The Choice Between Electric or Nitro Powered RC Cars Can be Overwhelming!-Hobbies
The Choice Between Electric or Nitro Powered RC Cars Can be Overwhelming!
The roar of the crowd as the cars rush by, the sense of excitement in the air. Is it the Indy 500? No, it is RC racing! RC racing, or remote control racing also known as radio control, is a quickly growing hobby segment that appeals to both young and old, and men and women.RC cars are popular at a hobby level, for creating and putting the cars together, or even taking it to the next level with professional tuning and racing. You can purchase RC cars as a kit in an unassembled form or completely assembled and rtr or ready to run condition.What Types of RC Cars Are There?The selection for RC cars is huge and growing every day. You can choose cars in almost any body type that you desire, in any color and any style. However, there are a few main distinctions that you will need to make before you choose any car for the first time.You can choose from:1) Gas powered or electric
2) On road racing models or off-road models
3) Assembled or non-assembled
4) Car or TruckThese are the main choices, however once you choose what type you are looking for, you will still have many style choices as well as engine choices to make.Gas Powered or Electric?The biggest decision that will have to make when you choose an RC car is whether it is powered by nitro gasoline or an electric battery pack. There are pros and cons to both types, and ultimately you need to decide what type of power is best for your needs and what you want your RC car to achieve.Electric RC CarsElectric remote control cars are an excellent choice if you are just getting started in the world of RC cars. They are typically easier to care for, and much easier to maintain than their gas powered counter parts. An electric car will make a great starter car because they are generally less expensive than a nitro car, so you can take the time to practice and perfect your driving skills before laying down a lot of money.Electric cars are run on batteries. The batteries are assembled into battery packs that usually have a recharging capability. This is much more cost effective than cars that require new batteries. However it can also be time consuming having to recharge your battery pack, so if you do not like to wait, a spare battery pack is likely a good investment.You can purchase electric RC cars for any budget, so you should choose a car that is suitable for your needs. Electric cars typically go slower than a nitro car, however you can purchase electric cars that will achieve high speeds.It is important to remember when you buy a new electric car you must break in the motor slowly in order to extend the motor life and allow the engine to achieve its full potential. When you break in the motor, you simply start running the car at a slower speed and gradually bring it up to speed. If you do not want to take the time to break in an engine you can purchase cars ready to run. In most cases, these cars are ready to go and the motors are already broken in.Nitro Gas CarsRC cars that run on nitro gasoline are the most popular and fastest growing segment of remote control cars. With nitro vehicles, you can buy the popular trucks that will take jumps at high speeds and go off road driving. Alternatively, if speed is more your thing, look for the racecars that are meant to speed along pavement, tracks or other prepared surfaces.As with electric RC cars, you can purchase ready to run cars or kits in varying states of assembly. Nitro RC vehicles typically run faster than electric vehicles and you can find some that will go 70mph right out of the box.Gas powered RC vehicles run on a specially formulated fuel made especially for RC cars. Most nitro vehicles have a pull start engine similar to a lawnmower for easy starting. Because nitro cars are more complex than electric vehicles, it is important that you follow the instructions carefully. You can purchase nitro starter kits that come with everything that you need to get started. This is a great way to go for beginners when you do not want to leave anything out.As with electric cars, it is very important to break in your engine unless of course you purchase a ready to run kit, which should be ready to go straight out of the box.Which Way to GoNo matter if you choose the nitro gas powered version or the battery powered RC vehicles, you will have a great selection available to you, and of course, you will have a lot of fun. Why not try a few of each? With so much variety out there, it is almost impossible to settle on only one RC vehicle.
Air Sanders: Forget Electric, Go Air! – Home-Improvement
Air Sanders: Forget Electric, Go Air!
