Combat Digi-Q Insides [Archive]

Ply

10-05-2002, 05:16 PM

Has anyone else dissassembled their tank(s) yet?

I got tired of the noisy gearboxes and took my panther apart to see what I could do. 2 squirts of WD40 later (1 to each gearbox) and the tank is MUCH quieter. :D Just be careful not to get it on the mainboard (dunno about conductivity of WD40, but I'm pretty sure it does), or the tread drivers (unless you don't want to go anywhere =).

The little screws underneath the treads were a bit of a pain, but I was able to get a little standard screwdriver (inky-dinky one for glasses repair and such) in there and got the screw out. More importantly, I was able to get it back in, using some needlenose and the same little screwdriver (angle is a little funny, but it's pretty easy if you're careful).

If anyone's interested, I can post pix of the insides.

Also noticed something wierd about the underside of the turret. It's actually geared, and there's what looks like kind of a mount point and opening where a geared motor could go at some point? Don't know if this was a "well we tried but it didn't work..why pay extra to re-mold w/o the hole?" or a "maybe in the future we'll motorize the turret" kinda thing. There's no room for a turret motor given the current setup cuz the batteries are in the way.

Ply

Ply

10-05-2002, 05:40 PM

I think I understated MUCH quieter with WD40 in the gearboxes. It's just as quiet as the cars now, if not moreso. There's hardly any gear noise at all anymore. Now I can run it at work w/o people saying "what's that noise!?" :cool:

Also, the tank seems to run a lot smoother now. It used to have trouble with one side more so than the other, but not anymore. :p

Namuna

10-07-2002, 02:27 AM

Excellent work/news Ply!

If you could post pics, that would be great! Also, how is the Tank now, as far as attracting debris?

I, personally, might just give the Baby Powder idea a try.

payaso

10-07-2002, 03:07 AM

Originally posted by Namuna
Excellent work/news Ply!

If you could post pics, that would be great! Also, how is the Tank now, as far as attracting debris?

I, personally, might just give the Baby Powder idea a try.

LOL.... I knew you'd come around.... I mean if it's safe enough for a babys butt..LOL I'm going crazy without my little battler

silla

Ply

10-07-2002, 09:36 AM

Attracting debris? You mean because of the WD40? Well, WD40 is not particularly sticky, and the gearboxes are very well shielded from the outside. Unlike the digi-q cars, the tanks were not designed to be taken apart by the end user. So no, it's not attracting carpet fuzzies and lint any more than it used to be. Though it does sorta smell like WD40, but it's gradually fading :)

I imagine a little bit of grease might work too; maybe baby powder would do the trick as well, but I don't think it would solve the problem for as long because there's nothing keeping it on the gears. You might use a toothpik and some WD40, to keep it from getting everywhere. Put a little on, run the gears a bit, put a little more on, etc.

I have more pics if anyone would like them (and higher res), but they don't really show anything more than this one does. I added arrows to highlight the gearboxes and the strange turret gear hole.

Namuna

10-07-2002, 10:47 AM

Excellent pic Ply!

Hmmm, that turret gear certainly is provocative! I imagine they FULLY intended to make it remote controllable, but probably got hit by cost/time restraints.

Hey, can you post more pictures of the process you went through to take the tank apart? That would be tremendously helpful as well!

Thanks Ply!

Ply

10-07-2002, 12:49 PM

Sure, but It'll have to wait till I get home from work :)

Ply

Ply

10-07-2002, 09:35 PM

There's only 3 screws holding the top of the tank onto the bottom part. We'll start with the tough ones first. They're 2 philips screws on the bottom of the tank under where the treads are. If you take off the treads you can see 2 aluminum screws, one on each side, slightly forward of the middle of the tank. They're really tough to get at, and only the smallest of my standard type screwdrivers would fit (even though they're phillips screws). So you kinda have to slip the screwdriver behind one of the tread rollers to get the screws out. Be careful and go slow since they're aluminum screws, and thus easily rounded (at least, they look aluminum!). You can see the screws and how I took them out with my screwdriver in the first 2 pics.

Getting these 2 back in is a little tricky. I used a small pair of long-tipped neddlenose pliers to hold the screws in place while I screwed them back in with my other hand. Just be careful that they go in straight! And of course don't overtighten.

The last screw is very visible on the bottom at the back (pic 3). Just use a tiny phillips to take it out (no problem!).

After the 3 screws are out, the top lifts off easily. The wires going to the turret are pretty hefty (not like bit char-g or anything), so you don't have to worry about them too much.

