Your Unpopular RC opinions

[simalarion 2196]

Not quite sure if that unpopular here but RcMart these days I Sucks.

They fall extra hard because i used to be a big Fan. It started with them moving out off Ebay (with an amazing high customer rating) and then getting higher & higher shipping cost, they can not handle VOEC at all if you should fine a actuall good offer incl ship price. Their «offer» on e-mails makes me laugh, 5% off (they often have to high before prices) and a code you can use to Buy merch with their Brand name. Not checked them for months though.

[alvinlwh 5895]

24 minutes ago, Krustybus said:

Wow, that escalated quicker than a LiPo fire  

Did someone say fire? Chill out!

(I swear there is a 3S soft pack lipo in there and it is not on fire)

[alvinlwh 5895]

15 minutes ago, simalarion said:

Not quite sure if that unpopular here but RcMart these days I Sucks

I am not sure when was your last experience with them but I used to say they suck about a year ago. They seem to have improved with cheaper shipping and fast too instead of AT waiting for a week or two before sending.

However their form filling still sucks as they should not include postage or VAT on the CN22 although I make sure my total is below USD100 these days to avoid any problem.

[Kowalski86 3034]

 

58 minutes ago, one_hit said:

We are not “fanboys”. We’re just regular folks who know how to adapt to current, modern technology. If anything, the lipo naysayers are the fanboys because they are always the ones bringing up their hate of lipo. Like how the lipo topic got started in this thread. Started by somebody who hasn’t even tried lipo but thinks it’s useless. 

15 hours ago, moffman said:

 

My unpopular rc opinion is I've always said that this is a light hearted hobby and likewise forum and people do tend to take it to seriously nothing is that important and certain contributors need to lighten up! 

Obviously AAA batteries are better than either NiMH or LiPO, no chargers to worry about worry about, no fires, no plugs hanging out, and the only risk is that I might accidently eat one for lunch!

[Mrowka 495]

Oh, very well then....

1. Box art is best ignored.

2. Modern iterations of sponsor decals (because they didn't get the license to use trademarked logos) look silly, unless an obvious parody, e.g. "Slick 49 Brake Pads").

3. I've said it before, but I don't have the nostalgia bug.

[alvinlwh 5895]

1 minute ago, Mrowka said:

e.g. "Slick 49 Brake Pads"

Oh... Custom sticker idea!

[Kowalski86 3034]

2 minutes ago, Mrowka said:

1. Box art is best ignored.

+1 Box art doesn't show just how much effort is required to get a body that will look half as good as shown.

[OnTheTrail 1152]

28 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Oh... Custom sticker idea!

Sticker or decal?  Apparently there's a difference.  

[Mrowka 495]

24 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

+1 Box art doesn't show just how much effort is required to get a body that will look half as good as shown.

I just don't like most box art. As a little kid, I remember looking at some model car and thinking that it was a cool car, too bad the decals were so dumb looking. 

And then it dawned on me that I didn't have to use the decals.

[alvinlwh 5895]

7 minutes ago, OnTheTrail said:

Sticker or decal?  Apparently there's a difference.  

I REFUSE to tell my 7 yo her sticky things are called decals.

[Kpowell911 1899]

1 hour ago, Mrowka said:

 

3. I've said it before, but I don't have the nostalgia bug.

Im sorry, but youre on TC.  So you do

[alvinlwh 5895]

2 hours ago, one_hit said:

Okay I get it. I actually have a battery for those spur of the moment scenarios. 2S 3700mah LiFe. Bought in Feb 2015, always stored fully charged ready to go. Still going strong 8 years after. 

How did you get a LiFe? Think they are hard to get outside JP, or are you in JP? Are they ok to store fully charged? How well do they hold the full charge?

What I do with my 'ready to use lipos are to charge them to 4V (not the recommended level, I know) and leave them in the shed where it is cold. They are good to go for some short runs but not have the full punch of a fully charged lipo.

(From a supposingly lipo hater)

[Elbowloh 1128]

17 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

How did you get a LiFe? Think they are hard to get outside JP, or are you in JP? Are they ok to store fully charged? How well do they hold the full charge?

