Henglong vs Taigen

[Zippersnapper]

All three screws that hold the gearboxes go in from above. Keep looking and you will see them.You will most likely have to remove those covers over the gears to see them. The ones from below hold the gearbox halves together and do not need to come out to remove the gearbox from the tank.
Steve

Thanx...that explains evrything !!

[Zippersnapper]

Z, keep us posted as to shipping time, I need to order Leo padded tracks and ball-bearing turret rings from DKLM soon.

Just an FYI......I ordered some accessories from Ali Express and here is a breakdown of that order:

Ordered-March 27th
Shipped-March 28th
Cleared China Customs-March 30th
Shipment accepted by China Air-March 30th
Departed China-April 3
Arrived Los Angeles CA-April 4th
Cleared US Customs-April 5th
Placed in US carriers hands Los Angeles CA-April 5th

This is probably not typical, but pretty fast considering.

[sclui56]

Well, that's great. My smoker is still en route, and it was purchased on 03.23, OTOH, stuff from HK seems to get to LAX quicker than mainland. Just finished going over the newly arrived Leo and had 2 minor broken pieces, will get the Rx in there before breaking out the small parts. Still debating if I should get the padded tracks since the Taigen metal tracks are quite decent.

[Zippersnapper]

Well, that's great. My smoker is still en route, and it was purchased on 03.23, OTOH, stuff from HK seems to get to LAX quicker than mainland. Just finished going over the newly arrived Leo and had 2 minor broken pieces, will get the Rx in there before breaking out the small parts. Still debating if I should get the padded tracks since the Taigen metal tracks are quite decent.

Roger that. Just got an email saying my pump will be delivered Sat...but it was ordered from Toucan in NJ.....not that all impressive TBH. Keep me posted.

[Zippersnapper]

Remove the plastic shield and you will see the other two screws that you have to remove.

Also you will have to remove your smoke unit. You have one of the tanks where the smoke units is attached to the lower hull not the upper.

The drive axles can’t be removed from the gearbox until the gearbox is removed and then you have to disassemble the gearbox. This does begs the question as to why you want to remove the axles if they are working? To do so is not hard just but I recommend taking a few photos of it to remind you as to where everything goes back.

HUGE shout out to Rubicon & Sureshot (and everyone else commenting on this thread).....YOU guys are frigging TANK GOD's. I cannot express enough how much I appreciate the advice & suggestions. My confidence level is off the charts now.. You guys rock I say ! Muchas Gracias as we say here in Texas.

Low speed performance is kick ass, top speed, well..........she ran so fast I lost one of those small idler wheels...I panicked. The wheel was easy to find of course, but that tiny screw and not to mention tiny bearing had my heart racing.....but I found them. Good thing I was only traversing a concrete driveway and not dirt. I put a tiny drop of superglue on the threads of ALL of them...so that shouldn't be a worry anymore. She runs like a champ and EASILY scales 4" curbs (at a crawl) like nobody's business.



I'm knocking on wood because I only had to remove the left drive sprocket. The smoke pump stayed in place as well as the right drive sprocket. The screws were right were you guys said they would be....under that plastic cover that just snaps into place. Having rare earth magnets stuck to the side of my screwdriver made it possible I think. It was cramped quarters in there.



I humbly bow to the Tank God's !

[Rubicon99]

HUGE shout out to Rubicon & Sureshot (and everyone else commenting on this thread).....YOU guys are frigging TANK GOD's. I cannot express enough how much I appreciate the advice & suggestions. My confidence level is off the charts now.. You guys rock I say ! Muchas Gracias as we say here in Texas.

Low speed performance is kick ass, top speed, well..........she ran so fast I lost one of those small idler wheels...I panicked. The wheel was easy to find of course, but that tiny screw and not to mention tiny bearing had my heart racing.....but I found them. Good thing I was only traversing a concrete driveway and not dirt. I put a tiny drop of superglue on the threads of ALL of them...so that shouldn't be a worry anymore. She runs like a champ and EASILY scales 4" curbs (at a crawl) like nobody's business.



I'm knocking on wood because I only had to remove the left drive sprocket. The smoke pump stayed in place as well as the right drive sprocket. The screws were right were you guys said they would be....under that plastic cover that just snaps into place. Having rare earth magnets stuck to the side of my screwdriver made it possible I think. It was cramped quarters in there.



I humbly bow to the Tank God's !

