4#3b upgrade all the way
07-29-2008, 08:52 AM
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4#3b upgrade all the way
I read the previous 4#3b thread and decided to buy one from helipal.com. I received it today. My goal is to upgrade this with all the goodies. Brushless tail and main and the Mia fiber upgrade as well as all the extras from them as well. I thought it would be cool to have all the parts and sites to get the parts on one thread. It took me many hours and many threads to get started on what can be done and where to get it all.
So far I have been able to get the following.
www.helipal.com: for the 4#3b (good service shipped 6 hours from ordering)
Micro-flight.com: for the fiber up-grade rigid with tuff landing gear, stabilizer kit, swash plate collar and heat sink.
http://jonathan9113.1freecart.com/c/...gade-parts.htm for the brushless upgrades. super cool site even with brushless tail motor.
www.rotorfever.com spare blades and stock main motors. cool guy. e-mailed me a cheaper faster way to ship. good service.
So far I have only received the helicopter. Since I have basically a brand new heli coming in the mail with all the new parts, I decided to just fly the heli right out of the box and disregard all the advice that people have about how to set it up correctly. I can do that later when I get the proper tools and upgrades. I also was curious how the heli would fly un-tuned.
Dang! I can't believe it. I started on the smooth tile floor in kitchen and at low throttle it just wanted to slide left hard. Not able to hover very well at 1 inch. I then remembered I have all new parts coming in the mail. I figured screw it, I am just going to fly it and not worry about consequences. So I gave it full throttle and it flew straight up and was able to get to a hover in a few seconds and just flew it for like 2 minutes before I got close to the fridge and emergency landed. I could not believe how well it flew. The swashplate wasn't even level. the flight paddles were not perfectly lined up. Not even trimmed out. IT just flew great anyway.
I am going to document my upgrades with success and problems as I have read so many threads over time and have never really given back. So this is a super cool heli that you can practice with on the couch I feel it will get more flight time than the trex.
So I am going to document the $300.00 dollar palm sized heli with pictures and directions. Feel free to add as much as you can. The parts will be here in a day or two and will have it all ready for the first test flight by the weeks end. I will upload all pictures and make a short video of progress.
Todd
So far I have been able to get the following.
www.helipal.com: for the 4#3b (good service shipped 6 hours from ordering)
Micro-flight.com: for the fiber up-grade rigid with tuff landing gear, stabilizer kit, swash plate collar and heat sink.
http://jonathan9113.1freecart.com/c/...gade-parts.htm for the brushless upgrades. super cool site even with brushless tail motor.
www.rotorfever.com spare blades and stock main motors. cool guy. e-mailed me a cheaper faster way to ship. good service.
So far I have only received the helicopter. Since I have basically a brand new heli coming in the mail with all the new parts, I decided to just fly the heli right out of the box and disregard all the advice that people have about how to set it up correctly. I can do that later when I get the proper tools and upgrades. I also was curious how the heli would fly un-tuned.
Dang! I can't believe it. I started on the smooth tile floor in kitchen and at low throttle it just wanted to slide left hard. Not able to hover very well at 1 inch. I then remembered I have all new parts coming in the mail. I figured screw it, I am just going to fly it and not worry about consequences. So I gave it full throttle and it flew straight up and was able to get to a hover in a few seconds and just flew it for like 2 minutes before I got close to the fridge and emergency landed. I could not believe how well it flew. The swashplate wasn't even level. the flight paddles were not perfectly lined up. Not even trimmed out. IT just flew great anyway.
I am going to document my upgrades with success and problems as I have read so many threads over time and have never really given back. So this is a super cool heli that you can practice with on the couch I feel it will get more flight time than the trex.
So I am going to document the $300.00 dollar palm sized heli with pictures and directions. Feel free to add as much as you can. The parts will be here in a day or two and will have it all ready for the first test flight by the weeks end. I will upload all pictures and make a short video of progress.Todd
08-04-2008, 11:10 AM
#3
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
I have a couple of 22E's and my friend just got one of these 4#3B's and offered me a try.. First try slide all over the place.. 2nd try with more throttle, lifted straight up and flew surprisingly well...(I'm not used to fixed pitch Heli's).. Long story short.. after bouncing off a few walls and no damage, I will be ordering one for myself as soon as I get back from vacation.. Now I will have something to use indoors when the weather is crap...
