PowerTork starter

[Jerry Budd]

I've had one of these since last June.  I ordered it from Pacific 
Aeromodels with the dual 3000 mah NiMH battery packs and the large 
starter cone but they sent it with the smaller one.  After calling 
them I received the larger cone a few days later.  Then when I went 
to use it I found out that one of the cells was bad.  I sent the 
flawed pack back with a note explaining the problem, initially they 
claimed the pack was fine, then they sent me a replacement pack.

The starter cone is not at all soft, mine was as hard as a radial 
tire.  Wouldn't grab the TruTurn spinner worth a damn.  Finally I 
bought a custom molded silicone cone for it from Hap Miller at Miller 
R/C at the AMA show in Ontario in January.  $14, grips the spinner 
like crazy now.  The starter itself is OK, it'll turn over the Webra 
160 without much problem, unless it's cold out, then it struggles a 
bit.  It is stronger than a Kavan, but not as good as a Sullivan 12v 
running on 22.5v (my favorite).

I wouldn't buy it from Pacific Aeromodels again, they're a pain to 
deal with (just talking to them on the phone is difficult - clearly 
English is not their first language), and I understand there are 
other places to buy the same starter.  The battery support brackets 
aren't very well designed and are made of plywood painted black, and 
the batteries tend to slide around in the mounts (fixed that with 
some ProBond).

BTW - I know someone who has the Central Hobbies starter; they said 
they wouldn't buy it again either.  IIRC the batteries that came with 
it weren't any good, and they said it wasn't very comfortable to 
handle.  Last I heard they were going to send it back to Central and 
ask them to exchange it for a Kavan.

Jerry


>I'll agree with Eric here. The one I got is the Pacific Aeromodels 
>starter with the 3000 mah nimh packs. (Same as Winner R/C) This is 
>about the best starter I've ever used. I also like it because it's 
>pretty small, and has that huge soft cone.
>
>Anyway, that's the one I'd recommend. It sure blows a Kavan away.
>
>FWIW I didn't particularly like the CH starter either.
>
>-Mike

-- 
___________
Jerry Budd
Budd Engineering
(661) 722-5669 Voice/Fax
(661) 435-0358 Cell Phone
mailto:jerry at buddengineering.com
http://www.buddengineering.com
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