elan120

My Feedback: (1)

Himax appears to be getting serious in providing motor for pattern application, and this is great news for the e-pattern world, since more choice is always welcome. This weekend their new pre-production motor arrived for some testing, since this is the motor includes all their final design changes; I am eager to find out its performance.

The first impression upon opening the box is very good. Not only the motor feels lighter than the original prototype, it has a clean appearance as well.

After trim down the wires to fit my plane, and solder on the bullet connectors, the total weight came in at 617g, compare to the Pletty I have been using for the past 2 seasons, Pletty still is lighter at 581g, but the difference is quite manageable.

Since Himax happens to have multi mounting configurations, after removing my Plettenberg from the firewall, it dropped right in and bolted to the existing firewall without making any changes or modifications.

The ground testing shows promising results, and the motor is running quite efficiently, which provides user with cooler running motor, lower power consumption, and perhaps lead to the use of smaller battery packs to further reduce all up flying weight. And below is the comparison data between the Plettenberg I have versus Himax motor, using WATTSUP watt meter between battery packs and ESC to take input power reading, and TNC tachometer to measure rpm as output. Other setups used were: APC 21x14, TP Prolite V2 5300 battery packs, and Castle Creations HV85 ESC.

Himax 6330-F3A:
RPM Current(A) Voltage(V) Static Watts(W)
1000 0.55 39.72 21.4
2000 2.5 39.46 88
3000 7.3 38.98 290
4000 17.8 38.2 678
5000 37 36.8 1365
5800(max) 65 35.6 2170

Plettenberg 30-10 EVO:
RPM Current(A) Voltage(V) Static Watts(W)
1000 0.6 39.45 23.2
2000 2.8 39.1 108
3000 8.9 38.6 340
4000 19.2 37.7 720
5000 39.9 36 1442
5850(max) 70.5 34.0 2650

In the air, the power is plenty as expected, and the vertical still felt strong at the end of the flight after 7 minutes of vertical only flights, and this appears to be a result of better motor efficiency, which holds higher battery voltage at the end of flight. Additionally, the higher efficiency produced lower heat, which by the time the plane landed, it is just barely warm at touch.

Kevin

lsjpeng

I started to test the Himax 6330-F3A prototype since last October. It replaced my AXI 5330/FAI directly w/o any modification of motor mount. I had 117 flights so far. The major improvement is the efficiency. With lower energy comsumption, I was able to switch my battery packs from TP5300 to TP4350 that saved me ~5 Oz weight.

When using AXI 5330/FAI and APC 20x15, I used 3700-4000 mAh for one Master sequence. After Himax 6330-F3A (same setup), one Master sequence usage is 3200-3400 mAh, see a typical data from EagleTree below.

The production motor has 8mm prop shaft instead of 12mm shaft in the prototype. An end-cap at shaft eliminated the collar. So the total weight of the production model is lighter than the prototype.

Luke

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Kevin,

What amps are you getting at full throttle? Is 36 listed on the HiMax just one side?

Tom M

patternflyer1

My Feedback: (11)

I have one of the other prototypes and I can honestly say that I think I am replacing my Hacker C50's with these. I only have 10 flights on it, but there was a lot to like about it!

I'll have some numbers up after I get back from vacation and order another data logger as mine was lost in the crash.

Luke, I need another! lol
I just ordered a Neptuno!

I like the 3 bolt idea like Kevin's. It saves a bolt over ours with 4 bolts.

Well, off to Mexico!

C

lsjpeng

Tom:

That's a typo.... full throttle should be ~63A.
I have a production motor installed in my plane. If you're interested, you can try the prototype. The footprint is exactly the same as AXI. I replaced its prop shaft by an AXI 8mm shaft, you don't have to trim your prop hole to 12mm. Let me know.

Luke

elan120

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Tom,

Thanks for point out the typo...I got to remember get some coffee in the morning before posting data...it is 65A instead, and I have made the correction now.

Kevin

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

No problem Kevin, I figured it was a typo but wasn't sure where. Those numbers are really interesting..

Luke, I may take you up on that. I'll email you later tonight.

Tom M

serious power

Hi ,
Is this a comparison between a new himax and a 2 year old pletty with perhaps 600 to 1000 flights ?
Also if well used it will have been heated many times, perhaps overheated also as I see no cooling from the spinner.

Brian

elan120

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Brian,

It is not a 2 year old Pletty, but a Pletty that was in use for approximately 7 months, and about 350 flights. The 2 year reference was for the length of time that I have been using Pletty, since I have a total of three, this is the second one that I am using, and one brand new in the box still.

The cooling from spinner is not needed in this plane. It has very large cooling air intake holes from the front already, and the highest temperature the motor experienced with 101F ambient temperature was 135F.

Kevin

serious power

Hi Kevin,
Yes just checking.
The himax looks good.

Brian

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Hey Kevin, Luke and Chris. Thanks for the updates and testing. Looks like we will have a very nice option soon. Mike Mueller

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I borrowed the prototype from Luke and installed it in the trusty Black Magic last night. I had a jury rigged, esprit type mounted, Hacker C50 14 XL installed last. Flew fine with the Rasa 21x15 folding prop, but though the power was definitely adequate for P-11, it lacked the 'wow' factor. I forgot where I wrote down the performance numbers, but I got about 67 amps and 5800 RPM or so... or there abouts. This motor weighed one ounce more than the Hacker installed, due to the rear support and longer struts etc. The production model weighs about one ounce less than this one, so the weight would be the same.

