As The Blades Turn.......

Discussion in 'Blade Heli's' started by Beaver, Jan 30, 2015.

By Beaver on Jan 30, 2015 at 8:44 PM
  1. Beaver

    Beaver Well-Known Member

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    So I found myself in need of a replacement feathering spindle for my Nano CPx because it was bent and causing blade tracking and balance issues... then upon gently trying to straighten it, it breaks. I figured a trip to the LHS would remedy the problem, but no F spindle in stock. Next week I happen by the other
    LHS and again, no F spindle in stock, and was informed the part was on back-order at Horizon. So I go home and begin reviving my 120SR that was neglected after I bought the Nano. Naturally it flies like shiz and then I begin the process of scrutinizing parts. Several trips to the LHS later over the next two weeks resulted in two new Li-po batteries (one that has gone bad right out of the package and was replaced for free by Horizon), a rotor hub, cf main shaft, mixing fly bar, main motor, tail boom assembly with tail motor, landing skids, and a tail fin just for the hell of it. I also did some touch-up soldering on the 5 in 1 control board. So, over several weeks time I have managed to practically rebuild my 120SR, which flies like new now as I would expect........ and I have spent $60 to stay in the air while waiting for a $6 part. Feathering spindles for the Nano still on back-order at Horizon of course, as I suspect now they must literally be on a "slow boat from China" or something of that nature. I'm Beaver, and I'm a helicopter addict. :p
     

Comments

Discussion in 'Blade Heli's' started by Beaver, Jan 30, 2015.

    1. Johnnybgoode

      Johnnybgoode Active Member

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      That is outstanding service from HH. They should be recognized for that
       
    2. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      They've been doing the same for others, I read many reviews and threads before I ordered the BL kit. I plan to write up a few in depth reviews once I've installed and tested the replacement parts.
       
      Last edited: Jun 13, 2015
    3. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      I finally ordered a red anodized aluminum swash to match the pretty red grips I added recently. I have finally exceeded the operating limits of the stock plastic swash plate.
       
    4. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      HH was quick about sending me the replacement BL kit and Rx board. Exactly 48 hrs from invoice confirmation!
       
    5. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      Grrr! I wanna install new BL kit and Rx board, but I'm playing a band gig. #itchIcantscratch
       
    6. Stuart

      Stuart Active Member

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      BL kit ordered from LHS... Well I should say I just dropped off the nano and said call me when it's flying BL. Lol...
       
    7. Mr Bling

      Mr Bling Active Member

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      You wont believe the difference the metal swash plate makes. Really big difference
       
    8. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      You could have installed it yourself actually. It's only a 5 minute job. Plug-n-play.
       
    9. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      Second BL kit and Rx board installed. Rx board seems bad right out of the package- no collective response... Stuck in negative and will not go to neutral or positive. Cyclic response is good. I installed old Rx board and it works fine, but "stop and drop" condition still exists with new BL kit. So it appears HH may be correct in assuming my Rx is bad, but I cannot yet confirm as replacement Rx is defective right out of the box. I will try the new Rx again later this evening before I get into it with HH again.
       
    10. smakmeharder

      smakmeharder Administrator

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      How did you go with replacing the defective out of the box board? is it working now? ie has the stop and drop feature been removed? Just curiously did you change the plug on this board? I know i said it in the past but its really easy for a voltage drop to cause a Low voltage cutoff condition. It can be due to tarnish on the plug, frayed wires or even the solder connection on the board. Even inside the wire itself!.. If you have another plug lying around and assuming you have not doneso already i would recommend changing the entire plug assembly (if you have one spare that is)
       
    11. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      Well, I wouldn't expect the new (defective/no collective) board to have a weak connection with brand new wires and plugs on it, but I didn't run it down to LVC either. As soon as I determined there was a problem with collective response, I removed it and re-installed the original Rx board. I will try it again later to see what the LVC does. The collective problem had me concerned. I may end up sending that one back. Meanwhile, I am going to go ahead and rewire the original Rx board and ESC with heavier guage wire and better battery connector just to make sure.
       
    12. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      Upon further evaluation, it seems the new Rx board has some sort of problem in binding to the DX4e. I use the exact procedure specified for the Nano, the procedure works on the original Rx, but as the blue LED goes from rapid flashing on bind, it does not go to double pulse flash sequence but goes directly to solidly lit. The double pulse LED flash is to indicate proper bind and prompt release of bind button at Tx, which the new Rx does not. (The old original Rx does) ...then upon release of Tx bind, LED is supposed to light solid. This definitely indicates to me there is a problem with the new Rx. Now I get to explain all this to HH in my next service request. Meanwhile, I'll simply have to cut my flight times short to avoid getting close to LVC and "stop/drop" till I can beef-up the wiring on the original Rx. I refuse to stop flying due to a minor glitch.
       
