New to the boards and RC

[itsbrad]

Hey all, I've been reading this site nonstop now for a cpl days. I'm new to the world of Nitro RC. Someone gave me a used HPI RS4 the first gen!!!!!! But anyways not that thats good or bad but It needed a few things, new pullstart, new rear belt, glow plug charger. Not that bad but I can't seem to get it to start. I've returned the carb back to fac setting. I connected the glow plug to the charger and it lights up orange but I think its the glow plug not letting it start, to me it looks like the last few coils are not lighting up at all plus its an deep orange color not bright orange or white like I've read it should be. I've tried all the tricks I've read on the site and I'm pretty conviced its the glow plug itself. So, I'm going to replace that and see what happens, but so far this site is the best site I've read about Nitro cars...

Ill get some pics sometime of my Saleen body, I'm patiently awaiting my 1970 Boss 302 Mustang body coming in the mail

Brad

 

[Nitroaddict]

brad - welcome to RCNT!!! Glad you like it, and hope it becomes your new home. If the plug seems dim, that can have a serious effect on starting, ecspecially if your needle settings arnt perfect. you should always have 2-3 plugs on hand anyways, so pick some up. for your car, the OS Max Plug A3 should be perfect. also, if u dont already have a rechargable glow ignitor, get one, they are cheap, about 15.00, and will allow the plug to glow much brighter than a an ignitor that uses a std battery will.

do a search for "engine wont start" and u will find a bunch of links about how to check for problems. i would link u to the good ones, but I'm not on the T1 connection right now, and dial up takes too long.

once again - welcome to RCNT!

 

[itsbrad]

I went and picked up some OC a-3s I believe, oh and BTW i do have a rechargable ignitor, but anyways I put the ignitor on the new glow plug and I must say its WAY brighter then the old one. So I installed it and gave it a go after a couple of pulls it ran for about minute or 2 then died. So I guess now its down to carb settings and getting those correct.

Brad

 

[highflyin]

good luck is it the single nedle carb?

 

[itsbrad]

Yeah its the single carb needle....

 

[highflyin]

i had tha problem just like that with mine.Make sure your idle screww is set high enough. Mine was to loww and it always stalled.

 

[Mugen-Racer]

Welcome aboard. Hope you get it going smoothly. I have faith in ya. Yep, just a matter of setting the carbs now. I think I have the 1st gen HPI upstairs somewhere. Been into this off-road kick right now.

 

[itsbrad]

Well I finally found the "g spot" now shes moaning and groaning her way on the streets! Took a little carb tweaking and the set idle screw adjustments and I got it. I just got done cleaning it and trimming the body a bit more with my dremel. Soon to come pictures!!!!!!

 

[Candyman]

Hope you enjoy it! I used to own a Gen1 Nitro RS4. Had the .15FE engine in it. All in all it's a pretty easy engine to get along with. It's not a real powerhouse. And the single needle carb does tend to limit it a bit. But it's really user friendly and once you get it tuned it will work well. And the chassis is nice. Reliable. Easy to work on. Gave me hours of fun. But of course now I have a Gen 2 shaft drive RS4-3...

 

[itsbrad]

What do you think are the benefits of the shaft driven over the belt driven? Pros and cons...

Yeah, it runs smooth I'm pretty happy with it since its my first RC car I'm not going all balls out. Now its time to modify since most RS4-2 parts are interchangable

 

[Mugen-Racer]

Well, one advantage of the shaft is that you don't have to worry about little pebbles. I broke so many belts with little pebbles getting stuck in the teeth and tearing the belts up...

 

[itsbrad]

Well thanks to this board I'm already wanting to hop it up I might buy a RS4-3 also

 

[Candyman]

Yeah, if you hang around here long enough, you find you start spending more money.
The big advantage is the shaft drive. Like you've already heard, it's impervious to damage from pebbles and stuff. And it's nearly maintenance-free. It's smooth and quick. I like it. It still came with the .15FE which is a bit of a dog. But it's still fun. I went 2-speed with a larger exhaust header and it's waking up a bit. May end up dropping in my ported and polished TRX .15 that I pulled from my Maxx to get it going a bit faster...

 

[Nitroaddict]

Originally posted by itsbrad
What do you think are the benefits of the shaft driven over the belt driven? Pros and cons...

I have been racing touring cars for awhile now, and currently own both shaft and belt driven vehicles.

As for the the notion that belt drives get eaten by rocks, pebbles, ect. - this is a complete farse, and a rumor that needs to be curbed. I have been for a long time, as well as many friends and co-racers, and none of them, nor myself has ever had a belt chewed by a pebble. this just doesn't happen on a track. Maybe in a dirty, rock strewn parking lot, but u shouldnt be driving there anyways.

As for the difference between the two - a belt drive will produce slightly greater acceleration, as well as an increase in handling under power. This is due both the decrease in friction with the belt system because of a lack of gearing in the diffs, as well as a linear power transfer at the diffs compared to the perpindicular setup among shaft drive.

Again, i drive both types of vehicles, and can attest that the feeling of the handling characteristics is great, however, a common basher wont really notice the difference. An expert and competent driver, can however, develop a faster lap time with a belt driven car.

do belts require more maintaince? yes. but it is still limited to replacement approx 2- 3 times per year, hardly an inconvience.

point is, that belt drives create a more linear power curve, increase on power steering, and increase lateral steering response, while shaft drive creates less maintance, and a more simple drivetrain layout