Brutal conditions seen on YT for HL tanks

[dai phan]

Hi all,

I see some pretty brutal conditions on YT the HL tanks were put through. Deep sand. mud , water half sumerged, tall bushes, grass, rocks... Are these footages for one time show or the HL are built to handle these conditions (even water proofing the electronics) ? Dai

[karltrek]

The Heng Long tanks in stock form cannot be run in mud or water. You will destroy the electronics. I have seen those YouTube videos. Most if not all have the full metal lower hulls and must be using sealed bearing on the main drive shaft. And the main system board has to be waterproofed somehow. I think you could easily do this by putting the main board in a zip lock bag and sealing the wire exit with silicon. Make sure there is enough extra area in the bag so that the heat generated can have somewhere to go. Water will not hurt the brushed motors.

[dai phan]

The Heng Long tanks in stock form cannot be run in mud or water. You will destroy the electronics. I have seen those YouTube videos. Most if not all have the full metal lower hulls and must be using sealed bearing on the main drive shaft. And the main system board has to be waterproofed somehow. I think you could easily do this by putting the main board in a zip lock bag and sealing the wire exit with silicon. Make sure there is enough extra area in the bag so that the heat generated can have somewhere to go. Water will not hurt the brushed motors.

I am not going to put my tanks through this. Does not turn me on. I just run outside on concrete and manicured glass. What I saw on YT is a fast way to ruin a tank don't you think? Dai

[karltrek]

I am not going to put my tanks through this. Does not turn me on. I just run outside on concrete and manicured glass. What I saw on YT is a fast way to ruin a tank don't you think? Dai

I run my tanks pretty hard. Mostly on packed dirt and asphalt. They get pretty dusty but its super fun. I use my air compressor to blow them off when I am done. No way will I run them in wet conditions.

[Sappo]

Run my Abrams in almost any terrain, mud and water included. All I did for the mfu was to coat it with nail varnish several layers of it. And after every run I give the tank a good clean

[Rubicon99]

Hi all,

I see some pretty brutal conditions on YT the HL tanks were put through. Deep sand. mud , water half sumerged, tall bushes, grass, rocks... Are these footages for one time show or the HL are built to handle these conditions (even water proofing the electronics) ? Dai

Honestly what you are seeing is not really hard and looks worst then it actually is. I am known for abusing the hell out of tanks and can say first hand the HL tanks can take a lot. The issues for most folks is not understanding the maintenance and clean up that must follow the abusive driving.

Tanks do very well fine silty sand/dirt or thin light weight mud, but not so well in gritting sand/dirt or thick heavy mud. I highly recommend staying away from thick mud it is just asking to break or bend things. Grass and rocks have their issues too but with careful driving can be conquered with relatively ease and without breaking things.

Point is don’t be afraid to try new and challenging terrain types. Not all your tanks will perform equally well and some will down right fail to perform. You will learn which tanks do best and where and which do not and where. Half the fun of driving R/C tanks is learning the nuances of each tank’s performance envelope.

[dai phan]

Honestly what you are seeing is not really hard and looks worst then it actually is. I am known for abusing the hell out of tanks and can say first hand the HL tanks can take a lot. The issues for most folks is not understanding the maintenance and clean up that must follow the abusive driving.

Tanks do very well fine silty sand/dirt or thin light weight mud, but not so well in gritting sand/dirt or thick heavy mud. I highly recommend staying away from thick mud it is just asking to break or bend things. Grass and rocks have their issues too but with careful driving can be conquered with relatively ease and without breaking things.

Point is don’t be afraid to try new and challenging terrain types. Not all your tanks will perform equally well and some will down right fail to perform. You will learn which tanks do best and where and which do not and where. Half the fun of driving R/C tanks is learning the nuances of each tank’s performance envelope.

Do you find yourself havinng tons of fun playing alone? This tank R/C thing is rather by accident as I was trying to buy a Sherman for my 1/16 landing craft. I then saw YT videos and thought it would be cool to get myself into. I have the urge to buy and try different tanks but when you are by yourself it can get bored pretty quickly. Maybe I should run it outside rather than moping circler 8s over and over and over on living room carpet. Dai

[windmill]

The issues for most folks is not understanding the maintenance and clean up that must follow the abusive driving.

Kinda like the real ones that require days of maintenance for hours of use. Most of my memories are of fueling, walking tracks, cleaning air filters, scrubbing the bore, dropping the breach block, and the wash rack.

[Rubicon99]

Do you find yourself havinng tons of fun playing alone? This tank R/C thing is rather by accident as I was trying to buy a Sherman for my 1/16 landing craft. I then saw YT videos and thought it would be cool to get myself into. I have the urge to buy and try different tanks but when you are by yourself it can get bored pretty quickly. Maybe I should run it outside rather than moping circler 8s over and over and over on living room carpet. Dai

I have always used mine largely outside and looked for more and more difficult terrain to drive over and through all the while making improvements and tweaks to the tanks to gain every little bit extra in performance out of them. Aside from building and detailing, for me the experimenting with suspensions, springs rates, road wheels, idler set ups, gearboxes, motors, higher voltage, balancing, track types and IR battle systems has and is part of the enjoyment with or without others around. I learned a lot over the years and now have a fair understanding of what can and cannot be achieved with a HL tank in regards to reliability, durability and high top end speeds to name just a few things.

I now try to use that information to help guide others and hopefully save them from the dead ends and frustrations I encountered over the years. Sometimes folks listen sometimes they don’t.....either is fine. Today tanks for me are simple, but years ago, not so much. There was and for the most part still is a lack of “how to” information on HL WWII tanks and even less on the modern tanks.

Tanks are niche hobby and finding the “fun” in them is different for everyone. Simply put, some focus mostly on the r/c aspect and don’t care how the tank looks, some the realistic modeling/historic aspect and some a mix of both(I am a mix). Getting along can be difficult as two of these see the hobby very different from one another. So finding a group that fits you can be made even harder at times.

[dai phan]

I have always used mine largely outside and looked for more and more difficult terrain to drive over and through all the while making improvements and tweaks to the tanks to gain every little bit extra in performance out of them. Aside from building and detailing, for me the experimenting with suspensions, springs rates, road wheels, idler set ups, gearboxes, motors, higher voltage, balancing, track types and IR battle systems has and is part of the enjoyment with or without others around. I learned a lot over the years and now have a fair understanding of what can and cannot be achieved with a HL tank in regards to reliability, durability and high top end speeds to name just a few things.

I now try to use that information to help guide others and hopefully save them from the dead ends and frustrations I encountered over the years. Sometimes folks listen sometimes they don’t.....either is fine. Today tanks for me are simple, but years ago, not so much. There was and for the most part still is a lack of “how to” information on HL WWII tanks and even less on the modern tanks.

Tanks are niche hobby and finding the “fun” in them is different for everyone. Simply put, some focus mostly on the r/c aspect and don’t care how the tank looks, some the realistic modeling/historic aspect and some a mix of both(I am mix). Getting along can be difficult as two of these see the hobby very different from one another. So finding a group that fits you can be made even harder at times.

I am going on FB and see if anyone in my area is interested. Of course whenI host, my guests are like VIP so endless beers and ribs all day long. Any chance you may swing by Columbia SC? Dai

[JLaw157]

I was not invited but my M1A2 would love to visit Columbia SC sometime and give the tanks a work out. I am in Knoxville Tn, pretty close.