    13. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      Service request submitted, replacement Rx board will be on it's way back to HH in the morning. I called tech-support today just out of curiosity..... not much help there. They didn't suggest anything I hadn't already tried.
       
    14. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      WP_20150618_001.jpg
      Oh yes! I do believe the difference. Cyclic feels much more tight and precise. The new red grips and swash with the white 95mm Lynx blades go well with the red/white mCX2 canopy. I tried my newly modded 100mm mCPx white Lynx blades, and cyclic still felt nice and precise. I have to get some 2mm CF rod stock for longer tail boom before I can keep the 100mm blades on though.
       
    15. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      WP_20150618_006.jpg WP_20150618_005.jpg WP_20150618_004.jpg WP_20150618_003.jpg WP_20150618_002.jpg This was a productive day. One 2mm solid CF canopy rod from a 120sr, one square CF tail boom from a 130x, some solid copper wire (Slightly larger guage than stock), heat-shrink tubing... presto! Composite tail boom for 100mm stretched Nano CPx. (originally only 85mm) Yet another step forward in mechanically taming the otherwise twitchy little bird. Aluminum swash plate, grips, and the BL kit helped as well. I ran 4 packs on the bird on this nice calm evening, and I like the results. It's very stable, feels like a larger heli, still has good collective authority but just a touch less pop. Power is good until I get crazy with the cyclic. A series of steep dives and hard climb-outs and I could hear the main rotor bogging a bit. Tail will drift a bit under hard rotor-loading, but only when packs get low. That's okay since I didn't intend this set-up for aggressive maneuvers. I'm still working rudimentary skills at this point. Nevertheless, The bird now flies comfortably and I don't have to worry about killing brushed motors or breaking tail booms or popping hubs out of swash plates or any of that nonsense..... just the damn "stop and drop" when the packs start to get low. I received E-mail confirmation from HH that my new Rx board arrived back there today for evaluation and/or service.
       
      Last edited: Jun 19, 2015
    16. smakmeharder

      smakmeharder Administrator

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      Very nice! Once you fix the stop and drop you will be able to cycle through heaps of packs per day. Thats exactly what i did... its how i learnt to fly. Thousands of flights on the mcpx/nano. I lost count of how many canopy supports i broke, how many booms i snapped. It was a great heli - I had so much enjoyment from it. But you have taken it to another level @Beaver. I hope you get many thousands of flights out of this design. It will help your flying immeasurably. I used to practice on the sim untill i nailed a trick, then perfect the trick on the mcpx and then finally perform the trick on the 450/550.
       
    17. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      Meanwhile, I'm waiting for HH to resolve the issue with the new Rx board. Then I can put LEDs back on for night flying.
       
    18. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      Yet another win for HH customer service: They shipped me yet another replacement Rx today. The first one they sent was found to be defective. It should arrive within next day or two. With this level of service, I will certainly consider Blade for my next heli, provided they don't discontinue it a year after I buy it like they've recently done with the Nano CPx. Hopefully they have better models in the works.
       
    19. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      Well... I installed the replacement-replacement Rx board in the BL Nano. First I had no collective again, then I ended up having to slightly alter an otherwise proven binding procedure to get it to bind properly (go figure). First flight with 95mm Lynx blades and 180mAh pack on... "Stop and drop" again at LVC. Tenacity withstanding, I put on the 100mm "big blades" and a 200mAh pack. Success! LVC soft landing achieved. 2nd flight with new set of stock 85mm bullet (ff) blades and 200mAh pack- success. 3rd flight with 95mm Lynx blades and 200mAh pack- success. 4 more 180mAh packs, 3 good LVC landings. Apparently I need to go through and bench-mark my packs now, a few of them seem to be a bit weak. I recommend using the 200mAh 35c Microheli packs with this BL motor. I get the best performance from them so far. HH still has them last time I looked. The 95mm Lynx blades seem to work well also, but I recommend using the solid CF tail boom stretch combo.
       
      Last edited: Jun 23, 2015
    20. Beaver

      Beaver Well-Known Member

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      So having read the thread on Tx handling tips...etc, I realized I've been a bit lazy about pushing myself to improve my skills. I've been flying the Nano like it's FP. Tx has been in Expo mode far too long, I've been using the low servo rate, and I haven't been using the "throttle hold/stunt mode" switch. That all ended tonight. Expo is off, high-rate is on, and I'm using throttle hold now. I flew this way with a moderate wind tonight, and it was actually more fun with the sticks set high and full pitch control on! :D
       

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