petey3

Finally just got my servos in today. Now I am up to my elbown in servos and wires and links. I decided while I am at it to hook up the servos so that they are directly linked to the swash. Here goes nothing. I will take some pics when I am finished.

petey3

Ok the conversion is complete. All 3 servos are in place and seem to be functioning very well. Now that I am trying to set the head with this new setup I am having problems. BTW I am using a HDX 450SE V4 head and tail. I can get the swash level and the blades at zero pitch a mid stick no problem. Problem is at full stick I was hitting the swash mix on the head. Basically I was at 5 degrees full stick and at over 13 degrees at zero stick. Tried shortening my links and it helped on the bottom end but the top is till hitting. So my question is this. Is my main shaft too short? Should I get a differant main shaft or am I missing something? Those of you who have a HDX head on your CP can you tell me what your head height is at mid throttle? I am getting a little worried. Oh also I am using a DX6i radio if that has any bearing.

biker dude

Petey, Check out this vid. It should anwser all your questions. Also he is using a DX6i with his set up. Follow his instructions and you should be fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMf62...eature=related

phillyD

Yes I have that issue on my belt..keep resetting the heli links untill you get equal top and bottom. At bottom stick make sure at full aileron and elevator the swash is not is not binding on the farme hard..a slight touch is ok, as It is hardly likely you will be at full negative with hard aileron at this point. I have 9 degrees with this set up and it does stuff. If you want a video link of proof I can supply.

Biker
That is a long vid.. LOL Gotta find some time to see that or point me to a specific time frame, illustrious Sir LOL

petey3

I had the idea of raising the head about 1/4 inch by drilling another hole through the main shaft a little higher. Would that cause any problems with the head? I think that there still should be enough support for the head. This should give me enough clearance untill I get a longer main shaft. What do you all think?

phillyD

Petey
I think you may end up with a wobble in the head because there will not be enough shaft supporting the head also what i did was to bruise some of the metal from the antirotation ring or the base of the head. Did you check the vid? I am watching the vid. The head is made by the same manufacturer, you need to stablise the flybar to do the pitch

biker dude

I'm with Philly on that one. Also I think it would be pretty difficult to drill through those shafts and get it straight. Are you using a Trex clone main rotor on your belt cp? I was buying the Trex main shafts and turning them upside down to make them work with my belt. I also had to grind a small spot on the shaft for the grub screw to fit flush on.
B.

biker dude

Here is a good resource list.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=812147

petey3

I was using the shaft that came with the HDX head and tail kit. It is a little longer than the ESKY maing shaft. I will be taking my time over the next couple of days getting it all centered and then I will have to adjust the travel through my DX6I to keep it from going to far. In the meanwhile I will be looking for a slightly longer main shaft. Perhaps I will have to have one of two made at a local machine shop. While I find that one I will become intimately familliar with my radio and dialing it in.

biker dude

I realized today that I have trouble seeing where the nose on my heli is once it gets a certain distance from me. So I'm not sure if it is facing me or not. Anyone know how to solve this?
Aside from the obvious, don't fly too far away, does anyone use some kind of reflective tape or anything?
Thanks,
B.
P.S. Hows it going Petey? did you get your main shaft problem solved?

petey3

I am still working it out but I am close. I think that I have it fixed now I am just trying to get it all set up again. I swear every time I do something I have to re set it to zero. This time I am learning from past mistakes though. So in the end it is a good experiance. Maybe I will be able to fly it by the weekend.

As far as your nose visibility problem goes mine is easy to see. I have a shark faced nose cone. There is no mistaking it for the tail even at a distance.

Tinkman

Allot of people use yellow or orange tail rotor blades. They say that helps.

