Sorry guys ive been working rebuilding servers at work so my only solace is the am\pm flights on the trex 450xl. My heat problem is stable at about 169 fh max on the motor and 150 on the esc. Did you get the 25g esc for free and what about the alum motor. My main headache is the connector wires are comming out of the red female on the esc. I keep stuffing them back in but i have to get it fixed. I am a wheelchair user with limited hand strength so I depend on the hobby store or friends to fix stuff like this.
good flying i am getting into high hover and piviots.

I placed an order through eBay with Rc-Expert and I had a pretty bad experience. The heli in question was a walkera #5. The heli was
was demaged One of the props was broken snapped right off yes it could have had happened in the shipping process but the flybar was rusted that was exposed to water or humidity and clearly was not a shipping issue.
The Lipo battery didn't work and the transmitter antenna was busted from inside the transmitter box another non shipping problem.
The item that was sent to me was not the item advertised also it came with 2 canopies one was full of crumbs and oil like if they
ate with their hands packed the canopy leaving oily residue behind pretty disgusting, after several emails he replied to me but offered no refund. so It was a total rip-off, your experience may vary but I have noticed this from 2 different vendors from HK China. I will NEVER order anything from China again.

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it, do you know anyting of teh Dragonfly 22E's by chance, cannot find but a dimes worth of info *anywhere. . although the appear to be good (in desciption at least), I do have a couple 'newbie' questions: 1) can someone just put in simple terms what PIT and PLT Knobs are. (pitch and P??, the PIT is on the LEFT side, and the PLT is the Knob on the Right (those ones directl;y above the "sticks", Also, when there are Two "Switches" left/handle, and right handle, those are with 6ch., but is it the Left one that FLips on the 3D, and the Right one 'Locks" your Pitch. . or something along those lines?. . I would really like to get to know thise thing cm. by cm. the best I can before It arrives, regradless though, I cannot find any 'open' Documentation for the DF22E.

Also, thanks btw, but is BELT driven rear's TONS better, or just 'Better'? (no need for detail, just an insight will suffice), I know one advantage is that you dont have a rear motor to replace. Anyways, that ! is a little less important, just a Q. Thanks a bunch!

X1705

Hey wheelstu,

The motor and ESC were free replacements, yes, but I will have to send back the old and unused parts to HK. BTW, in the auction where I got my heli, the ESC was advertized as having governor-mode, while the BL-25T it came with did not offer that. As far as I can tell, they've corrected this since then and are now advertizing the BL-25T ESC when it's included instead. Governor-mode seems to be the only difference between those ESC's, with the rest of the feature-set beeing the same. If they would have advertized it as a BL-25T without mentioning governor-mode, I wouldn't have requested a replacement for the ESC, but as it happens, governor-mode was one of the criteria I looked at when buying the heli, so I really wanted it. The battery-connectors are indeed a bit flimsy, but they're holding up for me so far. Good luck with your flying. :-)


Grtz,

Traveller

I got some deans connectors today because the others were comming out and showing bare wire. They are gold plated and have to be soddered on. I will let you know how it turns out.

I put my Deans connectors on the battrey packs and the ESC and Charger and they work great. No more hot wires and alot more power. My motor still gets up to 160fh after 5 min flying.

there are over 80 posts here about rc-expert, i could show you another 60 at trextuning.com.
all i will say, you can do better,much better. on a scale of 1-10, they are about a 3.

people who buy from them keep other hobby stores in business. half of what is sent is near junk to begin with.

I guess that just falls into the catagory of "there's no such thing as Bad press" then huh?

I understand what your saying rcgrinch, but surely, there Must be *some reason people still go there then.. .

Maybe, just maybe, some people that buy from them(rc-expert.com), really like challenges? Seriously, Ive seen that before.

or maybe people who buy from them are 'Gambling Addicts', again, this could be true also. .

All I can say furthermore, is yea, your probably right about 'doing much better', IYO. There area a LOT of factors that one may be considering when buying one of these things, and unfortunatley, 'Quality' Isn't always one of them. . for very realistic reasons.

I'd say, so long as someone is Honestly 'informed' to the best they can be, there's no reason to 'dis' them on thier decisions.
(noone else pushs that "Purchase_Now" button but them, if all else, like Many things in life, it'll just be another learning experience.)

