waterproofed my t maxx

[Austin2048]

hey everyone. i waterproofed my t maxx today with a bunch of balloons and zip ties. here are some pics

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/7785/dscn4639.jpg
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9159/dscn4640.jpg
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2444/dscn4641a.jpg
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/1363/dscn4643.jpg

i took these about 10 minutes after riding my truck in the snow
in the pic the red balloon is the throttle and brake servo
the blue balloon is the steering servo
the green balloon is the reciever
the pink balloon is my fail safe
the yellow balloon is my battery box
and the orange balloon is my on/off switch

what do you guys think? t worked great when i was driving it. the balloons held up great against the powder. i wrapped my cooling head with a paper towel and my temps were nice and steady

 

[White_Snake]

Looks Good!
Great idea!

I have been using a Pepsi can cut in half to keep my engine temps in check.

 

[Austin2048]

that pepsi can sounds like a good idea. it wouldnt get wet either. when my paper towel gets wet it cools off my engine too much

this whole thing took me like 15 minutes to do and it cheap

 

[olds97_lss]

that pepsi can sounds like a good idea. it wouldnt get wet wet either. when my aper towel gets wet it cools off my engine too much

this whole thing took me like 5 minutes to do and it cheap

A hunk of rubber innertube works well too just ziptied or hoseclamped to the engine. Snow still hits the engine, but the rubber insulates it pretty good and helps it retain heat. Also keeps the wind from going through the head.

I used plasti-dip and little o-rings under my servo horns. That works pretty well too and isn't as easy to damage with sticks/rocks as balloons. I use balloons for my receiver and receiver pack though usually.

 

[Austin2048]

that looks like i good idea olds. i should do that with mine.

just made myself some spiked tires for my truck. they came out real nice. i just took the tires off the rim and poked a handful of self tapping screws through them. i can't wait to try em out tomorrow, we have a snow day so i can ride my truck all day long. they look sick. here is a pic

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/4036/dscn4647x.jpg

these should give me some great traction =]

 

[drdoom405]

Interesting idea there, but I see a couple problems.

1. Those are pretty long.
2. Are your tires glued?!
3. Now water is going to get into your tire foam.
4. I made the tire chains that were posted a couple days ago, and i've come to find out the maxx gets around in the snow pretty well by itself. I forget these things are 4wd

 

[Metalhead Matt]

The screw idea would be great with a little more patience and thought. A little silicone on the screws would seal the foams. 1/4" shorter screws in a v shaped pattern. Maybe right along the treads, every other tread. That things gonna handle horrible and not want to roll. Watch your temps. I think your on to a good idea Austin, but you need to elaborate on your idea a little more. Slowing down and thinking about what your doing before you end up stepping on your own toes would have saved you from your other recent problems as well. Keep at it; your ideas are good ones. Nice overall job with the waterproofing and the tires. Now let's see some refining.

 

[Austin2048]

i just had it out today and it handled great. i didnt want to use too many of my stepdads screws cuz he uses them a lot, i just put six in each tire. my truck handles a lot better in the snowy, icy streets better than it did yesterday without the screws. i didnt think the screws were that long. it rolls nicely on the clean pavement and concrete. i re glued my tires but i should put so silicone on the screw heads

i saw your tire chains drdoom405, they look great. i was thinkin of doin somethin like that but i couldnt find any small chain and i have no money to go out and buy some

 

[olds97_lss]

Personally, I just drill 4 holes in the center of the tires at 12,3,6,9 (like a clock). Then centrifugal force flings the water out when your running. I use a small drill bit in my dremel and light pressure to gently drill holes in the tires. Been doing this to all my tires for quite a few years to avoid keeping water in the tire when running in damp conditions.

 

[Austin2048]

i like that idea olds. i think ima do that.

i think somewhere my waterproofing failed. i was runnin my truck when all of a sudden my brake came on and stayed on. i thought it was my failsafe cuz the light was solid red which means a problem. i took it out of the balloon and it was a little wet. i took out my receiver and that was damp as well. i let it all dry out and i put it back together. when i turned it on my failsafe light was still solid red and my brake stayed on. took out the failsafe and still had the same problem. my steering works perfectly... looks like I'm upgrading to a 2.4 GHz system and waterproof servos and a hump pack battery sooner than i thought

 

[Metalhead Matt]

The stock receiver and battery boxes seal really well with a bead of blue rtv around the seems. Same with the servos, and use an o ring like olds said. You should shave down the horns a tad to keep them from binding on the o rings. Then use a dab of grease to finish them off. Grease on the o rings and horn screws.

 

[Austin2048]

The stock receiver and battery boxes seal really well with a bead of blue rtv around the seems. Same with the servos, and use an o ring like olds said. You should shave down the horns a tad to keep them from binding on the o rings. Then use a dab of grease to finish them off. Grease on the o rings and horn screws.

i found where i can get blue rtv. where can i find small o rings? and what kind of grease should i use? can you post some links please?

 

[olds97_lss]

I'd use sensor safe RTV, the hi-temp copper stuff we use for sealing carbs/engines would be fine. Or at least sensor safe. It's less toxic as it cures which is better for electronics. The non-sensor safe RTV releases an acidic gas as it cures, which is bad for electronics, or so I've read. It's also bad on unprotected metals like the insides of our little engines. Causes corrosion and oxidation.

This, along with some silicone shock seals should work fine:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXSF70&P=ML

These would probably work fine for what you need:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMKL6&P=7
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDLB4&P=7
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDLB6&P=7

Combined with that lube, it should seal pretty good and stay flexible when cold.

 

[Austin2048]

thanks Olds. you've helped me with a lot... cept for the problem with my Palm Treo >.> lol

 

[wedgedaddy]

so i went on the waterproofing wagon. and was at harbor freight,my candy store.and seen some liquid tape...in an aerosol can.so i bought it. has any one tried this for the servos etc.? thank you. brandon

 

[Nathan44]

Hey olds what kind of truck do you have posted up there???

I've never seen a truck with the shocks like that and a motor mounted on the left side. If its a T-MAXX with a new chassis and a whole lot of custom work that is bad ass!!!

 

[Metalhead Matt]

It's a Revo.

 

[Nathan44]

But its mostly custom right???

My neighbor has a revo but it looks nothing like that!

 

[Metalhead Matt]

Looks like a revo with rpm a arms to me. I'm more of a maxx guy, though. Olds would fill ya in on the mods.

 

[olds97_lss]

Hey olds what kind of truck do you have posted up there???

I've never seen a truck with the shocks like that and a motor mounted on the left side. If its a T-MAXX with a new chassis and a whole lot of custom work that is bad ass!!!

No, it's a revo. Was just posting it so you see what plasti-dip looks like. I had the servo cover off.

Nothing fancy at that point, just RPM arms and my own throttle linkage.

But its mostly custom right???

My neighbor has a revo but it looks nothing like that!

Just a normal ol' revo with RPM arms. I have the case cover off to show the plasti-dip on the servos, but it's fairly stock.