hank01

Uncle Sam gave back a few tax $ this year so a new bird will soon be in the hangar. I latched on to an [link=http://www.xheli.com/exial450ve2r.html]EXI 450 kit[/link], an [link=http://www.xheli.com/67p-450-md530-401-green.html]MD530 fuselage[/link] and the [link=http://www.xheli.com/brushless-motor-25a-esc-lipo-battery.html]power upgrade kit[/link] all from xheli.com. The ESC and motor arrived with all of the connectors soldered on. Even the battery came equipped with a soldered on Deans connector.

This is my first heli kit and from the looks of it so far it is very well made with precision fitted parts and high quality fasteners. It was surprising to see that the kit is lacking documentation. No instructions whatsoever. After doing some research I found that this kit is actually a Trex 450SE clone. Googling "Trex manual" turned up several .pdf copies of the Trex manual. Now I'm ready to build a helicopter. We'll be tearing into it in the next couple of days to check for loose fasteners, bent shafts/linkage etc.

In the meantime, if anyone is familiar with this kit, is there anything to watch for like kinks or bugs that need fixed during the build?

Hank

midntpumkin

I got the same fusealage, the first problem I had was the mount dosent set the heli level. I ditched the mount am using the exi 500 landing gear and made my own balsa and foam base. The other thing was mine came with exessive flashing in the tail . Hobby city has one with a removable front for easy acsess to the inside, that one looks very nice. Also the front canopy if cut on the lines is really close , leave some extra flashing.

hank01

thanks for the heads up! Not sure how to handle the canopy arrangement. Something definitely needs changing. Otherwise the whole fuselage has to come off just to get to the battery.

midntpumkin

I tryed a 500 fiberglass canopy and it's just snug inplace of the front plastic, I have a 600 canopy comming next week and hope it will just bolt up. I was going to paint it black and match the look of the glass as best I could .

dude7422

hi hank a few things to do to the EXI450 1st grind a flat spot on tail shaft to keep tail grips from slipping 2nd swap out the stock main blades for carbon fiber ones

hank01

Hope it works out for you. Black will look good.

Hey dude! Carbon blades are a definite. Going with the plastic ones for now, at least until it's all set up and trimmed. There will more than likely be a couple encounters with the ground at first- don't want to mess up the carbons. About the flat spot, you talking on the fin side, the tail rotor side or both?

hank01

Spent a couple hours checking the fasteners. Found several loose ones and 4 philips head screws rounded out. One of the ones rounded out is the head stopper screw. Could be a problem if repairs are ever needed. Installed the servos, routed the wires and hooked up the Rx. Added a power switch, mounted the ESC and gyro. I don't know how it is with other gyros but for the one sold by xheli (MKS GY-292) the Trex 450 instructions do not apply. This gyro has to be vertically mounted. Also, the gyro specs on [link=http://www.xheli.com/mksgyprhegyf.html]xheli.com[/link] fail to specify if the gyro is for an analog or digital servo. I have it connected to an analog servo. It doesn't drive the servo but the servo works perfectly when connected directly to the Rx. So, either the gyro is bad or its for a digital servo. The gyro has two adjustment ports, one for gain and one for reverse but no A/D switch. Can't say it's bad just yet, need to find out which type of servo it uses. Anyone here know? The question was posed to xheli on their support forum but have not heard back yet. Need to finish up the wiring, add zip ties here and there to tidy things up but have to wait until the gyro thing is worked out to finish the wiring. Still plenty to do in the meantime.

Have a look at the antenna setup. I did that to get it out of the way while working on the wiring and stuff. Thinking about leaving it that way. It might work?

hank01

Still waiting for an answer on the gyro situation. Was able to contact a CSR through their live chat earlier today. The conversation was interesting to say the least. [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9532983/tm.htm]Have a look[/link] at how it went down. I may soon be in the market for gyro.

hank01

Got a response last night to the gyro question posted on the [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9532983/tm.htm]xheli.com support forum[/link]. Gotta give 'em credit- they are consistent. No further attempt will be made to seek support from xheli.com customer service. The really sad part is for what I spent on the EXI 450, a Trex 450 sport combo kit is only $69.00 more.

On to the gyro. I opted for the [link=http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/products_id/156249/n/Logictech-2100T-LTS-3100G-Combo]Logictech 2100T & LTS-3100G Combo[/link]. From what I have read about the 2100T so far it can a little tricky to set up but provides rock solid performance. Did find a .pdf setup page compiled by HeliDirect that appears to address the setup from start to finish. A copy of it is attached below. What really sold me on the 2100T is the ability to set each side of the servo limit using the gyro. This, combined with the heli program features of my Rx, should provide excellent tuning capability. Can't wait to give it a try!

midntpumkin

I am using the hobbyking 401B and holds the tail fine. I also use the exi 450 swash leveler and on my first hover ever didn't need any more trimming. You can either get it from hobby partz or xheli.

hank01

What radio are you using with it?

midntpumkin

I am using the futaba 7C , really easy to program.

