I found with the new motor, that the 60A ESC was getting a bit too warm as it has no air flowing over it, and due to the space restriction I can't fit a fan. I decided to knock up a simple water cooler for it, but due to not having a thick piece of ally plate 'in stock' and that we are on restrictions till tomorrow, I had to make do with some 4mm ally strip and make it in 2 pieces.

It was cut to 25x25mm and end drilled at opposite corners, with both pieces clamped in the mill/drill. I then milled each piece about 2mm deep, and drilled and tapped the center 3mm to screw it together. The 4mm copper tubes will be glued in with a firm grey silicone engine gasket maker, which will be applied to the outside edges as well, then all screwed together. It will be strapped to the ESC, and water fed from the jet unit pick-up, which should push it around nicely when running. (could have used small stainless c/s screws through the bottom plate and screwed it to the fins, but would have been difficult to remove later if necessary)

I'm going to make a separate pick-up at the stern for the water/smoke system, as it previously stopped feeding when the jet was stopped, even though it was using a pump , (I want it going while the 'engine' is idling). One more thing for the 'spaghetti junction'😁

I have now fitted the new water pump pick-up (bottom skin fitting) and re-directed the pump plumbing to that. Have also fitted a new water exit fitting in the transom for the ESC water (now taken from the jet pick-up) All seems to work pretty well now, with the pump water now being continuous at 'idle' (previously stopped when the jet stopped) and the ESC water increasing with throttle (see latest vid).

Careful when you look at 'spaghetti junction' (aka Medusas' hair) might cause hardening of the arteries, or body parts😂

List of spaghetti 'boatognese' ingredients,-

5 voltage regulators (lights, nav and interior, air pump, e-cig smoke and cooling fans)

3 servos (1 micro for switching lights) 1 for bucket and 1 for steering

1 electronic switch

1 3000kva motor

1 60A ESC

1 ESC cooler

1 9 ch RX

1 Air pump

1 Water pump

1 Twin fan dummy motor (with thermostatic switch added for fans)

1 Gt Power sound unit

1 'Grahams' Brand' 'Smokomatic' timer

1 E-cig smoke unit

1 large cup of of wire

2 dozen plugs

Lashings of tube

1 3s 2200mAh Lipo

1 1s 1000mAh LiPo (lighting is on separate system)

Think that's about it😁

Just another little morsel (re Monty Python) the boat is getting a bit like Mr Creosote from all the mods😁. This latest one is to cool the battery, as the 25c 3s got a bit too hot on the test run, being enclosed in the rear seat box. I have now hooked up another thermostat system with a cooling fan in the box, ( the other one is on the motor fans). I have used a 5v fan and reduced the 3s power to it with a small voltage regulator (same as all the others used) and interrupted the pos lead from the battery (JST plug is spliced into the battery lead and hot melted onto the XT60 plug) with a 30 deg C thermostat.

If the battery temp exceeds 30 deg C, the fan starts, and will not turn off till the temp reaches 28 deg C, (may not cool completely with the motor in use, but it's better than nothing). I will be buying a higher C battery to replace the 25c (probably 40/45c ) which should stay cooler, - especially with the fan. Have also shortened the battery leads to make it easier to fit. The thermostat is just taped to the battery with a piece of masking tape, after the battery is fitted.

I know it's not a boat, but it's attached to one 😁 - I've been trying to do a decent trailer launching vid, but have had a problem with the vehicle having no 'handbrake' to stop it (and the boat) rolling back on the big boat ramps which are quite steep. It's also hard to find just the right spot where there are no people, nice slope to the water etc. I have now come up with a simple driveline brake (think Landrover) which works pretty well on the vehicle (yet to see if it will work with the weight of the boat and trailer,- could need a lump of lead for traction). The cord is wound round the driveshaft so that in reverse, once the servo pulls on it,
it automatically wants to tighten itself and grips quite well.

The servo is plugged into the rotary switch on the TX,but so the braking can be applied gradually for control when backing down the ramp (at least that's the theory😁) another turn or two on the shaft will multiply the braking effort if necessary. The vehicle is also very low geared 1000 RPM@12V geared motor and the diff is about 4:1 so will idle up the slope in the pic. Tows the boat and trailer easily ( about 8lbs) but could do with a bit more weight for traction (vehicle weighs 1.8kg).

Always something to play with, improvements to make😁

Just tried the new 'handbrake' on the tow vehicle with the boat attached and it works 100%. Will actually stop the whole unit while rolling down the slope, and with a bit more weight in the back of tow vehicle, it should be good for another launching attempt at a proper ramp. Answering your question Steve, water seems to make little difference, (actually seems slightly better)

I needed to be able to carry everything together, to places I might like to try for a better launching video. Problem was/is that there is a 100m or so down a beach to a spot which I discovered, which looks like an ideal area to have a 'play'. If I couldn't carry everything at once, it would be too dicey to make a few trips,-leaving pieces unattended in a public area, out of sight for 5 mins each trip. Therefore the boat box was knocked up, mostly from bits I had left over from house projects. Mainly 5mm ply with 18x18 pine framing.

The trailer sits on blocks to raise it slightly so as not to flat spot the tyres when stored, and is held in place by a screw at the front and 2 notches at the back. There are Formica 'locks' at the back which turn over the trailer frame at the back to hold it in the notches. The boat is lowered in complete with the trailer, with the help of a cord with a 'spreader bar' at the back The trailer is 'locked' in place then the tow car and radio shelves are inserted.

