8 replies to this topic

[Codeman]

Hi guys,

 

I am new here and read through the awesome article on here about modding a rapidstrike.  I have recently gotten back into nerf which I used to love as a kid now being 27yrs old and have 2 daughters I recently got back into it and am finding it more fun as an adult!  I recently acquired a awesome deal on a bunch of used blasters and decided to mod at least one and see how it goes.  I have a rapid strike that I removed the jam door switch and the mag switch from.  I just recently found the dart zone article that goes into detail on how to rewire with heavier wire, and a heavier switch utilizing the stock motors.  I would like to do this but see two issues.  One being I love the modded gun for speed and power but sometimes I would like to dial it back for when playing inside with the kids vs outside at extended ranges.  My thought was maybe utilize all the mods he does minus the lipo and see where I am with the stock c batteries but I am not sure if I want to go through all that work and have it slightly better vs awesome running a lipo.  So my next thought was ask on here if anyone has ever added almost a selector switch that when flipped into one position used a resistor to knock down current to the blaster and reduce some of the performance so you could slide the rocker to one position and have a resistor wired in with the battery voltage to knock down your voltage and current some to slow down the motors.  If so would someone point me in the right direction or if anyone knows what size resistor I would need to accomplish near stock performance with those mods I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks

[Meaker VI]

Using a resister (or other method, eg: swapping batteries from 3s to 2s using 3s motors) to knock down performance is possible. There's a reason not to do that, but for dinking around with the kids I'm not sure that it matters (wheels spin up slower, wheels not at speed will transfer velocity to the dart depending on speed where wheels overspeed will max out possible dart velocity for those wheels and cage). A better, also possible, way to do it is to assemble two cages - one for high velocity and one for low.

[Codeman]

Ok that makes sense. I was just thinking of the stock blaster but I never thought the reason the stock blaster fires weak is there is not enough current to keep the motors turning how the blaster bogs when firing. So I guess the resister would eat a little current but probably not help as much.

[Codeman]

Ok so another question.

I just got a rc car that came with two nicd battery packs that are like 9.6v I think. It came with two batteries so Im contemplating trying those batteries in my rapidstrike and an ecs12 I rewired as well. They are running stock switches until the switches burn up and then stock motors. I am wondering is there an easy way to step down voltage to say that 7.4v range while maintaining my mAH currents through the blasters? I just dont need to overvolt too much and dont want the insane rof on the rapidstrike just want the blasters to not bog the flywheels when you shoot and get a bit more FPS out of them. I play with kids so nothing crazy. And I was thinking this would be awesome since I have the batteries and use them in something else as well.

Thanks for the help

[Meaker VI]

9.6 and 7.4v are both nominally 2s, the battery will probably step down on its own during use.

NIMH is very stable, not sure about Nicad but you can always try it while monitoring carefully for issues. Stock it should be ok.

[Codeman]

Ok what should I watch for as issues or just monitor voltage. Both guns are stock motors. The only changes are the thermal resistors removed and wired with 16awg wire and the boards removed and flywheels wired direct. I am thinking run stock switches and if they fail then upgrade the flywheel rev switches.

[Meaker VI]

More concerned about battery failure, which would be thermal runaway venting/explosion depending on battery and type. Next would be burning up components (motors/switches), but those should be self-contained and replaceable.

Dont let the batteries get hot, watch battery voltage and dont let it get low, consider a voltmeter.

[snakerbot]

I used an ancient 6 cell (7.2V) NiCd in my rapidstrike running Blades for a while. All the stock switches died, but that might not be an issue if you're using stock motors. The battery never gave me issues, but I did notice a performance bump when switching to 2S LiPo. The trigger felt much snappier after the switch.

[Codeman]

Thanks for the help. I was having issues with my rapidstrike and found the stock c batteries were weak. Put new ones in and it rips compared to stock after safeties and ptc and motor board removal and wiring with 16awg. I got some rechargeable aa batteries I might try with spacers since this thing must eat batteries and leave blaster alone until my kids get a bit bigger then maybe upgrade to a bigger pack and better switches. Nice part is the wiring is done just need a battery connector and mount a rev switch and wire. So Im hoping the rechargeable aa batteries offer the same performance even if they die faster I can recharge. The blaster is not near LiPo performance but for me it performs awesome for indoor home battles especially when new batteries. I couldnt figure out why pusher kept sticking and turns out low batteries. Haha. It would jam a dart and stick. And as soon as I put new battery in the pusher retracted before getting tray even screwed in.

Thanks for the help.