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RC boat accessories -
the essential items

RC boat accessories are pretty much essential for any rc boat, whether nitro powered or electric although nitro boats require the most.
The range of accessories available is almost endless, so this page will only introduce you to the essential ones, ie the field equipment that you'll need to take with you to the pond.

Nitro rc boat accessories

A few of the essential items that you'll need to get your nitro motor started are a glow plug ignitor, fuel filler bottle or pump, some spare glow plugs and a glow plug wrench.

A glow plug can decide to give up at anytime, and even brand new plugs have been known to be faulty, so carrying a few spare ones around isn't a bad idea at all.

These essential nitro rc boat accessories are shown in the pictures below:

A very easy way of buying all of these accessories is in a 'starter pack', such as the Megatech Nitro Performance Pack.

A glow plug ignitor is used to make the glow plug heat up enough to ignite the fuel/air mixture within the combustion chamber of the motor. Once running, the heat from the combustion inside the chamber keeps the plug glowing and the ignitor is removed.

If you're having trouble starting the motor, remove the glow plug and put the ignitor on it. If it's not glowing, then either the plug has burnt out or you forgot to charge the ignitor battery. Oops!

A word about nitro (glow) fuel

Nitro (or glow) fuel is methanol based and can be purchased with various nitro content, 20% or 25% being the two most commonly used fuels.

Nitro fuel should always be kept in its plastic container with the lid tightly sealed, because methanol absorbs water very quickly, including water molecules that are floating around in the air as moisture. Once moisture has got into the fuel, it's pretty much wrecked.
If kept properly though, nitro fuel will last forever; you'll use it all up way before it starts to deteriorate.

When it burns in a nitro rc boat motor it can leave a nasty oil slick over anything that the exhaust gases come into contact with (the amount of oil varies depending on fuel quality and manufacturer).

For this reason, it's a very good idea to always have a can of fuel cleaner with you and plenty of old rags.
A decent cleaner, such as the one shown right, will cut right through the oil and remove it completely, whereas just wiping it off with a dry or damp rag will never remove it completely.

Always spend just a few minutes cleaning your boat after every trip to the pond - it'll save you in the long run!

Electric starters

An electric starter is the only way to start your nitro motor if it's not a pullstart one.
A starter is basically a high-torque electric 12V motor with a metal cup on the end of the motor shaft. You need to place the starter belt around the pulley section of the cup and then around the flywheel of the nitro motor.

When you operate the starter it spins the cup and thus turns the belt and the flywheel of the nitro motor. A normal nitro engine should fire up within a few seconds of using a starter if it is correctly tuned.

A typical electric starter is shown below:

Of course, you'll need to buy the 12V battery to power the starter. These can be purchased from any hobby store or motorcycle store.

The thing to remember with rc boat accessories is that if you intend joining a club then your fellow modelers will be able to help you out in your early days, so you don't need to rush out and buy everything at once if it's going to stretch your budget too much.

Electric rc boat accessories

One of the advantages of electric rc boats is that they don't need anything to start them; so long as the motor batteries are charged then you just flick the switch and away you go, unlike nitro rc boats that require at least the basic accessories listed above.

However, the essential item that you will need is a battery charger for the motor battery pack.
If a charger doesn't come with your boat, then they can be purchased in many different shapes and sizes, ranging from simple 'trickle' (slow) chargers to multi-function, electronically controlled chargers/dischargers.

You can buy battery chargers for rc boats that are designed to run from a 12v car battery via the cigarette lighter socket; these are normally called field chargers, simply because they are designed to be used 'in the field' ie wherever you're running your rc boat. An example is shown below:

Out of all the chargers available, a simple 'fast charger' is the best type to go for, and if you can get one that runs on mains (AC) power and a 12v (DC) car battery, then even better.

Typically, a 6v or 7.2v rc boat battery pack charging on a standard fast charger will take around 15-20 minutes to charge. So for this reason, it's a good idea to carry at least one other motor battery pack with you, as this means that you'll still be able to run your boat while the second pack is charging.

When buying chargers and extra battery packs, always check that they are compatible with your boat's motor.
Where possible, stay with the same manufacturer particularly with the battery packs, although these packs do commonly share the same style of connector so different makes can be used. The important thing to remember is to buy the correct voltage battery pack for the motor. This will be stated on the motor but it is possible to run an electric motor on a higher voltage to get more power. If in doubt though, seek advice!

Check Red Rocket Hobby Shop for rc boat accessories.

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