ORIGINAL: sgbfly

Oh Bugger! I've got my own tale of woe to contribute (though thankfully not on the scale of Bryans - Bad luck mate [img][/img])

Today is a near calm muggy day and seeing thus I took my favourite $10 heli (#1) to work with a view to getting a lunchtime flight in. Only problem was, almost the moment my last lipo was charged those glorious towering cumulus clouds exploded into life depositing hail, torrential rain and lightening on my little field. After 3 hours of peeping out the window every 15 seconds the rains stopped and I made it to the field only to be greeted by more rain [img][/img] Sheltering under a tree (yes I know [img][/img]) it eventually passed and I returned to my favoured spot on the field. Took out my favoured heli and enjoyed a serene battery pack as the heli looked great performing loops and rotor turns against the tall cumulus clouds that were none too far away. After 8 minutes the flight timer went but I ignored it and flew on for another minute then reluctantly landed & flicked the throttle hold switch.

Whilst reaching for the next lipo to be spoiled my heli freaked, rotors came to life with a judder! Quick glance at the transmitter and throttle hold was still on! Flicked it on and off and the heli fell quite again..... .....only for 10 seconds later to fire again, no fiddling the transmitter would stop it this time and the heli tipped over and performed a dance like a wasp on a window daring me to stick my hand in to try and disconnect the lipo. Eventually I did it but bust the landing skids in the process and stripped the main gear. Remarkably there seems to be no other damage including the blades which are unmarked [img][/img]

Just fired it up in the office and all works well.
So what happened - I've no idea but I guess one of:
1) A little rain somewhere - doubtful [img][/img]
2) Electrical interference from a thunderstorm - hmmmmm there was no interent or wireless network when I got back to work although I heard no thunder whilst flying. [img][/img]
3) I did not push the RF module fully home after practising on the sim last night (the 9x requires that you disconnect the rf module when on the sim) - the rf module was in but not completely tight.....[img][/img]
I think I've got off lightly tbh.

ORIGINAL: friz

Thanks for the reminder on lipo safety Bryan! I've cot a pile of them in the garage I don't use any more that need to be disposed of.

Guess what! Changed out the carbon boom for a metal one and the harmonic in the tail no longer gets excited to the point of destruction. Yea! I'm back in business. Thanks for the advice!

ORIGINAL: joizeex

wow, i turn away from the thread for a few days and you guys get yourselves in a pickle? I hope the string of bad luck will not cause any more grief for you guys!

Edmund, that's some nice arsenal you have and something i didn't know about those big cats. Interesting info there, thanks!

I finally had some time to catch up on the thread after a busy weekend. Went to the bay at the shore on Friday and did some kayaking and relearned windsurfing. I learned a little bit of the latter some 4 years ago and my body forgot most of it, so it took half hour to finally get the feel for it again, but the sun was going down by then. Was good to be by the sea though, as i haven't gone to the beach to splash around in a good long while (been to Atlantic City, but fully clothed and at night).

Saturday i finally flew the nitro again, after buying 2 gallons of 20% fuel and had a blast, though on the 4th flight the rubber isolators that support the tank sheared off and the tank was touching the frame, which in nitro heli world is not a good thing. Also the fuel line attached to the main tank developed a big crack and lots of fuel was lost in flight, not to mention the engine ran lean. So from all this business i had to bring the heli back in and call it a day.

I also got my very own Cyro and installed it on the Dragonus (as it turned out, the existing Telebee gyro wasn't damaged, but the 6->5V voltage converter that i ran on my tail servo, was). Well, so far it seems that the Cyro is being more consistent in holding the tail than the Telebee. I haven't done the hot glue fill, as it seemed to me that everything inside is very solid and the bottom lid has a foam pad inside that holds everything in place.

I'm still getting a little bit of bounce when flying in the wind, which i tried to cure by adding some Delay, though i don't think it helped. Has anyone used that feature to tune the gyro response? The batteries i'm using on the heli are all but dead by now, from me overdischarging them a few times, so it was hard to judge gyro performance with slower headspeed. I ordered 4x Zippy 2200 30C packs from USA HK, so i'll see how that works out. Overall i'm very impressed with the Cyro for a mere $11!

aaaand, i have my own electronics trouble, as some of you guys are! My HBK decided to start doing random things while in flight with respect to servo movement and throttle. When sitting on the ground and not spinning the rotor, everything's fine. When i get it going, some seconds later it decides to dance with itself. Gonna have to sort it out soon, because i just got 2 brand new 1800 nano-tech batteries for the heli (i over discharged the ones i had for it as well... can we see a pattern here? lol).