DarkSide41

I'll try to get back to this thread when I have more time but I love my two EXI 450s. I have had both for some time now and they fly great. One is in a Hughes 500 body and the other is still the pod and boom. One thing is you do not want the frame to be exactely level in the Hughes , it needs to have the main mast tilted slightly forward a bit just like the full scale. I have pics of how I did that easy.
You can see pics of my EXIs here under my name,Benny.

http://www.fantasiesonwheels.com/Web...%20Gallery.htm

hank01

That is a nice radio. Never used one one but have checked 'em out. I'm using an Eclipse 7. It's a little awkward to program but it is a good radio and the only computer Tx I have.

Thanks for the tip about the frame Benny. You have some good looking planes. I really like the paint scheme of the Hughes. Not sure how to color the MD530. I'm leaning heavy toward the military version but just can't decide for sure. Also not sure if I'll buy another EXI. We'll see how this one works out. Hopefully it will be as good as yours!

Hank

flyinbr

I just started flying my new EXI 450 a couple of weeks ago and so far I like it. It’s my first electric and I don’t mind working on it to get any of the bugs out of it. Just a simple stock kit no bling and it fly’s just fine for what I want it to do. I am using a 7C on this heli also works fine.

hank01

Nice! Which gyro/servo set is on it?

flyinbr

I put a S9650 servo with a Align 550 gyro. Very happy with the servo but I am going to up grade the gyro when I can. I don't do any 3D with it just some loops, flips sport flying stuff.

hank01

Blades are balanced and aligned, servos are trimmed, radio is programmed and it's time for the maiden flight. Switched on the radio, switched on the power to the Rx. A few beeps and the throttle is slowly raised. Just as it starts to lift off the feathering shaft goes into self destruct mode flinging the main rotor blades in different directions. One struck a nearby tree and shattered. The other ended up in the dog kennel some 15 feet away. Needless to say the rotor head has many damaged and broken parts, some parts could not be found. This could have been a tragic event but luckily no one was injured- or worse. It's disturbing to think of what could have happened.

I am trying hard to keep emotional comments out of this post but I have to say that this EXI 450 is a piece of crap! It looked good coming out of the box and the looks fooled me. That doesn't happen very often. What to do now? This has totally destroyed my already weakened confidence in xheli.com. Trying to get it replaced would mean having to deal with their lame customer service again. Even if they replaced it with a totally new one what guarantee is there that another similar, more serious incident would not occur?

To those of you that have a flying EXI 450, congratulations. You have a good one. Just be careful with 'em.

Andy, if you are reading this I want to know what you are going to do about it. I paid good money for this POS and I'm pissed.

Hank

Joe Warunek Sr.

My Feedback: (12)

Same thing happen to me but I purchased a T- rex 450 Align and had hobby town u.s.a. in Orland park put it together, I guess that they for got to ckeck the bolt, blades let go same way your's did, one went South & the other went North one hit me in the leg and other hit my tool box in the garage. I guess you have to ckeck everyones work just to be safe, it is sad that you don't get what you pay for now a days.

hank01

Checking everything made no difference this time Joe. The head of one of the screws fastening a main rotor holder to the feathering shaft sheared off. As you can see from the pic what's left of the screw is still in the shaft. With nothing holding it together pieces went flying in all directions at a very high rate of speed as you have already witnessed. Pretty scary stuff huh?!

evan-RCU

Joe was yours a broken bolt or did it come loose. I'm curious because typically Align is better than that.

Many people get a clone to save a few bucks and they end up costing more than buying an Align combo. This is very widely talked about in the forums and while some are sure they are making a killing (no pun intended) buy getting a clone and using $5 servos in it they do not realise that you can get a better, safer, longer lasting helo by just getting an Align in th first place. There are reasons these clones are cheap and it's not just because they save the cost of printing a manual.

Hank, IF Xheli does get you a new kit, which I doubt, I would sell it to help pay for a new Align 450 Sport Combo.

hank01

Andy is in touch about this. I'm waiting to see how xheli.com offers to handle this before deciding what to do with the frame. You're right Evan. For what was spent this thing a Trex 450 sport combo kit is only $69.00 more. Looks like my "budget bargain bird" is turning into a "budget busting bird".

dude7422

hank just grind or file a flat spot on the shaft that the tail blades mount to one side .. the flat spot will let the small set screw hold more tite and not slip on shaft

dude7422

darkside are you having parts problem at xheli i am they keep shipping me the plastic part instead of the alloy part i ordered

midntpumkin

back on but not sure for how long , here are the picks of the fiberglass i made for the canopy, the plastic one that came with it , the fiberglass mold i made of it and the one that will sit inside of the heli and bolted up after i reinforce the sides abit on the heli where the bolts will go through.