Radio Control Help

I HAVE STEERING BUT NO THROTTLE

You have plugged your ESC into the Battery or Bind socket by mistake. Please unplug it and plug it back into CH2. With a car you should have ESC in CH2, steering in CH1, and nothing in the other sockets.

SETTING UP THE TAMIYA TBLE02S ESC

This seems to be so easy to get it right yet so easy for many to get it totally wrong. Here's a help sheet which makes it nice and clear... click here.

CONNECTING TAMIYA AND MTRONIKS ESCS TO ACOMS, CARSON AND ETRONIX RADIOS

We have created a photographic guide, as it is easy to plug these in the wrong sockets. To view it click here. Please note that the photographs show a Tamiya ESC with a red battery lead - some units (the TBLE02S for example) do not include this - in these cases, do not plug anything into the BATT socket at all.

EASY GUIDE TO STARTING RELUCTANT FUEL CARS WITH PULL STARTS

Many fuel cars prove difficult to start, especially if they have not been run for a while. This guide helps fuel reach the engine and makes starting easier.

1: Fill tank with fresh fuel.
2: Remove air cleaner and glow plug.
3: With radio switched off, manually push throttle to fully open position.
4: If fitted, pump fuel until it reaches carb.
5: Cover air intake with thumb and continually pull the pull start until fuel starts to spit out of glow plug hole.
6: Remove thumb, turn car upside down and give 4 or 5 pulls to clear excess fuel.
7: Replace plug. Fit glow plug. Fit air cleaner. Power up all radio. Attempt to start car.
Car should now start easily. If the pull cord is excessively stiff, undo the glow plug by a quarter to half a turn and try to start again, car should fire and stall - then tighten plug and restart.

This procedure is necessary on many cars with narrow jets in the carb and narrow ports in the engine as they can become blocked with dry fuel deposits.

Keep your pull start good: Measure the length of the pull start. Never pull it further than three quarters of this length out from the engine - then it shouldn't break!

RESTORING THE PULL START ONE WAY BEARING TO WORKING ORDER

The one way bearing behind the pull start will over time become contaminated with fuel and stop working - the pull start then wont turn the engine. Often the bearing can't be restored, but we find the following can often get it working again:

Note this procedure is kill or cure. If the bearing isn't fixed by this, you've not really lost much as you wouldn't try this unless it had failed!

1: Remove bearing from engine and from pull start (this procedure is not suitable for bearings which are attached to the pull start and cannot be separated).
2: Place in a small dish.
3: Soak bearing in a degreaser fluid. You can choose - Gunk, brake cleaner, meths or even Petrol (regular, unleaded) will do but be very, very careful as all these fluids are both poisonous and flammable. Kids - ask Dad to help.
4: After around 15 minutes of soaking, agitate and where possible, turn the bearing on it's rollers (some you can, some you can't).
5: Remove from cleaner, allow to dry on paper.
6: Bearing then needs through lubrication. WD40 is effective - the bearing really needs to soak in the fluid for again around 15 minutes and then be wiped completely clean.
7: If it works, you've saved £££. If not, try the procedure again but as a final option do not lubricate - some bearings as they begin to fail will run OK when dry.

FAST CHARGE / DISCHARGE - IS IT GOOD FOR BATTERIES?

Unlike the recommendation for older Nicad batteries, NIMH cells perform better with fast charging, as it causes more agitation of the elements within the battery, which seems to result in more punch when discharged. The cells in our own packs are fast charge/fast discharge spec and should be fine for a long while on a fast charger (they have a 2 yr warranty on some of them). It may be wise (if you have the time) to occasionally trickle charge the battery until it is fully charged (usually you trickle for 1 hour per 100ma battery capacity, i.e. 1900 battery = 19 hrs etc) although this is not normally something you would worry about unless you're trying to maximise cell capacity.

The only really bad thing you can do to a Nimh race pack is overcharge it (battery so hot you can barely touch it) or lamp-discharge it (by putting it on a lamp pack to discharge every bit of power out of the cells) - there is a school of thought that this is good for the pack, but in reality it just drains the individual cells so far that the cells go out of balance, so is only really worth trying on the very expensive "matched cells" racing packs, and even then only if you're using them for top-flight racing.

I WANT TO MAKE MY TT01/TT02 GO FASTER ON THE CHEAP

Virtually any motor will fit the TT01 and TT02. If you want to race at club level you need to check the regulations of that club as some are quite strict on what you can and cannot use, but for thrashing around the streets go for something like a 19x2 or a 17x2, these start at around £15. If you wish to change nothing else though, choose the 53068 Sport Tune motor (around £20) as this will give you a significant speed increase with no need for bearings. With any other motor, you'll need to fit ball race bearings whatever upgrade you choose (Search "BEA TT" for a bearing pack).

