MGone

I just tried drilling it out on the drill press and unfortunately I don't have a punch small enough to make a start. The 1.5mm bit just skids around the top...also don't have any thread cutters that small so it's off to banggood/ aliexpress/ ebay to see what I can find! Yes, it's the 12429 model...pretty impressed with it so far, but this is a little frustrating as the car will be out of action for 2-4 weeks whilst waiting for the parts.

Ooops! Tearing down the front diff and this happened! At least the manual is clear and all I have to do is order a ‘Then cup!’ 😂😂😂😂😂 Let’s see how good the spares dept. really are!!

Brilliant! Cheers! I don't suppose anyone want's a couple....I've got 40 tails and sockets on their way from the magical electrical markets of Shenzhen for £3 posted! (couldn't face buying another crimping tool!)

Hi there, I need to create a new LED connection and this is the plug attached to the cable that goes into the ESC/RX module of the WLToys 12429. It's the one on the right, pictured next to standard JST-XH balance lead. Any idea what it is I need to get? (apart from the pixies I'll need with tiny fingers to assemble it!! Many thanks Michael

Cheers guys.....I printed the pattern out first (just nabbed some vinyl wrap images and resized in photoshop) and used some spray adhesive to stick that on the masking tape whilst i cut it out. So that helped get the layout sorted... I was thinking about maybe adding some additional colour to the flames, just washing in some reds at the front maybe. I have some rustoleum toy paint that I've used on a few wooden toys I've made for the kids of the family and wondered if that would go over okay? It's described as a water based enamel... but I'm worried the clear coat may not be compatible. I guess it's a case of trying a test piece first...will report back, These panels are pretty stiff already. It's hard to describe the type of plastic it is but it's about 1.7-2.1mm thick at the points I can get my mic to...It has more flex than LEGO but less than the stuff my (Really Useful) plastic storage boxes are made from....but that's a cool technique for the future when I get onto a 'proper' car for me!! Been looking at some of the other guy's paint jobs on here and love the weathered look on some of the crawlers...takes me back to making tamiya tank kits with my dad...TANKS DONT HAVE SHINY PAINT! 😁

Hi there, I buckled and agreed to have a go at painting my sons WLtoys 12429. Not tried anything like this before and only had a can of orange paint and decorators tape...so happy with how it's gone so far. Question is now it's painted I feel I should at least have a go at protecting it. Since it's externally painted on a who knows what plastic (although certainly stiffer and less flexible than lexan!) I was thinking maybe just use an auto clear coat? Is there anything more specialist I should be looking at? Oh and I'm assuming that if he wants to add stickers and decals I'd be best putting decals on before any clear coat and let him go to town with stickers afterwards? Thanks in advance for any tips or advice. Keep on Bashing!

If t he shocks are like the 12429 you can add some oil if you add a little o-ring to keep it in. Dead easy to do and made a huge difference to the 12429. 1/ remove spring and spring plate 2/ unscrew shock foot from shaft 3/ remove bottom cylinder cap and small black plastic ‘seal’ 4/ replace with two small o-rings (I used 1.5mm Section 2mm Bore Nitrile 70 Rubber O-rings from simply bearings) 5/ add a bit of PTFE tape around the thread (I tore it in half so it wasn’t too bulky!) 6/ screw back together 7/ undo the cylinder head cap. 8/ wrap a little PTFE tape around thread (I used the other half remaining from doing the bottom thread) 9/ support vertically and full with oil. 10/ slowly move shaft up and down a little to make sure oil gets distributed, then leave to stand for a while to let any bubbles rise. 11/ top up if necessary and then replace cap and reload springs. Fun little quick mod. I probably have a few spare o-rings left if you want them. Just drop me a pm and I’ll pop them in the post. ps. I used some 22.5cwt silicone oil I got off a mate. I may try a heavier oil if I get a chance. hth

Update....have just seen them on eBay for £20...if you’re happy to wait for the post from China. Although when I have done that it’s been pretty fast.

