airbusdrvr

There was a few days ago a post about a X9303 that had a chafed/cut wire from the aileron gimbal. Most responders said this could not happen, but a couple of people did find the problem when they looked inside their transmitters. This problem is also discussed here, http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=903288. Anyway, this morning I decided to take a look at my transmitter and was dismayed to find that mine also is rubbing through the wires from the aileron gimbal assembly. Below are pictures. The chaffed area can be seen at the tip of the tooth pick I used for reference. The black wire has chafed through the insulation and the wire strands are being cut. The insulation is partially cut through on the red wire. These wires rub against a circuit board that is mounted inside the back cover. When the back cover is in place, this circuit board presses against the aileron/elevator wire bundle. I have owned this transmitter since new out of the box last October and today is the first time the back has been removed. So no one has been into the transmitter since new. Maybe later models have this problem corrected, but it would surely be worth your time to take a look.

A question: When this is sent to Horizon for repair, will I lose all my model programing?

GBR2

My Feedback: (1)

The model programming is stored in flash memory and requires no power to maintain. Repairs to the wiring won't affect it in anyway.

freeair

if you can repair this yourself you better off rather than having to post the tx and waite for a returned fix, this is very easy to fix and doing the job yourself will assure satisfaction.

airbusdrvr

Pictures of another X9303 from another forum: http://www.schu.net/gallery/main.php...2_itemId=16019

airbusdrvr

I just talked to Nathan at Horizon and he says they are "unaware" or any problems with this issue. Every X9303 owner should check this wire bundle from the aileron/elevator gimbal. Follow the owner's manual directions for adjusting the sticks and you can gain access to visually check the wire bundle. If you have chafing, it should be addressed. If one of these wires rubs completely through, a loss of airplane would result. It is not that difficult to check. It seems the majority of transmitters are OK, but some are affected. I just checked this thread on the other forum, http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=903288 , and there are alread three people there who have this problem.

Carroll-RCU

My Feedback: (43)

I just bought my 9303 2.4 a few months ago and after reading these posts I decided to check mine and I'm gald I did. One of my wires had the insulation cut but not into the wire itself yet. I hope Horizon looks into this before too many planes are lost.
Carroll

airbusdrvr

I just tallied the people who have reported checking their transmitters on this RCU and the other RCGroups forum. Of the two of us that have checked it here on RCU(carroll-rcu and airbusdrvr), both of us had this wire being chafed/cut. On RCGroups(link listed above) of the nine transmitters reported as being checked, six of them had the wire being cut(arrizo reported three at his field, laadams, akschu and richard314 had wires that were being cut. fhhuber, rsteffan and pale rider report no problem). This is by no means a scientific sampling, but it is significant that there would be so many with this problem.

fizzwater2

My Feedback: (61)

is this only on the 2.4G radios?

airbusdrvr

Don't know. 2.4G radios comprise the eleven transmitters refered to above. The part causing the interference/rubbing/cutting is a component on the circuit board that is mounted on the inside back cover of the 2.4 X9303s. If there is a circuit board mounted on the inside back cover of the 72Mhz models, it may be of a different size/shape that doesn't get so close to this wire bundle.

Carroll-RCU

My Feedback: (43)

I checked a friends older 9303 (72mhz) and it does not have the black chip (some have called it a regulator) on the back cover circuit board like the 2.4 so apparently the 2.4 9303 is the one that is affected.
Carroll

Howard

My Feedback: (55)

I have two 9303 radios, an XP9303 that is about a year old and a new 2.4 X9303 that is a month and half old. I just checked both of them and found that the X9303 (2.4) red wire on the aileron gimbal had a clear, thin abrasion located right where it rubs against the electronic component (square black chip) on the rear panel when the gimbal is moved and the rear case is closed. I should add that this radio has had very little use. When I checked the XP9303 in the same area I found no evidence of any abrasion - and as has been pointed out in a previous post there is no electronic component for it to wear on when the gimbal is moved. If that is correct then it is likely that this problem applies to just the new 2.4 ghz JR X9303 systems and it is beginning to look like it is going to effect a significant number of them.

If you had not found this and reported on the forum it is likely that many of us would have lost a plane or worse. We owe you a big RC thank you.

I plan to call Horizon on Monday to let them know - as was suggested earlier it would be a good idea for each of us to call so that Horizon gets up to speed as quickly as possible. I sure wish Danny and the JR forum were both back in operation.

Howard

fizzwater2

My Feedback: (61)

I've got two 72 MHz XP9303's, sometime in the next couple of days I'll try to get a chance to pull the covers off and look. That would be at least a little more data to consider.

slarty

On the XP9303 and other "standard" systems (9X, 9XII etc) that area directly behind the stick wiring loom is clear. Therefore there is nothing for the wires to chafe against.

With the 2.4 GHz versions, that area behind the loom now has the 3.3V regulator sitting there ready to scrape against the cabling. If I was a 2.4 GHz user, I would inspect this area at least monthly to check for signs of damage. It isn't going to happen to every system as it depends on how the wiring loom is laid down.