What you do once you're in is your own business ;)

enigma101

10-07-2002, 11:07 PM

Thanks for the great tip for quieting the noisy Panther. It works great! One thing I found, quite by accident, is that you can easily pop-off the wheel above the screws under the track. Just use your jewelers screwdriver to carefully pry off the wheel. The wheel is held in place by a tiny friction fit pin which will come off with the wheel. It makes removing the tiny side screws much easier since you can get direct access with the screwdriver. After you've done the lube job and put the screws back in, the wheel slides back on easily and you just push in the pin to hold it in place. Also, I noticed a lot of the noise on my Panther seemed to be coming from the helix-type gear, just to the front of the "gear box." A little lube in there really helped. A little lube goes a long way and make sure you blot-up any excess with some cloth or tissue. Happy tanking!:)

pitstain

10-08-2002, 11:43 PM

when i get mine, do you thin k my nitro rc car grease would work?(diff grease) that would be easier to apply with a toothpick than wd40...

Ply

10-08-2002, 11:49 PM

I imagine that nitro car grease would work as well or better than WD40, as long as you apply it lightly.

And yah, WD40 with a toothpick probably wouldn't work...but a q-tip maybe :cool:

swissracer

10-09-2002, 02:23 AM

@ ply: Thanx! great work!

have to test on my tanks... but i think it's the solution too get them quieter an run better...

Has anyone already tried with grease instead of oil?

korosu

10-09-2002, 08:50 PM

hey Ply/everyone,

I don't have my tank yet, but i think my g/f is ordering me a pair for my b-day :D :D !!!

anyway, i thought about what you said having the turret able to turn. staring at the pic of the insides, and i may definitely be wrong about this, but it looks like between the 2 gearboxes there's an indentation about the size of a bit motor, with the bell end facing the rear of the tank and the shaft facing forward. there's a small bump with a hole in it and that looks like it would connect to that small hole up by the turret. it would be possible to make the turret turn by somehow getting the gears in the right position and the right type of gears. the other thing i'd have to wonder is if the controller could do another set of input instructions.

anyway, just my .02

Ply

10-09-2002, 09:07 PM

Originally posted by korosu

anyway, i thought about what you said having the turret able to turn. staring at the pic of the insides, and i may definitely be wrong about this, but it looks like between the 2 gearboxes there's an indentation about the size of a bit motor, with the bell end facing the rear of the tank and the shaft facing forward. there's a small bump with a hole in it and that looks like it would connect to that small hole up by the turret. it would be possible to make the turret turn by somehow getting the gears in the right position and the right type of gears. the other thing i'd have to wonder is if the controller could do another set of input instructions.

Unfortunately, if you line up the turret gear hole and the screw holes in the upper half, you'll see that the hole is right over the battery pack. There's no room to put a motor or gearing in w/o relocating the battery pack, which would be a chore because of all the plastic molding on the lower half. The first picture I posted is slightly misleading because it looks like the tank folds back together just like a sandwich. You actually have to flip the top half back around before attaching it back to the lower half. The gun barrel points away from the rear of the tank where the gear boxes are located.

I guess it'd be doable if you were able to move the battery pack and hack some gears and a motor together. Then of course you'd have to jimmy up IR control.

Anyone know how they communicate? I'm guessing it must be some sort of serial data stream (as opposed to multiple channels a la bits). That would certainly explain the control lag.

Ply

korosu

10-09-2002, 10:47 PM

hmm...i did look over your pic, and notice in your pic to the right of the batter, it looks like a motor would fit right into that gap, it even looks like an indentation was made specifically for a motor there.

and looking at the turret...that indentation where the gear is, looks like a gear similar to the transfer gear on a bit would fit there, and another spur gear would be centered on that tiny hole just to the right of the hole (well, to the right according to the pic, actual position would be a bit back and to the right?) a shaft sits in that top hole and connects to the other hole in the bottom. only problem is trying to transfer power from the motor, which would run lengthwise of the tank, maybe a couple bevel gears could solve that.

but you're right, it does look like a scrapped feature or a future add on.

ahh well, maybe it'll be easier if i could highlight those areas on the tank in your pic (gotta get me photo editing software other than stupid MS paint :( )

Ply

10-10-2002, 12:57 AM

Originally posted by korosu
hmm...i did look over your pic, and notice in your pic to the right of the batter, it looks like a motor would fit right into that gap, it even looks like an indentation was made specifically for a motor there.

and looking at the turret...that indentation where the gear is, looks like a gear similar to the transfer gear on a bit would fit there, and another spur gear would be centered on that tiny hole just to the right of the hole (well, to the right according to the pic, actual position would be a bit back and to the right?) a shaft sits in that top hole and connects to the other hole in the bottom. only problem is trying to transfer power from the motor, which would run lengthwise of the tank, maybe a couple bevel gears could solve that.

