Fix for tank with poor performance

Alard · #1 08-05-2003, 10:15 AM

If you have a tank that performs poorly, it is probably the batteries inside the tank itself.

I have a tank that did not work well. It was only a few weeks old, but, after charging with the stand-alone charger, the tank would perform okay for about a minute. Then it would have a severe turn to one side during 'straight' running. I thought one of the motors was bad. The tank would not turn in place, forwards or backwards. Very slow operation, no power, and, overall performance was bad.

Then I replaced the two cells inside the tank. Now the performance is excellent. Straight forward operation is much improved. It operates better in every way, and better than new.

I think a lot of tanks may have the same problem. The type of cell used in the tanks is not known for reliability.

If anyone thinks that their tank may have this problem, please let me know.

Namuna · #2 08-05-2003, 10:33 AM

Alard,

That's solid info.

Couple of questions.
#1: What batteries did you use for replacement? Where to get them and for how much?

#2: What is your procedure for dismantling the tanks?

Thanks.

charliebrown · #3 08-05-2003, 10:49 AM

i sense the words "bit science" coming this way.....if not, then i'm jumping the gun

Namuna · #4 08-05-2003, 11:33 AM

You're jumping the gun AND the forum.

This is Combat DigiQ land.

But that raises a good point. I think I'm going to clean some Sticky threads up and combine into a 'Helpful links' sticky.

Alard · #5 08-06-2003, 11:53 AM

Answers to your questions.

#1: What batteries did you use for replacement? Where to get them and for how much?

The batteries are constructed from 2 x 1/4AAA 80mAH NiMH
cells. They were very difficult to find. I had to buy 100. Email me if you want more info.

#2: What is your procedure for dismantling the tanks?

To open the tank:
1. remove tracks
2. remove the center sets of wheels, both sides, careful not to lose the pins
3. remove the two screws that are now exposed
4. remove the screw from the rear bottom of the tank

That's it. It's not hard. Just be careful not to lose the three screws and wheel pins.

Alard · #6 08-11-2003, 02:14 PM

It's hard to tell without actually seeing how the tank runs. Do you have another good DigiQ tank to compare with it?

If your tank is significantly slower than another similar tank, and if the run time is much shorter, it is definitely the batteries.

If the trim knob has no effect on the line of travel, the tank is probably defective. Return to the seller and exchange it for a new one.

If the line of travel can be adjusted with the trim knob, your tank is probably not broke and it is possible that the performance will improve after you run the tank for a while. When the motors break-in, they usually run better.

If you know how, you can take the motors out and break them in on low voltage, about 1.5 volts. You can also try removing the tracks and using a rubber band on the controller to make the motors run free for a few cycles of the batteries.

psychotanker · #7 08-19-2003, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David77
I tried breaking in the motores like you told me. I did it 5 time and the tanks still curves. I guess it is the battery.Can you tell me what you think?

I had this problem as well. What i did notice was that some of the dummy wheels on my tank were not very loose, in fact some wouldn't even spin a 1/4 turn freewheeling.

I ended up using a small round hobby file on the insides of the dummy wheels to loosen them up. Just need a little fileing here, too much and they will wobble. On my tank, the worst offenders were the two front wheels.

Tyson

Alard · #8 08-20-2003, 07:04 AM

David77
I don't think that replacing the battery in your tank will correct the problem. It sounds like the motors are at fault.

Breaking in the weak motor some more might help. The most effective way to do this is to remove it from the tank completely, and let it run an hour or two on a single AA cell. This has definitely helped on a motor I had that was very weak.

I wish I knew where to get spare motors.

#9 09-10-2003, 11:34 AM

I'm experiencing the same problem with my Tiger. Bought it a few days ago and only tried them for a total of 2 hours.
The tank is currently upside down doing the burn in test.

When I adjust the trim all the way it drives straight forward burn turns hysterically to the trimmed side, so its problem is when going forward. Any thoughts on that?

I'll try my burn in test for a few hours and see what happens to my master Tiger.

By the way what are the dimensions on the battery and how many does one tank take? I'm going to order a couple just to try them out.

Last but not least. Has anyone found a place to buy spare engines just in case they are defect?

Thanks in advance,
Rune - DK

Alard · #10 09-10-2003, 01:59 PM

The battery is made of 2 x 1/4AAA 80mAH NiMH cells.
Cell dimensions are 10mm diameter x 12mm long.
I had great difficulty finding a source. The smallest quantity they would sell was 100 cells. If you want some, email me.

#11 09-11-2003, 05:23 AM

I love to aquire some - Did you get my mail?

#12 09-12-2003, 10:17 AM

So I ran the burn in test for about 1 hour but no change.
I took the tank apart and tried to look very closely at the difference between how the two engines ran. I could see that the left engine was weaker than the right and that is most properly what is causing the problem.

I'm running another burn in run on the left wheel only to see if this helps. I guess that even though there are two batteries it doesn't work like one battery per engine... Or does it? Any engineering expertice help here please?

I'll report back after some more hours or test.

Anyone found some spare engines around?

Rune