08-04-2008, 08:33 PM
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
You are right, you have to just fly the heli straight up with a lot of throttle. The more throttle the better on take off. Fixed pitch is a little weird. I concentrate on throttle more than cyclic and rudder.
I think this heli is as revolutionary as the iphone. I am old as dirt (39) and have been building RC planes and heli's and buggies for over 20 years. I have had to go outside in the freezing rain and snow and on days 30+ mph winds. Hotter than a well diggers *****. going dead stick was an ordinary occurrence. And if you got a whole flight with no deadstick or crashes it was a great day! I know with all the new electric solutions you young guys are able to fly in a lot more successful conditions. For me to be able to get the full, well almost full,(4 channel) experience right in my living room is awesome. We used to have to haul our nitro gallons and battery charges and a whole wagon full of crap out to the flight field and tinker with old technology and get hit by other peoples frequency and man, you would not believe how it used to be..Life in RC is bad ***** now.
I can't wait for the 6 chanel 4#3b to come out. being able to hover upside down in my living room is going rule!
Anyhow currently having a struggle with getting the right gear to go brushless.
I think that the frame offered by MIA is a must have for sure. I ordered the stabilizer and swash plate upgrade. www.micro-flight.com
I do not like his new flex design. I prefer the rigid one. I ordered it and a bunch of stuff from them and received the stabilizer and the MIA tuff landing gear and the training gear. He is currently out of stock on frames.
The stabilizer is just weights on the flybar, and it works great. I recommend using the stock fly bar however due to it has the groves cnc'd in it that hold the flybar paddles in place at a good pitch. The swash plate upgrade is very clever and holds it very tight. very cool upgrade. The landing gear and training gear seems a little heavy for the stock motor. I have best success with the stock landing gear. The mia tuff skids are very cool looking though and hope that the brushless upgrade can handle the weight better.
The problem with the brushless conversion is that there seems to be a bunch of different ways to do it. I like the stock radio and want to keep the stock 4 in 1. I have a DX7 but don't really want to use it for this one. The website that has the conversion kits was made when the 4#3 was out so a lot of people were upgrading to the DX7. I want a brushless tail and a brushless main and want to do it with the stock radio gear.
http://jonathan9113.1freecart.com/c/...gade-parts.htm
The link above is where they offer a one stop solution but the stock method, they call "1's" does not work for the Tail. Just the Main. I want both. But supposedly you can do the 1's method and have the tail working now. I haven't seen an exact thread on how this will work but am looking for it daily. There are 400 pages out there on this but mostly on the 4#3 and not the b. I am hoping that someone will post a reply and save me from having to read so much useless crap. I want to place an order today but not sure what to get exactly. I keep getting one word and one sentence replies from people on how to do it or what to get. I could figure it out on my own for 250 bucks but hoping someone who has already done this will just hook a brother up.! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD POINT ME TO A PARTS LIST OR THREAD THAT HAS ONE!!
As Soon as I get my frame and brushless set-up going I will be sure to post everything I have found on upgrading the 4#3b all the way. I am afraid I am just going to have to go the DX7 route.
Todd
I think this heli is as revolutionary as the iphone. I am old as dirt (39) and have been building RC planes and heli's and buggies for over 20 years. I have had to go outside in the freezing rain and snow and on days 30+ mph winds. Hotter than a well diggers *****. going dead stick was an ordinary occurrence. And if you got a whole flight with no deadstick or crashes it was a great day! I know with all the new electric solutions you young guys are able to fly in a lot more successful conditions. For me to be able to get the full, well almost full,(4 channel) experience right in my living room is awesome. We used to have to haul our nitro gallons and battery charges and a whole wagon full of crap out to the flight field and tinker with old technology and get hit by other peoples frequency and man, you would not believe how it used to be..Life in RC is bad ***** now.
I can't wait for the 6 chanel 4#3b to come out. being able to hover upside down in my living room is going rule!
Anyhow currently having a struggle with getting the right gear to go brushless.
