Newbie questions

[Basherboy]

Hello all and happy new year. Im another 'mature' bloke who has re-found his old hobby however i seem to have forgotten everything!

I've re-started with a Twin Detonator and am very happy bashing it about the garden.I now want to ballrace it ( yup, disassembly time )but I've seen ballraces in packets of 20 and 24 - anybody know how many i need - looking to get them from stella for under £10.00 - is this a good idea as the ones from goldstar cost £18.00.

Anyone else with a TD have problems with the steering servo horn coming away from the servo - due to this i have lost piece B2 - anyone know how to make the fitting more secure or do i have to purchase the part again.

Great site and thanks in advance for your advice.

Anybody volunteering to be a tutor? lol[]

[fatboyslim]

Hi welcome to TC!!

I don't have a Twin Detonator but if you click the link on TC's homepage for Fusion Hobbies and send James an e-mail(he hasn't got a TD bearing kit listed) he'll be able to sort you out for a reasonable price!! I've used them quite a few times and his postage and customer service is outstanding!

[TWINSET]

Mature, yeah right []

If you still need B2 fella, drop me a mail with the envelope icon thingy above, and I'll post you one out, I should have one.

Have a good look at the screw you're using to hold the horn on, it could be the wrong one, I've done it plenty of times meself.

[jozza]

I can't remember offhand how many bearings the TD needs, but I would guess that it's more than 20 as you have 2 gearboxes to do. Take a look at the online manual and you should be able to count them up; I think it's 24 you will need. For the servo horn, I always use a 3mm machine screw instead of the Tamiya self tappers; I've had the saver come off the TD, Baja Champ and other cars with the self tap screws - since changing to machine screws I've never had one come out. They give a far better grip on the servo. You can get suitable screws from model shops, or www.jespares.com are a lot cheaper than model shops normally. I use M3 x 12mm or M3 x 10mm socket button head screws.

[TWINSET]

Lee - email me your address, I tried replying, but NTL bounced it for some reason

[Basherboy]

Thanks for the welcome guys and a special thanks to twinset,fatboyslim and jozza who between them have sorted out my problem.

Next question is should I buy an ESC when I dont intend to replace the motors just yet and is it worth buying a peak charger and 3000 batteries or would just more 1700 batteries do the job ( financial vs running time point of view.)

Thanks guys

Lee

[jozza]

I would always go for an ESC as they are more controllable than the mechanical ones, and you will find that they increase battery life too. However, they are pricey, and they aren't always as happy with wet conditions. I suggest that you stick with the kit mechanical speedo until you aren't happy with it any more, and then look out for an ESC. For the twin motored trucks like the TD you will need a mid range ESC, the cheapest ones won't cut the mustard. I use an Mtronics Sport RV11, which cost about £50 - not available any more, but there are quite a few ESC options around the £45 - £50 mark which would be okay for the Twin Det.

You can replace the Tamiya servo saver with a generic part. I use the Trickbits touring car servo saver for most of my cars, costs about £2.99 and works a treat. I normally carry a couple of spares too so I can make repairs if I lose one in the field.

Which sticks you use is really a matter of personal preference. 3000 sticks will give you a longer runtime, but will take longer to charge. I tend to just buy what's on offer at the time, I've got a handful of 3000 sticks, and a few 2400 Nicd ones too. I prefer NimH batteries, as you don't have to take such care with them as you do with Nicds, doesn't matter if you leave them semi charged, and you can partially charge them before going out and finish them off when you get there. Go for a good brand, I've got Sanyo and Orion packs and they perform better than the no-name ones. Sakura are a "no-name" brand which I've used before, and they are fine, but I couldn't vouch for others. I think a peak charger is a must, you don't need to spend a fortune on the computerised ones if you aren't racing, a basic model like the Propeak varipulse would do the job.

Apart from bearings, a "must have" upgrade for the Twin Det is oil shocks. Mine's got Carson ones, which are jolly nice aluminium jobs, and it improved the handling. Also, it means I can jump the truck without worrying about the suspension bottoming out all of the time.

[Mowerman]

sorry this is a bit later than the string but I only subscribed today!

TD requires 24 bearings if you want to do both gearboxes aswell - I know, I have 2!

20 T pinion is the largest you can fit without slotting the motor mount holes.

I run 23T motors to keep the torque up for climbing through a Mtronics ESC. Gives me 15mph on the flat.

The stock screw for the servo saver in the kit was not long enough - this is probably why you had problems. I had to source a longer one from my bits box.

Seems hard to find much info on the TD - but remeber the Dagger is the same truck with a different body.

[theshopkeeper]

Servo saver falls off Twin Det / Wild Dagger, all TL01 and all M03s if the instructions are followed and a 10mm screw used. Needs a 12mm - fixes the problem every time.

Think problem is due to the tops of some servos being slightly countersunk rather than cut flush across so the screw doesn't grip in the top 1 - 2 mm.

Neil

[Basherboy]

Many thanks guys - got 12mm screws from jespares.com ( thanks Jozza )

Just need the part I lost when the screw fell out lol.

Thanks again for all the help

Lee

[jozza]

You could always get a replacement servo saver from your local model shop - I use a Trickbits 1/10th touring car one which would fit the TD, costs about £3 and it's a bit more robust than the Tamiya ones, also the bits don't tend to fall off and get lost.