What I do with my 'ready to use lipos are to charge them to 4V (not the recommended level, I know) and leave them in the shed where it is cold. They are good to go for some short runs but not have the full punch of a fully charged lipo.

(From a supposingly lipo hater)

I've been looking. You can get them here in the UK, generally says they're for TXs, but don't see why you couldn't use it in a car if you get one the right size?

e.g.

https://www.nexusmodels.co.uk/spektrum-2200mah-3s-9-9v-smart-life-ecu-battery-pack-ic3-servo-connector-spmx22003slfrx.html

 

https://www.nexusmodels.co.uk/hacker-topfuel-life-battery-2s-3100mah-xt60-mtag-93100251.html

 

Or a little Tamiya one?

 

https://www.emodels.co.uk//tamiya-lf1100-6-6v-m-size-battery-55105.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAx6ugBhCcARIsAGNmMbjwgfnCUnfEtWU7Xb4YInbnSqVPaT2V36IDHLJixdkcAg8wmTK_srUaAubOEALw_wcB

 

[one_hit 1046]

8 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

How did you get a LiFe? Think they are hard to get outside JP, or are you in JP? Are they ok to store fully charged? How well do they hold the full charge?

What I do with my 'ready to use lipos are to charge them to 4V (not the recommended level, I know) and leave them in the shed where it is cold. They are good to go for some short runs but not have the full punch of a fully charged lipo.

(From a supposingly lipo hater)

I am in the Philippines. I bought the Tamiya 3700mah LF pack as well as a 1100mah LF pack from a local hobby shop. Aside from those I also have two other LiFe packs installed on my 4PK and 4PX so a total of four LiFe packs 8 to 9 years old all stored fully charged. According to my research it's okay for them to be stored full so that’s what I did. They hold voltage good and I don’t have to worry running them low because the Tamiya ESCs have the proper cutoff for LiFe. 

I don’t use the 1100mah LF pack on my SRB’s anymore, I prefer to use a shorty lipo for more speed and more run time. It now lives in my other transmitter

 

[alvinlwh 5895]

6 minutes ago, Elbowloh said:

Or a little Tamiya one?

 

https://www.emodels.co.uk//tamiya-lf1100-6-6v-m-size-battery-55105.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAx6ugBhCcARIsAGNmMbjwgfnCUnfEtWU7Xb4YInbnSqVPaT2V36IDHLJixdkcAg8wmTK_srUaAubOEALw_wcB

That price! Ouch!

[alvinlwh 5895]

4 minutes ago, one_hit said:

I am in the Philippines. I bought the Tamiya 3700mah LF pack as well as a 1100mah LF pack from a local hobby shop.

Ah, SEA. Next time I am in SG, I will have a dig around in the LHS there. Or maybe HK...

[Pylon80 2629]

14 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

How did you get a LiFe? Think they are hard to get outside JP, or are you in JP? Are they ok to store fully charged? How well do they hold the full charge?

What I do with my 'ready to use lipos are to charge them to 4V (not the recommended level, I know) and leave them in the shed where it is cold. They are good to go for some short runs but not have the full punch of a fully charged lipo.

(From a supposingly lipo hater)

Glad you came around on the lipo Alvin 👍👍👍 

The energy density is just so far ahead of older chemistry that this is the way to go.

And it's nice to be able to run for an hour and a half and when you come home, surprise, you are bang on the storage voltage.

The past couple of years my RC time has been limited so I do a lot of 20 min quick run. I pump in 800mah before going which, at 3amp charge rate takes about 15 min during which I check the car over and pack my things in the boot. Then I finish my run right at the storage voltage.

The lipo vs nimh debate reminds me of when numeric cameras came along. 

[alvinlwh 5895]

12 minutes ago, Pylon80 said:

Glad you came around on the lipo Alvin

I was never against lipos, persay. I just do not like it when some fanboys (maybe not you, don't take it personally, or do) just kept going on about them being safe and dismissing actual incidents caused by lithium batteries, and caused by something that is quite impossible to identify by us end users. Lay out the risks, let the user assess it and decide instead of saying nothing had ever happened to them personally, so it is safe. Also, I had personal experience of a lipo explosion and it wasn't pretty. 