I think that the frame offered by MIA is a must have for sure. I ordered the stabilizer and swash plate upgrade. www.micro-flight.com
I do not like his new flex design. I prefer the rigid one. I ordered it and a bunch of stuff from them and received the stabilizer and the MIA tuff landing gear and the training gear. He is currently out of stock on frames.
The stabilizer is just weights on the flybar, and it works great. I recommend using the stock fly bar however due to it has the groves cnc'd in it that hold the flybar paddles in place at a good pitch. The swash plate upgrade is very clever and holds it very tight. very cool upgrade. The landing gear and training gear seems a little heavy for the stock motor. I have best success with the stock landing gear. The mia tuff skids are very cool looking though and hope that the brushless upgrade can handle the weight better.
The problem with the brushless conversion is that there seems to be a bunch of different ways to do it. I like the stock radio and want to keep the stock 4 in 1. I have a DX7 but don't really want to use it for this one. The website that has the conversion kits was made when the 4#3 was out so a lot of people were upgrading to the DX7. I want a brushless tail and a brushless main and want to do it with the stock radio gear.
http://jonathan9113.1freecart.com/c/...gade-parts.htm
The link above is where they offer a one stop solution but the stock method, they call "1's" does not work for the Tail. Just the Main. I want both. But supposedly you can do the 1's method and have the tail working now. I haven't seen an exact thread on how this will work but am looking for it daily. There are 400 pages out there on this but mostly on the 4#3 and not the b. I am hoping that someone will post a reply and save me from having to read so much useless crap. I want to place an order today but not sure what to get exactly. I keep getting one word and one sentence replies from people on how to do it or what to get. I could figure it out on my own for 250 bucks but hoping someone who has already done this will just hook a brother up.! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD POINT ME TO A PARTS LIST OR THREAD THAT HAS ONE!!
As Soon as I get my frame and brushless set-up going I will be sure to post everything I have found on upgrading the 4#3b all the way. I am afraid I am just going to have to go the DX7 route.
Todd
08-04-2008, 10:18 PM
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Senior Member
RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
Todd... I went thru the same things with the 22E's... spent a whole lot of time as well and also money... have 2 so its double the fun.. can't wait to get this little guy, just will make my life a whole lot easier... it gets to be a long time between flying due to the weather... I will upgrade this guy like the others but in time... 3 kids tend to eat up the spare cash quickly.. By the way, your not old... I got you by 6 years...LOL
08-05-2008, 06:05 PM
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
I'm doing exactly the same upgrades. I'm still waiting for my order order from Jonathan for the brushless upgrade. I have assembled the MIA frame already. My 4#3b bearings are messed up so I ordered replacements. I'm currently searching the web to see what swashplate setup for the 4#3B in the DX7.
08-05-2008, 07:24 PM
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
Cool man, What have you ordered so far? losi brushless? what gyro? where did you order your receiver from? how about tail motor? brushless on that too? Did you get the mia flex frame or rigid?
08-06-2008, 10:57 AM
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
i have a losi motor 10250. Jonathan was out of stock so i got it from amainhobbies.com. I'm still waiting for the tail brushless motor and 2 ESC from Jonathan: http://jonathan9113.1freecart.com/c/...gade-parts.htm. I don't have a gyro yet but thinking of getting ESKY EK2-0704B. I have the MIA carbon fiber frame package for 60 some dollars at the MIA site, complete with stabilizer and free standing main shaft support for additional $$. I have problem fitting my 4#3B servos in the MIA frame. They are loose.
Here are my plans with the electronics. I got this technique from the web: http://www.turborocco.com/gallery/ma...6496&g2_page=2
Losi motor is directly sodered into the ESC. The gyro is removed of its packaging to save weight. I have other helis to play around with so I'm taking my time. I have Trex 450sev2 and a copterx 450sev2.
Here are my plans with the electronics. I got this technique from the web: http://www.turborocco.com/gallery/ma...6496&g2_page=2
Losi motor is directly sodered into the ESC. The gyro is removed of its packaging to save weight. I have other helis to play around with so I'm taking my time. I have Trex 450sev2 and a copterx 450sev2.
