Remote Controlled Car: Batteries Not Included

If you want to customize your own a remote controlled car, then a remote controlled car kit is the perfect accessory for you.

But which one is the best for you? First, let's look at the different components of the vehicle.

Chassis, the skeleton and main foundation of the automobile. Without it, there's no vehicle. The chassis is usually made of aluminum and may sometimes include carbon fiber reinforced polymer parts.

Suspension helps absorb any shock when running over rough terrain and after an RC car lands from a jump. Its main parts include oil-filled shocks and springs.

Drivetrain is responsible for making it move. This includes the axels, engine/motor, gears and wheels.



The Glow Starter is responsible for enabling the Glow Plug to ignite the fuel that powers the engine.

A nitro and gas ones have engines which uses fuel to operate. An electric vehicle uses a motor powered by batteries.

There are dozens of remote controlled cars out there. You can choose from European, American and even Asian brands. But no matter what brand you buy, they all have one thing in common: accessories.

Batteries are necessary, especially if you have an electric unit. Nickel cadmium or Nickel hydride are the required batteries and usually needs an output of 7.2 volts in order for it to run. This makes it run for about 10 minutes but will also depend on the driving conditions, whether on-road or off-road. Batteries are also required for the radio transmitters to run. This part requires around 12 volts to be able to operate with maximum power.

RC car tires are either sold separately or come in the original package you purchase. They are all different and vary according to the type of vehicle and the surface the car will run on. All the RC cars have their own preferred line of tires.

a. Drift Tire are for drift racing and composed of rubber and a special resin compound that ensures RC tracks will not be damaged. These are usually mounted on touring car wheels.

b. Bowtie tire are designed for hard-packed remote control auto tracks.

c. Ribbed tire provide great grip and most often used on the front wheels.

d. The All Terrain tire are multi-purpose tires and works good on any terrain. They are used both on the front and rear wheels.

e. Street tires are needed to achieve best performance when running on hard surfaces like asphalt and concrete. But the work doesn't stop there. It may be fun buying all this stuff.

But if you don't know how to take care of your remote controlled auto, then it will be all for nothing.

Remote controlled cars, whether nitro or electric, have to be properly and regularly maintained to ensure a smooth and long run every time it is operated. Always allow at least 30 minutes to perform maintenance.

Inspect it and make sure there is no physical damage. If there is physical damage, assess what is needed to be able to repair it. If there is no physical damage, clean it off with a clean towel. Use a small brush to clean off what the towel cannot.

If you're not going to be operating your vehicle for some time, drain the fuel tank. Failing to do that can build up condensation in the fuel tank and can seriously damage the engine.




Clean and oil the air filter and don't forget to add after-burn oil to keep the cylinder head lubricated for maximum performance.

Check tires for any damage. Check if there are any loose screws. Check the suspension. Check your batteries. Failing to do any of these will result in your automobiles poor performance.

All these things are important when owning a remote controlled car. So be sure that you're ready for this kind of responsibility when you decide to get one.

Andy West is a writer for Nitrotek, an online distributor of sophisticated and well made remote controlled products. From remote controlled boats to a remote controlled car, you can find it all at Nitrotek.co.uk. For more information visit them today.

Radio Controlled Boats...Gift Guide and FAQs

I have collected the most frequently asked questions about radio controlled boats that gift givers have asked me so they can get their heads around the vast array of choices.

Are all Radio Controlled Boats Ready to Run (RTR)? Broadly, radio controlled boats come in three different types of packages; RTR kits, ARTR kits, and Assembly kits. RTR or ready-to-run need little or no assembly. Some small adjustments may be needed depending on the make of boat e.g. batteries in the boat and transmitter and fuel but they are essentially ready-to-run. They are perfect for the novice enthusiasts. ARTR or almost-ready-to-run involve partial assembly by a person who is either familiar with radio controlled boats or willing to dig into the manuals and videos about the product. Assembly kits are obviously more advanced. They come with all the parts needed to prep the boat for running but they must be assembled. The level of assembly varies but generally you need to be pretty advanced to be able to do this.

So just to be clear...are most RTR boats complete and ready to run? Some RTR boats have battery packs chargers and everything else included in the price however oddly some described as RTR boats often require you to buy a battery pack for the boat and batteries for the transmitter so check carefully. I always make it clear what is required for my boats. I think some people define RTR as "its all included and you open the box and go" and others define it as "ready to run after you add the power packs". So forewarned is forearmed.

