Torro M16 Halftrack - Somewhat disappointing

[ezmoneychuck]

Received the halftrack and couldn't wait to open the box. Once open I took some measurements and compared various aspects to my 1:1 scale track (length, width, bed depth etc and just for fun the steering wheel diameter. All were close if not really close to the real thing.

I proceeded to take out a small loan from the Credit Union and bought the 14 AA batteries required to get this thing rolling, 6 in the transmitter and 8 in the track and turned both on and moved the joysticks, NOTHING!
I double checked everything and still nothing, so I decided to read the instructions in the garage out of view of the wife and dog. Somewhere in the print it mentions that some brands of battery + tips are shorter than others and may not make proper contact-really? In my 60+ years of supporting Eveready, Ray-O-Vac and that damn Duracell rabbit I had never once heard of such a thing. Must be a German thing since it came from there...
Anyway I got out some tin foil and made some small wads to make up the length difference but found that trying to hold the tinfoil and batteries, all the while trying not to break the 50 cals off as a result of holding the track upside down was just too damn much for this old fart.
I resorted to bending the + contact tabs with a pairing knife at which point I realized I could not send it back if it still didn't work since "damaging" it in an effort to get it to work.
Right about now in the scenario I had to "put my new toy down" and take the wife shopping at Hobby Lobby (which is like going to Disneyland for me).
The next day I went to test my handy-work and realized I had left the transmitter on all night when I left to go to my second most happiest place on earth and all the batteries were dead.
I went back to the store and bought some more batteries, this time using cash so I wouldn't raise additional suspicion at the end of the month that I had done something wrong.
I replaced the 6 batteries in the transmitter turned both units on and the damn thing nearly ran off the kitchen table.
After placing it on the floor, I eased the forward motion stick ever so gently and the thing took off like a M5 Stuart running from a Tiger 1.
There is no proportional speed control, it's either stop or balls-to-the-wall.

So, will I keep it-YES. Even if I could return it I wouldn't as I'm confident that one of you guys on the forum can explain to me how I can solve the speed issue - any ideas out there???

Thanx for reading my ramblings any help in advance!
Chuck

[oldwolf]

You might consider a board from Elmod. I believe they make one specifically for halftracks. Seems to me they have sound files for halftracks, too. So it will sound right as well.

[keilau]

All the @ezmoneychuck description of the Torro M3 can be applied to the WSN/Trumpeter RC T-34/85.

The Lithium Ion 14500 battery cell is the same dimension as the AA cell. I used a single piece of wire to modify theWSN/Trumpeter RC T-34/85 to use 14500 cells instead. It does not run as long as the AA cells, but is a lot cheaper.

[RichJohnson]

I have Clark board in my T12 and a little ESC and sound card with engine sound in the m3 pulling the howitzer.

[Milspec1]

Same thing happened with mine. Put the batteries in and nothing. Put the batteries in again and still nothing. I'm reluctant to mess with the battery box though. Heading to a battery store to see if they sell a battery with longer positive posts. I'm almost afraid of the looks I will get from them but will keep you posted.

[ezmoneychuck]

Nah, tell 'em its for your grandson. I have plenty if you need to borrow one...

[Zippersnapper]

Same thing happened with mine. Put the batteries in and nothing. Put the batteries in again and still nothing. I'm reluctant to mess with the battery box though. Heading to a battery store to see if they sell a battery with longer positive posts. I'm almost afraid of the looks I will get from them but will keep you posted.

Use small rare earth (neodymium) magnets...Hell, why cant you use 14500's ?

[tank_me]

Use small rare earth (neodymium) magnets...Hell, why cant you use 14500's ?

So I had the same issue with my M16 when I first got it. I first tried to elongate the battery connections in the box thinking the batteries weren't making contact - didn't help. I opened it up and resoldered the battery connections to the battery box - no change. I got out my voltmeter and it seemed like the board was getting power from the AA batteries (8 of them BTW). I never did figure it out. I ended up buying the Torro NiCd battery and it works fine. I thought my issues with the batteries were an isolated incident, but I guess not. Mine was produced back in 2017 and I bought it in 2018.

