenna and (obviously) a new steering assembly. The reason for the antenna is range. I get 1500 feet uninterupted with the antenna. The big mod, though is the steering assembly. The story behind the assembly is an interesting one. Basically, I have my top speed car setup for normal daily driving, I.E. good handling and neutral steering. However, when setup that way, over 100 mph the steering is far too touchy. I have tried expo and I do not like dual rates. What I really wanted is farther steering wheel throw to give me finer control at speed, but still have full steering lock. This steering assembly a 3 to 1 reduction ratio. That gives me 3 times farther steering wheel travel, though still fully controllable. I love it! Oh, another reason I made the steering wheel assembly is simply because I can. It is nice to have my own CNC machine shop.

The assembly is comprised of carbon fiber, machined aluminum and a ball bearing supported titanium shaft. The steering wheel is a pink compound Jaco L4 rear wheel that is narrowed and trued down.

Anyway, I know this is not exactly a mod that everyone will want. But, I made it from scratch with materials I have on hand from my heli business. So, it cost me nothing and solves an odd top speed issue in an interesting way.

At this point, this transmitter is perfect for my particular needs.

Oh, it is more comfortable with the wheel in its current location. I love it!

Matt

Video: Nic Case and his theory on flight

Nic Case's explanation of his takeoff during his run:

Flight Explination

On this video it's kind of hard to see what happened.

******So, what happened---anyway ?*******

Let me describe the track conditions first.....

When we arrived at the track, the first thing we did was check the traction level of the track. At 7am, I would describe it as ~ about as slick as a slightly dirt garage floor. (That’s Slick). But that’s ok because the track manager was right on top of it. He was willing to sweep the track & put down as much "VHT" as RCCA would want. (VHT-[I don’t know what the acronym means] is track preparation fluid sprayed on the track--it is very sticky)

RCCA decided to sweep the track and lay down a 10' wide strip of VHT. A well thought out compromise.
This way if someone did not want to run on the VHT surface, they had that option---Cool---

RCCA set-up there timing equipment in the far lane (this created a lot of foot traffic on the track) Including myself...LOL

There was some wind, but it wasn't terrible......

The glare for the sun on the track, limited how far a driver could see the car--and as a result, quicker acceleration was needed.

+++++It all added up to a big challenge+++++

.......Back to what happed......
I got a fairly decent ramp up to speed. It felt like it just about ready to really launch right about where the timing tent was. I theorize that the tires hit a slick spot(probably created from all the foot traffic)---the tires stated to spin-----grabbed traction on the "other" side---tore the tire into shreds---immediately the car got sideways---caught air -----and, well, you can see the rest,,,LOL

This all happed very fast and is hard to see on this video.(TRCZ, The R/C Zone did a great job of the Live coverage) Perhaps there is another video out there?

Cheers
Nic Case

Info on Novak's 118 mph Xray sedan

This is from Charlie talking about Team Novak's high speed car:

BIG THANKS to the R/C Car Action Crew for putting this whole thing together. Had a great time again, and hope this stays a long time tradition.

If anyone has any specific questions about the stuff the Novak Camp Ran please let me know directly charlie@teamnovak.com, or tech@teamnovak.com.

Here's the basics though:
Xray T2 Sedan
(2) Max Amps 7.4V 4000 mah Packs
(1) Novak HV 4.5 ESC and Motor
Kimbrough 88 Spur
PRS 50 Pinion
This setup was good for a very easy 105 repeatedly.

Anyone could walk into a hobby shop and build themselves one of these and run it all day long with no major problems.

The Following Setup IS NOT RECOMMENDED
Same basic setup as above, simply with different packs. We used 1 2S, and 1 3S pack connected to the HV. This makes for 5S total. This setup was good for 108, 118, 108, 116 in that order. Each time the car could make 2 passes , but something would "happen" on the 3rd pass causing a crash, or airborne car. Again, this is NOT RECOMMENDED.

I had another car with even more "gear" on it, but we crashed that during shake down runs and damaged it beyond repair. This car had a specially modified ESC, but we never got a chance to "up the voltage".

Bob ran a Kyosho 777 buggy with a HV 4.5 pass 60mph, then we did some "not recommended" battery changes and were able to push pass 72 mph.

The Novak website will have a full write up on our setups and how the day went very soon.

Again, thank you Car Action for the great event. Congrats to all the class winners! See all of you next year!

Video: WFRCCC 07 - John Crook 67.3 mph & crash

Spectacular crash from the WFRCCC 2007 where John Crook's dual brushless E-Maxx hits a foam block which sends the truck straight in to the barrier. The transmission and a battery popped out.

