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Heng Long Tanks Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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  • Heng Long Tanks Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    This thread will house Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to Heng Long RC Tanks. Please post your general questions or tips and tricks, and they'll be added to this first post. For questions specific to specific tanks, please try to post those questions in that specific tanks' discussion thread.


    1) WHAT TO DO IMMEDIATELY AFTER UNBOXING
    "Two Minute Test Drive"


    The "two minute test drive" is shown in some of the videos, and in others it was edited out. The idea is fairly straightforward, as I cover in the voiceover portion of most of the tank videos. Essentially, you want to verify that everything works exactly as the tank arrives out of the box, before you start applying the decals, cosmetic plastic accessory parts, opening the bag of BBs, etc. This is covered in the manual, but here is the step by step in more detail:

    1) Unbox the tank and place it on the ground exactly as it arrives out of the box. Don't attach any accessories yet.
    2) Insert 6 AA batteries into the radio. 1.5V alkaline or NiMHs are fine.
    3) Locate the battery, it will have a storage charge on it that should be enough for a few minutes of easy driving.
    4) Insert the battery into the battery bay under the tank.
    5) Plug the battery into the tank's connector
    6) Turn the radio on
    7) Turn the tank on (there's an On/Off switch under the tank, or in the case of the Tiger 1, it's under the driver's hatch as seen in its Build Overview video)
    8) The tank's headlight will slowly flash. This tells you that the system is armed and ready to go.
    9) Press the "Lock" button on the far right of the radio. The tank will roar to life!
    10) Press the "S" smoke button to turn smoke on and off. Note that it may take a minute or so for the smoke to heat up.
    11) Press the "V" volume button several times and observe how each press makes the volume louder and louder, until it turns the sound off, then begins the cycle again. Select a volume you like.
    12) Press the "G" and "K" buttons at the same time to cycle through four different sound sets. Leave it at the sound set you like, the radio will remember this setting the next time you turn the tank on. You can reset it at any time.
    13) Press the "K" and "S" buttons at the same time as proscribed in the manual at the same time to cycle through the four levels of track recoil.
    14) Press the machine gun button and verify that the machine gun sound and LED fires.
    15) Hold down the machine gun button and press the shooting button at the same time to toggle the Airsoft firing sequence. You don't need to have an Airsoft BB loaded. Note, always point the barrel away, just in case there is still a BB in there from the factory testing.

    16) Drive the tank forward and back with the right stick forward and back, and turn right and left with the right stick left and right. Notice that all the controls are proportional, meaning that you can do them slowly or quickly. See how in our videos, I am able to coordinate both sticks with differing speeds of input. That kind of precise control will come with practice. For now, just move them in all directions to verify the tank drives and turns in all directions. See the manual for how to fine-tune the radio settings for acceleration curve, sensitivity, max speed setting, etc.

    17) Maneuver the turret with the left stick: Left and right traverse the turret left and right, and up and down elevate/depress the barrel up and down. Note, when you hear the "clack, clack, clack" sound, that means the turret or barrel has reached its endpoint. Cease giving it that control input.

    18) After a minute or two, power down the tank, remove the battery, and plug it in with the included charger. DO NOT run the tank more than 2 minutes. Assuming everything works, congrats, your tank is fully operational! Proceed to installing the cosmetic parts. By the time you've installed all of them, your battery should be fully charged, then you can go out and play for stringently.
    Click image for larger version  Name:	HLG6008-001b.jpg Views:	2 Size:	126.5 KB ID:	238396

    2) STOCK BATTERY

    The stock battery is a 2s 7.4v 1800mAh Li-Ion battery, comprised of two 18650 sized cylindrical cells, with a Tamiya connector. The stock charger can take up to 3 hours to fully charge the battery. The battery can also be charged with a standard computer charger on the appropriate Li-Ion setting. The stock battery arrives with a minimum charge. Do not overdischarge the battery, which may cause the PCB to reset or otherwise damage the cells.

    Replacement stock batteries are affordable and can be purchased here:


    3) BATTERY TESTING TIP
    Posted by RCJetDude: "Something else on the battery with it being Li-ion is it may just be "sleeping" so to speak and a brief NiMh charge on a charger can effectively "reset" it. I have successfully awakened Li Po's this way but Li-ions typically have electronic circuit boards built into them for protection that can make a battery respond differently on a checker."


    4) UPGRADE BATTERY

    RC tanks, trucks, cars, etc in this category include RTR (Ready to Run) batteries. I've had good experience with them, probably because I don't run them into the ground. That being said, we also recognize that part of the fun with RC Surface vehicles is upgrading and hop-ups above the stock factory equipment, so we also brought in a new 2s 7.4V Li-Ion battery using imported Sanyo NCR 18650 cells from Japan. These will fit in *ALL* Heng Long tanks (they're essentially the same dimension as the case-less 18650 battery in the T-90 and T-72).

    Compared to the stock battery, the upgrade battery not only nearly doubles the capacity (3500mAh vs 1800mAh), but they're also made of higher quality NCR cells from Japan.

    These are in stock now and ready to ship HERE.
    Click image for larger version  Name:	ADM6024-012 (1).jpg Views:	1 Size:	59.0 KB ID:	238521



    5) "When i charge my battery for my Heng Long tank the tank won't turn on what do i do?"

    Assuming you have the tank and transmitter turned on (the tanks lights should be blinking = tanks power is on and the transmitter should have the red LED lighted). To start the tank you have to press the "lock" symbol on the transmitter. If the tank sound does not start and you do not see the tank's lights turn to solid = not blinking then you most likely have an issue and should contact Customer Service at 224-633-9090 in the US or 31-30-8080557 in the EU.

    6) How to add LED "Barrel Flash"

    One of the benefits of the TK6.0 MFCB is that out of the box it has six unused LED ports. Port #1 flashes for a split second whenever the main gun is fired. Wiring an LED into the barrel's muzzle brake, therefore, provides a satisfying flash in sync with the cannon firing sound and the track recoil. Doing this bypasses the airsoft BB firing action, of course, but I have enough tanks with that function. The inner diameter of the tank barrel is just over 6mm or so. So, a 5mm Amber LED works well. Disassemble the turret, insert the LED's wires in through the muzzle of the barrel, feed the wires into the barrel, through the breech, and down into the hull, where you plug them into LED Port 1 (called "Launch Flashing Light" in the wiring diagram below), then clip and twist or solder together the Channel 6 wires (called "Trigger" in the wiring diagram below). This will enable the LED to flash instantly as soon as you fire the main cannon. There is now no delay --the firing sound, track recoil, and LED flash are all synchronized together. Reverse the process to reassemble the tank. You're done!
    Click image for larger version  Name:	image_48077.jpg Views:	55 Size:	85.9 KB ID:	238776




    7) WIRING DIAGRAM

    Here is a wiring diagram that applies to all TK6 tanks from Heng Long. A printed copy is included in the instruction manual of every Tank.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	HLG6021-001 -- Diagram.jpg Views:	0 Size:	120.7 KB ID:	238394
    8) COMPONENT LAYOUT

    Here are the major electronic components of your Heng Long TK6 tank.
    Click image for larger version  Name:	HLG6021-001 - 3 of 3.jpg Views:	0 Size:	92.4 KB ID:	238395

    Live Q&A every Tuesday and Friday at 9pm EST on my Twitch Livestream

    Live chat with me and other RC Nuts on my Discord

    Camp my Instagram @Alpha.Makes
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