The boat and tow car are held in place by sponge pads on the lid, (the tow car springs help hold it still as well, as the lid pushes down on the roof a few mm) There is a shaped piece of thin cardboard which slides down the back of the tow car and folds over the roof,-just to stop the lid restraint cord catching on the tow-bar. Everything fits in with 2mm to spare height wise. The box has a rope shoulder strap for carrying short distances, (needs some padding) but I am looking for some large pram or golf trundler wheels for 'long distance travel' ( some of the prams have clip on/off wheels which would be useful,- might have to buy a complete pram to get the bits)

I've trial fitted a twin speaker BT module which is powered by a 1s LiPo. Speakers are 8 Ohm .25W (the board has a 3W max output) I was thinking of fitting a small amp to it, (as per Grahams suggestion) but it can produce some reasonable volume, depending on the recording level. If the recording was done at a high level, the volume will be louder, (as I've found with transferring my vinyl to flash drive, - tapes are a bit harder to do as they tend to be a bit duller- especially after 40 yrs 😁) I'll see how it sounds on the water.

Music is running off the micro SD card in the vid, but I can also use BT to transmit from the phone radio, - or music (on micro SD card) and radio from my small BT player (small red player in pics). The remote works with the card inserted in the board, and anything else is by BT. Quite a lot of fun playing with this. Had it running for around 5 hrs from the card and only used .2v from the 2200 mAh LiPo ((1 cell from a dud 3s) I have a 1s 2000 mAh from a vape machine which is a lot smaller and lighter which I would use on the water.

The board has a limited equaliser, volume, fast fwd/back, next track (by button or numbers, on off etc. Quite amazing for its' size. I have 170 entries on the card at the moment,(mostly album sides with a number of single songs) which took a bit of sorting out. The board sorts/plays them in a haphazard way, which didn't match the order I recorded them in (or alphabetically) ?? I have them all numbered on a sheet of paper now to make a song/album easy to find.

I was thinking, that once it's all tucked away in the boat, I might extend the IR pick-up for the remote, to somewhere more easily 'seen' by the remote (perhaps on the dash) I've found the same pick-ups on AlExp for a few dollars a bag of 10, (I'll need them, as the pick-up on the board will be destroyed if I take it off. Something else to play with if I get bored.

The speakers are hidden under the galley top and in the 'head' compartment, in wedge shaped boxes, which will be trimmed and painted before screwing into place. All wires are fitted with JST plugs in case things need removing, and board will probably be fitted in one of the forward bunk boxes (if I can extend the BT pick-up) otherwise the board may be disguised as a squab.

Roy Phillips (The Peddlers) is still living here (been here since 81 and he's cracking 80)

Just fitted my small BT player under the front cabin roof to use as a radio. It plays through the BT board but requires an aerial. I have made a working aerial using a spring as a base (so it can be folded down) and a wire soldered to the wire aerial and fed through the spring and through a hole in the cabin. it is attached to an adaptor plug which plugs into the BT player. Works very well and does not require unplugging to remove the cabin. player will only need removing for charging.

I will now be able to play music from a micro SD card on the BT board using its' remote, from the card in the player via the BT board and the radio in the player via the BT board.

The BT board will be hidden under the front bunks once everything is sorted, (hopefully with an afore mentioned IR pick-up extension for the remote to 'see'. I've ordered a sack of IR pick-ups from AlExp to try, and another BT board in case smoke leaks out.

Just received my sack of infra red pick-ups today and had a crack at fitting an extension to the one on the board. The extension is needed as the BT/IR music board is now hidden under the front bunk, and the IR pick-up on it can't be seen by the remote. The extended pick-up is now mounted above the dash and should be in a good position to receive a signal. Works really well, even with the original still in place, (Graham was right, and no smoke😁) I did order a spare board just in case😊, but can now use that in something else.

I decided to change the Surpass 3650 3000KV in-runner for an XTeam 3660 2550KV for a bit more torque and try the heavy duty (hopefully) coupling I made on the lathe. The coupling uses 11mm OD x 6mm ID silicone tube and is a 3 piece unit with alloy ends with splined inner diams which are a tight fit in the tubing. The whole coupling is only 25mm long to fit in between the jet unit and motor mount, (not a lot of room for most std couplings.)

The previous experimental coupling was silicone tube with a firm plastic tube pressed on, which lasted for a few previous runs, but the last run shredded it completely, so I thought it was time to try my new MK 3 coupling. After I modified the jet unit, (better impeller and min clearance) the 3000KV motor pulled 30A static, and obviously had a bit of torque to shred the coupling. I like the silicone as you can't damage your motor if something jambs the prop,- it will strip or tear and stop the motor stalling. The smaller tubing obviously has its' limitations,- hence going BIG.

I've run the new coupling up to around 25000rpm with a shaft, and it's very smooth with no vibration. I might add small zip ties to the tubing to grip the splines better.

Forgot to check on the earlier runs, but the thermostatic fans on the motor (2 in the dummy motor and 1 in the battery compartment) worked well on this last run, which was good, and the fans cooled things down quite quickly, (battery gets quite warm). Both use a 30C thermo switch,- the battery one is just taped to the battery.

Another test due when the weather clears up, (rubbish at the moment).

Quick vid before the old coupling let go.

JB