This wee beastie jumped out of the postbox this morning! Dead easy to use If you want to be able to make your own balance leads, extensions or have other small crimp needs these make the job super easy. I had intended to just get the right jaws for my Paladin crimper, but those were more expensive and on back order so thought I'd give these a chance...and only £25

Ooh it does...not heard of the make, but then again the only one I do know is Fluke! 🤪 Will do some more digging...thanks. Thanks for the heads up, wasn't aware of that model...seems pretty hard to find though...they've put out a newer 17B+ model but it's almost double the price will keep digging. There also seems to be some Extech and Amprobe models worth looking into...it'll post what I find out

Well my trusty 5 squid jobby from maplins finally gave up and I figure it’s time to get myself a half decent multimeter as I’m planning a few projects, maybe going to dabble with a little raspberry pi automation and audio hacks...so not really interested in the cheapo will-get-you-by-but-things-may-fry models. I did a quick search and there’s nothing really in the last 5 or so years, so let me know what you’re using... I’m looking for a sub £100 (ideally) meter that’s capable of measuring LED Vf, is in the region of 4-6000 counts and has a nominal Vdc accuracy in the region 0.2%(+2-5) Prefer it to be True RMS and have NCV as I can use if for my DIY projects too. Must have input protection and decent accessible fuses, temperature measurements nice but not essential...minimum CAT III 600v protection. So, any thoughts?

I did think about spot welding as it seems fairly straight forward to build one, but in the end I decided I'm going to solder. Because of that I've gone with a copper strip to connect them rather than the thin nickel tape that the spot welders use. I'll let you know how I get on. The only possible issue I've noticed is that they may be a bit of a tight squeeze in my son's WLtoys 12429... the battery tray is a fairly snug fit for the 18650 2S pack it came with.

The Molicel P42A 21700 Battery was recommended to me by a forum member a week or so back. Mine arrived on Friday so I'm hoping to find so time this week to put some packs together. I got them from Fogstar with a 20% discount made them £7.20 per cell which seemed decent for a 4200mAh 30A.

What cells are you using? Are these Li-Ion or Lipos?

