PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

Decided to glue some zip ties to the frame forward of the motor. Then, I glued some piano wire across the zip ties and to the frame. This keeps the battery as far rearward as I could get and just barely off the motor.

Took it out for a test hop at dusk. The brushless motor runs great! Plenty of power in normal mode, and lots of RPM in idle up. (Not too high to send the plastic parts flying or to throw a wooden blade) Anyway, the HH gyro on the tail is REALLY sensitive. Needed full left nose trim to keep it hovering straight. Any input caused the heli to rotate 90 degees before you could blink. Didn't have a chance to adjust the gain or to track the blades, as it was getting dark fast. If I had a progammable radio I could ad some expo to the rudder.

Here's the kicker, it still would rotate with collective climbs. Maybe the gain will make that go away. [sm=wink_smile.gif][sm=thumbs_up.gif]

Keep your fingers crossed.

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

Wow! What an explosion! I was flying in the garage trying to adjust the tracking and the gyro setting. Tracking was close enough and nearly all the vibration went away. Then, I was adding gyro gain to get the tail to hold. It had no wag and held heading great. Flipped in into idle up to see results. Same thing, so I was going to add a little more gyro gain. (you want it just below tail wag setting) Brought the heli down and it bounced off the skids. Next thing I know its yo-yo-ing up and down. Two hops and it connects with the garage door metal track. The extra motor power with the higher head speed caused both blades to hit the tail boom. Split it in two. Both blades went flying. Had to look nearly an hour to find the second blade in the corner of the garage. The only part I don't have to fix it is the tail boom.

Item learned this time: Greater motor power causes greater damage on impact. [X(][:@][:'(]

ahile

Mikezell:
I installed the Esky setup (motor and esc) using the 13 tooth pinion from Helidirect. The pinion doesn't seem to mesh with the stock main gear very well. Is this normal? Do I need to reposition the motor in the slots better? I did open up the slots for the screws but it may not be enough. Any ideas. I am also working on programming a new radio.

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

If you used this pinion:

http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...roducts_id=877

the spacing is too large. Its a 0.5 Modulus pinion and the Axe uses 0.4M or 64 teeth per inch.

I got my pinion from www.allerc.com .

mikezell

I used this pinion [link=http://www.helidirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=38_293_294&products_id=3515]BRUSHLESS MOTOR PINION 13T AXE [/link]

I had to open up the slots a fair amount and set the gear engagement using a doubled peice of paper.


For setting up a new radio check out the videos at helifreak.com [link=http://helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=41692]Heli Skills and setup 101[/link]

I just changed to this pinion [link=http://www.helidirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=38_293_294&products_id=3517]BRUSHLESS MOTOR PINION 15T AXE[/link], a bit higher head speed and the motor handles the load no problem.

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

Just got done trying out the new brushless motor and HH gyro. After 3 batteries, I really like this set up. Head speed is higher than stock in idle up, and about the same head speed in normal mode as when the old motor was in Idle up. I added gyro gain just a touch, from where I left off and started picking up some tail wag, so I backed it down again. The wag is greater in normal mode than in Idle up. Tried some climbing collective maneuvers and the heli would still rotate just a touch on climb out and then rotate nose right when the climb stopped. Then the nose would go back to where it started. Overall, I'm pleased. The flight times are shorter with the added weight of the extra ESC and gyro and higher head speed, but it should perform better once I get the nerve to flip it.

Has anyone had any experience or suggestions about running the gyro in Digital mode instead of standard? Will it hurt the tail motor or ESC? Will it hold heading better during hard maneuvers? Should I go to Direct Drive tail with a 3x3 prop?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

nscradar

PL,
Digital mode is intended for using a digital servo. It has more resolution than analog, there fore is more accurate. However, I have heard that you should use digital mode only with the digital servo or else you could damage the gyro. For what its worth.
Anyway, congrats on your successful conversion. BL does have it's advantages. I really like the BL main, however, I have tried the BL tail without any success. My next move is either BL tail with variable pitch direct drive or go belt drive.
Let us know how you fare in your quest for the tail.

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

Went to a Hobby store over the weekend to look at a Blade CP pro 2 to see what the gyro settings were from the factory. They didn't have one so I asked the guy behind the desk about using the gyro in digital mode to run an esc and tail motor. He had no idea, but was very impressed by the idea. He said it should work and to let him know the results. So, I guess I have to be the guinea pig on this one.

