Its 50+mph fury makes even the most insatiable, power-hungry enthusiasts jump up and take notice. Spartan means business with its super-rigid, 36-inch deep-V hull, smooth, cable-drive efficiency, innovative water cooling system, and precision aluminum and stainless steel drive controls.
Just some more advice and tips from me. As I am one of those first timers gaining experience fast from some very old experienced model club members. I'm on my second boat. Here is what I found I needed tools wise and other very useful things I didn't realize I would need until I needed them. When pulling out the flex shaft, wipe off excess grease with a paper towel, then re apply marine grease. You don't need to rinse with water. Just less grease, it's why you apply more. When leaving a gap between the prop shaft and the hollow tube when tightening back the coupling, leave a 2mm gap with a washer in-between, the washer should move a millimeter. 2mm includes includes the washer and the 1mm gap you leave, for shrinkage when the shaft moves under load. This is what I do with my RC powerboats and it's fine. The hollow tube is what you pull the flex shaft out of. Usually there is a stuffing tube, a plastic straw like tube, inside that, and your flex shaft inside the stuffing tube. Applying a bit of grease aswell to the stuffing tube is always good. You don't need to apply maintenance every 3 hours of use. Every 2-3 runs is fine to re apply grease if you run in a freshwater lake. Saltwater or the sea, then maybe every 1 runs. Another recommendation from me is have 2 big 10mm spanners for the motor coupling, and flex shaft coupling. A magnetized 2.0mm, 2.5mm hex screwdriver, a 7.0mm wrench hex driver very important. Blue loctite medium strength metal to metal adhesive. When you first unbox your boat, tighten the metal hex screws that go into black plastic in case any are loose. Do not apply loctite to metal screws going into plastic. Take out the metal hex screws that go directly into metal, like the metal motor mount. Apply tiny amount blue loctite, put back in. Take out the little black grub screws in the motor coupler, apply blue loctite again. Put a tiny fraction of blue loctite on the screw, screw back into the motor mount. Done. Do the same for the small black grub screws that go into the metal nipple of the rudder. There are two. Again apply tiny amounts of blue loctite. The grub screws are extremely small. Just to re iterate, it's important to make sure the hex drivers are magnetized. It's highly recommended to always apply marine grease to the shaft on a brand new boat before very first run. The amount that it comes with is ok, but usually only a very fine layer or not much at all. It's super important to do this, otherwise you might have damaged and snapped flex shafts during or after a first or second run if you didn't apply grease out of the box. Another cheap but very practical piece of equipment to have is a servo tester. £8 on Amazon. Check your servo, that it is set properly with one of these. Sometimes RC boats come out of the factory with reversed setup. You want to test neutral position, and that forward and reverse are the correct way to the way they are on the transmitter. Find a little re sealable bag to protect your receiver from water in case the boat leaks in loads of water. Most ESC are already waterproof but the receivers really aren't. If the boat is not a self righting one, when it turns over, to help stop it from sinking, buy some waterproof foam noodles and place them in the bow or nose of the boat. It will help give the boat more buoyancy if it lands upside down and let's too much water in. Always buy a good battery charger. When not using the battery's, a good charger will let you balance and put the battery back to a storage voltage which is 3.8V each cell. In the box are one set of velcro sticky pads for the battery provided. If you buy extra batteries, you will need more velcro sticky pads. I also had to buy some deans connectors to XT60 connectors, not all batteries come with the same connectors and there is no regulated standard for this. Make sure your batteries will plug into the boat before first run. Another thing I found useful is a bind plug. This is with cheaper RC boats. But it will come in very useful just in case the receiver and transmitter were not bonded at the factory. The receiver have 3 spare pins where you plug in a bind plug. A battery voltage alarm and checker. You plug in black lead of the battery balance lead into the - minus or negative and it will count the cells and tell you the voltages of each cell, including the total voltage. You can set an alarm for 3.7V. I never run my batteries lower than that. This is for cheaper RC boats. More expensive ones already have telemetry sensors and alert you for battery voltage on the transmitter via lights or beeps.