I agree, you could fit a motor in the space to the right of the battery pack. And you could setup gears in the way you described with the turret gear hole. But yah, transfering the power from the motor to the turret gears would be the problem, and would be difficult given battery placement.

How they tease us! :)

Ply

PopeRocket

10-10-2002, 03:36 AM

A screw-gear? Corkscrew thingy. . Not a mechanical engineer ;)

@ "All" Awesome solution for the gear noise. Thanks all for the posts. .

patric

gertman

10-10-2002, 08:38 AM

Not a mechanical engineer

I am :D :D :D

gertman

10-10-2002, 08:58 AM

Is that gear driving another one or is it directly linked to the turret?? Is the gear easily turnable with a screw driver tip?

The pitch of the gear looks too large to be able to mesh with a small Bit motor. The size of the teeth on the pinion's of Bit motors is very small----hence some sort of gear-box would be necessary.........assuming their is enough room, maybe use the guts of a micro servo? A totally custom job!!

To allow for full controll of the turret to the left and right, a gear box simillar to a servo--or a servo itself need to be used.

All I can say is, good luck:D

Is there a dummey switch already incorporated in the remote?

Ply

10-10-2002, 09:49 AM

The gear you can see in the first picture is directly linked to the turret. It turns fairly easily.

But the biggest problem would be control. No, there is no dummy switch on the controller for the turret. All the buttons and switches serve some other function.

Ply

korosu

10-10-2002, 03:25 PM

how many other buttons are there? from what i've read, i'm thinking it has the forward/reverse, left/right and 2 shoulder buttons. i think Namuna wrote that you have to press both shoulder buttons at the same time to fire. if that's true, it makes me wonder if they plan or planned on using the shoulder buttons to turn the turret and then push both at same time to fire.

PopeRocket

10-10-2002, 04:26 PM

*Both buttons to fire. .

Ya. . That would lead me to believe that one pressed at a time would have been to send the 'left/right' command. . The question is: Are the instructions still in the controller? *crosses fingers and squeezes eyes shut*

korosu

10-10-2002, 05:23 PM

i was just looking at toyeast.com and in the combat digiq accessories section, under the mini-sandbags, take a look at the second detailed photo or just click the link.

http://www.toyeast.com/proddetail2.asp?pdtid=ARCQ058#

it shows a turret that is turned, but they probably deliberately turned the turret themselves. hopefully future tanks will be able to remotely turn the turret :D

PopeRocket

10-10-2002, 06:21 PM

Thinking about 'non-rotating' turrets. .

Makes the whole situation just like the old Atari game 'Combat'. . Heh. . If only we could port the sounds from the game into the controller. .

Hm. . Now to build an arena with mirrored walls to duplicate those intense matches of 'Richochet'. .

chrish

10-14-2002, 10:12 AM

Here is a pic I found on the net, this control pad has two extra buttons near the firing buttons, maybe used to control the turret left and right ?

korosu

10-14-2002, 06:00 PM

ooh...that looks interesting. but i'm looking at the controllers of my tanks (i just got them this past weekend for my b-day!!:D ) and they don't have those 2 buttons. maybe that was a prototype pic?

pitstain

10-14-2002, 06:02 PM

that would be so cool if they can make the turret turn, but they should focus more on the tracks running evenly issue..

Ply

10-15-2002, 10:31 PM

Well, I broke my tank...not with lube, not with anything but my own supidity. :mad:

Thankfully, my wonderful wife let me buy another one to replace the busted one (she knows that toys make a happy husband ;))

I was trying to clean out the drive wheel by pulling out the drive axel. This went okay, but when I tried to push it back in, I ripped a tooth off of the axel gear because the gear wasn't lined up right. I didn't want to pull the darn thing apart...oh well, lazyness got me. Now I've got a tank that will turn in one direction...oh well.

Got my new tank today, used some grease that came with my HPI Nitro RS4 Racer 2 to lube the gears, and it had the same effect as the WD40, just less mess. I very much reccomend using nitro grease to lube the gears.

Anyone got a broken tank they want to sell to me for parts?? :D Maybe someday I'll get my hands on one of those dinky little plastic gears...