ORIGINAL: Jolly-Swagman

Have a look at these two Mods that can be done on your Turnigy 9X and then you will Never again have to remove that Stupid Module when using Simulator port or trainer and that wire for theantenna doesnt go back in right

Turnigy 9X Trainer Function and Simulator Modification Fix Resolution DIY

Peter popped in to say: Are the AAs in your Tx good? (I got one of these- s)...sounds like JS (in post #5244) has the correct answer for you mate!

I also think you got off lightly!!

ORIGINAL: pushinoldrc
This video is of the pics of my Model Shed Fire
[/youtube]

ORIGINAL: SW_RC

Simon - the power put out by wireless routers is very very low.. Unless you are in a small room with a router I don't think they were to blame for for heli's dance...

Remember power disapates at the square of the distance...

So the power measured2 metres from an antenna is the square root of that measured at 1 metre.. Assuming an omnidirectional antenna. Most routers use an omni. And the 2.4GHz RC radios are designed to be immune from other transmitters by frequency hopping..

Can't explain your woes, but the level of electrical noise from a lecky storm might have been part of the cause...

ORIGINAL: pushinoldrc

This video is of the pics of my Model Shed Fire
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok4WKnSioPQ[/youtube]

ORIGINAL: sgbfly

Oh Bugger! I've got my own tale of woe to contribute (though thankfully not on the scale of Bryans - Bad luck mate )

Today is a near calm muggy day and seeing thus I took my favourite $10 heli (#1) to work with a view to getting a lunchtime flight in. Only problem was, almost the moment my last lipo was charged those glorious towering cumulus clouds exploded into life depositing hail, torrential rain and lightening on my little field. After 3 hours of peeping out the window every 15 seconds the rains stopped and I made it to the field only to be greeted by more rain Sheltering under a tree (yes I know) it eventually passed and I returned to my favoured spot on the field. Took out my favoured heli and enjoyed a serene battery pack as the heli looked great performing loops and rotor turns against the tall cumulus clouds that were none too far away. After 8 minutes the flight timer went but I ignored it and flew on for another minute then reluctantly landed & flicked the throttle hold switch.

Whilst reaching for the next lipo to be spoiled my heli freaked, rotors came to life with a judder! Quick glance at the transmitter and throttle hold was still on! Flicked it on and off and the heli fell quite again..... .....only for 10 seconds later to fire again, no fiddling the transmitter would stop it this time and the heli tipped over and performed a dance like a wasp on a window daring me to stick my hand in to try and disconnect the lipo. Eventually I did it but bust the landing skids in the process and stripped the main gear. Remarkably there seems to be no other damage including the blades which are unmarked

Just fired it up in the office and all works well.

So what happened - I've no idea but I guess one of:

1) A little rain somewhere - doubtful
2) Electrical interference from a thunderstorm - hmmmmm there was no interent or wireless network when I got back to work although I heard no thunder whilst flying.
3) I did not push the RF module fully home after practising on the sim last night (the 9x requires that you disconnect the rf module when on the sim) - the rf module was in but not completely tight.....

I think I've got off lightly tbh.

Simon

ORIGINAL: joizeex

wow, i turn away from the thread for a few days and you guys get yourselves in a pickle? I hope the string of bad luck will not cause any more grief for you guys!

Edmund, that's some nice arsenal you have and something i didn't know about those big cats. Interesting info there, thanks!

I finally had some time to catch up on the thread after a busy weekend. Went to the bay at the shore on Friday and did some kayaking and relearned windsurfing. I learned a little bit of the latter some 4 years ago and my body forgot most of it, so it took half hour to finally get the feel for it again, but the sun was going down by then. Was good to be by the sea though, as i haven't gone to the beach to splash around in a good long while (been to Atlantic City, but fully clothed and at night).

Saturday i finally flew the nitro again, after buying 2 gallons of 20% fuel and had a blast, though on the 4th flight the rubber isolators that support the tank sheared off and the tank was touching the frame, which in nitro heli world is not a good thing. Also the fuel line attached to the main tank developed a big crack and lots of fuel was lost in flight, not to mention the engine ran lean. So from all this business i had to bring the heli back in and call it a day.

I also got my very own Cyro and installed it on the Dragonus (as it turned out, the existing Telebee gyro wasn't damaged, but the 6->5V voltage converter that i ran on my tail servo, was). Well, so far it seems that the Cyro is being more consistent in holding the tail than the Telebee. I haven't done the hot glue fill, as it seemed to me that everything inside is very solid and the bottom lid has a foam pad inside that holds everything in place.