And then there is another thing, I posted this when I started on TC; I had a friend that told me I should go kill myself (really!) or quit the hobby if I don't go lipo and brushless. Fact is, I was slow to go lipo because it is in fact illegal to get lipo shipped to me, generally. I managed to acquire some by arranging some complicated logistics, once I had to send the batteries 300 miles the wrong direction before it traveling 700+ miles to get to me.

(Anyway, enough of my story, time to get back to trolling and flaming)

[bRIBEGuy 3044]

1 minute ago, alvinlwh said:

(Anyway, enough of my story, time to get back to trolling and flaming)

LOL!  A truer descriptor for the use of the internet has never been written!

[Kowalski86 3034]

Some day someone will need to explain crawling to me.

I get the scale looks and off-roading, I have a hard time wrapping my head around terms like "trail truck", "comp rig", "scaler", then you have tiny tool boxes toilets for $20. I just call them "remote control Stompers".

Then you have the costs for something that wouldn't keep up with a decent toy grade RC on flat ground.

[alvinlwh 5895]

1 minute ago, Kowalski86 said:

Some day someone will need to explain crawling to me.

Crawling - done by someone who cannot drive a toy car at speed so they claim to do so at "scale" speed. Any faster is not true "enjoyment" of the hobby.

(I am actually building a crawler right now😁)

Until someone comes in and (try) to explain that speed does not increase directly with scale.

(Take cover!)

[danimaldaisy 70]

22 hours ago, OnTheTrail said:

.....and the only stickers that are precut, are the ones that 99% of us don't use!

The Re-re grasshopper has precut stickers and so does the sand viper.

[danimaldaisy 70]

19 hours ago, Pylon80 said:

In 1991 my buddy and I had Nikko's. His older brother had a Grasshopper, got it probably around 1986. It seemed so "pro level" and out of reach for us  His brother had left the house to attend university out of town and so we would go to his cupboard and sneak a peek at the Tamiya wonder. Attempting to run it on our own was of course strictly forbidden. I definitely want one some day! Maybe if it ever comes back in stock on PJ. But at 130$ on AMain, I just can't justify it.

The Candy Green grasshopper is on preorder from tower.  with super saver coupon its 78 Bucks and it even comes with motor and ESC. The only difference between the green and the original is the color of the shell and that's it.

[Pylon80 2629]

31 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

I was never against lipos, persay. I just do not like it when some fanboys (maybe not you, don't take it personally, or do) just kept going on about them being safe and dismissing actual incidents caused by lithium batteries, and caused by something that is quite impossible to identify by us end users. Lay out the risks, let the user assess it and decide instead of saying nothing had ever happened to them personally, so it is safe. Also, I had personal experience of a lipo explosion and it wasn't pretty. 

And then there is another thing, I posted this when I started on TC; I had a friend that told me I should go kill myself (really!) or quit the hobby if I don't go lipo and brushless. Fact is, I was slow to go lipo because it is in fact illegal to get lipo shipped to me, generally. I managed to acquire some by arranging some complicated logistics, once I had to send the batteries 300 miles the wrong direction before it traveling 700+ miles to get to me.

(Anyway, enough of my story, time to get back to trolling and flaming)

Your thought process and attitude towards safety makes a lot of sense 👌

I don't see lipo and brushless as going hand in hand necessarily. A 2S lipo, 23t brushed motor and 1080 ESC still offers performance on a budget in 2023, and the motor could be made in Japan if that matters to you. Likewise the silver cans still offer a tremendous amount of fun to the average Tamiya scale enthusiast. So I don't see brushless as 'the way to go' just yet. I do have a 17.5 on my rally car and sometimes think I didn't really need that luxury. The ugly little TT motor from the kit was just fine.

[Pylon80 2629]

5 minutes ago, danimaldaisy said:

The Candy Green grasshopper is on preorder from tower.  with super saver coupon its 78 Bucks and it even comes with motor and ESC. The only difference between the green and the original is the color of the shell and that's it.

That's a decent price and the color could be fixed with a few squirts of TS white

See? Now I want that GH. Told you forums are bad.