2 trips out on the lake with the spartan now and your tips sound like the exact improvements I need to make. Better cooling capability and brass prop! Great video! 👍
Hey man I've got a red and blue one of these both with upgrades I've got water pumps in my too I also have 2 gasoline big buggers that I'm still breaking in
Wow great advice here! I only have a toy boat (just to see if I liked boats and wasn’t sure if the salt water would kill it) but I can relate to all points listed. I have green corrosion on the balance lead. So I will bag it as you mentioned! I killed one plastic prop. Thank you for explaining the gap between the dog and and shrinking flex shaft, I didn’t know this. I’ve almost killed my receiver twice with water. Yes very important to secure batteries with extra hacks. I also stuck some foam under the canopy as people lose them. Some people tape them down. Regular greasing of flex shaft very important. Flush cooling system with fresh clean water after use, then expel all water. And thanks for explaining the difference between deep V hull and catamaran. I’m loving boats more now the water and weather is warming up! Thanks!
Hello there, I recently bought this particular traxxas boat on eBay and I am new to RC. I have 2 5000mah 25c lipo 3s batteries. The guy says it is used but it is like brand new. When I went to plug in the batteries the one battery is ok.. the 2nd one pops? Does that mean that the batteries are bad or could the boat be damaged? Please any help would be so helpful.. thank you
Hello just a question my mate lives in Jersey and they are surrounded by salt water. If he bought this boat and did a really good after run care on it to avoid the corrosion would it work??
Talking about salt water I have a mate who has had a Spartan and used it for over 4 yrs now in salt water as he does very detailed afterun care everytime and it's still going strong
Thoughts on the upgraded shaft from Boat bitz? My factory shaft and collet keep slipping. Thinking just go bigger Great introduction video for spartan users
Great video! From Melbourne and just bought the pink Spartan! Love the advice on upgrades and will definitely get on to them. Is RCboat bitz still going?
Thanks Aaron, Mate with the new bash series being over 120C which is up there , you could run them in your boat , but anything around 60c or lower I would recommend you stay away, Only because the BASH series are designed for being in RC cars.
Thanks for the great review. I've got a dozen or so big scale boats. This will be my first racing boat. I think I'm going to get this one. Looks like a great boat and fun. Cheers.🇺🇲
Thanks for the video. I'm wondering if the Spartan is self righting? I'd hate for it to flip on the middle of a lake then have to go out there myself, 😆
The electrics are all water proof I do all my maintanace oil the bearings and greesed the shaft and I flush the system after every run but I don't use inox it hasent really needed it with stainless steel and the whole electronics system comes out in 1 piece
Bashing batteries are rated at 50c, boats require a higher discharge rate as the throttle is usually pinned 100% most of its running time which is approximately 5-8 minutes of run time. The Gens Ace lipos that Crazy Hobbies recommended are a higher discharge rate
Hey Mick, So just regarding the surfer its a brushed unit, so running a bashing lipo with it will be perfectly ok. Now just with the higher powered speed boats I would highly recommend the Original Gens Ace lipos for better Maintenance on your Batteries.
You talked about a brass prop. Then said it make it fast. With that then the pitch or diameter/ both were changed. This in stock systems can cause over heating if not payed attention to. Or your batteries may not be able to handle more of a load. These things need explained. You spent 5 mins on a intro with no information whats so ever and skipped the important things.
Your videos are well shot and has good information you just talk too damn much. You said guys like 400 times in that video we get it get to the point move on it almost makes your videos unwatchable. Look at other people's videos see how they do it right
Its 50+mph fury makes even the most insatiable, power-hungry enthusiasts jump up and take notice. Spartan means business with its super-rigid, 36-inch deep-V hull, smooth, cable-drive efficiency, innovative water cooling system, and precision aluminum and stainless steel drive controls.
500mah to 25000mah rc lipo we produce.
Just some more advice and tips from me. As I am one of those first timers gaining experience fast from some very old experienced model club members. I'm on my second boat. Here is what I found I needed tools wise and other very useful things I didn't realize I would need until I needed them.
When pulling out the flex shaft, wipe off excess grease with a paper towel, then re apply marine grease. You don't need to rinse with water. Just less grease, it's why you apply more.
When leaving a gap between the prop shaft and the hollow tube when tightening back the coupling, leave a 2mm gap with a washer in-between, the washer should move a millimeter.
2mm includes includes the washer and the 1mm gap you leave, for shrinkage when the shaft moves under load. This is what I do with my RC powerboats and it's fine.
The hollow tube is what you pull the flex shaft out of. Usually there is a stuffing tube, a plastic straw like tube, inside that, and your flex shaft inside the stuffing tube.
