1morecrash

I did the first time I changed blades.
it didnt do anything but spin and act stupid

gasrc

DUH!! [sm=spinnyeyes.gif] Boy I feel stupid for asking that question. I give myself some credit though, as I would have noticed the bade direction before making the replacement.

Still though, I wonder what the numbers mean. I know the top blades on the heli have a "4". The ones in the bag that came with the heli have "2" and "1".

gasrc

How are the Deal Extreme blades compared to E-flite blades? My guess is the E-flite blades are of the same "quality" as the stock ones.

Jason Paul

I don't know about the E-Flight blades. It seems when I gave them a glance at my LHS they looked like they wouldn't work on the Lama (different grip end - not sure the technical term). However, the Deal Extreme blades are MUCH better than the stock ESky blades. Certainly worth the $2.00 a set they charge. Also to clarify, by "set" I mean ALL FOUR blades. You get BOTH the upper and lower blades for $2.00.

I'm sure they're not indestructable, and probably aren't as strong as the XTreme Blades, or other white, hard blades - but they're a great deal.

Jason

gasrc

I'm not doubting the Deal Extreme blades, but even if I order them now, it would take 2 weeks to get here. The E-flite blades are available at my LHS.

gasrc

Man I can't wait to be able to fly [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmWW21_jq5Y]LIKE THIS GUY![/link] In my opinion, it gets pretty impressive starting around the 40 sec mark,....narrow passages, quickly landing softly in small tight areas, etc. I would have broken two dozen blades doing that stuff.

gasrc

One thing that I have found out is that the Lama V4 is vesry very sensitive to the slightest imperfection to the blades. The tiniest of dings will effect it. I was making all sort of changes to the 4n1, swash linkage, and trims trying to get it to fly like it did on it's first flight. I finally changed all four blades and was confidently hoovering within inches of my face.

Speaking of blades, I tried a set of Venom blades. Boy, what a difference in durability! Esky blades are absolute garbage. The Venom blades took way more hits and way harder hits than the Esky blades before I finally totalled them when I tried to abort a landing on a raised platform. The heli caught the edge and tilted just before my throttle command took effect. Right into a wall it went...hard. My guess is this is what the Deal Extreme blades must be like (if not the very same/0.

1morecrash

well this weekend I was trying to fly my V4 outside.
gust of wind hit it tried landing but the blades dug into the
dirt, and no damage to the blades at all.
now the tips are a little green from the grass.
but thats it.

stock blades would have been gone on the first hit.[8D][sm=thumbup.gif]

HUNTERANDJEFF

I finally got the upgrade kit for my V4. Well, some of you guys were right. The blade holders are total garbage - what a waste of money. One of the screws that holds them together (they came assembled) wasn't even the right screw! It was a little counter sink one that was just thrown in there! Unbelievable. The original blade holders worked fine for the lower set but the upper set were very tight and after a bit of trimming, they worked. I went ahead an assembled the purple metal blade holders on the heli and had TBE so bad that I couldn't even hover it. So, I took the lower ones off first, OK, getting somewhere but still had TBE and was barely able to hover so I took the upper ones off, replaced them with the originals and Whala! It hovered. After some tweeking and adjusting it will hover now - not necessarily hands off like new but very flyable.
The upper flybar holder seems too large for the flybar and you can twist the flybar inside of it. Is this what everyone else is experiencing? Kindof like this upgrade kit is made for a completely different bird. Do you think that they sold me the wrong kit? Is it common for the flybar to be able to be twisted inside the holder? It won't move side to side but I can easily rotate it inside of the holder.
Any sugestions?

N1pster

Just tried twisting my flybar in the holder and no way will it twist out / rotate without considerable force. The locating lugs on the flybar look to be in good condition and not especially worn despite the number of times historically it's flown out and been reseated pre upgrade parts.
Check the lugs and if you can a comparison against a known good upgrade would go along way if thats possible.

Hope you get it sorted.

