Centurion problems in the grass

[Luc De Weirdt]

Hi guys,

When I'm driving de centurion in the grass the tank seems to have great difficulties taking turns. Sometimes it even stops running!
Can someone please tell me what the cause of that can be? Is it the tension of the tracks? Is it the new gear (High Efficiency Motion)?
How can I measure the correct tension of the centurion tracks?

Thank you very much in advance.


Luc

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

My guess would be a binding issue, but it could also be a poor electrical connection. I would check the current draw with the tracks off the ground and compare that to the current draw without the sprockets mounted. To check for electrical resistance, you could measure voltage drop under load from the battery to the power supply unit (on both plus and minus sides) and from power supply to motors (again, both poles).
Of course, it could also be a battery or charging issue. After charging, measure voltage on the batteries, disconnect the wires and let sit for a couple of days and measure the voltages again. If the voltage drops, the battery is leaking current internally and needs to be replaced.

Good luck in finding the problem!

/Chris

[sean kerambrun]

Hi all cent owners,

How many people have driven there centurion?

Does any know if the motors are the same as any other tanks?

Cheers

Sean

[Leon Benjamins]

I saw on another forum that he already fixed it
He changed some switches in the speed controller.

[Luc De Weirdt]

Sean, you have a pm.

[paul&robinmargle]

I found my Cent slips when making turns with one track powered, to get round I reverse the opposite track slightly. I thought it just wasn't gripping the shiny/damp grass, can the performance be adjusted with the speed controller then?

Robin

[Luc De Weirdt]

I have set the 4 switches on the speed controller off and the performance of the tank in the grass is much better now.

I wrote Mark an e-mail asking him how it comes that my Tiger performs much better than the Centurion in the grass.

This is what he answered:

Grass is the most difficult material to turn a model tank on. Track tension doe not have
any significant effect. Your tiger has a slightly higher gear overall gear ratio. This makes it
better at turning, but slower in a straight line. The Centurion has a lower gear ratio and will
be faster in a straight line, but be not so good at turning of difficult material such grass. Try
not to turn at a low speed. High speed helps. Your speed controller has automatic power
limiting and will stop your tank if you try to overload the motors. The turning of your
Centurion will get much better as you use the model and everything runs in. At the moment
the model is new and everything is tight. The speed controller is protecting the motor for
overload.

So, we Centurion drivers don't have to worry.


I do thank Mark for his reply and Yves for his advice concerning the four switches.

[Luc De Weirdt]

Today I tested the tank on the battle field in tall grass and all the problems I had before are gone now.

Some pics:

[phil fitzpatrick]

Hi Luc,
Nice looking Centurion and pictures.
The lifting equipment in the back ground,is that for lifting the turret off
Cheers
Phil