hiaber

Ever since i got my DF V Ti, i've had problems with the canopy. Very hard to get on, and once on, it contacts with the Ti board on the top. One one of my first few Flights, a crash and roll ended up cracking the canopy and bending the board up a bit, on another flight the same upside down sort of landing didn't crack the canopy, but did bend up the board again, also de-soldering one of the Ti sensors. I just got my main board all fixed, got myself a new canopy, and when i try and put it on, I can't do it without putting pressure on the upright and Ti boards.

If anyone has any quick fix suggestions, i'd love to hear them.

Also - as per these difficulties, I am in the midst of building a plug for a re-designed canopy that gives the Ti board and the LED on the top a bit more breathing room - i'll keep ya posted on my success with this (or lack thereof) Hopefully i'll come up with something aesthetically pleasing AND functional!

TheHindmost

I agree about the canopy being too tight on the top, and very hard to get on. Part of that TI sensor contacting happens when you "stretch" the canopy to get it mounted, though. It's not too bad once you get it on there! I finally decided to trim one of the three tabs which holds the canopy, despite being advised against that by DFI. I'm still not sure why they advised against it, actually...They just said something about it popping off in flight, but mine had so much extra length on the plastic tabs that I'm really not worried about one being trimmed slightly, and now the canopy goes on pretty easily and hasn't shown the slightest sign of coming off.

I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with for a new canopy!

Will

hiaber

Yeah - the first thing I did when i first assembled my DF was trim the tabs off a bit because i couldn't physically get the canopy stretched over

Fesfly

I make sure the riser arms are pushed in as far as they can (sometimes they are a few mm out) and the circuit board is centered (the vertical board just touches the front riser). Put the canopy on by - front peg first, then any side, use needle nose plyers to pull the last tab of the canopy, push the pin up a bit (it has a bit of give). This keep the canopy away from the Ti board. I used to curse it but found the plyer a must to simplify.

vi360

I also cliped the tabs a bit without any problems popping off in flight or crashes.

hiaber

Ok. So I've tracked down a guy who's going to do the vacuum forming for me, and I've started building the plug. Before I get too carried away though, I'm hoping to get some input and or ideas as to how i should make this thing look.

Assuming that there will be people interested in purchasing one of these alternative canopies, I want to build something that will be functional and attractive.

Should I use a similar design to the stock canopy, or should I create something a little rounder. I would like to flare out the area where the arming switch is so that one can reach in between the board and canopy to arm the Ti. Also wondering about using a different fastening system that would attach it right to the frame as opposed to the little tabs on board holders.

I'm No artist, so I don't really have any sketches - its all just rolling around in my head, and a plaster cast start of the plug to fine tune.

So - shoot some ideas my way, and let me know if anyone has interest in purchasing one of these when they are built. I may also make a canopy available for "beta testing" to a couple ppl.