I'm still getting a little bit of bounce when flying in the wind, which i tried to cure by adding some Delay, though i don't think it helped. Has anyone used that feature to tune the gyro response? The batteries i'm using on the heli are all but dead by now, from me overdischarging them a few times, so it was hard to judge gyro performance with slower headspeed. I ordered 4x Zippy 2200 30C packs from USA HK, so i'll see how that works out. Overall i'm very impressed with the Cyro for a mere $11!

aaaand, i have my own electronics trouble, as some of you guys are! My HBK decided to start doing random things while in flight with respect to servo movement and throttle. When sitting on the ground and not spinning the rotor, everything's fine. When i get it going, some seconds later it decides to dance with itself. Gonna have to sort it out soon, because i just got 2 brand new 1800 nano-tech batteries for the heli (i over discharged the ones i had for it as well... can we see a pattern here? lol).

ORIGINAL: pushinoldrc

I will post another linky once I figure out the best place to upload the photos to. You guys just have to see how hot it got. I have discovered more plastic heli canopies disfigured.
I think that I started having problems to begin with because of to many over discharge flights. Please be careful.
Rob, I can honestly say that your charge station is probably as safe or safer than mine. I think I will pour a concrete pad outside and away from any structures or trees and then form a concrete box to charge my batteries. It seems the only way my wife will allow them on the property now.
I will post that link soon. Please keep watching.
Bryan

ORIGINAL: Rob2160


Hi Simon,

Glad to hear you got off lightly..

Here is one possible explanation..

What are your "Failsafe" settings..

A bit of background..

When you bind a Spektrum RX to the transmitter, the position of the transmitter sticks are critical as these are remembered by the RX as the "Fail Safe" position

When the RX loses signal from the TX it will default to those values..

(Futaba is the same actually)

I had the same problem on my 450 Pro when I first built it.. I had bound the RX with the Transmitter stick just slightly above minimum position..

A few flights later, I carelessly turned off the transmitter first and the RX went into fail safe and the Heli powered up..

The easy fix was to re bind with the throttle fully at idle..

i now make sure my throttle is at idle for each new bind..

Perhaps it was a combination of factors? what was your TX battery? maybe a bit of electrical interference from the Weather?

Maybe the RX received was losing voltage due to you over flying the lipo?

Not sure if the Turnigy 9X has the same fail safe arrangements but it may be one thing to test/ eliminate..

ORIGINAL: SW_RC

Commiserations to those for whom helis have turned on them...

Maybe time to turn your attention to a more gentile pastime, like this fellow has?

[youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNLMN_RqSI [/youtube]

ORIGINAL: rikybob

Hiya all!

Re: Lipos burning your house down.

I store mine [link=http://www.armysurplusworld.com/display.asp?subdepartmentID=118]here.[/link] They are cheap and will NOT cause an explosion.

I charge mine in custom made ceramic boxes with a fire extinguisher and fire alarm nearby.

Now if I could just quit forgetting them on occasion I would be set!

b

ORIGINAL: sgbfly

Hi Rob,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts mate!

Failsafe is a naughty word as far as the Turnigy 9x is concerned as I don't think there is one........ I think what happens if you switch off the tx is the motor stops and the servos hold position - I'll try it on the GT that I'm rebuilding....Although the problem with this is the GT has a different receiver to the $10 heli so the results may not copy to the other.

The heli lipo was fine. It took less than 1800mAh to recharge and balance.

When it fired up it was a juddery start and the motor ran rough. The motor became hot (but that may well have been becasue the heli tipped over) - It was all very strange.....

Simon

ORIGINAL: Rob2160


Man.. you are HARD CORE!..

Great set up...

i have just emailed these guys about building me a safe Lipo shelter..

All jokes aside.. I am impressed by your charge arrangment!. [img][/img]

ORIGINAL: rikybob

Hiya Rob!

Not too hard core........just deathy afraid of fire!

When I was a kid we lived through two (count 'em), two house fires!

Due to allergies I can smell only three things:

1) Oil burning on a manifold

2) Baby poop

3) Wire insulation overheating!

Scary stuff fire is and I can't tell you how disappointed I am when I get up in the morning and find a phreakin' lipo still on the charger OUT of the fire proof box.

It has been told to me that basically lipos should be given the same reverance as a gallon of gas!

On another note I think I know what's causing Simon's issue.

It's [link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_murdoch]this![/link]

b

ORIGINAL: rikybob



Now lets see if this works for Flying Fiz????


b

ORIGINAL: SW_RC

Commiserations to those for whom helis have turned on them...

Maybe time to turn your attention to a more gentile pastime, like this fellow has?

[youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNLMN_RqSI [/youtube]