HUNTERANDJEFF

The weird thing about it is that the flybar is new too. If there was no such thing as bad luck, I would have no luck at all! LOL

downunderdog

I just bought the metal upgrade kit for my V3 from:

http://www.rchelicoptershop.com

I agree that the metal blade holders are junk. Too many little pieces, and all held together by tiny screws. After figuring that out the hard way (had one of the little balls on the side that attach to the swashplate and flybar linkages, which I figured should have been glued in there, come loose on the first flight... it took about 20 minutes searching the floor to find it), I tightened everything up and flew for about a battery worth, with major TBE the entire time. Towards the end, I was holding the skids and looking at the blades to see if I could figure out what was causing the TBE, and one of the blade assemblies (whole blade, plus the half of the metal blade grip/holder) came off and went shooting across the room - luckily away from me instead of at me. Two of the screws that I had tightened before that flight had come loose and let go. That, combined with the horrendous TBE, made me switch back to the plastic blade grips/holders. I still have a bit of TBE with the plastic grips, and am suspecting the upgrade swashplate as the culprit (it didn't feel all that smooth on the shaft as I was installing it).

I hope it's not the upgrade turbo shaft that is causing the mild TBE, as the heli seems to be a lot more controllable with the longer shaft, and I haven't had a flybar come off yet (I used to have it come off, or have a blade strike, a couple of times every battery) since I installed it. I'm anxious for a calm day so I can try it outside. When in fast forward flight (which is tricky in our apartment), the TBE seems to go away and I can maneuver pretty well. It should be fun outside.

I also bought the rather pricey ($18 for 3 sets) "harden" blades. I've made contact with a few things that would have been the death of the stock blades, and I haven't seen a scratch on them yet... knock on wood.

In summary, I'd recommend getting the "turbo shaft" and the "harden" blades, but none of the other upgrade parts in the set. I'll update if I do determine that the turbo shaft is related to the TBE. If anyone finds a cure for mild TBE, then I'd love to hear it.

N1pster

You might want to check your swash is still level one link maybe half a turn out. Drop of TriFlow or a similar lubricant might help as well.

Important lesson, where there is a metal on metal connection eg: screw into metal blade grip, don't forget a drop of threadlock, stop the little critters flying out.
Where there is a metal on plastic connection and the screw has a fine thread, drop of CA does the same. Not so critical on a course thread screw.

What's cheaper and safer? Couple of dollars for the threadlock or a trip to casualty for stitches?

HUNTERANDJEFF

I took the little linkage that connects the flybar to the side of the blad holders and unscrewed the middle of it making it a bit longer and that helped a little bit more with tbe. Also the upper blades being the EXACT weight helps with this too.
Jeff

AZheli

About those DealExtreme $1.98 per set blades ...

They're fantastic - only 2nd best to the white XtremeRC blades. I bought several sets of the Black DealExtreme blades, thinking they'd last a little longer than the 45 minutes per set that the E-Sky blades do, but almost a month later & I'm on the same first set. I did manage to ding one of the blades, but simply touched it up with a hotsoldering iron tip & have already several more flights on it without any ill effects.

While you're ordering those DealExtreme blades, consider also the 900 MaAH LiPO battery for around $8.95 - don't get the even cheaper "Mystery" battery, but the green one is a steal & so far no charging or capacity issues with it.

As for the E-Flite CX blades - they're about the toughest looking blade made, but they mount using different blade holders & aren't compatible with the Lama set up.

gasrc

Oops. I made a mistake by mentioning the E-Flite blades. I meant Heli-Max.

Clif notes:
Esky blades suck!
Venom blades are much better!
Heli-max Blades are way better than Venom blades!
I haven’t tried the rest of the market yet.

Long notes:
Just breath too hot on the the stock blades and they are trashed. The Venom blades took the same hits without damage. Harder hits created dings that made for vibration. Any cut would warrant a blade change. Heli-max blades work even with dings and cuts (to a degree, of course). I have a BB sized nick in one of the top blades now, and it flies fine. This amazed me, so I did some inspection. I found that the Heli-max blades are about 30% thicker than the Venom blades and less easy to bend.

Next experiment:
I bought 8 sets of non-branded blades on ebay for a little over $6 including shipping. That’s’ scary cheap, but hey…$6 is not that big of a gamble, so I figured it was worth a try. I’ll report when thy come in and I give them a few flights and dings. I’m a bit better at the sticks now, so I’ll probably damage a couple sets on purpose just for the data.

flying-shark

Hi Guys,

I am looking for step-by-step assembly instructions for the Esky Lama V4 (inc balancing the blades). The manual is not too helpful really... Appreciate any help or links you guys are aware of. I cant find anything that good.. My swashplate seems like it is not right, this is what I want to correct 1st if I can. Seems like a really sweet chopper so far though!