[system11]

I'm in the same boat as you - decided to revisit the hobby and ended up with a Twin Detonator! Bought it yesterday, it's now in running order (with ballrace and low friction alloy damper sets on), but I haven't run it yet aside from screaming across the kitchen and knocking the bin over. Shell is unpainted you see, so I don't want to cover it with grime before painting.

I got bitten by exactly the same issue described with the servo screw, other things I noticed with the kit is that due to the not-quite-rigid plastic it's very easy to overtighten screws, but seemingly with little damage - one to watch for.. Only other assembly issue was the speed controller wires really not wanting to follow their suggested cableruns, and a short power switch connector forcing reversal of the receiver.

Back to the original question, I got a 24 bearing set but was told that people have said it contains spares. I think some people have failed to replace the brass(?) solid bearings on one of the gears in the gearboxes, you do definitely need the 24.

I was asking the guy in Time Tunnel about higher speed motors and ESC kits, he said that ideally you need to be using one of the high end ESCs to cope with slightly 'special' motors, but you can get away with running a pair of 21s on the standard speed controller as long as you don't taxi it everywhere at low speed. Reading another thread, I'm wondering if the two 21 turn motors I bought (cheap) would be better replaced with a couple of Trinity 'Revenge Of Monster' motors.

Anyone know how the Monster motor would stack up against the Vega Volt 21t ones I have? I've not actually fitted those yet - one bit of advice I was given in the shop was to run the stock motors a few times first to let the gearbox wear in, before putting more power through it. He said I should actually run it without the bearings too, but I decided not to take that advice reading the manual and seeing just how much would need to be taken apart to put them in later ;-)

Final note - if you decide to go for the shocks upgrade too, the low friction set comes with some instructions - follow them to a point but look at the note in the TD manual, as the rubber rings go on in a different order, and the stock TD springs must be used. I put in some soft oil - was advised this is better for a rough terrain car as the suspension returns more quickly after a shock.

[jozza]

Ideally you should get special truck motors for the TD, as one of the motors will be going backwards all the time. I know someone who built one, put in a couple of Trinity Monsters, and the speed wasn't much improved, as the motors are designed to turn best in the forward direction.

The club faves are the Kyosho Magnetic Mayhems, you can buy these in pairs, 1 forward and 1 reverse. I run those in my TD and it is very much faster, even with the standard pinion. I'm going to try it with the 20 pinion to see how they cope with that next.

[TWINSET]

quote:

---

Originally posted by 2fast

Many thanks guys - got 12mm screws from jespares.com ( thanks Jozza )

Just need the part I lost when the screw fell out lol.

Thanks again for all the help

Lee

---

id="quote">id="quote">

Sorry, just found them!

Post tomorrow [:I]

[theshopkeeper]

quote:Originally posted by system11

He said I should actually run it without the bearings too

---

id="quote">id="quote">

[8)]Just in case anyone misinterprets this, I meant without ballracing it not with no bearings at all! More to test it than anything.

Pretty sure you'll find the Vegas get the sort of speed you're looking for, just a case of adjusting the timing as we talked about on the front motor.

Neil

[system11]

I found a good place for the receiver battery pack by the way The receiver block doesn't use much of that double sided sticky pad, use the other half to stick the pack sideways to the top of the chassis, between the two front bodyshell mounts. Then get a pair of long cable ties, and loop them through the lower chassis crossbars, do them up relatively tightly around the battery pack (with batteries installed), but so they can still be slid side to side. End result is that you can slide them across, put batteries in, then slide them back into place as an extra restraint. It looks ok, but of course adds a little weight to the front. Fitting them to the back would be much harder due to the radio mast!

After lots of googling and asking a forum member here (Coolhands), the first few coats of the iridescent paint are drying [8D]. I'm using a halogen garage light to hold it up against and judge whether the paint is going on evenly. It seems to do the trick, although it's like staring at the sun.

Do you sell alloy wheels that will fit the Twin Detonator (hopefully retaining the standard tyres)? Does anyone? The standard white looks a bit out of place against the colour I'm putting on! Also trying to find places that sell more generic decals, as orange against pink/gold is a bit of an eyesore too.

[theshopkeeper]

quote:Originally posted by system11

I found a good place for the receiver battery pack by the way

Do you sell alloy wheels that will fit the Twin Detonator (hopefully retaining the standard tyres)?

---

id="quote">id="quote">

Great idea on the battery, will be modifying our demo this way as it went out of control yesterday... these wheels are made in 3 colours - white ones, yellow ones and a sort of matt-silver, however if you spray the wheels with the polycarb paint although it's not very glossy it holds on the plastic (regular paint flakes when it flexes).

[jozza]

You can dye the white wheels, or paint them (I paint all my wheels using an Antique Gold enamel paint, you can get this in a silver colour too). To be successful with the paint, I make sure the wheel is primed and that I leave the paint to dry for a week prior to running it. After a years running the paint is still in one piece.

[Basherboy]

Many many thanks TWINSET - recieved the parts thos morning, ( I owe you a beer! ). Due to recieving so much help and advice I decided to subscibe to this fantastic site - good work - keep it up.