Ply

1 mono-directional Panther
1 omni-directional Panther

usagi

10-15-2002, 11:24 PM

That control does not belong to the Digi Q Tank series. Is a different model.

pitstain

10-16-2002, 12:04 AM

that remote is lighter in color isn't(or just flash) anyways about the broken tank, i just bought one, when i take it apart to lube it(i got some better lube than hpi lube) what should i watch for? i paid 70 for mine and i don't want to poop it up

usagi

10-16-2002, 12:10 AM

tamiya white gease works good.............

Ply

10-16-2002, 12:18 AM

Originally posted by pitstain
that remote is lighter in color isn't(or just flash) anyways about the broken tank, i just bought one, when i take it apart to lube it(i got some better lube than hpi lube) what should i watch for? i paid 70 for mine and i don't want to poop it up

Like I said, lubing it didnt break the tank, it was taking the drive axels off that did it...so don't do that!

Just be careful with the screws so you don't round them and don't strip out the plastic. The 2 wheels that are in the way of the screws are easily removable (just a little finger force pops them off), but be careful not to lose the friction pins.

Ply

chrish

10-16-2002, 10:20 AM

That pic I posted last must be the prototype controller. Heres another pic front on and it has no sticker and it looks a bit beaten up (few dents and scratches on it) I think that they did design the Digi Q tanks with a rotating turret in mind but must have led to complications so have taken the feature out.

Also, I dont reckon they will put it as an add on feature later on due to the tanks being so complicated to open for the end user, who knows though. It would be something that I would definately purchase if it did come out as an add-on.

Ive also added another pic with all 8 tanks planned for release, I dunno if anyone has posted it but I havent seen it. You can see on the controller pictured that it has a sticker near the buttons and is darker in colour when comparing it to the "prototype".

usagi

10-16-2002, 10:28 AM

Originally posted by chrish
That pic I posted last must be the prototype controller. Heres another pic front on and it has no sticker and it looks a bit beaten up (few dents and scratches on it) I think that they did design the Digi Q tanks with a rotating turret in mind but must have led to complications so have taken the feature out.

Also, I dont reckon they will put it as an add on feature later on due to the tanks being so complicated to open for the end user, who knows though. It would be something that I would definately purchase if it did come out as an add-on.

Ive also added another pic with all 8 tanks planned for release, I dunno if anyone has posted it but I havent seen it. You can see on the controller pictured that it has a sticker near the buttons and is darker in colour when comparing it to the "prototype".
try posting the picture again..........

usagi

10-16-2002, 10:30 AM

I still think its for a different digi-q model. I will check saturday> I am going to the r/c here then. I will post pictures and other data about this controller.

chrish

10-16-2002, 10:58 AM

Sorry didnt read the restrictions on file attachement size.

Whats the "r/c here" that you're attending on Saturday ?

usagi

10-16-2002, 11:53 AM

In tokyo............. I go every year.

usagi

10-16-2002, 11:54 AM

the one with the tanks controler look just like mine.

PopeRocket

10-16-2002, 01:24 PM

Looking at the repost of the pic, are we to expect two color-schemes per tank? Or are those just unpainted protos?

usagi

10-16-2002, 04:40 PM

Some thing is screwy about that picture?!??! It reads "Dragon" (Which is a different maker of mini Tank)with a DiGi Q micro tanks around it :confused: This is not correct. I thought DiGI-Q had only "FOUR" different tanks. Panther, (Tiger Dec release), russian and german tanks? Mybe they will release different colors or different body sets.
That picture is a fake with four thumb buttons! Besides that charger unit does not even come close to consumer model controller unit. Proto type or not these pictures might not be real!

pitstain

10-16-2002, 08:52 PM

is that dragon thing the dragon modelling workshop? http://www.toyeast.com/COMBATQ01.htm saids the tanks are painted by them

pitstain

10-16-2002, 09:01 PM

and do the tanks come with decals? in some pics i see the tank have the tank numbers on them which looks cool, or are they maybe stickers from other tank model kits?

usagi

10-17-2002, 04:35 AM

numbers? I don`t think so.

usagi

10-17-2002, 04:38 AM

Hange tight I find out saturday (MY TIME) about if they are planning to release 4 more. But hte tiger and sherman are coming out 12, 05, 2002. But right now ther eis no idea if they are going to release anothe 4 tanks. That I will find out saturday.

slotsurfer

11-18-2002, 12:37 PM

The controler is a proto type and the second set of shoulder buttons is to control the turet??
Slotsurfer

jayd177

12-15-2002, 11:17 PM

I'm jumping in this late, but about that controller with the extra buttons, I think Chrish is right and Usagi isn't. I say this because on the back of my Combat Digi-q Box the controller pictured has those extra buttons as well. Must be a prototype, and it would make sense given the obvious intent to make the turret controllable.