jweaver100

Just before Christmas I fell in love with the Hirobo XRB which my model shop were selling. I turned out that whilst the were 'showing' a Hirobo, they were actually selling the 'Dragonfly' version...

I then found them on Ebay (straight from Hong Kong) for a bargain price and decided to buy one.

THEN. I discovered this forum and read the horror stories about this Helicopter.. Whilst it looks the same as the Hirobo, its definitly not.

I got it yesturday and was immediatly impressed. Infact, I was surprised to see that it actually looked quite good, certainly the same to how I REMEMBER the Hirobo to be.. Even as much as the uprated Carbon drive shaft which has been added (just like the Hirobo)..

But then I tried out the controls and confirmed that the servos only have 2 or 3 positions..

Then I tried to fly it and couldn't get it off the ground.. Admittedly, this is my first Helicopter and I didn't expect to be able to fly it without help, but the controls don't seem to be at all subtle.

After a few mins, it simply went dead.. The LED was off and nothing worked.. I switched it off and then back on a few mins later and was able to play some more for a good 5 mins.. Then it went off again.. After that, I could only use it for a few seconds each time before it switched off..

I am hoping that this is simply what happens when the batteries run down, or perhaps when things overheat.. But I am worried that its a fault.

Can anyone else with a Dragonfly confirm whether they have seen this behavour...

I am actually going to box it back up before I do any damage and re-sell it on Ebay 'as new'.. I don't think that its very good for a begineer (and probably not for an expert either)...

I think I will by a new RC Nitro truck instead...

Looking forwards to hearing from another Dragonfly owner.

Cheers

Jon

tnd2000

Did you charge your battery? Sounds like you are expericing low power cut-off.
Also the servos have more then just a few positions. It's just that servo end-to-end movement range is very very small for this bird.

bwanna

It sound just exactly like what mine does when the battery need to be charged!

jweaver100

Low power cuttoff makes sense as it had been flying for quite a while before it happened..

I just wanted to check whether this Heli had 'low power cuttoff' (as you would expect for LiPo batteries) or just drained them until they were dead.

As for servo positions.. I read several posts here from people who said that there were litterally 2 positions.. I looked closes and if I move the sticks gently, there only seems to be 3 positions that they stop in.

Granted, when they are moving, there is an infinite number of positions, but it seems (to my untrained eye) that there are only 3 positions where the servo will stop.

I am certainly going to sell it.. There is no point in keeping it if I won't use it and I have a horrible feeling that an expensive crash is imminent.

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

I had the same exact problem as you described, I too thought that it may be the battery, But after giving the Lipo a full charge, the heli was still completely dead! I returned it to the ebay seller for a refund ( he wanted to give me another heli, But I refused because all those dragonfly V's are JUNK! [:@]) So Now I'm going to buy the REAL $350 HIROBO XRB not the cheap knock offs! If you pay cheap you get junk![X(]

jweaver100

I don't think that it is a 'battery' issue.. I have just tested it again and it runs for a bit (perhaps a minute or so) and then suddenly stops with no power.

I guess selling it now would be a BAD as it will just come back on me when the new owner finds (like me) that its rubbish!

I can send it back to the seller in Hong Kong and sure that I can get a refund., but I will loose out on the cost of shipping it back AND the original cost of shipping it to me. In total, I paid about £100.. I will probably only get £50 back!

I am not happy as this has turned out to be a complete was of money...

jweaver100

Based on the description of my problem, it would be easy to think 'loose conection', but I don't think this is the case.

I can shake and tap it all I want (carefully) obviously and it stays working.. Push the throttle and the rotors turn and keep doing so..

After a while (perhaps a minute) you can feel/hear the rotors stutter and then it shuts off.

OVERHEATING is my guess!!

What a pile of rubbish.. If only I had discovered this forum before I placed the order.

You live and learn I guess.. To anyone who is remotely considering buying on of these.. Please think twice!!!