I would hope that Horizon will release a product bulletin outlining the problem, together with an easy fix. I will try and get a system to experiment with. I'll try some bog standard clear tape first and see how that goes with the next stage using a thin sheet of flexible plastic fitted in position over the regulator to ramp out the sharp edges.

Contact your distributor if you have these issues soonest.

Wilki01

I just checked my 9303 2.4 tx, no sign of this problem to be found so far. I will check everyonce in a while to make sure it doesn't one day to show signs of this. Thanks


Wilki

airbusdrvr

Keeping track of the good and bad transmitters is going to be tough. But my best effort so far is that three of four RCU responders have the chafing and six of nine responders on RCGroups have the problem. I do believe this situation needs immediate Horizon/JR attention. When one of these wires gets cut, certainly aileron control is lost and maybe this circut also disables some other part of the control system.

Below are pictures of the chip that is rubbing the wire bundle(1st picture), a picture of the original routing showing the chafed area(2nd picture) and a picture of how I have temporarily rerouted the wire bundle(4th picture). I will check this setup periodically to see if this reroute solves the problem.

Sorry for the upload of the third picture(same as first). Now the third picture is realy the fourth one. Also I see I cannot spell routed(rounted, oh well).

Carroll-RCU

My Feedback: (43)

I took an emory board and very carefully filed the sharp edges off the black chip and then cut a narrow strip of electrical tape and wraped it around the gimbal wires. Jr will probably void my warranty for doing this but I won't lose a 35% big bird bucause of a cut ail. wire.
Carroll

Bob Pastorello

My Feedback: (198)

airbusdrv - I do not know "why" you looked inside yours, but you saved my assn9 FOR CERTAIN!!!!!!!! Many Thanks.
Upon opening my 2.4 X9303 (not an XP), I found the same chafing starting on the red wire of the aileron bundle. Fixed mine, and wanted to post a HUGE "thank you" to you.

MOST EXCELLENTLY DONE!!!!!

airbusdrvr

I just sent the following e-mail to "[email protected]" . Perhaps others with the same problem might also contact Horizon Support.

**************************************
Attn: Nathan.

I called a couple of days ago and you said that you and the people you spoke with at Horizon were unaware of this X9303 chafing wire problem. The situation is now being discussed on RCGroups( http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=903288 ) and on RCUniverse( http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7840717/tm.htm ). It seems a majority of people who check their X9303 find these wires being chafed or cut. I would strongly urge that someone at Horizon step up to this problem quickly.

Thank you, RH
*****************************************

sarawnty

I checked my 9303 2.4 on Friday just before going to a fun fly for the weekend. The chip / board had cut completely through the insulation on the red aileron wire and started to cut through the wire itself. We checked 5 more 9303 2.4's at the fun fly. The insulation on 3 of them was almost cut through to the wire. The other 2 we starting to chafe already. Steve

airbusdrvr

To use a long ago call from Apollo 13, "Houston, We have a problem."

But it is good we are finding these before we started having failures.

Josey Wales

My Feedback: (61)

Well last week mine showed NO wear.....checked today again and voila! the black wire has a small piece of insulation worn off!! I was trying to avoid having to sand down the reg. Maybe a piece of fuel tubing slipped over the wires ?

Bob Pastorello

My Feedback: (198)

Here are some pics that I added a red line to which shows the axis of interference when the case halves are assembled. I have now routed the bundle vertically against the side of the gimbal frame and modified the regulator, but the interference is still highly likely, so the fix to eliminate abrasion is essential. I think this is clearly un-anticipated interference from assembly.

NJRCFLYER2

My Feedback: (42)

I own two X9303 2.4 radios. The one I purchased in late 2007 has the problem and the other one, purchased in Feb 08 does not have any sign of chafing at all. The older one has quite a bit more use, but even so, I think the newer one should be showing wear if it was not clearing the regulator chip. However, there's nothing to indicate that over time the wiring may not creep out of position and start wearing. This demands a really close look by Horizon to come up with a permanent remedy. Check the picture of the voltage regulator chip on the RF board. There is visible wear on one edge of the chip and the epoxy powder residue (from the regulator case), mixed with some copper from the wire is visible on the circuit board.

Thanks for reporting this Bob, I'm sure you saved me from a crash in the future!

Bob Pastorello

My Feedback: (198)

The thanks go to airbusdrv for alerting us. When I saw what was there, I sent a guy named John who lives around your area the link. I think this word needs to be widely disseminated, even if it comes up empty, folks need to know to check. Even if it just gives them peace of mind.

Mine was from early 2007, and it had the problem.

NJRCFLYER2

My Feedback: (42)

Got it, thanks for clarifying Bob. You know, as I looked at this more, it ocurred to me that even if you repair the damage to the wire yourself, and somehow manage to rearrange it to keep it from chafing, there is still some risk of a failure due to the fine copper filings that are now scattered throughout your radio. Take a look at the fine pitch of the SMT components on the encoder board and then ask yourself if you want to take that chance. My $.02 FWIW.