I thought I'd try and document me putting together a 24v power supply... It seems to be a fairly straight forward build and I'm really just regurgitating the information that's out there, so I'll include a few links where I got my info and I'll update with progress as I get around to it. I'm only really concerned with the HP HSTNS-PL29 (part no. 643932-001, 643955-201) as those are what I have, but if you wanted to check what information is available for any other units, this thread over at RCGroups is worth searching through. Some additional information on the Common Slot PSU models and their efficiencies can be found in these: Common Slot.PDF HPE_c03502743_HP Common Slot power supply technology, 3rd edition.pdf Anyway, for the uninitiated the theory behind this build is to take two high wattage server PSUs that output 12v and connect them in series to produce a high power 24v supply. The reason for doing this is that it provides an economical way to access the full range of charging power from many of the DC chargers out there. Joshua Bardwell has a little video here explaining better than I can, but it is basically because most DC chargers have over current protection that prevents the chargers hitting their maximum power output at 12vdc....double the voltage to 24vdc and you half the current draw for the same power. In order to do this, you need to do 2 things. First, you need to trick the PSU into thinking it's connected to a server so that it switches on. Second, you need to connect the two PSU's in series in such a way that you feed +12vdc from PSU1 to PSU2 so that PSU2 can output +24vdc. There seems to be two principle methods to turn the units on. One is to use a single 330 ohm resistor between pins 33 & 36 method, this is the method I adopted. Different common slot PSUs seem to require different values between 330-1k ohms (or folk are just trying what they have lying around!)....some have even had success with just shorting these pins with some hookup wire. Here are some links to the ever popular Joshua Bardwell and a few of his PSU builds Ammo Can 12v / 24v Power Supply For LiPo Battery Charging Ammo Can 12v/24v LiPo Charger Power Supply - Mark 2! The best 12 volt power supply is also the cheapest How To Build A 24v / 2400W Power Supply | BEST BANG FOR BUCK 24V PSU Just for completeness I should point out that there is an alternative way to turn the units on by using a 21 ohm resistor between pins 36 & 37 and a jumper between pin 33 and ground...the link explains what the pins are actually for and here references some datasheets for compatible common Slot PSUs. I'm not sure that this is any better and I've not been able to find as many examples of this approach which is why I went with the first. I tested a 1k and 470 ohm resistor using a little breadboard setup and neither worked. The 330 ohm did and so I attached one to each unit between pins 33 & 36. Achieving 24vdc Because the PSUs share a common ground with the mains supply 'earth' the two ground outputs are effectively connected via the mains cables which typically also connect to the PSU cases. The PSU cases are connected to ground/earth to provide a certain level of protection should the unit develop a fault that causes the case to become live. In such a case current would flow to earth and the breaker would trip. Best of all you wouldn't fry....at least, not significantly! So in order to overcome this it is necessary to 'float the ground' of the internal circuitry of PSU2 so that it is able to step up the 12vdc on it's 'ground' pin tab to 24vdc. This is achieved by isolating the internal circuitry from the case and therefore separating the DC ground from the AC earth. Typically the internal ground is attached to earth through the case. A quick continuity check between the ground output terminal and the case, double checked against the AC input earth pin confirmed this was the case. Taking the top off is fairly easy. Simply unscrew all of the external screws ( I decided to also remove the extraction handle from the front). The top should just lift off, although you may feel a little resistance if the isolation paper is stuck to anything internally as mine was on the top LHS. In order to extract the internals you will also need to remove the fan screws (you could disconnect it from the JST socket if you wish) and disconnect the AC connection to the case (shown with the arrow.) PLEASE NOTE THIS EARTH CONNECTION IS AN ESSENTIAL SAFETY FEATURE AND MUST BE RECONNECTED WHEN EVERYTHING GOES BACK TOGETHER Then you will need to locate the screws that hold down the main board. In this case there are four, some models will only have three, but it is easy to work out how many because they are visible on the underside of the case. These screws are shown below: Screw 1, by the AC input. Screw 2, behind the fan. Screws 3 & 4 by the connection rail. You will notice that screws 1, 2 & 3 all have a copper ring around the hole which would suggest that these three provide a connection between the board and the metal case. Checking continuity confirmed this was the true. When handling the board try to not touch the underside or any component connections. Power supplies can retain deadly voltages long after they have been switched off. After removing these four screws the board should just lift out, although you may need to prise open the LED socket in order to free the green LED from the front. Place the board on a none conductive surface like a silicone mat, away from anything that could get knocked into it. We now have an empty tray with isolation sheet. Remove the isolation sheet carefully. Mine was stuck to the tray but could be eased apart from the adhesive without too much effort. So in order to isolate these connections we are going to file down the posts by 1mm and then place nylon washers between the board and the posts. We will also then use nylon screws to reattach the board. This isn't necessary for screw 4 as it doesn't connect to the internal circuit. I also took the opportunity to grind off the front protruding eyelet that the handle connected to, and to drill out the rack release leaver to tidy things up. A light touch with a 5mm drill bit and it popped off. Posts filed down. I can't remember who suggested it, but a little drop of glue to hold the washers in place made reassembly much easier. Then it's simply a matter of putting it all back together carefully making sure not to scratch the board against the case. Once it was all together I made sure to label the modified unit. I also decided to seal all of the gaps with Kapton (or Koptan if you're cheap like me!) tape to encourage a more efficient airflow back to front, but this really isn't at all necessary. Continuity and output tested. Both units output a solid 12.25vdc at idle. I'm contemplating including a variable output, but really don't want a massive stepdown causing excessive heat in the enclosure, so I'm thinking maybe something in the 0-12vdc range and just take it from the 12v rail. Would be for small electronics projects so any and all suggestions welcomed. Other thoughts I'm pondering. How to connect 10 AWG cable to the rails? Simply solder them? or drill and clamp with some 4mm machine screws and copper washers? I did google copper binding posts....🤪 seriously, audiophiles are bonkers!! How to ensure cooling/ airflow? can i hook up some PC case fans? How do I control them? Should I include a USB charger for phones etc? What about fast charge? Could I include an RFI phone charger or will that cause havoc with radio or electronics? That's all I have time for for now, but any feedback and thoughts you have let me know. Thanks all.