*and if you must say, "but you could have spent 'this' and gotten Much better. . there's a Catch, many* people CAN'T spend a dime more

That, again, is just how it is. . for what *I* am getting, worse case, I break a lot of parts, but that will take time, and at least I will learn something(a lot), had I get a T-REX(or the like), I would be MUCH more hurt/at a loss, when that ones goes in the 'for parts' bin

At any rate, its still a hobby, and hobbies were meant to be enjoyed. And i'm sure anyone who buys one of these things, has "Done their best in picking one_that they can afford/ITO" that at least *they* are comfortable with it. and that is important as well.

but at least some 'newbies' can get their feet wet, good or bad.

Cheers and may the wind be in your favor.

X1705

Yea I fell into the trap of not having the dexterity (c-6 quadraplegic) and wanting someone to assemble it for me. I found out that modling is best enjoyed with friends. One of my buddies came over and helped me soder my new connectors. Those of us with no on-site help are in a bind. I ask myself why I have been doing RC's all these years and I think it is because I enjoy the repair just as much as the flying.

heh me too I enjoy the modding and trying to cheat the system as well... it really is the best part of flying.

Wheelstu and thecheatscalc, funny it seems that most of us on _this thread are like that, likewise a little bit back I mentioned (in 'defense' of getting a Walkera for some), that Some people know the Risk, but still pursue it because of the possible Challenge element involved.

Kinda like PC's, I dont think I've ever owned own that I haven't dismanteled 3 dozen times in it's lifetime, and tried every *possible way, (including some 'not-so-possible' ones to see what *I* could get it to do: i.e.; I have my P4 3.0Ghz(prescott) Overclocked to 3.906Ghz. [8D] I have put Car Stereo's in the 5.25" Drive Bays. .hehe, (that was a Looong time ago though, and it was on a Commodore64sx) we have "Software and the Internet" now to stream us Music. haha, anyways, back to our original broadcast. . sorry for the interuption.

X1705
[8D]

Hey Guys,
I live in Australia and after much pondering decided to go with rc-expert. I got the Esky Honeybee 2004. It arrived in about a week from Hong Kong.
Since purchasing it I have busted the paddle control frame and one of the paddle control links. I have received excellent service from Hing at rc-expert. He has always answered my email expediently and parts have arrived within the week...which is pretty good by my standards as I live 3 hours from the nearest capital city (sydney).

I did receive a wrong part on one occassion but this was due to Esky modifying the honeybee design. I relayed this to Hing who promptly sent me the correct spare parts and even threw in an extra paddle control frame free of charge - and i didn't send the wrong parts back.

I wouldn't hesistate in reccommending these guys to someone who is unsure about where to buy from like I was initially.

Thanks to you all for making me sick to my stomach!! Would write LOL but don't think would apply to this situation. I have done 3 days worth of research on which micro heli to go with, and decided on the T-rex 450 XL CDE CCPM. Helis are not new to me, I started flying helis about 3 yrs. ago. After placing my order with RC-expert I shuffle back to rcuniverse and notice a thread on the merchant I had JUST done business with that is not at all flattering. I think I just wasted $400+shipping. Ok, breath.....I ordered a T-rex 450 XL CDE CCPM heli, an Align 420 LF (3200Kv) brushless motor, the Align 25 A (I know the 35 is better) BL speed controller, the (4) servos needed "now I know I should immediately replace the servos," and the telebee 500 gyro that is supposedly also crap. OK...trying to make myself feel better here I think.....This exact heli kit, and motor can be ordered from 2 US distributors (heliproz and helihobby) so these two items must be usable, the 25A speed controller may not be, but the 35A of the same make is available from these US distributors so maybe the 25A is usable for now. On to the servos, not worth the time - will replace...no big deal. The gyro, oh screw it, I have a Fut. Gy401 sitting around. I am having this setup sent to me ARTF "just add radio" because I have built enough helis and don't consider it enjoyable anymore. Do you all think (A) I might as well have wiped my ***** with the $$, (B) Most of the items ordered are decent (they are sold here in the same form) , (C) Would break it down upon arrival and rebuild to make sure everything is okay replacing servos and gyro (would like to use a JR digital tail servo anyway), (D) I just made the best monetary transaction a man can make? I was going to upgrade to the Mega anyway, now maybe sooner than expected. But, I wanted to use the BL speed controller. Now I might need the Phoenix 35 instead, my own gyro, and need to order some servos. WOW, that might as well have been a really expensive kit. You know, now that I think of it my rear kind of hurts. Did I just get screwed? At least I ordered my heli v. 9303 and R700 from horizon. Someone please lie to me and tell me everything is gonna be alright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[8D] Its gonna be "O.K." everysilver, hehe, (i had a few LOL on that post, not that they were necessarily 'appropriate', but funny as hell nonetheless.. So? Is Laughter the best medicine?)

