I have a Blade CP and buy a 8 cell of Duracell AA NiMH 1.2V 2300 mAh to make owned battery pack. My question is if a 4-IN-1 and motors support this charge!!! Thank for help me.

PD: Sorry for my English

I think the electronics can handle 8 cells/2300 mah, since it can handle 3-cell lipo, which is higher voltage. The capacity (2300) is probably too much because of weight, but it may fly. The motors may get quite hot due to the long run time combined with the added weight, which in turn reduces efficiency, and increases draw so it's possible you could burn out the escs but IMO unlikely.

I think AA batteries are too heavy.

The AA cells sold by duracell are also, in my experience, inferior chinese cells which do not handle high currents well. I would suggest using them for your TX. The AA cells sold as energizers, on the other hand are made in Japan by Sanyo and are excellent. They are available in 2500's

If you are in a bind and $$ is really tight, send me a pm and maybe I'll give you my stock pack if you pay the shipping....I haven't used it since I picked up lipos.

good luck!!

Anyone wants to see another begginner in action with his blade...
[link=http://rc.structureddesign.net/Blade-3batts-in.wmv]http://rc.structureddesign.net/Blade-3batts-in.wmv[/link]

I agree with r/cnerd in that the AAs are too heavy. I tried energizer AAAs and the current supply was problem. It barely hovered (less than a foot from ground) for about 4-5 mins, rest of the time it skid around due to lack of power. AAAs had 850 mAh capacity which is larger capacity than stock battery, but the problem was the ability to supply continuous high current. I spent lot of time to learn how to solder batteies and purchased recommended gears, in vain. Maybe my soldering skill was not good enough. Anyways if you try let use know if it worked.

I don't think the problem was your soldering, it was the cells!!

The Energizer aaa's suck for high current. They are not sanyos, they are chinese cells.

only the Energizer AA's are Sanyos, and are Japanese.

In battery manufacture there is always the trade off between high current handling ability and capacity. This is why the 850's put out less current than the 650's (as well as the quality/design).

If you are looking for a really cheap way to power your BCP check this out:

http://www.balsapr.com/common/search...ductId=T913427

It should be noted that ni-cads in general kick butt on ni-mh for high currents, especially in the cheaper stuff.

have fun!!

I was wondering if there should be any type of break-in process or break-in time to ensure that the motors have a long life or should i just fly the thing

Well generally in a heli, esp. when flown by a beginner, you are rarely applying full throttle so a break in is not really required. The main point of break in is to prevent brush arcing and resulting comm damage.....

However, break in can't hurt and will extend life and increase efficiency.

The best way to break in any cheap can motor is to remove it from the ship and run it (preferably at a lower voltage) in a glass of water!! The water dissapates any heat, acts as a brush lube and prevents arcing. You can tell a motor's break in is complete when there is a minimum of arcing at the brush. Make sure to oil the bushings after water break in.

An alternate method is just to run a pack or two at a very low throttle position.

DID YOU GUYS SEE THE PRICE ON THIS PACK???? LOL!!!!!

This is a newbie question, but how is the Bell-Hiller head different from what is on the Blade stock? What is on the Blade stock? And what are the benefits of installing the Bell-Hiller head? Do the washers still need to be set up differently for the Bell-Hiller head?

Sorry about all of the questions, just curious as to the differences.

On a side note, maybe one of the moderator could gather all of the pertinent tips for setting up and modifying the Blade and make it a "Sticky". I do not even know if there are "sticky's" on this website, but basically it is a thread that is alway on top for easy access. The reason for the request is that this thread is already 58 pages long and it is too easy to loose track of good information. If the pertanent points such as how to remove the stickyness from the collective, how to re-shim the head to get rid of slop, reduce both throttle/collective and trim when plugging in the 4-in-1, ect were put in one easy to access thread then it would take care of a lot of repetative questions. Hell, I do not even have my Blade yet, but there are already a host of things that I want to do to it, but I will have to wade through 58 pages of information to re-find some things.

It is just an idea, but I will say that the guy and girls on here are very helpful and nice, not much flaming. You should go to the Lancer Evolution boards, it gets rough over there sometimes!

I just found bdavison's thread! Nevermind about the sticky!

The Bell-Hiller will give you much faster cyclic response. Not so great for learing, but nice when you have it down. The standard head is a hiller (I think I have that right). The swashplate is connected directly to the flybar and the flybar is connected to the main blades. With the Bell-Hiller there is a mixing arm that puts some of the input from the swashplate directly to the main blades and some to the flybar. This gives quick response with good stablity. I have been using a CP2 bell-hiller on my blade for a month or so and love it.

Steve

Steve,
Where did you get your Bell Hiller items from? I have what I think is the set up from Esky parts but I lack any drawing or instructions to assemble it.

Thank guys, I am going to try to arm pack and to balance the weight to see if it works correctly. Thanks again. I post any results

Just an update....

The Esky shaft and gear will not work with the Blade unmoded.

The shaft is too long and will therefore require either shortening and redrilling (I would not recomend doing this as you will never get the hole in exactly the right spot every time), or extending the linkages between the swashplate and servo's. Also you will either need to A. hammer the motors pinion farther down the shaft, or B. put a bunch of washers/spacers on the shaft to get the main gear to line up with the pinion.

