Bricktop41

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a Smartech Skylark and I am running into a few problems. The biggest problem is right now is that all of the sudden the tail rotor stopped working. There was no crash or impact or anything, at one point it was working and then it was not. I can't figure it out. How can I figure where the problem is? When I push the left stick left or right there is nothing, when I turn up the throttle there is nothing. Is it the transmitter or the internal electronics? Could the tail motor be shot? If anyone can help or has ideas I would appreciate it. Also if anyone knows of a site or information source for the Skylark please let me know. Many thanks, Todd

DeadSticker

My Feedback: (18)

Could be a number of things. The speed control, the motor, a broken wire inbetween the s/c and the t/r. Maybe someone with a Skylark will chime in here...

Bricktop41

Well I have to say that I am very new with helicopters, I bought it at a hobby show from Excel Hobby. Since I bought it I have had a few problems. I was able to balance the thing pretty good and was learning to hover and having slightly rough landings. I broke the main drive shaft early. I ordered replacement parts from Excel Hobby and the shaft they gave me was definitely stronger than the one that was orginally on it. The original had a lot more play, the rotor would turn a 1/4 way around before the gear spun on the motor. The new one was much tighter. I got ripped on the deal, out of the box the transmitter didn't even work, I had to send it back and have them send me a new one. So what my question is finally is there any source of information for the skylark? I figure the problem could be in any part and my knowledge of micro electronics is limited. ANY advice would be helpful. Thanks, Todd

LTEDT

Well there are a few things to try. First make sure your tail motor is getting juice, you should check it with a volt meter right at the soldering pins on the motor.To do that you can unplug the main motor then turn everything on and give it an input then check for voltage (should get at least 7 volts + ) if you dont have a meter you can try other ways to test for voltage at the motor ( like putting your tounge on it when you give it input (DONT LAUGH IT WORKS) like putting it on a 9v battery. Then if you have nothing you should check it out at the plug for the tail motor. (need a meter for that) but do that before you freak and order a board. Most likely its just an open circut in your tail motor. They go bad quite alot but its cheaper than you think to fix. Around 8 bucks if you know where to look.
Good Luck

Matt

Bricktop41

Thanks Matt,

At least now I have something to try. I was beginning to think that all hope was lost. I'll try this weekend, if I have more questions I'll let you know. Thanks again.

Todd

bobforapples84

Well my rudder with nuzto too and now the thing doesnt work, sound familiar? When the motor gets juice it runs fine, I have a horrible suspision that it is the board/gyro, I also checked that it is not the reciever or the tranmistter by switching around the channels. So looks like we need new boards, where can we get them at? and how much? If they are too much I have a skylark with a US transmitter 3 extra batterys, one extra set of blades, custom training gear, and a skylark in perfect cond. (except the board?) for $200.
Thanks,
Bob Wilson

LTEDT

You can pick up a regular piccoboard from Hobby Lobby for $70
not bad if you like this hobby. or email some folks on the Ikarus Viewing Borad http://www.ikarus-modellbau.de/ubbth...at=&Board=UBB1
Thre are some folks on there who are selling their extra boards.

Good luck.
Matt

Bricktop41

The motor is getting juice from the wires so it must be the motor right? I didn't have a volt meter so I tried with my tongue and I could feel it. What causes the circuit to fail? Does the whole motor get replaced? I'm glad its not any of the internal electronics and am looking forward to learning to fly again.

