Dead Clod Buster

[mattsse]

Good Morning All, recently I found a deal on the net, two RC vehicles and a nice storage bin. One car is a large no name car made in Malaysia from radio shack and it works just fine.

The other vehicle is a Clod Buster, it is complete except it doesn't move at all, no steering, nothing. I haven't messed around with RC cars since I was a kid. I put in fresh batteries but no go. Is there any kind of troubleshooting doc or video I could go through to do some troubleshooting? I know how to use a multimeter and I'm fairly mechanically inclined so I should be able to follow along. I also downloaded anything I could find regarding the Clod Buster so I have the exploded view.

BTW - I paid $50 for everything. I will upload pics soon.

Thanks for any help!

Matt

[wolfdogstinkus]

Thats a quick drive clod, the ready built toy grade model. It has a PCB and not a proper radio gear set up.

Chances are the PCB is dead, best thing you can do is rip it out and fit an electronic speed control and a proper radio set up with receiver and transmitter.

If you click on my sig (the writing under my post is a clickable link) you will see my thread on the monster beetle which is the same set up, just a different body, it was my most fun car once I had upgraded it.

Oh and welcome to the club, it's very addictive here.

[mattsse]

Thats a quick drive clod, the ready built toy grade model. It has a PCB and not a proper radio gear set up.

Chances are the PCB is dead, best thing you can do is rip it out and fit an electronic speed control and a proper radio set up with receiver and transmitter.

If you click on my sig (the writing under my post is a clickable link) you will see my thread on the monster beetle which is the same set up, just a different body, it was my most fun car once I had upgraded it.

Oh and welcome to the club, it's very addictive here.

Well I can tell I have some reading to do since I don't know exactly what you're talking about. I was hoping not to spend much money since I'm not really into the hobby (yet )

Is there anyway I can be sure it's the PCB? How do I know it's not the on off switch? Or the radio? Or the crystal?

Is there any kind of troubleshooting I can do to verify?

I hope it was worth the money, since it is the quick drive model does that mean it doesn't have much value?

Thanks!

Matt

[wolfdogstinkus]

The quick drive models are not as desirable as the kit versions but that doesn't mean they are not as much fun, I am not sure about diagnosing exactly what the problem is, someone more knowledgeable will be along soon.

I had great fun with my monster beetle, and when I was done upgrading, it was as fast as the kit versions, it only has a 380 size motor whereas the kit versions have a 540 size motor but this means that the batterys last a long time.

If you do upgrade to a hobby grade radio set, this can be re-used with any car so it's not wasted money and if you do upgrade to a brushless motor, it really will fly, check out my youtube video.

This is the one you have

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/car.asp?id=424

and this is the kit version

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/car.asp?id=65

[Percymon]

Quick Drive (or QD as they are often listed) parts are available on ebay.

When you turn on the car is there any intial twitching of the steering servo - if not then the power isn't getting through from the battery pack, so its a case of checking the output of the battery pack, then at various points along the wiring to the circuit boards.

Your transmitter will have a circuit board inside it with a radio crystal soldered to it (metal square looking canister) - see ebay Item number: 160704979442 as an example. The crystal will have a frequency marked on it. Firstly check this matches with the similar crystal on the circuit board in the car - if not someone has mismatched controller with the car, so there will be no communication. If you can find out the frequency of the crystal in the car then you could try someone else 27Mhz handset with a corresponding crystal fitted so at least you'd be reasonably sure of communication being OK.

You can't get a manual from the Tamiya usa website, but there is an exploded diagram for the 46020 model. Got to www.tamiyausa.com , then select the Radio Control tab int he middle of the page, on its dropdown select 'parts support'. Then on the new left hand menu select exploded views and enter 46020 or scroll down the list til you find it.

Its a typical QD layout, it might help.

[wolfdogstinkus]

Good post Percymon, Sorry mattsse didn't mean to confuse you.

[mattsse]

Thanks all, absolutely nothing happens when I turn the truck on, so I'll get out my meter and start taking it apart. The crystal in the radio and truck say "5 band" so I assume they are matched? Someone actually labelled the radio "Clod Buster" so I think they should match. The other car I got in this deal is the radio shack Vexxor, I'm sure it's junk but the car says "5 band" on it as well, I assumed that the radio would work with the truck - I tried it but no go. I noticed that there is green corrosion on the battery contacts so I think it needs a good cleaning with contact cleaner.

