LewZ
That is a very nice looking fishing Boat, and the lights set it off very nice.
Now that is a pond, do you sit on the side with a beer, with just a 40MHz Transmitter and say that you are sailing a sub?
Fred

[Model Boat Lights] I'm just going to be content with my photos of my trawler's lights as photographed my office/model lab. I do have a good sized pond (~100m across) in my back yard (see photo, view from back door) so if I really wanted to run my boat at any time, I can do so 24/7. Problem is it is a little rough around the shoreline and I'm too old to use my canoe if needed for a rescue.
Lew
Florida 😎🚤, USA❤️

AlessandroSPQR, thank you, as for the lights they are small SMD LED's pre wired from AliExpress.
I use them now for most of my boats
Fred

Hi Fred, I will wait for the next opportunity for your video.
I must tell you that the photo of the boat at night with the lights is truly beautiful and evocative.

Fred, just as well (park closing) because herw in Florida at dusk the bugs come out. Worse than the gators during the day.
Lew
Florida ⛱️, USA 🇺🇸

Looking great 👍

Hi Fred, nice photos; Don't you also have a video of the navigation?

Fred, in my 55 years of running RC scale model boats I never had the opportunity to run a boat in the dark. (Our parks close at dark.) Consequently, only one of my boats has operating lights. So, for me, sound, smoke, and operating accessories take precedence over lights.

Lew
Florida ⛱️, USA 🇺🇸

What a beautiful ship, congratulations.👍😍

Fred sorry to hear but keep at it and you may fine a solution. Len

Very good Fred. You solved it very well.

Do you have any photos to show us?

Non forsit Herman,😉

RNinMunich
i need to offer you my apologies..... i didn't notice the 1/72 scale
mea culpa mea culpa 😊

A steam engine in a 1/72 scale Puffer?😮
Now THAT I would dearly like to see Herman!
I'd buy one immediately.
Cheers, Doug😎

Rockbag
You have never thought of putting a steam engine in you puffer?
A lot of our members(KMYCA) have done it and it sails very realisticly

What a bunch of helpfull people on this fantastic site!
If we would be all like the people on this forum the world would be far better off

Hi
First I will replay to Alessandro, you have got it all right my friend, and the problem is in the battery pack, it is just the wrong one in regards to mAH and age. If I take out the ESC and the rudder servo and connect the motor to the battery it works, add in the rudder and ESC the motor stops working.
As for the motor that is one that I have in my New/old stock, I don’t know if you have every done the old wash trick, the old method of bedding in the brushes on a brushed motor, stick them in a glass of water, connect to a 7.2V NiCd then stop when the water started to get blackened. This method kept the motor cool while washing the carbon off of the commutator as the brushes bedded in. Once ready just dry the motor off, put some oil on the bearings (bronze bushes) and give it a good spry with GT85 like WD40 but a lot better, no longer needed with brushless motors.

LewZ my problem has all boiled down to using the wrong size of battery, the small liPo battery works just fine and the fit is perfect for this small model, after all it is only 17” LOA, I just have to get my head around using LiPo’s instead of SLA battery’s.

Isaac yes I have ordered a small Lipo battery pack, in the mean time I am using the one out of the T72 tank to get all the parts in the right place, so far I have had to refit the battery box, and I am now going to remake the motor mount, should have done a better job in the first place.

Rockbag As this started out as a winter build and only using items I have in the odds bin, it has taken longer than I had hoped, so far I have only had to buy a small stem winch and now the liPo battery pack, I think that in the future I will stick to my tug’s as they are of a size that will take SLA battery’s, but saying that I still have the 1/24 size Puffer.
Fred

Hi Fred,
I finished building a Clyde Puffer a while ago and I power the motor with a 3cell 7.4 Lipo. This works very well. The speed controller needs to be compatible with the lipo which also provides power to the receiver.
Ian (Rockbag)

why not get LiPo batteries? They come in all sort of sizes and shapes to fit your boat.