Thanks all!

flying-shark

When I takeoff I have to move the aileron stick to full right to conteract the Lama tilting to the left. It hovers for a while but then always glides to the left and crashes. I want to take it apart and put it back again according to proper instructions if I can

superstocktx

Dont waste your money on the aluminum blade grips, they are junk. But the other upgrades are good, like the alum. swash plate(makes it a little more aggressive) and alum inner shaft(keep the fly bar from pooping out all the time) and ball bearing motors give it alittle more run time and makes it quieter.

Oh yeah, get the heavy duty blades, it will be the last blades you'll ever buy. dont waste ur money on the esky replacement blades

Also most e-flight cx and cx2 upgrades will work on the esky lama series helis

superstocktx

Go to www.lamav4.com. There you'll find some upgrades for the v4, also I would get the aluminum swash plate and alum. inner shaft. Dont waste your money on the alum. blade grips(they cause problems), but if you do want them, I'll Give you mine(for free), but you pay for shipping. With some fine tuning your v4 will be a very nice heli to fly, but some of them out of the box are not set up right and require tuning. Feel free to ask me any questions about the V4, I have one and have experimented with it alot.

Have a great day,
Dennis

flying-shark

Thanks so much Superstock, thats a nice offer. Hey, on the website they have the EXxTREME LONGER INNER SHAFT ( No Head ), but it requires an aluminum Upper Head. I cant see an upper head on the site. Also, the other Inner Shaft advertised doesn't mention it is aluminum.. I want to order the part to get the copper flying sweet, but dont want to order the wrong parts as I am in Australia... Would you mind clarifying what parts you recommend exactly please?

Thanks again buddy!

flying-shark

superstocktx

Try this link for the aluminum upgrades(the ones I recomend):
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/lamav4-upgrade.htm

I would get the first three on the page, along with heavy duty blades(not on that site)(it will probably be the last set of blades you'll buy)If they have them in stock!!! or EBAY is a great place to find these upgrades too. Or another option is my friend has a hobby shop and has all that you'll need to upgrade except for the inner aluminum shaft upgrade. that upgrade just keeps the flybar from popping out on a hard landing/crash. He would be happy to sell and ship them to you at a price you will not find online. If you are interested in purchasing these items let me know, then we can work out the details. He can accept paypal payments.

So the parts you can purchase from my friend's hobby shop(in the US) are: heavy duty blades(two sets, one upper set and one lower set), aluminum swash plate(this one makes a big difference in performance), and the aluminum rotor head, he doesnt have the inner shaft upgrade, but is not nessisary for better performance, it just looks cool!!!!

I run all the aluminum upgrades and the HD blades on my v4 and its one sweet flyin machine and I am also upgrading my esky king 2 with all aluminum, carbon fiber and brushless motor and esc.

The last link I gave you(v4lama.com) is for the extended shafts, this helps prevent blade strikes(they actually hit each other during a hard landing) I dont run them, but thought you might be interested, but they make you have to buy other upgrades to to make it all work togeather.

Have a nice day,
Dennis

superstocktx

You need to adjust the control arm going from the servo to the swash plate, if you pull the canopy off and look at the control arms, the one on the right(as if you were sitting in the heli) controls the right and left movements, the left on controls forward and reverse movement. since your drifting left yo need to adjust the right control arm. to do this pop the arm off the swash plate( a ball link tool is handy for doing this) and in your case shorten the length of the arm, do half turns at a time. most important while doing these adjustments is have the tramsmitter on and the heli powered up and the trims in the center. keeping trims centered, take off and see what the heli does, if it still drifts the readjust control arms until desired control is achieved. you will always have to adjust the trims alittle(while flying). for testing purposes you can fly the heli with canopy off(while making adjustments), but never attempt to fly with tail off. get use to making adjustments, because if you install the aluminum upgrades to will need to readjust the arms again. once you take the time to make a few minor adjustments you heli will give you hours of enjoyment.

And make sure when you plug the battery in, the heli is on a level surface. if this isnt done the gyro will not be centered and the heli will drift and fly funny(could be part of your problem).

I did have a motor go bad, so you might want to order a spare set, but that was after many hours of flying(I have three batterys, so I fly alot).

Glad to help, feel free to ask if you need more help,
Dennis

dandodge

Has anyone tried putting longer servo control arms on? I know this would require some modification to the canopy but I'm wondering if it would also make the heli a little more aggressive? Just a thought.

Danny