Happy it all worked out and you are pleased with the performance. Next time it will be even easier!!!!!!

[Zippersnapper]

Happy it all worked out and you are pleased with the performance. Next time it will be even easier!!!!!!

Amen my friend !

[Zippersnapper]

New Smoke unit arrived today...came with a lead broken off.....easy fix.



Came with fluid...superglued the rubber seal in place as usual. The coil & wick look excellent. Need to test it out...

[sclui56]

Hi Zipper, how's the testing on the HL smoker? I received mine today, one is useable the other had a problem with the motor, but I have those to swap out later. Tested it in my Taigen PZ4 and it certainly smokes better than the Taigen unit, it's just sitting in the tub since none of the mounting holes line up.

[Zippersnapper]

Hi Zipper, how's the testing on the HL smoker? I received mine today, one is useable the other had a problem with the motor, but I have those to swap out later. Tested it in my Taigen PZ4 and it certainly smokes better than the Taigen unit, it's just sitting in the tub since none of the mounting holes line up.

Mine's working perfectly (knock on wood). Since I "Modded" the Taigen unit, I haven't anything to put it in. Indeed, you're going to have to custom make some sort of mount, standoff, etc for the Henglong smoker. Good news is, its only got one hole, or post that you need. Superglue a plastic piece of some sort to the hull maybe?

[Zippersnapper]

Lifetime supply of "Smoke Oil" ($7 for a 1 liter bottle)....

[Zippersnapper]

Geeze.......I'm an idiot


.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q30RUAo4nE

[sclui56]

Geeze.......I'm an idiot


.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q30RUAo4nE

Not at all. I modded a Taigen unit using a direct fan like that (20mm) along with 7.2v NiMH with and it was producing a respectable amount of smoke, and that was a 7.2 NiMH unregulated. This guy was using a 2S 7.4 Lipo, that is quite a bit more juice going into the smoker, I would suspect longevity may suffer with the heating element.

[Zippersnapper]

Not at all. I modded a Taigen unit using a direct fan like that (20mm) along with 7.2v NiMH with and it was producing a respectable amount of smoke, and that was a 7.2 NiMH unregulated. This guy was using a 2S 7.4 Lipo, that is quite a bit more juice going into the smoker, I would suspect longevity may suffer with the heating element.

Right after I saw that vid, I ordered the fans..cant wait to try it out....
I'm just going to use port CN12 for the fan
Port "CN2" on the Henglong MFU is not used, and is designated "radiator fan".....I could always experiment with that if needed.

[SoCalBobS]

Let us know! I Like It! One thing I think the author said, that he was using it off an RX (the old 27mhz) board. Hopefully voltages will be correct for our 6.0's.

[Zippersnapper]

Thanx Bob...I sure will.

[sclui56]

Right after I saw that vid, I ordered the fans..cant wait to try it out....
I'm just going to use port CN12 for the fan
Port "CN2" on the Henglong MFU is not used, and is designated "radiator fan".....I could always experiment with that if needed.

Keep us posted. FedEx just delivered this morning my first ever HL, the Abrams. All my other (3) are Taigens so have to figure out what I have on hand, except this is a modern tank, I really don't have to worry about the smoker much.

[Zippersnapper]

Keep us posted. FedEx just delivered this morning my first ever HL, the Abrams. All my other (3) are Taigens so have to figure out what I have on hand, except this is a modern tank, I really don't have to worry about the smoker much.

That's awesome. The Abrams is a beast, you will love it !

[sclui56]

That's awesome. The Abrams is a beast, you will love it !

It is a beast, but totally dwarfed by my Taigen Leo 2 in feel & weight, LOL. Just a bit concerned about hull flexing, still thinking which way to brace the adjustable idler areas, right now am trying to locate some correct DAS bearings.

[Rubicon99]

It is a beast, but totally dwarfed by my Taigen Leo 2 in feel & weight, LOL. Just a bit concerned about hull flexing, still thinking which way to brace the adjustable idler areas, right now am trying to locate some correct DAS bearings.

Flexing is NOT an issue on the Abrams (or other modern tank) UNLESS you forego the two hull halves being screwed together and instead use magnets. At which point flexing can occur and braces become useful as you loose the “unibody” effect of the hulls being physically attached to one another.

But as always if you want braces just because, they don’t hurt anything and add weight. Weight is a good thing in rc ranks.