What starter model to get
Discussion
My young son is really keen to get a good RC car, and so I'm hoping there's someone here who can suggest some models.
I am a complete newbie to RC models, and have just bought a Team Losi Mini Monster Baja for my son.
However, although we had a long chat to the shopkeeper when buying it, it was not made clear that the batteries may explode or burst into flames at any point, and it wasn't made clear either, that you shouldn't use the Baja in the street or anywhere near people to avoid injury, as stated in the instruction manual...
So, sadly, it looks like I'll have to return the car to the shop, and would very much like some advice on what to get instead.
It would have to be completely safe, my son would like to use it near people both indoors and out, on the pavement and in the park, build tracks for it, and if we can find any tracks where he can race against others, he'd like to do that too.
Any ideas?
And any ideas for where to find racing tracks where you can race others?
Many thanks in advance,
Susanna
I am a complete newbie to RC models, and have just bought a Team Losi Mini Monster Baja for my son.
However, although we had a long chat to the shopkeeper when buying it, it was not made clear that the batteries may explode or burst into flames at any point, and it wasn't made clear either, that you shouldn't use the Baja in the street or anywhere near people to avoid injury, as stated in the instruction manual...
So, sadly, it looks like I'll have to return the car to the shop, and would very much like some advice on what to get instead.
It would have to be completely safe, my son would like to use it near people both indoors and out, on the pavement and in the park, build tracks for it, and if we can find any tracks where he can race against others, he'd like to do that too.
Any ideas?
And any ideas for where to find racing tracks where you can race others?
Many thanks in advance,
Susanna
At the age of 13 I had a nitro RC car which yes could catch fire, yes the batteries may explode, yes I could flatten people with it if I took it upto 30mph and launched it into their legs.
Is there actually anything wrong with the RC car you bought?
Any R/C toy you buy will have risks attached.
Is there actually anything wrong with the RC car you bought?
Any R/C toy you buy will have risks attached.
No, the car we bought is truly lovely, but although mature for his age, my son's only 6, and we were planning on using this new car for general use here at home (with my 1-year old always nearby) on the pavements around here and in the local park, which is very busy with children.
And I guess there's no point risking it, I don't fancy either of my children maimed.
When he's 13, we'll get him another one :-)
So, is there really no alternatives?
That sounds incredible...
What's the LEAST dangerous cars, then?
Thanks a lot,
Susanna
And I guess there's no point risking it, I don't fancy either of my children maimed.
When he's 13, we'll get him another one :-)
So, is there really no alternatives?
That sounds incredible...
What's the LEAST dangerous cars, then?
Thanks a lot,
Susanna
Are you for real? If your boy can't control a r/c car then maybe he isn't ready for the responsability it brings. In our local model flying club we have an 8 y/o who is fully competant in handling/flying a plane, so much so that he passed his BMFA A certificate. Its the person that makes a toy dangerous, not the toy itself
Most r/c stuff carrys plenty of warnings about how they can be dangerous if used incorrectly or carelessly, perhaps some more research on r/c models suitable for his age and ability might be in order.
Most r/c stuff carrys plenty of warnings about how they can be dangerous if used incorrectly or carelessly, perhaps some more research on r/c models suitable for his age and ability might be in order.
Edited by Amused2death on Tuesday 4th March 16:24
GoCar said:
No, the car we bought is truly lovely, but although mature for his age, my son's only 6, and we were planning on using this new car for general use here at home (with my 1-year old always nearby) on the pavements around here and in the local park, which is very busy with children.
And I guess there's no point risking it, I don't fancy either of my children maimed.
When he's 13, we'll get him another one :-)
So, is there really no alternatives?
That sounds incredible...
What's the LEAST dangerous cars, then?
Thanks a lot,
Susanna
Just set some guidelines and rules and all will be well. An electric car will probably be much safer than a nitro one would be and a damn sight cleaner too!And I guess there's no point risking it, I don't fancy either of my children maimed.
When he's 13, we'll get him another one :-)
So, is there really no alternatives?
That sounds incredible...
What's the LEAST dangerous cars, then?
Thanks a lot,
Susanna
Some RC cars have huge foam bumpers on the front and back to decrease damage done to the car and spectators. The likely hood of your child maiming anything.
Just looking at the one you have bought it appears to me is absolutely starter level. I had a 1/10 scale and that was fairly large.. 1/18th will not harm man nor beast..
Give your kid some responsibility. Restrict him to the garden with it? Worst thing hes going to damage is a plantpot!