Applying a bit of grease aswell to the stuffing tube is always good. You don't need to apply maintenance every 3 hours of use. Every 2-3 runs is fine to re apply grease if you run in a freshwater lake. Saltwater or the sea, then maybe every 1 runs.
Another recommendation from me is have 2 big 10mm spanners for the motor coupling, and flex shaft coupling. A magnetized 2.0mm, 2.5mm hex screwdriver, a 7.0mm wrench hex driver very important. Blue loctite medium strength metal to metal adhesive.
When you first unbox your boat, tighten the metal hex screws that go into black plastic in case any are loose. Do not apply loctite to metal screws going into plastic. Take out the metal hex screws that go directly into metal, like the metal motor mount. Apply tiny amount blue loctite, put back in.
Take out the little black grub screws in the motor coupler, apply blue loctite again. Put a tiny fraction of blue loctite on the screw, screw back into the motor mount. Done.
Do the same for the small black grub screws that go into the metal nipple of the rudder. There are two. Again apply tiny amounts of blue loctite. The grub screws are extremely small. Just to re iterate, it's important to make sure the hex drivers are magnetized.
It's highly recommended to always apply marine grease to the shaft on a brand new boat before very first run. The amount that it comes with is ok, but usually only a very fine layer or not much at all.
It's super important to do this, otherwise you might have damaged and snapped flex shafts during or after a first or second run if you didn't apply grease out of the box.
Another cheap but very practical piece of equipment to have is a servo tester. £8 on Amazon. Check your servo, that it is set properly with one of these. Sometimes RC boats come out of the factory with reversed setup.
You want to test neutral position, and that forward and reverse are the correct way to the way they are on the transmitter. Find a little re sealable bag to protect your receiver from water in case the boat leaks in loads of water.
Most ESC are already waterproof but the receivers really aren't. If the boat is not a self righting one, when it turns over, to help stop it from sinking, buy some waterproof foam noodles and place them in the bow or nose of the boat.
It will help give the boat more buoyancy if it lands upside down and let's too much water in. Always buy a good battery charger. When not using the battery's, a good charger will let you balance and put the battery back to a storage voltage which is 3.8V each cell.
In the box are one set of velcro sticky pads for the battery provided. If you buy extra batteries, you will need more velcro sticky pads.
I also had to buy some deans connectors to XT60 connectors, not all batteries come with the same connectors and there is no regulated standard for this. Make sure your batteries will plug into the boat before first run.
Another thing I found useful is a bind plug. This is with cheaper RC boats. But it will come in very useful just in case the receiver and transmitter were not bonded at the factory. The receiver have 3 spare pins where you plug in a bind plug.
A battery voltage alarm and checker. You plug in black lead of the battery balance lead into the - minus or negative and it will count the cells and tell you the voltages of each cell, including the total voltage.
You can set an alarm for 3.7V. I never run my batteries lower than that. This is for cheaper RC boats. More expensive ones already have telemetry sensors and alert you for battery voltage on the transmitter via lights or beeps.
2 trips out on the lake with the spartan now and your tips sound like the exact improvements I need to make. Better cooling capability and brass prop! Great video! 👍
Hey man I've got a red and blue one of these both with upgrades I've got water pumps in my too I also have 2 gasoline big buggers that I'm still breaking in
Your bits of information are SO NECESSARY for a happy time with the boat. Thank you. Chris from Germany
Wow great advice here! I only have a toy boat (just to see if I liked boats and wasn’t sure if the salt water would kill it) but I can relate to all points listed. I have green corrosion on the balance lead. So I will bag it as you mentioned! I killed one plastic prop. Thank you for explaining the gap between the dog and and shrinking flex shaft, I didn’t know this. I’ve almost killed my receiver twice with water. Yes very important to secure batteries with extra hacks. I also stuck some foam under the canopy as people lose them. Some people tape them down. Regular greasing of flex shaft very important. Flush cooling system with fresh clean water after use, then expel all water.
And thanks for explaining the difference between deep V hull and catamaran.
I’m loving boats more now the water and weather is warming up! Thanks!
What if I have the first one ? I’m having problems finding batteries that fit
Hello there, I recently bought this particular traxxas boat on eBay and I am new to RC. I have 2 5000mah 25c lipo 3s batteries. The guy says it is used but it is like brand new. When I went to plug in the batteries the one battery is ok.. the 2nd one pops? Does that mean that the batteries are bad or could the boat be damaged? Please any help would be so helpful.. thank you
Can I use dielectric grease in the battery connectors?
