Evan T.

Well I just timed the flights of my two e-flite batts and one is at 1:30 and the other is at 2:45 I'm kinda dissapointed because I hate flying for any less than 8 minutes with a cx2 I haven't timed my common sense battery yet since it's charging but I will once it's done. I'm going to get another common sense next time I go to the lhs. Do you think it's reasonable to think that these should be worn out like this after 50 cycles each or did I run them down to far at first

HeliStyle

My Feedback: (2)

I think you ran them way to low, to the point they aren't charging correctly, if you are getting that low of runtimes then you deff did.
rotarydoc I just got my ar6100 today in the mail and im still waiting for the dx6i to come in, I have a bunch of money I got for selling some of my guitar equitment when I was in my old band, sold my halfstack speaker cabient, so I might be looking into a blade 400 on ebay without the radio. Also have you guys tried jr micro servos at all, im looking to get two of them for my wasp to replace the stock ones, was wondering if they are any good?

Evan T.

well they just recently started acting this way but I think it may have been my fault because I was flying till it would gain altitude pretty slow I knew that I shouldn't have but I wanted to fly longer and this is the result well it's good to hear that you got the ar6100 in hope it works good and that you get the dx6i pretty soon

evdreamer

Evan,

Yeah Helistyle is correct that you flew too long and ruined the batteries. I have some for the CX that I have 60+ charges on and they are still going strong in the Gaui.

Helistyle,

Cool to hear you got the AR6100 and some money from selling stuff. Are you thinking about getting a B400 sooner or closer to Christmas? Are you talking about the JR285's or the new sub micro servos that JR just released? If you are talking about the JR285's me and Glenn have those on our 450 sized helis and we both really like them. But I haven't tried the sub micro servos by them yet. I was hoping those servos would fit the Gaui, but they don't.

Nick

JPEE

Evan,

My brand new Lighting Power 850 mAh batteries only let me fly for 8 min with my CX2 to stay "out of critical dicharge" zone so as not loose or do damage to my batteries. You should start thinking about a good battery charger like we all have. That way you can measure how much many mAh you burn up when flying your heli's. As explained below, you can go past the point of not return on a lipo. I also understand $$ are tight for you, but this is something for you to put back in the back of your hat so to speak.

JPee

Evan T.

Thanks for the advice and heads up guys I wish I would have just listened the first time lol well I'm going to get a new battery and take real good care of it and hopefully recieve enough money from my birthday to invest in a good charger. What do y'all recomend I should get I have to stay in like the $150 to $100 zone but preferably closer to the 100 mark.

HeliStyle

My Feedback: (2)

Im actually looking at the jr s241 micro servos, what are you guys using in your gaui, I need to get new servos for the wasp heli I just bought, all the stock servos work fine, but I dont trust them especially with the ar6100 sitting in it now. Ill prob be looking at getting a blade 400 in the next next or so, I have enough money pretty much to look into one now. I really cant wait to get this wasp v3 in the air, its a nice little heli, just ordered all the metal head assembly and such, I just need some servos

evdreamer

Helistyle,

Cool to hear you could get the B400 very soon. Glenn and I use Hitec HS-45's in the Gaui's. They have very strong plastic gears that don't strip easily in a crash. I haven't stripped one to date, but you can't go wrong with a JR servo. I use JR's in my 450 and 600.

Evan,

I would recommend a charger that can charge all battery chemstries like NiCd, NiMh, LiPo, and A123. You never know what type of battery you will use in the future. I had an accucycle charger before, but it couldn't charge A123 batteries or anything higher than a 3S battery, so I had to buy another charger which is the TP 610C. I like the Thunder Power 610C. It has a balancer built in and comes with an adaptor to charge 1-6S batteries with Align or Thunder Power balance connectors. Which pretty much every lithium battery uses either one of those. It can charge all types of chemistries and charge up to 10A. Mine cost $160 for the charger and power supply.

Nick

Evan T.

Do you have to get that 10amp power supply or will the eflite 3amp work and also does the power supply you have for the charger come with everything you need to hook up to the charger or do you have to buy extra cables and stuff

evdreamer

Evan,

You don't have to get a 10A power supply, but I wanted to use the charger to the fullest. The E-Flite one won't work because it has a wrong type of connector. You need a power supply that bannana connectors can plug into. I had to get 4 bannana connectors, one male deans connector, and some cable.

Nick

HeliStyle

My Feedback: (2)

hmmm, ill have to look into those servos, I wanna get this heli up and running, just waiting for parts sucks lol

evdreamer

Helistyle,

You might want to check this thread out on the V3. They might know what servo is best for it or have a good recommendation.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=766094

Nick

HeliStyle

My Feedback: (2)

thanks, I have been reading away on there, theres acouple of suggestions on there, I wonder if the e-flite cx2 servos would work on it, better then the stock ones it comes with?

Evan T.

So the banana conecters are the little things poking out of the supply and that one doesn't come with them so you have to buy some?

evdreamer

Helistyle,

Your welcome. I assume the V3 is a 300 sized heli and the CPP is too and it used the same servos as the CX2, so they should have enough torque. I don't know how big or small the space is for the servos, so I don't know if they would fit. I have had some centering problems with the S75's, so I wouldn't use them if I had a choice of another servo.

Evan,

Yeah they are the things sticking out of the power supply and yeah they didn't come with the power supply or charger. I didn't want to cut off the alligator clips from the charger just in case I wanted to charge off a car battery, so I just clamped those to the bannana connectors. Then there are some also going into the charger on the right side that are connected to the main leads of the battery.