How are they Powered? Radio controlled boats are made in three main types: electric, nitro, and gas versions. Electric are more popular because they are so easy to operate. Nitro boats use Nitro-methane fuel and gas boats use a regular car gas and oil mix.



How Easy are they? I find that the faster the boat the better skills you have to have. To control the boat you have to make minute changes on a radio transmitter to make the boat do what you want it to do. Doing this at 20mph is far easier than doing it at 50+mph. If you have a huge space and nobody else around you can let loose but more often than not other people are around. Even though small they can injure and do damage if they hit somebody and something. So beginners usually start with electric boats. The bigger and more expensive nitro and gas boats also need maintenance and tuning so you also have to be prepared for that. If you don't want to tinker with an engine stick to electric at least to start and get a feel.

What are these boats like? Electric is the least expensive and easiest to operate. They do however get slower as the run time progresses and the battery power is depleted. Nitro boast are mid price range, fairly easy to operate and nitro engines deliver say 25 mins of run time per tank and it s all at full power while there is fuel in the tank. Gas boats get the highest speed and use simple pull start engines that run on regular car gas mixed with 2 cycle oil. They run for up to 45 minutes on a tank.

How fast do they go? This gets asked a lot. This will vary a lot depending on the boat and how or if you tune them but you can expect electric boats to get between 15-20mph, Nitro boats between 30-35mph and gas to reach 40 to 45mph range. There are boats that are fine tuned to go well over 100mph - but that's obviously an expert level.



Can I run them anywhere? How well do they run in ponds rivers etc? Radio controlled boats can run on rivers, ponds, the sea and even pools. However they face a big problem if pond or sea weed is in the water. Radio control boats use rudder and propeller systems that are submerged into the water and they get snagged by the weed. Now this is similar to real boats except that the real boat engines have a great deal more torque and can generally cut through or break the weed (but not always). A boat running in weeds will bog down and most likely get stuck - the moral of the story is to run in clear water which will give you so much more fun.

What are the most common accessories for boats? Most electric boats require at least one and sometimes two 6 cell 7.2V battery packs. And you will need a charger to recharge them once depleted. Nitro boats require special nitro fuel and a starter kit to get the engine going. Gas boats use regular auto fuel mixed with 2 stroke oil. Refer back to the second question about RTR boats and what that really means.

We have a hand picked selection of the best radio controlled boats. Come visit us!

Rc Planes - What They Are All About

Radio controlled planes are model planes that are controlled remotely by use of a radio device. The radio device is held by the pilot. The radio device, commonly known as remote control, sends signals to the receiver that is built within the airplane. This receiver controls the servos of the plane depending on the position of the joysticks of the transmitter.

There are many types of RC planes available. These planes are designed to match the experience of the pilot. For those who are just beginning to fly, Park flyers and trainers are ideal for them. Then there are glow plug engines, electric powered and sailplane aircrafts for those who have advanced more and for the expert pilots, there are jets, pylon racers, autogyros, helicopters, 3D aircraft and other planes which can be flown for competitions and pose more challenges while controlling.




The park flyers are so called because they can easily be flown in a large public park and some models are docile enough to be controlled in an enclosed place like a gym. There are also bigger types of park flyers that require bigger open areas to fly too. The trainers too are very user-friendly planes. They are easy to control and fun to learn with. The advanced types like glow plugs and electric powered planes have solid controls, but the more complicated the controls are, the more fun one has. The expert planes are used even for professional competitions. They are also equipped with more complicated controls, but are fun to fly.

RC planes come in three forms, the ready-to-fly, almost ready to fly and the Balsa kits. The ready to fly ones require very little assembling after they are bought. What one can fix are may be the wings, and the ammunition. The almost ready to fly are not fully assembled and so the buyer has to assemble most of the parts. And the kits come as chips and parts which one has to assemble from scratch. Assembling of the kits can take a few hundred hours to thousands of hours, depending on the size and type of the plane you have bought.



RC planes are fitted with ailerons on their wings, which assist in turning them while in flight. Some models of RC planes use the combustion technology and use gas in their engines. The electric models use batteries. The batteries used on these planes are not the ordinary ones we can get in any shop but more powerful types, which can last for many flying hours. There are three main types of batteries one can use on the model planes. These types are Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH), Nikel-cadmium (NiCAD), and the latest type in the market, the Lithium Poly cells.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model planes and model helicopters. You can find the best marketplace for model planes and model helicopters by visiting the best sites for model planes, model fighter planes, and model helicopters.