I'm not sure what the size of the 14500 batteries are and whether or not they will fit in the battery box between the tracks. That really is the issue. I couldn't find anything in an acceptable battery voltage that fit in the battery box a few years ago. The pack Torro sells is a REALLY tight fit and I couldn't find another non-Torro branded pack with the same configuration. That pack is (8) AAA sized NiCd batteries in a long, square pack.

Derek

[Zippersnapper]

So I had the same issue with my M16 when I first got it. I first tried to elongate the battery connections in the box thinking the batteries weren't making contact - didn't help. I opened it up and resoldered the battery connections to the battery box - no change. I got out my voltmeter and it seemed like the board was getting power from the AA batteries (8 of them BTW). I never did figure it out. I ended up buying the Torro NiCd battery and it works fine. I thought my issues with the batteries were an isolated incident, but I guess not. Mine was produced back in 2017 and I bought it in 2018.

I'm not sure what the size of the 14500 batteries are and whether or not they will fit in the battery box between the tracks. That really is the issue. I couldn't find anything in an acceptable battery voltage that fit in the battery box a few years ago. The pack Torro sells is a REALLY tight fit and I couldn't find another non-Torro branded pack with the same configuration. That pack is (8) AAA sized NiCd batteries in a long, square pack.

Derek

Forgive my ignorance. I thought the vehicle took AA Batts, not AAA. A 14500 Liion Batt is the same exact size as a AA Battery, but at 3.7v. I was thinking way off base...as in usig 4 14500 in lue of 8 AA.

[tank_me]

It uses (8) AA normal alkaline batteries or (8) AAA batteries in the 9.6V NiMh (sorry said NiCd previously) pack.

Pack looks like this one, but this one is reverse polarity to the M16 pack:

https://www.torro-shop.de/Battery-an...Torro-Maxx-Pro

And yes you could remove the pins from the connector and reverse them to get it to work in the M16. I would assume if you are going to use the stock charger you would also need to reverse those pins. I don't use the stock charger.

Derek

[Zippersnapper]

Yea, screw stock chargers. I prefer LUC or Nightcore for charging Individual Batts becasue they handle all Chemistry types.. So what is needed is 12v or close to it. Achieving that is relatively easy with the vast array of rechargable Batts available (Li-ion) in particular. Chargers and Batts are easy to find. Using Ohm's law & resistors you can easily dial in the voltage. Making a custom battery sled is easy too...

[RichJohnson]

FYI, the stock battery box hanging down below the halftrack makes it get stuck a lot. I cut my battery box out and have the battery in the body.

[Sureshot]

UPS dropped of my M16 today and everything works fine. I used a 3s 1000mah Lipo battery with a jst connector I had in my collection and it worked great. It has two speeds, fast and too fast, but drove around my driveway and yard ok. I might try a 2s battery to see if that will drive it more realistically.
The driver figure is really hard to get past the steering wheel and gear shift lever so I think I will use some silicone glue to hold them in so they don't fall out every time I change the battery. Going to try to find a figure to fit in the quad fifty too.
Pretty pleased overall.

Steve

[tank_me]

The driver figure is really hard to get past the steering wheel and gear shift lever so I think I will use some silicone glue to hold them in so they don't fall out every time I change the battery. Going to try to find a figure to fit in the quad fifty too.
Pretty pleased overall.

Steve

Let us know if you find some figures that work. I took one of the figures and put him in my Ford GPA.

Derek

[Milspec1]

I found a AA battery that works without having to modify the battery box. I purchased these at a discount store called Ollie's for $2 a pack of six.

[keilau]

I found a AA battery that works without having to modify the battery box. I purchased these at a discount store called Ollie's for $2 a pack of six.

Battery has limited shelf life. It may not be the best idea to buy surplus stock from discount stores. Beside, you can buy fresh Alkaline AA cells from Costco at the same price of 33 cents per cell.
https://www.costco.com/kirkland-sign...100796702.html

[tank_me]

Battery has limited shelf life. It may not be the best idea to buy surplus stock from discount stores. Beside, you can buy fresh Alkaline AA cells from Costco at the same price of 33 cents per cell.
https://www.costco.com/kirkland-sign...100796702.html

The issue is that some AA batteries are slightly shorter than other AAs and therefore weren't making contact in the battery box. At least that is what the diagnosis was in other threads. He was making the point that those AAs worked in his halftrack.

Derek