back to business; chekc on some of my postes here on my rc-expert experience, turley amazing to say the least so far, I just got it (a dragonfly 22e nonehteles), it is my first..

and, your tellin~me!!? i had had the exact same 'shock' to my nerves/senses when i read about soemof the crap thatd happened with rc-expert.com, get uptodate justto make sure, Before feeling stressed, a lot of the negative posts were a while ago, not all, but some, and focus on the better ones, yes, there are beter posts about rc-experts, justdont let the 'dark side' blind you from seeing them. .

My experience, in short, nothing short of exceptional. turely. My bird arrived in 6 or 7 days after i ordered it, A+ condition, not a scratch, the box's wrapping had the end/sides opened, (which i've Actually heard/read people whine about here!!), umm, thats customs, they have to, if they didn't your birdie would still be sittin there doin who knows what..

anyways, the support has been top notch, just rememeber (and i doubt this will apply to you everysilver, and others), but they cant 'hold your hand', they will provide 'limited' (but really more if your patient & considerate) support on the Bird, They *will direct you to where you can get answers if they dont have them, they support there PARTS especially..

I received a email from the '1/2 support 1/2 sales rep' thgat he was goinf on vacation untill October, and that i could direct any Urgent matters to <another rc-expert employee>..

howthehell nice is THAT!? I hardly see that 1) here in the states(nothtat that matters), and RARELY even get close o that when your standing right there IN PERSON at the Companies office/business.. anyways,

If they make a mistake, and they ALL do, "just some dont't rectify it", they WILL handle it, and usally in a way thats more than you'd expect(keep in mind to a degree, they do have a business to run, and they can't be throwing parts out the window at everyone who says somethings wrong.. and "gimmie', just be fair, honest, and informed, do your side of it)

It aint a Drive through. . And don't expect* more than you pay for, and you jsut might get it, chances are, they're better off having you as a HAPPY customer than not, wouldn't you say?. . dont think they haven't read seom of these posts, but if they let it get to THEM, the way we (for no ACTUAL reason, remember, people that are REALLY !@#$ off, probably have a *reason* to be, -to a degree-, but also, along with anger, comes naturally MisDirection.). . keep this in mind, Do you expect you can "control your Heli 100% OR MORE of the time you fly it?", and why not?, because noone has COMPLETE control over everything, but some do their best to make it the closest thing it can be to what they offer.

Yadayada, be well, if anything goes wrong, they will make it work. one way or another.
They're just like everyone/anyone else ya know, .... sh*t happens to them to...

Peace & Happy waiting.. .

Cheers,
X1705
imtired, sorry if i got a lil off track. ;night all

Thanks X1705,
I laughed at my post after I read it from beginning to end. I also read this thread all the way through before posting to make sure I was not reading bias. I just became a little uneasy after reading because the posts were overwhelmingly negative, and if I know my own luck I surely will receive the lamest duck of them all. But my track record is such that I always give the benefit of the doubt and only expect what was promised. If something goes wrong after that, it is my fault and I will not blame anyone but myself. I sent them a question and within an hour it had been answered which was pretty good. That was before I saw this post. I do think that they will help with problems but the collective complaint I have noticed in this post is that there goods are crap. I just wanted to know what to expect with the kit and components. I have never been one to complain, and do not expect anything more than I paid for, but when the package arrives I want to feel duely compensated for my hard earned cash. Basically I just want to know if the kit, motor, and speed controller are of a lesser quality than those advertised on the US websites like helihobby and helipros. After all they are manufactured by the same company.....

Hey everysilver,

I ordered an RTF T-Rex 450X from them a while back. It was overall very well-built and only needed minor adjustments, mostly due to personal preferences. Some of my experiences:

- It came with the RC-Expert branded CF-cased brushless motor. While it has plenty of power, it ran too hot for me to feel safe hovering for more than a few minutes. After mailing them about the problem, RC-Expert first sent me a free heat-sink to try and rectify the problem and after that didn't help, they offered to send me the alu-cased version of their motor to try if that would work. Not wanting to take any chances, I asked for the Align 420LF. They ended up sending both. The alu-cased motor heated up a bit slower, but the temperatures would eventually get as high as the CF-cased one. I did some bench-tests and these motors even run quite hot without any load on them. Unless RC-Expert switches to a different OEM for them, I would avoid these motors. The Align 420LF worked out perfectly, though, so that's what I'll keep using.