Video: Tony's 3 engine monster. Speed run and crash

Tony Lovering did a great 88 mph run with his custom 3-engine Kyosho Evolva before crashing into the timekeeping tent at the WFRCCC 2007 due to the battery coming unplugged from the radio.

WFRCCC 2007 Results

Fastest Top Speed
Nic Case - 127.2 mph
Fastest Nitro Car
Tony Lovering - 88.0 mph

Fastest Monster Truck
David Cornell - 72.9 mph

Fastest Mini
Ken Davis - 59.2 mph

Fastest Bike
Lito Reyes - 87.3 mph
Fastest Manufacturer Team
Team Novak, driver Charlie Suangka - 118.7 mph
Fastest Independent Team
IMDRA Guys, driver Jim Schauer - 105.6 mph

Video: Nic Case's 127.2 mph run

Nic Case's 127.2 mph electrified nitro Shumacher Fusion.

More pics from WFRCCC 2007

Nic Case's 127.2 mph electrified nitro Shumacher Fusion. This is what Nic has to say about the event:

Good time
Great people

I had a blast! Conditions were diffidently challenging this year. The combination of wind, skechy traction & concrete walls made this event, --- live up to its own name. George Gonzalez was very brave, handling the official Radar duties. Somehow George was able to dodge all the RC bullets thrown at him....LOL (me included) .
AJ, (Tony Lovering)---AKA Ziggy, is a great guy. He wants to get a WFRCCC going in the UK next year --- & hold it on the same day as the one in the United States. (Brilliant!)

Thanks
Nic

BTW
The Fastest of my runs (127.2mph) was done with a Schumacher Fusion converted to electric power.

Charlie Suangka's Xray: Novak HV system, and the right gearing. The car was consistent and quick, with a best run of 118.7mph


After posting an 88mph run, Tony hopped off the retaing wall with transmitter in hand. This popped the battery cover off, spilling the cells in the process, leading to a runaway triple-engine car. It snuck under the rental car used to protect the timing tent, wiping out a couple of chairs in the process. It took three guys to shut it down--one per engine.

This is what Tony said about his experience at the competition:

It was all worth it!!

All the racers met at a local diner and had breakfast before heading to the track. The track was one lane of the california Speedway Drag Strip and had concrete wall all the way around. The track was slick and had zero grip! It was like running foams on wet tarmac.

I started my car and tried to tune it for the 30% Odonnel fuel and the 95 deg F temps. I had to lean the engines nearly 1 1/2 turns to get them to keep running.

I did a quick pass without the shell and a very short run up to the speed trap just to see if the engines would not flame out but all but one stopped before crossing the line at 48.2 mph.

It was hard to get track time as the electric cars were ready to go at a few seconds notice where i had to start all the engines and tune them up before running then back to the starter box after one had died.

Next run I tried to launch the car and keep the engines running. I did the same short run up and no shell. This time one engine stopped before the launch and the car did 68.7 mph croosing the line with no engines running.

I leaned the engines a full 3/4 turns and tried again. I extended the run up to around 200m and launched very steady. I managed full throttle at about 100m to go to the trap and got 88 mph. All 3 engines were still running so I managed to get the car back for another run. Right this is it!! A quick refuel and its a full run up at full throttle.

I jumped off the wall to fill the car and my knee caught the battery lead to the transmitter. The car took off and smashed into the wall loosing the front end. The car then took off up the drag strip crashing into the timekeepers chair and that was it.

Lessons learned.

The track conditions wer not good and I needed to have the option of running a smaller gear. I tried to go to fast and needed to get post a decent speed around 100 - 120 before gearing up.

The engines need to be changed for something with a lot more bottom end punch. Next plan is to:

Change the rear pulleys from 16/18 to 15/19.
Change the side pulleys from 19/14 to 18/15 to maintain 3% overdrive
Change the gearing to 15/49 45/19
Make and install 3 x alluminium clutch shoes
Install Novarossi 3 x 35 plus 21 engines. or maybe change out the R03 and the Sirio to RB Xenon Rs
Install a steering gyro

I also need a new shell as the blue one is toast!

I have pics and vids i'll post later

Cheers

Ken Davis' built this 1/12-bodied machine using an Associated RC18 as a base. It was the fastest mini at 59.2mph. Not fast enough to take Tony Phalen's '06 record, but Ken's car sure got airborne just like Tony's!

Brian Pohlman and his dad, John, wee back with two custom cars this year. Dad's electric car was fast, but he put it into the wall before it's true potential could be realized (best run, 65.1mph). Brian's gasser did 64.2, with a lot left on tap.
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