Nick

Evan T.

Cool thanks for the help but are those actually 4mm gold plated inline conectors from pro tek lol

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Wow, I just got done with a real head-scratcher!! I got home from work early, and figured I had time before it got dark to finish up the B400 rebuild...all I had left was balancing the blades, setting pitch and tracking..no big deal...or so I thought!

The blades were perfect, no balancing required...unusual for Eflite stock blades, they are usually out at least somewhat...so, it was on to the pitch settings. I had too much positive pitch, and adjusted it, but something just didn't seem right, but I couldn't figure it out.

On to the tracking...that's where the headache started...I could not get the blades to track with any consistency...I would adjust one, and spin it up, and it would be out, adjusted again and no dice...and then noticed that the blades would change tracking by themselves, and seemed to change with throttle application.

I felt the head, and it seemed kinda loose...so I figured it might be the oring dampeners...so off to the LHS...and got the last set. I put one more shim in each side of the head for good measure. Put it all back together..and the same thing was happening. I took the blades off of my spare B400, just to see...and it was actually worse, and I swapped the blades from the problem heli onto the spare one, and all was good.

I figured it had to be something I overlooked...and I have looked and looked...finally spotted it...in the head block, there is a pivot for the flybar to go through, and the screw on one side is sheared off, and broke the spindle/bar inside the head block. It's quite difficult to see with everything together, you really have to look close.

I'll bet the LHS doesn't have on of THOSE...and especially the tiny little special screw that goes into it...

This crashing stuff sucks!!!

Glenn

evdreamer

Evan,

Your welcome.

Glenn,

Sorry about the problems you were having with the tracking. Good thing you found out what was wrong. It looks like you might have to fly the spare B400 a little longer. I have had my share of tracking problems too. They are usually no fun to fix.

Nick

Evan T.

Call them tomorrow and see if they have any flybar seesaws or whatever is messed up they might you never know. So do you have anything to add to what everyone has been telling me and teaching me about battery and chargers because any help is needed and appreciated. Thanks guys!!!!!

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Had to send that one, before I timed out...

If worse comes to worst, I could always swap the whole rotor head from the spare to the good B400...or I could just fly the spare...but I don't like it as much, the stock servos aren't as nice as the JR's.

Oh well, teaches me to look more closely at EVERYTHING after a major crash. This was my first major crash, so I guess I'm allowed to learn from it.

At least I caught it...I would imagine that the rotor head would have self destructed had I tried to fly it like that...but I knew something wasn't right.

Heli, cool that you got the 6100...hope you can find some servos soon. Good news on the B400 soon too!

Evan, 10 WHOLE MORE days!! LOL, it'll probably feel like 10 weeks to you!

At least I am getting faster at blade pitch and tracking after this little mess...LOL

Glenn

rotarydoc

Evan,

Yeah, I'll check, sometimes they have weird stuff. I wish the screws came with it, but it looks like they are a separate part. The screws are going to be the hard part to find. They are not like normal socket head cap screws...they have a tapered head.


I like Nick's idea, you never know what the future might hold as far as battery technology goes.

I spent $110 on an Elflite C505 charger, and the Elflite 3A power supply, and couldn't be happier with it. The best thing it does, as some have stated, is it lets you see how much charge in millamps you have put into the battery...so you can calculate your safe flight times using an 80% rule of thumb for LiPo discharge limits. It will help save your batteries from over discharge.

But there are alot of chargers that do that..not just the C505. I really like mine, it's tough too...the kitty knocked it off of the table, and it hit the floor...and it didn't even phase it.

Definately one of the best investments I have made in the hobby.

Glenn

Evan T.

Yeah I can't wait until I get the b400 it's gonna be so cool but now nick has me all interested in getting a nice charger and all of the things I need to charge a battery with it lol

rotarydoc

Nick,

I was thinking earlier today about going another route with the T500....maybe getting the gyro and tail servo first, and trying them out on the B400 for awhile...and get used to the new gyro and tail servo, and setting them up.

I called Hobby Hangar, and priced a GY401, and a JR 3500G for the tail. They have them both in stock, and the prices are as good as online prices.

I could use them on the B400, and then transfer them to the T500 when I got it.

But, I don't know, it might be better just to wait and get it all together. I was just thinking about what Jeff said, and buying piece by piece, it doesn't seem as bad that way...

We'll see.

I heard there were big snow storms in SD and Nebraska?

Glenn

rotarydoc

Evan,

The stock charger is very basic, but it will work. I used it for a while before I got the C505. But it won't tell you how long your flight times should be.

As a rule of thumb on a stock B400...you should limit your flights to about 6 minutes to be safe. The DX6i has a countdown timer just for that reason...just set it for 5:30 to be on the safe side....

Glenn

JPEE

GBee,

Your speaking to those little black headed tiny tiny sscrew that go into the seesaw bearing right? You may have broken the seesaw at the point of the screw! Generally thats what has happended to me.

I just installed a jack on my MCX charger and now input 6 vt DC and it works great. I have at least 8 of those little 120 volt transformers from stuff I have saved for years. I used a 6 vt 200 mAh. I really don't need it but it was fun project. I just received my MCX battery adapters and made my finish set of pig tails for charging (3) MXC batteries at the same but individully as this charger has 4 different ports and 4 individual LED readouts to see the charge of each battery at a glance.

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JPee
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