I have 3 large boats that have brushed motors as well as 3 brushless motored boats all running beautifully on 7.4 v LiPo batteries ( some are 3200 and others at 5000 MaH size ). Average run time is at least 30 minutes to an hour at my medium speed. I bring extra batteries when the measured voltage goes below 30%.

Isaac

Fred...

Did you run the batteries through a battery checker (not just voltage meter)? The 6V ("stick"?) batteries should do the job unless the current (Amperage) is too low, the battery is weak, or you are drawing too much current in your boat.

The T72 tank's 7.4V battery is probably a Lithium Ion battery. (I run RC tanks as well.) These are interchangeable with the 7.2V ion, Nicads, etc

I recently got 10 of the 7.4V Lithium Ion batteries with the Tamiya (yuck) connectors; they are 3900Mah and very reasonable from China (where else could we get them). Started using them in my tanks and boats. They are about 1/3 the size of the 7.2V hobby batteries.

I even made some adapters to fit the 7.4's LiIons in the 7.2V hobby batteries footprint, if needed. Bottom line is these should work for you if the boat has no other issues.

Lew
Florida 😎, USA😍

Fred, I'm sorry but I didn't understand correctly.
Bear with me, but it's a translation issue.

So everything works except the brushed electric motor? Did I get it right?
Precisely: does it work with a 6 volt SLA battery but not with a 6 volt battery stick? Did I get it right?
Does it run on a 7.4 volt battery? Did I get it right?

If you answered yes to the first questions then I think I have identified the problem, but before I tell you my opinion I have to ask you a few questions.

The stick of 6 volt batteries that were unable to start the electric motor, are they alkaline batteries? What type of batteries are they?
Are they four AA pens in series?
Can you read the charge in Ah (Ampere-hour) or mAH (milliAmpere-hour) that is written on the batteries?

How many Ah does the SLA battery have?

Do you have any data on your engine? It would be important to know the voltage range, the rated working current in Amperes or the power in Watts.

If you insert photos or videos it will all be much easier for me to understand.

Maybe I didn't understand anything because there are words that I translated in an absurd way, but I'll tell you some things in general.
If you already know them, don't worry.

The brushed electric motor below a certain voltage (for example 3 volts) is not able to start even when idle (with a free shaft). Above a certain voltage, (for example 9 volts), it begins to be damaged.
Within the working range, the more you increase the voltage, the faster it will spin.

However, even with the correct voltage, if the power source does not have enough power the engine will not be able to start.
We talk in terms of amperage instead of watts which is simpler. If the motor needs at least 1 amp and you are able to supply less, it will not be able to turn even if the voltage is the right one.
To verify this you can do a very simple test if you have a DC benchtop power supply.
Power a motor whose nominal voltage you know (for example 9 volts), you will see that it will absorb a certain current.
Then leaving the voltage at 9 volts activates the current limiter. You will see that below a certain threshold the motor will no longer turn on even if powered at 9 volts.

Hi Gary
I do like the way that you have gone about rudder control on your Puffer, for my other Puffer, I was thinking of may be some form of tiller arm on the top of the rudder with the chains going around the deck to the wheel.
Just love that you are a steam man.
Fred

I also did not want a control rod running across the rear deck and my solution was this. Plus you could use a smaller servo this one is standard size, it works really well and fits in with the chain from the ships wheel. Regards, Gary.

Hello Fred, if your boat manages to turn you will have achieved your result; there are a thousand ways of doing things, the important thing is that you remain satisfied, I believe.

Hi Alessandro SPQR
I am just updating the blog,
the thing is having the control rod going over the deck on this model was the only way that I could see to make the rudder work, when I start on the 1/24 Puffer I will look at trying to have a working rudder that is like one that I have seen in a photo of a Puffer.
There are some who are rivet counters that think that if you are going to make a scale model than it should be the same as the real thing, in my on or off years of model boat building I have come across one or two of them at some time.

Fred

Sorry Fred, I didn't understand exactly what you wanted to know, my fault.

Coming along very nicely Fred, you do good work.
Cash