Thanks,

Todd

LTEDT

Its just your motor then get a pic replacement heres a pretty good site for upgrades replacements and stuff. Precision http://www.precisionmodelproducts.com/ You can get a replaemente there.
Good Luck

Matt
(love that tongue trick)

Bricktop41

Thanks Matt,

The piccolo motor will work with the skylark? I just want to be sure before I order. The replacement motor from precision models is 20 bucks, the upgrade is 15. Also Excel Hobby the shop I bought the Skylark from has a replacement motor for 15.99 in your opinon which one do you think I should get. When I do get it, I can use the existing wires and solder them onto the new motor right? Thanks again,

Todd

LTEDT

Well the replacement from Precision has all the wires and is already soldered to the motor. But the plug is different so you'll have to change the plug in system.
1. The motor for the Piccolo is the same but they do tend to go bad when knocked around.I have never gotten a Skylark replacement I'm sure there the same (motor wise) but different wires.
2. I have the Piccolo pro tail motor on my heli and it has much better response. works off 7.2 volts. And is only $20.00 with the wires and pinion. What i did was bought that one and did'nt have to solder the wires on (which is no big deal) but pinion swapping could be a pain. I'm not sure if the shaft of the motor is the same on the pro upgrade but the $20.00 one already has it installed.
Also i just ran the wires along the outside of my tail shaft it was easier then removing the tail shaft from the body and the wires don't get bound in there.
3. You have to modify the tail motor support a little to get the pro motor in there make the whole a little bigger with a round file or razor knife and the screws need to be a little thicker to hold the motor in place but the pro motor is well worth the effort!!

Good luck
Matt

Xhilr8

I have a similar problem to you. but my motor is fine... here's what happened...

I've had a skylark heli for about 3 weeks now. When I first got it, the red light wouldn't turn on. After a few charges/discharges of the battery, it was okay (but very difficult to fly). I then crashed it and it was grounded for about 2 weeks because I was waiting for the new parts to come in.

I charged up the battery and plugged the heli in and the red light came on fine. But then after about 5 mins, the red light turned off and now the tail rotor will not spin. I've tried discharging the battery and recharging it and it still does the same thing (red light not coming on).

I noticed that there is a way to turn it on...and that is when the battery is getting low, I just go full throttle on the right control stick and the heli will go beserk (due to low battery) and then the red light will come on and the tail rotor is now magically working again.

Has anyone else had this problem? Its very annoying... I would appreciate it if any of you guys can get back to me on this.


Thanks!

Bricktop41

Well I am almost sure my problem is the motor. I am deciding which one I want to order. I don't know much about the micro electronics I am an RC car guy, but it sounds to me like there is a problem with your electronics in the board. I am no expert though.

Todd

EricMS

I've just run into the same problem. My tail motor just went out. I've opened the motor and determined the reason it fails. The reason is this: Inside the motor there are metal contacts that thouch the bushing on the motor axle. The leads that contact it are made up of three very very thin strips of metal. In my case, it appears that two of them have vaporized on one of the leads. This probably occurs when the motor is getting a current, but not enough to make it spin. The contacts heat up, and since they are so thin, they probably soften and wear away when the motor starts up. Really it just happens because the motor is made so small. If your tair rotor stops spinning, I can almost guarantee it is the motor, and not the board. This is good news. I will let you know if it is fixable.

EricMS

I HAVE actually repaired my motor, although I'm not sure how much longer it will last because I only repaired one terminal. I was prepared to use parts from another motor, but I ended up not needing them. The motor works very well. If anybody wants me to explain how I did this, just ask. You don't need any extra parts.

EricMS

I was just wondering if anybody else experienced this symptom of the motor going bad. Shortly before this happened, I had to adjust the control board because the helicopter was turning left even though I previously had everything set properly. I am guessing because the thread contacts go out one at a time, and you lose 1/3 current per terminal to the motor each time it happens. This is a warning sign that your tail motor will go out soon. Anyway, my motor fix is working, but it sounds a little weird. I will probably buy a new one (not the same kind) but this fix will work until a new one arrives.

exspluu

Does anyone have any experience with hop up parts for the Skylark? what parts are availiable (i.e. Piccolo, feda, humming bird, dragonfly) that can be used to to repair or replace the parts on the Skylark.

Also I would like to know if anyone out there has attempted to fit a scale body availiable for the hummingbird, Piccolo heli's on a skylark.
I'm thinking of getting a Hughes 300 or the Bell 22/Airwolf bodies.

any advice?