Edit: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
The bloke above bought one^
Edited by ChristianZS on Tuesday 4th March 18:04
you wont get anything much safer unless you get something boring and slow from toys r us or early learning centre, or the likes, as for the batteries, they are perfectly safe if you follow the guidelines correctly. the only time where there may be a slight chance of them catching fire is when there on charge, but keep an eye on them or charge them out the way, in the garage for example and it'l be fine!
Hi all,
thanks a lot for your replies:
I'm not worried about the speed of the car, nor is my son too irresponsible, my post today was prompted by the fact that the instruction manual for our new car has a number of warnings about the LiPo battery exploding or catching fire, and it also directly states never to use the car anywhere near others, whether on pavements or in parks etc.... which, unless we find a track near us, is exactly where my son would be using it.
To someone with no experiece of LiPo batteries, they sound too dodgy to bother with, and so I thought we better return the car and find a more suitable one - if we follow the manufacturers instructions, we can't use the car anywhere :-)
But I can see that none of you are particularly worried about the batteries, so what I need is more information about them.
I've just googled LiPo batteries, and so far I've found the following, please let me know your thoughts on it all.
My questions are in brackets:
The batteries are only likely to burst into flames when being charged/overcharged, or when vehicle has crashed/battery has received dings. (I imagine that RC cars get a fair amount of bumps and rolls, how do I know when the battery has been affected?)
If battery has been in a crash, remove it and put it in a safe place. (How do you inspect/remove the battery without risk of injury to hands/face?)
You should keep an eye on the batteries all the time while recharging, to check for ballooning, smoke, smells etc..
If anything funny is going on, disconnect the battery and move to safe place.
(How long does it take to charge? Doesn't it drive you mad to only be able to charge when you're around?)
You should recharge the batteries outside away from everything, or alternatively in a fireproof box (where would I get that?).
It is recommended that a fire extinguisher of some sort be kept close to where the batteries are being charged.
(where do you keep the batteries when not in use/overnight? In a fireproof box in a place away from your house?)
Thanks a million again,
Susanna
thanks a lot for your replies:
I'm not worried about the speed of the car, nor is my son too irresponsible, my post today was prompted by the fact that the instruction manual for our new car has a number of warnings about the LiPo battery exploding or catching fire, and it also directly states never to use the car anywhere near others, whether on pavements or in parks etc.... which, unless we find a track near us, is exactly where my son would be using it.
To someone with no experiece of LiPo batteries, they sound too dodgy to bother with, and so I thought we better return the car and find a more suitable one - if we follow the manufacturers instructions, we can't use the car anywhere :-)
But I can see that none of you are particularly worried about the batteries, so what I need is more information about them.
I've just googled LiPo batteries, and so far I've found the following, please let me know your thoughts on it all.
My questions are in brackets:
The batteries are only likely to burst into flames when being charged/overcharged, or when vehicle has crashed/battery has received dings. (I imagine that RC cars get a fair amount of bumps and rolls, how do I know when the battery has been affected?)
If battery has been in a crash, remove it and put it in a safe place. (How do you inspect/remove the battery without risk of injury to hands/face?)
You should keep an eye on the batteries all the time while recharging, to check for ballooning, smoke, smells etc..
If anything funny is going on, disconnect the battery and move to safe place.
(How long does it take to charge? Doesn't it drive you mad to only be able to charge when you're around?)
You should recharge the batteries outside away from everything, or alternatively in a fireproof box (where would I get that?).
It is recommended that a fire extinguisher of some sort be kept close to where the batteries are being charged.
(where do you keep the batteries when not in use/overnight? In a fireproof box in a place away from your house?)
Thanks a million again,
Susanna
Whilst of course any battery has the potential to explode if mis-treated, I think it is unlikely that you would ever have a problem.
As long as you don't over charge them and you check them for damage every now and again I can't see any major problems.
If your really worried, maybe just chnage the batteries yourself so you Son doesn't need to go near them.
As for the fire extinguisher, that seems a bit extreme!
As long as you don't over charge them and you check them for damage every now and again I can't see any major problems.
If your really worried, maybe just chnage the batteries yourself so you Son doesn't need to go near them.
As for the fire extinguisher, that seems a bit extreme!
We are talking about an American company here, those instructions are written with their litigation culture in mind.
You can get LIPO sacks for charging the battery in, if you really want piece of mind, which are designed to protect the outside world against a lipo going pop.
Certainly at our local track there are a fair few crashes which I'd say are more likely with racing than on your own and those running lipo don't have problems.
From what you've described I can't see your son having any problems, I've just bought my son a similar car (an RC18T) and if I hadn't already had the nimh charger I'd have gone for lipo too.
You can get LIPO sacks for charging the battery in, if you really want piece of mind, which are designed to protect the outside world against a lipo going pop.