Hello just a question my mate lives in Jersey and they are surrounded by salt water. If he bought this boat and did a really good after run care on it to avoid the corrosion would it work??
So you dont want to know i upgraded to a straight shaft bigger motor and esc as well for mu upgrades
hreat vid mate !! does the water come inside the hull if you do not use tape and only close it with the back clip ?
Talking about salt water I have a mate who has had a Spartan and used it for over 4 yrs now in salt water as he does very detailed afterun care everytime and it's still going strong
Where do u spray the inox? All over the parts inside?
Thoughts on the upgraded shaft from Boat bitz?
My factory shaft and collet keep slipping.
Thinking just go bigger
Great introduction video for spartan users
Cool boat. Very good video Oscar.
Great video! From Melbourne and just bought the pink Spartan! Love the advice on upgrades and will definitely get on to them. Is RCboat bitz still going?
Hi David, cheers , RC BOAT BITZ are still around.
Nice!!!
Love the vids.
How does this compare to the Sonicwake?
Oscar is mr WRX love your videos man very informative. I’ll pop into the shop soon to come see you 👌
Hey mate, As Larry would say on the Price is Right "Come-on down!" Leigh Bird is Mr.WRX , Im just a imitation : )
Hi mate, Always enjoy watching your vids. One question, can you explain why you don’t recommend bash series with 120c rating
Thanks Aaron, Mate with the new bash series being over 120C which is up there , you could run them in your boat , but anything around 60c or lower I would recommend you stay away, Only because the BASH series are designed for being in RC cars.
Damn I just bought a NIB PINK ONE by mistake....not! Pink is my favorite scheme and color on a Traxxas yet. it will be here in 48 hours and counting.
Can U go into trainer mode with 4s??
Dear Oscar you don't need anymore water great vedio 😄
Thank You Bimmy! VIP
You forgot to mention that the electronics come out in one piece
Thanks for the great review. I've got a dozen or so big scale boats. This will be my first racing boat. I think I'm going to get this one. Looks like a great boat and fun. Cheers.🇺🇲
Thanks for the video. I'm wondering if the Spartan is self righting? I'd hate for it to flip on the middle of a lake then have to go out there myself, 😆
It’s not
The electrics are all water proof I do all my maintanace oil the bearings and greesed the shaft and I flush the system after every run but I don't use inox it hasent really needed it with stainless steel and the whole electronics system comes out in 1 piece
You say don't use the bashing gens ace battery on boats but you use one in the RC surfer. I use it in my surfer and it's fine. Why not this?
Bashing batteries are rated at 50c, boats require a higher discharge rate as the throttle is usually pinned 100% most of its running time which is approximately 5-8 minutes of run time. The Gens Ace lipos that Crazy Hobbies recommended are a higher discharge rate
Hey Mick, So just regarding the surfer its a brushed unit, so running a bashing lipo with it will be perfectly ok. Now just with the higher powered speed boats I would highly recommend the Original Gens Ace lipos for better Maintenance on your Batteries.
This is SPARTA! Running video ??
we are rc lipo battery factory over ten years ,are you interested in testing sample
I have the pink boat as well
Can U put this on trainer mode when running on 4s??
Not a problem Dale, Yes you can
Just got this colour aswell
I've got a fibre glass Spartan now
I use cheaper battries and they work perfectly for half the cost
But they last a fourth of the time. It’s like buying a knock off iPhone
Mint.
You talked about a brass prop. Then said it make it fast. With that then the pitch or diameter/ both were changed. This in stock systems can cause over heating if not payed attention to. Or your batteries may not be able to handle more of a load. These things need explained. You spent 5 mins on a intro with no information whats so ever and skipped the important things.
The Traxxas battries are a bit of a rip off I recon they are way to expensive I recon
This boat is almost as sexy as u Oscar. 😉😁
Your killing me Benny : )))))
Your videos are well shot and has good information you just talk too damn much. You said guys like 400 times in that video we get it get to the point move on it almost makes your videos unwatchable. Look at other people's videos see how they do it right
You can select 2x speed in RUclips settings,
Just take note where the meaty bits are that you want to rewatch at normal speed’
Dude, get on with it. too much waffel and not enough information. Will "quickly" , and then take 20 min to explain it.