08-06-2008, 11:07 AM
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
Very cool,
I am going to sell my mugen prospec to get a 450.,,TheSteve also e-mailed me and said the duel converter works for tail and main. he has a cool tutorial with pictures on it as well..
here is thesteve link that shows how to use his converters.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...postcount=1791
I am going to order my stuff today
Todd
I am going to sell my mugen prospec to get a 450.,,TheSteve also e-mailed me and said the duel converter works for tail and main. he has a cool tutorial with pictures on it as well..
here is thesteve link that shows how to use his converters.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...postcount=1791
I am going to order my stuff today
Todd
08-16-2008, 11:19 AM
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
I believe that you can use the 4#3 blades on the 4#3b. They are different though. I herd that the 4#3b blades produce more lift.
08-16-2008, 11:50 AM
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
I received the MIA g10 rigid frame and got it finished today. It is an awesome kit. Better than I had hoped. Don't forget to switch the leads on the tail motor when you hook up the direct drive. I forgot and created a Frisbee like helicopter then remembered since i am not using the gear drive, the motor will be running backwards....
I also recommend cutting 1mm off the trailing edge of the rotor blades. It helps the rotor speed since the gear drive is not there. Mario said that is what they do. The CG can be adjusted with the battery, It seems a bit tail heavy without the battery , but if you push the battery forward it balances out perfect. I am using stock electronics and motors at the moment while waiting for my converter.
So the Mia g10 rigid upgrade works great with all stock parts even the direct drive. The heli is heavier now because I used the mia tuff landing gear option as well. The flights are not quite as long but they are more stable and I can take my hands off the controls to adjust trim now with out the heli shooting across the room. I am hoping that the brushless will bring me back closer to the 7 minute mark. I am getting 5-6 minutes with the stock motor right now. I think that is worth the upgrade Even 5 minutes is pretty long time.
I have all the parts here to set-up the brushless main except the "TheSteve" converter. I ordered the dual converter and am only going to use one channel of it to get the main going then after that I will try the tail upgrade using the other channel. TheSteve said it will work. IF it does not I will continue on with the DX7 route. The stock tail rotor seems not to burn out like the main does but it does seem a bit on the weak side. Worried about the brushless having a little too much torque for a crisp tail. Probably going to have to upgrade the tail with Jonathon's $39.00 tail combo kit. Really hope it works with the dual converter.
Will post a pic and video this weekend of the progress so far.
Todd
I also recommend cutting 1mm off the trailing edge of the rotor blades. It helps the rotor speed since the gear drive is not there. Mario said that is what they do. The CG can be adjusted with the battery, It seems a bit tail heavy without the battery , but if you push the battery forward it balances out perfect. I am using stock electronics and motors at the moment while waiting for my converter.
So the Mia g10 rigid upgrade works great with all stock parts even the direct drive. The heli is heavier now because I used the mia tuff landing gear option as well. The flights are not quite as long but they are more stable and I can take my hands off the controls to adjust trim now with out the heli shooting across the room. I am hoping that the brushless will bring me back closer to the 7 minute mark. I am getting 5-6 minutes with the stock motor right now. I think that is worth the upgrade Even 5 minutes is pretty long time.
I have all the parts here to set-up the brushless main except the "TheSteve" converter. I ordered the dual converter and am only going to use one channel of it to get the main going then after that I will try the tail upgrade using the other channel. TheSteve said it will work. IF it does not I will continue on with the DX7 route. The stock tail rotor seems not to burn out like the main does but it does seem a bit on the weak side. Worried about the brushless having a little too much torque for a crisp tail. Probably going to have to upgrade the tail with Jonathon's $39.00 tail combo kit. Really hope it works with the dual converter.
Will post a pic and video this weekend of the progress so far.
Todd
08-23-2008, 07:29 PM
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RE: 4#3b upgrade all the way
I would like to post the final conclusion of this project but the converter I ordered 2 weeks ago still has not arrived and don't think it will. so since my three stock motors have burned out I have been down for two weeks.. Does anyone know if there are any other converters out there. I know TheSteve was gracious enough to make this for all of us 4#3b owners and is not really making much money off it, but since I am not able to get one, I was wondering if anyone knows if anyone else makes them and sells them? I really want to fly again....
Todd
Todd