Certainly at our local track there are a fair few crashes which I'd say are more likely with racing than on your own and those running lipo don't have problems.
From what you've described I can't see your son having any problems, I've just bought my son a similar car (an RC18T) and if I hadn't already had the nimh charger I'd have gone for lipo too.
GoCar said:
Hi all,
thanks a lot for your replies:
I'm not worried about the speed of the car, nor is my son too irresponsible, my post today was prompted by the fact that the instruction manual for our new car has a number of warnings about the LiPo battery exploding or catching fire, and it also directly states never to use the car anywhere near others, whether on pavements or in parks etc.... which, unless we find a track near us, is exactly where my son would be using it.
To someone with no experiece of LiPo batteries, they sound too dodgy to bother with, and so I thought we better return the car and find a more suitable one - if we follow the manufacturers instructions, we can't use the car anywhere :-)
But I can see that none of you are particularly worried about the batteries, so what I need is more information about them.
I've just googled LiPo batteries, and so far I've found the following, please let me know your thoughts on it all.
My questions are in brackets:
The batteries are only likely to burst into flames when being charged/overcharged, or when vehicle has crashed/battery has received dings. (I imagine that RC cars get a fair amount of bumps and rolls, how do I know when the battery has been affected?)
If battery has been in a crash, remove it and put it in a safe place. (How do you inspect/remove the battery without risk of injury to hands/face?)
You should keep an eye on the batteries all the time while recharging, to check for ballooning, smoke, smells etc..
If anything funny is going on, disconnect the battery and move to safe place.
(How long does it take to charge? Doesn't it drive you mad to only be able to charge when you're around?)
You should recharge the batteries outside away from everything, or alternatively in a fireproof box (where would I get that?).
It is recommended that a fire extinguisher of some sort be kept close to where the batteries are being charged.
(where do you keep the batteries when not in use/overnight? In a fireproof box in a place away from your house?)
Thanks a million again,
Susanna
Sorry to say this, but there is a lot of BS flying around about LiPo's.thanks a lot for your replies:
I'm not worried about the speed of the car, nor is my son too irresponsible, my post today was prompted by the fact that the instruction manual for our new car has a number of warnings about the LiPo battery exploding or catching fire, and it also directly states never to use the car anywhere near others, whether on pavements or in parks etc.... which, unless we find a track near us, is exactly where my son would be using it.
To someone with no experiece of LiPo batteries, they sound too dodgy to bother with, and so I thought we better return the car and find a more suitable one - if we follow the manufacturers instructions, we can't use the car anywhere :-)
But I can see that none of you are particularly worried about the batteries, so what I need is more information about them.
I've just googled LiPo batteries, and so far I've found the following, please let me know your thoughts on it all.
My questions are in brackets:
The batteries are only likely to burst into flames when being charged/overcharged, or when vehicle has crashed/battery has received dings. (I imagine that RC cars get a fair amount of bumps and rolls, how do I know when the battery has been affected?)
If battery has been in a crash, remove it and put it in a safe place. (How do you inspect/remove the battery without risk of injury to hands/face?)
You should keep an eye on the batteries all the time while recharging, to check for ballooning, smoke, smells etc..
If anything funny is going on, disconnect the battery and move to safe place.
(How long does it take to charge? Doesn't it drive you mad to only be able to charge when you're around?)
You should recharge the batteries outside away from everything, or alternatively in a fireproof box (where would I get that?).
It is recommended that a fire extinguisher of some sort be kept close to where the batteries are being charged.
(where do you keep the batteries when not in use/overnight? In a fireproof box in a place away from your house?)
Thanks a million again,
Susanna
I'm starting up again after a 10 year break and I'm going LiPo as this is the future, so to is the brushless way. The club I'm racing at use LiPo's and never had a problem with them. They are used correctly and responsibly. There is no need for fire blankets or fire extinguishers - PLEASE!!! Where's the nappies for those nanny state idiots shouting off about LiPo's.
One of the guys who uses them, charges the LiPo fully the night before, uses that same LiPo without having to top up for his first heat, then as soon as he comes off, he sticks it on charge until the next race etc etc. After the last race he just makes sure that the LiPo has the minimum voltage which is approx 2-3volts (don't quote me on that as I'm still new to the LiPo world, so check your instructions that come with the LiPo). Far less hassle than cells, cheaper in the long run and you'll find that the market will head that way to be solely LiPo in about 5 years.
BTW: LiPo is nothing new, it's been around for years, it's just new to cars and therefore some idoits might think you can charge them like normal cells which YOU CANT!
happy racing.
Go LiPo - read the instructions and you'll be laughing.
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