I would recomend going to the CP2 style gear shaft for a number of reasons, but considering the tweeking needed to get it to work just right, I can't say if the benefits are good enough to constitute doing so.

On a side note, the Esky tail boom, and paddle controll frame I bought look like they will work just fine.

Also this may have been posted in the past, but I have found a very economical way to repair broken landing gear rather than shelling out $5 for new ones - http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJDP3&P=7

Rather than throwing away broken gear, just pull the CF rods out, and cut new ones to replace them. With $4 worth of CF rod you can repair 6 pairs (12 seperate sides) of landing gear for an overall savings of over $25 (after tax).

just won a blade cp off ebay.claims it was flown twice.(seller had some higher end helis for sale)came with training gear,crash kit,main gear shaft,tail blade,2 sets of mains,2 spindle sets.question is what more should i buy to start and what upgrades should i look at.also what preflight maintenance should i do.i.e.grease balancing,etc...

Oppie,

I used the list provided by Futura in this post. I ended up ordering the parts from an ebay vendor (I don't remember the on-line store). There are a couple of photo's of the assembled head posted by Futura that helped me do the assembly. The only mistake I made was that I put the head on upside down (the part with the mixer arms, not great for control!). I used the 3BB blade holders from my old head with no issues. While you are ordering parts, make sure you order a couple of the rotor head assemblies (the part with the mixer arms), the ball joints on the mixer arms are very fragile compared to other parts and seem prone to breakage. I broke one, fixed it and broke it again. I put a new arm on last night. The part that is hard to see from the drawings is the bearing assembly on the upper head. You put a bearing on each side of the rotor head and insert the little plastic bar through them. The flybar ends up going through the hold in the little plastic bar as well as the outer frame and rotor head. The rest is fairly clear from the photos. Let me know if you would like close ups and I can take some tonight and post them on a new topic.

Oh, you might also want to order an extra set of linkages since the long links are very fragile. I did not break mine during assembly, but I bent them several times and I know it is only a matter of time before they break.

Steve

Thanks Steve, if you get a chance to post a close up of the details on the Bell-Hiller I would appreciate it.
Thanks
Don

Horizon CNC Swashplate Problems


Hey Gang,


Just installed the swashplate last night with no luck.

My problems are the linkages all had to change. It's not just a simple "plug-n-play" at on my helicopter. I moved the linkages 3 holes in on all the servo's and I still get binding when I pull the stick back & to the left.

Has any1 else who has installed the swashplate had the same problems??

Also, if any1 has any pics of their setup showing your neutral horn positions that would be a big time help to.

I tired to upgrade with the Centruy CNC S/P a few months ago and had the same problem so when I heard that Horizon was going to make their own I figured it would be exactly like the stock one but just made out of aluminum.

Big time thanks in advance,

Scott

Scott,

My E-Flight swash dropped right in. I didn't have to change a thing. If I had my Blade with me today I'd post a picture for you. But I didn't have a single issue.

I injoy my blade greatly. I am an old rc'er but new whirley guy. I do hover , now my tail motor has givin way. Has anyone used either the two motor system or the DD motor with any success? And where did I see it in the thread? Thanks all you contriutors for the great insights and tips it adds greatly to the hobby



James

Ill be posting a modification section in my "Bdavison's E-flite Blade Assembly" thread soon on how to install the E-sky Bell/Hiller head onto a Blade CP. It can be done with little effort. Easy change. Im waiting on the head, Bill Altman said he had one ready to go, so as soon as I get it, Ill start building it and post pics of how to assemble it onto the Blade. He already has his converted, and it flys 100% better than the original stock head.

[link=https://home.comcast.net/~kwes/Blade_0002.wmv]Blade in baquba iraq[/link]

Posted this on ezone but since I came across this thread I thought the RCU folks might get a kick out of this. Dont worry about the tail wag in part of the video I was working on the gain settings when I got the sometimes ill fated peer pressure to fly for the camera.

Enjoy

Harry

Awesome video. Glad to see your having fun over there too.

[quote]ORIGINAL: stimpsonjcatt

Horizon CNC Swashplate Problems


Hey Gang,


Just installed the swashplate last night with no luck.


Scott,
I had or have the exact same problems. I to installed the Century swash then thought the Eflite would be better so I bought them.
I had to adjust the servo links but that isn't a big problem. I think the ball links fit is to tight so I worked them and added some oil. I have two Blades one conversion came off with out a problem but the other has a problem. At this time I am suspicious my throttle servo has a glitch. So I will switch it to see if the problem follows the servo. I also found the swash response is much slower then the original swash. I also had to adjust the blade pitch to get more pitch.
Keep each other informed as to our progress.

James,
I have used the DD tail upgrade and it is very successful. I got tired of replacing the plastic gear and if the motors wern't buring out the bearing would come loose. If your LHS doesn't carry the GWS parts the listed sites do. CHeck out:
http://www.heli-fever.com/index.php?...f76c27f3e4297b
Direct drive Blade adaptor $4.50
DD tail Fin $2.50
GWS motor $7.50
Heat sink $1.50[img][/img]