Can anyone tell me what a truck like this is worth? If it's actually worth something working than I won't mind putting a few dollars into it.

Thanks again!

Matt

[lupogtiboy]

QD trucks are a good laff, got a few of them now, but the most modded one is my first, which is also a QD Clodbuster. Mine is currently fiteed with a modded ACOMS steering servo, ESC and a Grasshopper rear gearbox with a 540 motor. She flies!!

Mine wasn't working when i got it, so I removed the PCB, steering servo, and dremel'd most of the battery tray to fit a flat 9.6v battery. Originally, i fitted a TT-01 manual speed controller and an acoms radio set, which along with the battery got her moving again.

Link to one in my showroom ( but there are about 3 updates lol!)

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...4&sid=24472

[wolfdogstinkus]

QD trucks are a good laff,

They really are, my beetle was my most used car until it got stolen

Mine wasn't working when i got it, so I removed the PCB, steering servo,

Mine was also broken when I got it, I did the same, only I bought the small ezrun brushless kit and fitted the brushless motor and speed control

Also fitted bearings in the gearbox, and L.E.D's on the front light bar and a small red L.E.D on the backhttp://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...4&sid=24472

My bold

My bold

I had the radio kit all ready so that cost nothing, and the ezrun kit was around £40 but it was well worth it to get the car working again, I could have kept the original motor but I wanted more power, this conversion made it as fast as having a 540 motor but it may have been cheaper to do as lupogtiboy has done and fit a 540 motor because then it can be upgraded even more with a faster 540 motor.

Again my bold.

@lupogtiboy, does your clod pull wheelies on command now?

@Mattssee get it working again, you wont regret it, these really are fun trucks and almost indestructable , if you do have to spend out on radio gear you can always use it again with any car you may buy at a later date, you will buy another car, this is quite an addictive hobby

[lupogtiboy]

@wolfdogstinkus- to be honest, I've hardly used it since I converted it to 540-power, but from what I remember, it was QUICK! Pretty sure it can pull wheelies from a stand-still, but as I was using a manual speed controller, it got so hot it melted the battery terminals together! I have since swapped it for an ESC, but not been brave enough to take it out for a run. I may change the battery connector for a Deans-type, see if that helps.

It is well-worth getting it running again, they are immense fun. Even if you want to upgrade to the hop-up black QD motor that Tamiya say doesn't fit, it does if you swap the pinion gear over, and that makes quite a difference as its quite a torquey motor.

[mattsse]

Well thanks everyone for the great advice. I'm going to definitely take it apart and I will post my progress. I went to my local hobby shop today and was surprised by the vast amount of RC gear out there. Many companies I've never heard of: ie. Losi and horizon hobbies. Thanks for all the advice. I have lots of room here to play with these cars on so I could definitely make a nice track if I get into it.

[wolfdogstinkus]

Here's a video of my one racing with the kit version Midnight Pumpkin.

[mattsse]

FIXED!!!!!!

1 multimeter and about 10 mins lol.

Took it apart, I was measuring the voltage at the on off switch and the steering jerked. Hmmmm (I thought), played with the switch a few more times, found the sweet spot and was racing around the kitchen!

Now I'm going to blow it out with my compressor, clean the switch with some contact cleaner. Than with a little advice from you guys fit it with a battery pack.

Not a bad score a vexxor, clod buster QD and a storage bin for $50.

Thanks again!

Matt

[ChiefWBLEO]

I had a QD Clod and my brother had a QD Midnight Pumpkin. I want to do this as well and get them back running. How much would I have to spend, and can you tell me how you modified them in detail? Thanks!

[wolfdogstinkus]

I had a QD Clod and my brother had a QD Midnight Pumpkin. I want to do this as well and get them back running. How much would I have to spend, and can you tell me how you modified them in detail? Thanks!

Hi ChiefWBLEO, my build is in my sig, the writing under my post, any questions just ask in that thread and I will do my best to help.

[ChiefWBLEO]

Hi ChiefWBLEO, my build is in my sig, the writing under my post, any questions just ask in that thread and I will do my best to help.

Ok, will do, thanks a lot!