Bricktop41

To EricMS ,

Could you explain what you did to repair your motor I am interested in learning. Also did you have to pull the wires out of the tail or were you able to do it leaving the wires intact? Please let me know.

Todd

EricMS

First of all, disconnect the main motor and then with the heli throttle up some, test the motor solder points with a finger (lick it) and your tongue. Don't take your motor apart until you are sure that is the problem.

Without removing any wires from the motor, remove the two screws that hold down the motor. The motor is still attached to the back of the helicopter by 2 wires, but it is still easy to work with. With a small sharp object or small screwdriver, bend back the two metal prongs that hold in the plastic rear of the motor. Once the metal pieces are straightened, the back of the motor can be easily pulled out.

Now, with a flashlight you can look at the metal contacts that are supposed to be on the back side of the motor that you just removed. You will probably see that one of them or both is not intact. What I was going to do was replace the boken part with one from a different motor. But, if you use pliers to pull on the broken lead straight out (toward the center of the motor) it might be possible to use this gained length to replace the part that vaporized. There is a fairly large area that is soldered onto the the motor terminal, so there is some to spare. Snip off any remaining threads so all three are the same length. There should still be a small amount left of these three metal strips. Using the extra length from pulling on it, position your new metal contact so it is directly opposite the other one. It is ok if it is curved a bit near the motor wall.

When you put the motor back together, twist the bar running through the motor so the bushing goes easily between your two contacts. Now test your motor to make sure it works good. Mine actually seems faster then before it broke because I adjusted the board because of previous reduced speed (see my previous post). Once you see that it is working good, with pliers, bend back the metal prongs and reattach your motor with the screws. I hope you can follow my step by step instructions.

Although my helicopter does fly properly after this procedure, I have ordered the Piccolo pro tail motor from helihobby.com

Bricktop41

Thanks, I'll pull the thing apart this weekend and see if I can fix it. I appreciate the help, everyone in this forum has been very helpful. Thanks again, Todd

EricMS

I feel I should mention that I do not recommend using the Piccolo Pro tail motor. I ordered one and recently tried it out. First of all, the motor is much heavier then the normal piccolo or skylark tail motors (I think they are the same thing). If you put on a pro motor, the heli becomes very unweighted properly. Once you find a way to balance it (difficult), it doesnt fly well because of the overall added weight. I had to modify my canopy just to move the battery far enough forward to balance it. Now I am trying to figure out how to change it back. My advise, either learn how to fix the motors, or stock up on extras (the kind meant for the skylark).

Bricktop41

Thanks for your help with the motor fix, it worked! I took it apart and saw the problem you described. Those little pieces of metal are brushes I think. Well either way it worked and the helicopter seems to operate normally. I am just trying not to let the tail rotor hit the ground so I don't mess it up again. Thanks also for the heads up on the pro motor, I saw that it looked bigger and I assumed it would be heavier also. If need be eventually I will probably just buy a replacement motor and not an upgrade. If I may, do the NIMH have to be totally discharged before recharging, or can they be recharged with out a discharge? Also I only have a slow overnight charger, do you know if any one sells a quick charger for the skylark batteries?

Todd

asquires

Did anyone come to a conclusion as to what type of tail motor to replace stock Skylark tail motor with.
I need to buy new tail motor, is there a better one on the market, so I can upgrade and not have this problem again, also it would be nice to have one that fits into mount with no adjustments.
I am wanting to unsoldier the wires from the burned tail motor and re-soldier to replacment motor.
Also the heat sink, how does this get removed?

Thanks
Anthony

EricMS

I bought more skylark tail motors and had the same problem again even after drilling out the holes and fitting it so the gears are not meshed so tight. I don't know what other motors will work, but the heat sink is not glued. Just pull it off.

kenru

It looks like the Skylark tail motor is the same as the Feda/Hummingbird. I just replaced my HBird motor with one of these: http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/128470.asp

It's working great AND I still have a spare...