I WANT TO SELL MY RC CAR - HOW WILL I GET THE BEST PRICE?

You would get the best price by advertising the car in the free ads in the back of a magazine such as Radio Race Car, but this would take a while as there is usually a couple of months lead time. For a quick sale, ebay is often useful if you're prepared to use it, but there is a risk that you won't get the sort of money you're looking for, as most people view e-bay as a place to buy things "on the cheap".

A dealer is unlikely to buy second hand models, unless at *very low* prices as he will have to make a profit when the car is sold on, and cover any repair work that's needed.

HOW LONG SHOULD I TRICKLE CHARGE MY BATTERY?

If you don't use the fast charge part of the charger you should charge any battery for 45 minutes for every 100 ma, assuming you are using an Powerjack 6-8 charger. So 1800 battery = 13.5 hrs, 2300 battery = 17hrs. We would not suggest slow charging any battery with more than 2500 capacity.

ANY TIPS ON CUTTING OUT CLEAR BODY SHELLS?

We find it works best to cut all the long straight cuts first with sharp scissors then do all the curves with a good pair of curved toenail scissors (or Tamiya Curved Scissors, see our tools section). When cut, give the wheel arches a very light sand to smooth in any nicks, but avoid using a knife as if you slip and score the body it will split at the score the first time the car touches anything. For drilling holes, either drill very carefully using a low speed electric/battery drill or use a "Reamer" tool.

DO YOU SHIP SPARES TO THE USA / AUSTRALIA / HONG KONG (ETC)?

Yes, simply choose Worldwide Spares for a low shipping cost. This rate is only for orders containing ONLY spare parts - if you add in a radio or a kit, you need to choose the higher priced option.

I HAVE A DEAD CHANNEL ON MY CARSON RADIO EQUIPMENT

These is a possibility that it is faulty, HOWEVER, there is an issue with the molding on the top plate of the new designs of Carson receivers which allow the servo/esc leads to be plugged in "upside-down" - it is worth therefore unplugging the lead on the dead channel and rotating it 180 degrees before plugging it back in. This may solve the problem.

SHOULD I GLUE MY TYRES ON A MONSTER TRUCK, AS THEY ARE SLIPPING

You can glue the tyres on, but just put four drops around each rim on each side so that there are sections which remain unglued otherwise you'll trap all the air inside and it won't absorb bumps as well.

MY PINION IS WEARING TO SHARP POINTS - IS THERE A HARDER METAL VERSION?

We tried steel and brass pinions but haven't been happy with them. We found the pinions lasted but the main gears kept breaking up - the alloy ones tend to last quite well and less harsh on the plastic gears but just need regular greasing - as they are at the end of the gearbox run and spinning faster than everything else all the grease is thrown off - if you pull the motor out after (say) every 10 batteries and put a big glob of grease on the pinion it'll last a lot longer.

DO YOU SELL BALLRACES INDIVIDUALLY?

Yes, they are around 50p to a pound each, for most sizes. Search "BEA BEARING".

QUICK UPGRADES FOR A TT01/2?

Suggest ballrace set then fit the upgrade spur gear, then perhaps go for the Alloy prop shaft to reduce vibration and oil shocks set to smooth out cornering - these should all be listed at the back of your kit manual under "Option Parts" and can be found on our 53000 listing on the parts site.

SPEED CONTROLLERS, TURNS? I'M LOST!

The turns is a (very) rough method of indicating power and current draw. Basically, it's the number of times a wire is passed around the magnetic core of the motor, and the lower the number (11 turns is pretty much as low as they get currently) the more current it draws, the higher the speed but conversely the lower the running time and the poorer the torque. A standard motor (at the reverse end of the scale) is a 27 turn - lower speed, low current draw, long run time, high torque.

Compatibility car wise, we don't recommend a motor lower than 17 turns in a shaft driven car (they tend to overheat the gears) but many get away with it. Belt driven cars are able to take a higher power motor with less risk of damage to the gearing.

When applied to speed controllers, please bear in mind that a worn standard motor (a notional 27 turn) or a standard motor used in extreme conditions (for example on an off road car negotiating a rough ground or long grass course) will draw more current. It it therefore wise to purchase a higher capacity Electronic Speed Controller (for example buy an ECO20 in place of an ECO27 if running an off-roader) so that the electronics within are not running at their limit. This will reduce the likelihood of cut-out or overheating.

TANK OR TRUCK KITS - MULTI FUNCTION UNIT PLUGS DONT FIT ACOMS, CARSON OR HITEC RECEIVERS?

The Tamiya plugs have a small lug on them which simply needs to be trimmed off to form a shaped corner as per the servos in order to fit the receiver. This does not affect the guarantee on the units involved.