Driving R/C in the winter time?

[fisherman]

Is it bad to drive your rc in the winter time? Will it mess anything up?

 

[Mr T-Maxx]

Nah it won't hurt a thing. The engines are harder to get running, keep it in your house until your ready so that the engine is at least room temperature. Then use the normal caution required to keep your electronics dry (assuming you are gonna run in the snow).



Mr T

 

[fisherman]

O Ok i dont think i will have to worry about snow I'm in Alabama but yeah i gotcha. thanks
-Nick

 

[AC48]

If your engine won't start and it's very cold, just use a hair dryer to heat up the engine. This will make it easier to start.

 

[FRIDGE]

to add to ac48's post i will say a heat gun cwould work as well, also it will be faster IMO.

 

[Digital Liquid]

Or if you are not running near your house, you can put it on the floor of your car and put the heater on full blast on the feet setting. After a minute or two, she will be nice and warm and ready to run. Just make sure you take the r/c out of your car before you go trying to start it up.

 

[Benwahballz]

I know i would have to worry about this as there is tons of snow here in the winter.
Might have to take it out and see how it drives.

 

[fisherman]

Thanks for all those tips on what to do.greatly appricieated

 

[olds97_lss]

How cold does it get in Alabama in the winter? Anything above 40 is good weather to drive in. 40-60, you have to richen it up a bit, anything below 40 and you should block some of the air flow over the cooling head to help keep temps up a little. 60-90 is good with a little tuning change.

 

[Hypedonrc]

Or if you are not running near your house, you can put it on the floor of your car and put the heater on full blast on the feet setting. After a minute or two, she will be nice and warm and ready to run. Just make sure you take the r/c out of your car before you go trying to start it up.

That is what I do. Well, that or hold it in front of the 600,000 BTU kerosine heater for a few. I may run mostly inside in the winter, but it is still cold in there for the first couple of hours.

 

[ToRqUe]

Why do u have 2 block some of the air from hityting the cooling head ??? The cold air can cool these engines that fast ???

 

[olds97_lss]

Hell yes. It will go from 250 to 120 in about 30 seconds to a minute if you take the body off and drive it around. The heat sink is really efficient in the winter!

 

[Hypedonrc]

Because, if you lean it out to get to operating temp it won't have enogh oil to protect the engine.

 

[El Pirata]

Or if you are not running near your house, you can put it on the floor of your car and put the heater on full blast on the feet setting. After a minute or two, she will be nice and warm and ready to run. Just make sure you take the r/c out of your car before you go trying to start it up.

I was going to mention thefirst part but as far as the second part goes, why take it out before starting? A little oil on the floor mats never hurt anyone. One thing not mentioned before is caution about the plastic parts get brittle in the cooler temps and harmless crashes can mean more broken parts than warmer temps.

 

[PiErow]

How should you go about water proofing?

 

[Rolex]

Make note of what El Pirata said about parts getting brittle in the cold. My neighbor just started the LHS last November, and took a TMaxx for himself on the first order. The guy next door to the store got a nitro Rustler.
Well, it was a cold day, the nitro Rustler was sitting out there idling its' first break in tank, when it got hit by the TMaxx at full throttle. Two brand new cars almost exploded. Shattered pieces everywhere. It cost him $150 in parts plus the time to repair the two cars.
All the plastic that's ALMOST indestructible in the summer is a whole 'nuther story in the winter.

 

[mop_iko]

this is cool.. tells you MOST of the thing you need to prepare prior your SNOW RUN....

http://www.rccaraction.com/rc/articles/ht_snoproof.asp

and this....

http://rcvehicles.about.com/cs/rcvpitstop/ht/rcsnowtips.htm


luckily we dont have snow in shanghai... but it will gets really cold (to me at least) at 5 celcius.... and i dont have problem running my car on the temp range.... no need for me to pre-heat the engine with hair dryer and all. the only problem when running the car is you can't feel the radio/transmitter steering because you are wearing gloves.....

mop

 

[olds97_lss]

How should you go about water proofing?

Put the receiver, battery pack and servo's in balloons. After stretching a balloon over each part, put a dab of silicone in the mouth of the balloon and put a ziptie over the neck of the balloon where the dab is so that it makes it water tight.

Here's a pic of my homeade battery pack that has been ballooned and ziptied accordingly. I also cover the whole thing with electrical tape to help protect the balloon against getting a hole in it.

Here's a shot of one of my servo's with a balloon. It's been beat up some, but you get the general idea.

 

[FREEATLAST]

waterproofing

I saw (in another thread i think) that there is this stuff called "plast-e-dip" its what you use on pliers and stuff to rubbreize the grip(i belive you and pick it up at home depot or another home store). But anyway you can dip all but of corse the top in this stuff and wa-la water proof.
p.s I think it took like 3 dips to get thick enough.

 

[olds97_lss]

I tried that stuff and it cracked and peeled off after a few runs. I don't think I let it cure long enough in between coats. Nor did I clean the parts that were dipped with alchohol or anything to get rid of any oil residue.