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

Finished up the brushless conversion last night. Had a chance to do a few flights with the gyro in digital mode. It made a slight difference, so I'll leave it that way for now. Maybe on the next order I'll get the direct drive tail motor support and convert back to DD and see if there's any improvement.

Here's some pics to look over.

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

Two more pics to include. These show the piano wire to separate the battery from the motor.

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

Once again, the heli was flying perfect and I tried to go inverted. Same thing, once up side down, I hit negative collective and it began to spin so fast I couldn't keep up. It was like I went full left on the stick. Added lots of negative collective to make it climb and give some room to recover. Didn't quite make it. Even with a HH gyro it spins! WTH![:@]

Had the spindle and blade grip and main shaft and tail boom to replace, only one bearing in the blade grip was ruined trying to get it off the bent spindle. Back to the THobbies site to order more parts.

This is starting to show a pattern. I can fly inverted on the sim no prob. Tic-tocs, rainbows, fips, loops, tail in, nose in, no big deal. Whatever...

Kaptain Chaos

Well it looks like a nice install PilotLight great job, was the wiring of two speed controls difficult?

Did you have it in digital mode when trying to invert, maybe that had something to do with it.


It has been so windy outside I have only flew once outdoors, its a good thing my garage is 90 000 sq ft 25 ft ceilings

traxxas_driver

hey what motor are you guys using and the ones with the success with gyros which gyro are you using because i want to go brushless with my axe

lzstar

i have the blades .carbon fiber and fiber glass blades








www.lz-star.com

dragus359

My Feedback: (1)

I'm using a 300HDX 4200kv brushless motor (helidirect.com) and a Skyartec head hold gyro (freestyle-hobby.com). My motor works great, but it has a high amp draw(not so easy on the batteries) so I would recommend going with one that has a lower kv.

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

I have the 3200 Kv motor with the 16 tooth pinion from allerc.com. High head speed and only about 8 min. flight time, but like all the power and the price. Ordered a 14 tooth pinion, but it was out of stock.

The heli is back up and running so we'll see how it goes next chance I get to fly with a calm evening.

traxxas_driver

ok thanks on the info how does the skyartec gyro perform and how do i have to do the wiring for the new esc do i make a y connecter for the new esc and old esc that plugs into the receiver then make a y connector to connect the battery to both

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

Crappy pictures sometimes help...

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

See...

http://www.rctoys.com/rc-toys-and-pa...RS-WIRING.html

traxxas_driver

thanks great info but how do i connect both escs to the receiver

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

You only connect the main motor's ESC to the receiver's throttle connection. The tail's ESC connects to the gyro's output. Be sure and disconnect the red wire (thus disabling the BEC circuit) from the tail's esc. You don't want to send power up through the gyro. (BEC stands for Battery Eliminator Circuit, it allows you to power the receiver with the battery thats used to power the motor, and not have a separate battery for the receiver.)

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

I really think the higher power of the brushless motor has much more torque for the tail motor to overcome. The heli flies "OK" but it still rotates when giving collective climbs or descents. I think a more powerful tail motor would solve the problem, but with the torque tube option coming out in September, I'm hesitant to give it a try. Just need to get the tail under control.

traxxas_driver

well what if i was going to use the stock gyro and esc for the tail motor and go brushless i havent looked to see if the or does the stock 3 in1 board have two receiver outputs and all i have to do is disconnect the throttle for the main motor

traxxas_driver

im sorry i forgot to add in the other reply pilotlight what what flight power lipo are you using please give specs because i couldnt read it really in your pics

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

TraxxasDriver,

First, the Battery in the pic is an Evo Flight Power 1340 mah 3 cell 11.1 volt battery. The other battery I've been using is a Thunderpower 1320 mah 3 cell battery. The TP battery is smaller and lighter, so it fits in the canopy a little easier.

Second, you can use the stock 3in1 to power the tail motor while upgrading the main motor to brushless. The way its been done before is to use a "Y" connection from the battery to power both the 3in1 and the ESC for the brushless motor. The brushless ESC would plug into channel 3. Now, you still need to have the 3in1 plugged in, so you would need a "Y" connector to plug in both the 3in1 and the ESC's servo lead connections. The 3in1 needs to know how much power is going to the main motor so it knows how much to send to the tail. The orange wire would stay on number 4. Finally, you need to disable the BEC on either the 3in1 OR the brushless ESC.