Joaquin

phillyD

Yes Sire
450 size helicopters get small very quickly in the distance.

biker dude

O.K. so the other day after having had too much coffee I tried to replace the plug on one of my new batteries with a Deans plug. This was a bad idea because I couldn't hold still and ended up shorting out the battery. I think what happened was that the short caused the copper connection on the top of the battery board to break the connection which is why the battery will not work now. I believe that the cells are fine. Has anyone out there ever tried to replace this board? I was thinking about trying it but I'm thinking I should leave well enough alone.
B.

aircrash

Hmm, if the short made the cell`s lead to break then waste this battery.
So do you get a reading through the charging plug? If not then definitely one or more leads have broken. If yes then apply a low load to the charging plug, connect a bulb or something to the cables that are in the edges (so do not use the middle ones) and make the battery get discharged.
Then you can try removing the cover and see what`s going on.
But if it is charged then just throw it in a safe place (in a bucket full of saltwater for some days).

Well, there are a lot cheap batteries out there.
Such as here that has some good batteries at a nice price.
Or you could try one of those. And if you do then please post about, I would be interested.

biker dude

Thanks Aircrash, I've decided to toss it in salt water. I don't like fooling around with these batteries after all LOL!
I have been using these batteries and after about 1 year they start to puff a little after a 5 min flight.
http://www.valuehobby.com/power-syst...1-1v-lipo.html
Then I read about these batteries http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html
and have just started using them. The bad thing about these is you have to resolder your Deans connector arter removing the plug they come with which is what started the whole problem with the short.
Anyway, I have 3 new batteries and 2 that will be ready for the saltwater bath soon so I think I'm good for now.
Once I start trying 3d flight then I will consider buying some expensive batteries.


B.

aircrash

Why don`t you just replace the deans (T-plug) of the esc to the newer style EC3, or DC3, or XT60, or what is called by the manufacturers...
Igot a DualSky DC3-A plug for ESC to replace my T-plug on one esc Ihad as Itook some batteries that already use the new spec/type connector.
And believe me, it is a lot easier to plug/unplug this new stuff than the older T-plug.

Anyway, when working on a li-po better have it @3.60V all cells.

biker dude

I just bought an EXI 250 from Ebay so I may start doing that with that one, then switch over the 450 stuff next time I buy a new battery.
B.

phillyD

wow seems the Esky helis has a jinx.. Lots of invaluable info in this thread though

petey3

Wow it has been quiet in here lately. I was thinking of switching to a carbon frame and have a question. I did the DTS mod last fall and love it and want to keep it. Will I have to cut up the carbon frame to keep the mod? Or is there a kit for it? Any input on this is appreciated.

petey3

Wow it has been quiet in here lately. I was thinking of switching to a carbon frame and have a question. I did the DTS mod last fall and love it and want to keep it. Will I have to cut up the carbon frame to keep the mod? Or is there a kit for it? Any input on this is appreciated.

phillyD

Was that a DTS mod on the plastic framed belt? I know a close bird the HDX 3DX has that. Post a pick of how it looks now.
Cheerio Sir

petey3

Here are some pics. I have the original frame at the moment.

phillyD

Yes Siree
That is pretty neat but you'll have to cut up the CF frame as it does not have those spaces. Pretty neat. What head is that on the bird

biker dude

Hi Guys!
Hope everyone has been O.K.
I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. I've been flying the EXI 450 for some time now and love it. (not to knock the Belt Cp) it's still a good bird. But you wouldn't have to do any mods on it and it is a very nice stable flying heli. Most of the Belt Cp parts will transfer right over to it, and for $70 u.s. you can have the whole thing. The only thing I didn't like was the tail rotor, so I changed it to an Align.
I just hate the thought of you spending money then having to cut up a carbon frame so that you can get direct link to the servo, when the EXI offers that. Here is the link.

http://www.xheli.com/18h18-exi450pro-belt.html

P.S. I know in the past that EXI has gotten a bad rap for their service, but I have been doing business with them for about a year now and they really have gotten their stuff together. I even returned a part recently and had the amount back on my credit card within a week.
Anyways I hope this helps.