Red RC » Electric

November 20, 2006

Much More release Moore & Rheinard edition dischargers

Much More Andy Moore CTX-D2

You gotta love this stuff from Much More, no matter how boring a function they perform, in this case discharging, you just want to have it. The original version of this CTX-D2 discharger and cell matcher was cool enough looking in black but this Andy Moore limited edition version with purple anodising, black background LCD and special edition logo will send your work bench into bling overdrive (if blue is more your colour you can get the Marc Rheinard version). For those of you that actually care what it does before you buy it here are its main functions:

1. 6 single cells can be discharged.
2. Much more accurate discharging rate and voltage reading.
3. A heat sink is attached to resistors for stability.
4. High RPM dual ball bearing fans for cool operation.
5. Perfect protection system against reverse polarity.
6. 5 polarity guide posts to ensure battery pack is inserted correctly.
7. Provides perfect communications with new PC interface.

Should be available by the end of the year.

Source: Much More [much-more.co.kr]

November 13, 2006

ROAR bans LiPo cells in all RC classes?

Lipo Cells banned

At last weekends ROAR (US governing body) meeting it seems a rule was passed that outlawed the use of LiPo batteries in all R/C cars that run at ROAR sanctioned events. Although not stated, the reason was probably down to the safety issues with these batteries having been known to explode if not charged and handled properly. This is unfortunate as the benefits of LiPo are clear (weight, size, longer runtime) but i think this move was more a case of covering ROAR’s ass in the event of an injury brought on by an exploding LiPo. The move however seems a bit extreme as danger is present in all forms of RC racing, particularly burns and cuts and the mis-use or bad treatment of any power sources will always result in an injury.

The ruling however does not just affect Electric class racers but also gas racers who have installed LiPo cells to power their receiver. The judgment makes no differentiation between uses of the cells, but instead just bans their usage in all classes outright.

From the minutes of the meeting:
A proposal to outlaw Lithium Polymer batteries in all r/c vehicles was discussed. This item was adopted.

You can read the full minutes of the meeting here (PDF).

November 6, 2006

Orcan Extreme motor cooler

New from Orcan is this ‘extreme motor cooler’. Now anything with ‘extreme’ in the name, no matter how uninteresting the actual product is, is bound to draw ones attention and this one did just that (plus it looks cool in the picture). Apparently once fitted into your electric car, in little or no time it manages to not just cool your motor, but bring it down to ‘Winter in Finland’ levels of coolness and keep it there. I dont need to explain why thats a good thing. Available now for EUR 89.

Source: SMI [smi-motorsport.de]

October 23, 2006

TCS brings water cooling to Electric RC cars

TCS Water Cooling

English company TCS Cooling has developed this rather innovative water cooling system for electric rc cars. Using a small pump and front mounted radiator, pipes feed constantly cooled “non-conductive liquid”Â around the face of the electric motor keeping the temperature down, increasing performance and reducing damage.

The new Multi Patented TCS has been meticulously developed over the last 12 months to address the “Heat problem” and promises new levels of performance and reliability which can be fitted to your existing car.

More info after the jump… content

October 19, 2006

Much More battery heat sink II

Much More

I wouldn’t normally write about something as boring as a cooler for cells but this one is really nice. Made by Much More in Korea, it provides even heat dissipation for the batteries resulting in a balanced temperature throughout the pack when charged or discharged. It has six fans, 3 top and 3 bottom, is powered by 12V and is available in 3 anodised colours; Black, Blue and Purple.

Source: Much More [much-more.ko.kr]

October 17, 2006

Servo, Receiver and ESC; All-in-one

RC Addiction

Masaaki Hirosaka, father of multiple World Champion Masami and top RC mechanic, has this sweet product shown in the picture above listed on his website. The item in question is made by KO, one of Masami’s long time sponsors, and is a servo, receiver and speed controller all in one tiny package. This is perfect for the Xray M18, HPI RS4 micro as well as the Nanda NRX-18 shown in the picture. Fitting is that this product comes out of Japan, the home of miniaturisation. Available soon according to the site.

Source: Hirosaka.jp [hirosaka.jp]