An air sander is a common air tool often overlooked by most people. If you already have an air compressor to run your impact wrench, you may consider purchasing an air sander instead of an electric model. Your average off the shelf electric sander is fine for little home projects. But if you are really concerned about production and speed, an air sander will blow it away. These tools are also more rugged, versatile and lighter.The main reason is the power source is your air compressor, not the little electric motor in the sander. This also makes them easier to fit into weird places and hold over your head to reach a ceiling. At the end of the day, an air sander is much kinder to your hands, while delivering more power. They also come in models that are both sanders and buffers. I really recommend one of these if you are a car or boat enthusiast. An air buffer will make quick work of a long wax job on your favorite ski boat. You can then turn around and use the same tool to sand down your kitchen cabinets for painting.Air sanders are really versatile tools and a great addition to your air tools for your garage compressor. There are also orbital sanders, dual action sanders and palm grip sanders for any application you might run across. It may be time to take a second look at that air compressor stuffed in the garage. They can do a lot more than just fill up tires and run impact wrenches.Jason is the webmaster for Red Hill Supply - Online Air ToolsAir Sanders,Air Tools, and More - Red Hill Supply
A Few Simple Facts About Gas And Electric Heating Systems – Home-Improvement
A Few Simple Facts About Gas And Electric Heating Systems
To make your home more energy efficient, you need to understand the energy efficiency of different types of heating and cooling systems. Many times people are confused by inaccurate information they receive from manufacturers and sellers of heating and cooling equipment.
But all you need to know in order to make wise decisions when purchasing this equipment are a few simple facts.First of all, the proper sizing of equipment is of utmost importance for comfort and low utility bills. Once the proper size is known, then you must decide what type of system best suits your needs. Let's look at three ways houses are heated.Natural gas furnace,
Air-to-air electric heat pump,
Geothermal heat pump (electricity).Now, let's consider how efficient they are. And when I talk about heating efficiency, I'm talking about how efficiently the system converts either natural gas or electricity to heat for you home.A typical gas furnace will be rated at about 80 percent efficiency when it is new and if it is installed properly. That percentage will lessen with each year's use. An 80-percent efficiency rating means that 80 percent of the gas used will provide heat and the other 20 percent goes up the flue. For example, look at your neighbor's gas flue on a cold winter morning and see the steam coming out.While I don't recommend this, a gas furnace that is 90-percent efficient can be used. With this unit, about 10 percent of the fuel goes up the flue. At first glance, you might think 80 to 90 percent sounds pretty good. But consider this.
Would you purchase gasoline for your car and pump 10 to 20 percent of it on the ground? In my opinion, our nation would not have to worry about shortages of natural gas if we simply didn't waste it.Another popular type of heating system, an air-to-air heat pump, uses electricity instead of gas. All Doug Rye homes use electric heating systems. An air-to-air heat pump, properly installed, would operate at an efficiency of around 250 percent. I know what you are thinking. "How can anything be more than 100 percent energy efficient?"Remember, we are talking about how efficiently a unit uses either electricity or gas to move or create heat. Unlike a gas-fired furnace, a heat pump does not actually create heat, it simply moves heat from one location to another. Air-to-air pumps extract the heat from the air. With a heat pump, you use one unit of electricity and get about 2.5 units of heat.My favorite system, the geothermal heat pump, is simply the very best there is. Most geothermal heating systems operate at close to 400 percent energy efficiency! Wow!That's five times the efficiency of the 80 percent gas furnace. As this heat pump is extracting heat from Mother Earth, which is a constant 57 degrees, it is operating on minimal stress and using a very small amount of electricity to move the heat from the earth into the house.With a geothermal system, you buy one unit of electricity (one unit of heat) and Mother Earth will give you three more units of heat for free. (That three units of heat is solar energy that Mr. Sunshine gave us over millions of years.) In future columns, we'll talk more about how air-to-air and geothermal heat pumps work.Doug Rye is a nationally recognized energy consultant and licensed architect. Doug also host the "Home Remedies" radio talk show that is broadcast in 15 states.Phillip Rye is a licensed engineer and has spent the past 15 years studying energy efficiency and energy conservation.Discover how you can have lower utility bills guaranteed! Visit http://www.lower-utility-bills.com