I ran up the Himax this morning with a freshly charged, but not necessarily warm, Rhino 4900 set, Jeti Spin 75, Rasa Folding 21x15 Here is what I got:

Amps: 65.5
Volts: 36.8
Watts: 2410
RPM: 5960

Some notes about the numbers... though I checked the numbers against the Jeti recording just to get an idea, the amps were taken from an Astro Flight Watt meter and the RPM was taken from a Hobbico tach. The values were not taken at their peak, as RPM was at 6080 initially, but after a few seconds, maybe ten and the numbers had settled a bit.

The weather isn't great here, but it is relatively calm and not raining so I may go out and get a couple flights to see how it goes.

Tom M

TonyF

My Feedback: (92)

Be careful about amp readings from an Astro-Flight meter. The one I had read way low compared to others.

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I have used it for years... it's accurate.

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I made five flights with the Himax this afternoon, and I had a good overall feeling about how it performed. I made one flight just getting used to flying again, it's been over a month, and four flights of P-11. The motor was smooth, and had much more authority than the 14XL it replaced, though I don't think that's a surprise to anybody.

The motor with the Rasa 21x15 folding prop provided a good combination of speed and vertical pull. I need to try a few different props and see what works best, as I don't think there is 'the prop' for a given sequence or even motor, but a 'the prop' for pilot, sequence, motor, plane combo... I like the weight and other qualities of the folding prop so I wanted to try that first. I wish it was a little cheaper to experiment with different sizes though. I have a stack of APCs that will give me an idea of which direction I should go.

Overall, I liked it quite a bit. I was impressed by the power, vertical was not lacking at all. Though a subjective data point, the batteries were the same temp I took them out as I put them in the plane... that hasn't been true for other motors. I'll charge them up tomorrow and try a few different props. It should be interesting to see how much mah I used for a 11.25 lb Black Magic (with the Rhinos) in P-11.

Tom M

Magne

When will this motor be available?

Magne

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Tom was that the Rhino 4900's? Thanks for the report. Mike

F.Imbriaco

My Feedback: (56)

I e-mailed Himax three days ago because they are suppossed to be at the WRAM SHOW in a couple of weeks. Asked if they'd have them there and the price, but no response yet.

lsjpeng

I was told the production motor will be available around the mid of March. List price will be around $250. Since Himax is going to promote this motor in K-Factor, I expect there will be a discount for pattern society. Let's wait till Chris comes back from vacation.... the editor always has the first-hand info.

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I flew a couple of flights with the Rhino 4900s... three other flights with the Zippy 5000s. I recharged the batteries last night and for the four flights of P-11 I put between 2600 and 3300 back in. The 2600 flight was just the sequence fast and big... though I was pretty close in, I would expect this number to go up once I get back into the swing of things. Still a lot less than I was doing with other motors though... The two 3000 flight and one 3300 were with extra maneuvers.

It's early, but it looks like a 4000-4350 sized battery would work really well and you wouldn't be limited to being conservative to get through the pattern. But that's really up to the pilot and hard to quantify. Overall it looks good and I hope to play with it some more today.

Tom M

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I couldn't get out to the field this morning, but I did get a chance to run up a few more props. One that I was curious about was the APC 22x12... I did run it up and got 80 amps and about 5600 RPM, but I shut it down after I saw the amperage draw.

Yesterday's Results:

Today's:

APC 21x13.5
69 amps
37.2 V
2566 W
5910 RPM

APC 20.5x12EW
69 amps
37.4 V
2580 W
5880 RPM

APC 20.5x14
70 amps
36.7
2569 W
5800 RPM

The above tests were done in order with the same battery, without recharging in between. Yeah, yeah, I know.. but I ran the folding prop last and recorded the following...

Rasa 21x15 Folding
65.6 amps
36.8 V
2414 W
5900 RPM

Obviously the Rhino 4900s hold up pretty well, the numbers I got at the end of the test for the folding prop were the same as yesterday... I seriously doubt they were actually EXACTLY the same, but close enough to be within within the margin of error of the instruments used... we aren't exactly using laboratory equipment here, but it's close enough.

Tom M

lsjpeng

Here is the link to MPI about this new Himax 6330-F3A motor. List price is $249.95, available around mid March.

http://www.maxxprod.com/mpi/newdevelopment.html

AmericanSpectre505

Hey guys,

Will this motor fit were a Pletty 30-10 EVO is installed with regards to the bolt pattern? The HIMAX sounds pretty good and appears to be as strong as the Pletty, but more affordable.

Thanks for the info.


Bill Holsten

ExFokkerFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Bill,

The motor can either be mounted with the four screws in the AXI pattern, or with three screws in the Plett pattern. Motor has holes for boh and if you check the link above you can see that on the photo that shows the bottom. The motor that does not have the Plett holes in the photo is the prototype.



Tom M

vanputter

I went to the Maxx Products web site to look at the motor information. Then I sent them an e-mail as a dealer, asking for more information, saying "I see that it will weigh 613 gm. I assume that the diameter is 63 mm and that the KV rating is 200 RPM/volt. Can you tell me any more about the motor, like the maximum power output, number of lithium polymer cells it can be used with. the range of candidate propellers and the expected price to dealers?"

Jarvis Yeh responded with "Hi Ron, Thank you for your email. The info in the website is the most up-to-date. The dealer price should be around $XXX range, however, this is not finalized. About your other questions, the following thread from rc universe should answer all. I am leaving for a trip in a few hours and will not be back until Monday."

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9443515/tm.htm

So, Jarvis led me here and the information was useful and the motor looks promising. BTW, I XXXed out the dealer price, since I don't think Jarvis or other dealers would like me to make that public.

Ron Van Putte