Hey everyone I wanted to get an opinion on failsafes and killswitches and if they are really needed or not.One website killerrc sells a killswitch that automaticly shut off your engine if any type of problem occurs www.killerrc.com/store/store.php.
There are a few other brands that sell failsafes but i think a killswitch would be better.but i wanted an opinion from anyone who wants to give me one are they worth it or are they just a waste of money?

In my humble opinion (I'm certainly no expert) a killswitch should only shut the boat down if the boat looses radio signal for a second or two.
This would - in my case - prevent a 5000$ boat from dissapearing at 50 mph into the horizon at open sea.
When racing in a pond, you can avoid very violent chrashes at the bank.
I see no other way for a killswitch to work.
So, when my own mono some day hits the soup, it will NOT be without a killswitch. NO Sir!

Cheers!
Woody.

No expert here either. But a failsafe to return throttle to a 1/10 and a little turn to circle the boat "possibly back into range" is a good idea for the money spent on a lot of the boats today. A third channel switch could also be used as a kill switch, or NOS switch if racing. This would allow one to cut the engine off if the boat was upsidedown and sucking only air into the cooling system which would kill the motor way before u could get there to turn the boat upright, if nos it could get u some crazyness on the straightaway. Just my opinion.

you can get a failsafe that will kill the engine if loss of signal i think its called Killerbee or similar .

From experiance i had my failsafe set to kill the engine on the Apache but after i lost signal a few times at the furtherest point from shore and had to swim for the model cause the wind was offshore i then set it to idle(note: no clutch) and 70% turn to starboard so it will circle back to me and get a signal (if that was the cause).

FYI i dont recomend a full turn as the sudden deaccaleration and sharp turn could cause a barrel roll which is most undesirable

i also run a Futaba FASST radio aand rg603f reciever which lessens the chance of loss of signal as it has duel antanea and the failsafe system is built into it you just set the values for throttle and steering in the menu.

i also have the throttle reverse /brake set to kill the engine via carb shutoff
( moded walbro 257)and it will kill the engine and close the intake in case of turtling LOL

It is well worth the dollars to buy a good radio with failsafe IMO

Hi Guys

Here is my opinion:

Firstly I consider a “kill switch” as a mechanical device that at the press of a button shorts out the ignition circuit to stop the engine immediately. I have one fitted but have never needed to use it yet. As mine is not connected to a servo it relies upon a person being with the boat to press the button. So in that respect it is of zero use for a run away boat. Personally I consider this device potentially useful for safety purposes when the boat is stationary.

Secondly I consider a failsafe device to be an electronic function built into the receiver (or an additional component plugged into the receiver) such that under certain conditions it operates the throttle servo to throttle close mode which should stop the engine immediately (irrespective of transmitter stick positions). Conditions including loss of signal from the transmitter and with some units operating when receiver voltage falls below a critical level.

Personally I consider a fails safe device in this context as absolutely essential. I would not run a gas boat without one. Indeed my pre-run checks always incorporate switching off my transmitter to check that the throttle immediately closes fully and automatically.

That way I have confidence that if my transmitter fails for any reason or if I go out of range, my boat will promptly stop.

I also have my transmitter set up such that pressing the "throttle kill" button does indeed fully close the throttle to stop the boat (as stick full down only idles the engine).
Cheers
Craig

I ONLY use Futaba Fasst radios

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I have no interest in watching boats disappear down the lake if something goes wrong

I use third channel for NO2 on a couple boats

Use a Futaba Fassst or failsafe or better yet a KillerBee

www.davesmotors.com/s.nl/c.88...t.A/id.3569/.f

Thanks for all the info everyone since im running my boat at the end of this month im going to buy a failsafe or a killerrc killswitch.