- They advertized the Align 25A ESC with governor-mode in their auction, but the heli came with an Align BL-25T, which doesn't have that. They sent me the Align BL-25G as replacement. Problem solved.

- The RC-Expert branded servo's it came with seem to be of decent quality. Very good speed and torque, no chattering and very precise motion. However, my collective pitch-servo stops moving sometimes and then either needs a nudge to come back to life or suddenly pops back to life on it's own. I've seen it happen only about 4 times or so over the 2 months I have the heli, so it's very intermittent. It doesn't seem to be caused by binding. My guess is that it's a problem with the pot or motor in the servo. I probably have the same sales-rep as X1705, who is currently on a trip. Decided the problem is not that urgent and can wait until he's back.

- The Telebee HH-gyro is probably not top-notch, but it does a reasonable job for me.

- As mentioned here before by wheelstu, the power-connectors used are a bit flimsy. So far, they work for me, but they heat up a bit during flight and are probably beeing pushed close to their max. ratings. I might change them for Deans-type connectors at some point.

- The red RC-Expert branded 1800mAh 10C LiPo's I received with it seem to be of decent quality for their price. I'm getting around 10-12 minutes of hover-time out of each one. They remain only warm to the touch during most of the flight and only heat up near the end of their discharge-cycle, which I believe to be normal.

Note that I will eventually have to send the unused motors and ESC to back HK. They payed the basic shipping-rate for sending the replacements to me, though.


So yes, I had a few problems with their product too, but the service I've received from RC-Expert so far has been excellent. All issues I had have been resolved to my satisfaction and I'm sure the servo-issue still open won't be a problem, either. Their prices are also quite good.



Grtz,

Traveller

everysilver, yeah, hear that, as for the Parts and Quality. . I have found they are 'no worse' that the ones you could get anywhere else. . with the exceptiong sorta like that of what Traveler was talking about, the 'rc-expert brand', they are still avereage, at athe least, like *any distributor, Thats how they CAN and WILL back those parts up much better. .

all in all, I think Traveler has the 'widest' range of experience with rc-expert, as mentioned, things happen, but so far, I have seen/read them compensate for any mistakes, granted, if you start of with an email to the tech/servivce saying you ""!@#@$c bas$@ds! I want my money back or I'll f!@%ing !#@$ you!" They, like anyone, wouldn't be *as responsive, company or not.

IMHO, expect to make minor adjustments, and replcements as you go alone, nothing *unusua* really, nice thing I like about rc-expert having their 'brand', is 1) they're *not* that bad 2) they *will* support them(parts) and 3)Gives you a more/easier way to "upgrade to the Exact brand that *you want over time, without dropping a *bundle in the first place, <-- this is what I like for beginners, their planes/acros are Great for newbies, when they break, you can get there stuff untill you read about the upgrades you *may want for better results, if thats necessary. . see what im saying?? or should i just go back to bed

Last note, theres a user named "Heli46" that has a lot of information on rc-expert.com, and honestly (psst..), he apparently has a fair amount 'pull' when it comes to rc-expert.com service & sales, believe me.. If you get the chance drop her a line.

aight, gotta go. . dont worry about it too much, it'll be good, you seem like you know better than (like anything coming half way from around the World), not to do your own 'checkups', and use your head b4 flying, it seem sthat these (Heli's), beciase of all_ the small *moving* parts, WILL have a higher tendency to come lose, even fall apart moreso, than say, if you mailed a brick... its all good.

Cheers, and I am betting you'll get your bird within 7days from Purchase Confirmation from rc-expert. . check the calendar.
[8D]
-----X1705

well, I agree with traveler on the 420LF, excellent motor, heck it runs about as hot as it was before the battery is connected. There ARE other actually cheaper places of namebrand parts but if you want something to hold you while you save I'd suggest something like their brand. I mean if you get crap you're not out that much so don't worry about it and take a little risk every once and while. ok? It's only money.

Actually, they already got back to me. I am going to recieve the 420LF and the RCE-BL25T. They said that my heli was probably going to ship out today, and I only ordered it yesterday!! So far, these guys are top notch!! I bet you I'll have this thing on Sat. or Mon. and I am looking forward to it.

I'm glad you have had good experiences with RC-Expert. I advised them to post a disclaimer of "almost RTF" instead of RTF.
My tail belt drive pulley has come loose from the spindle which connects to the main rotor gear. If you notice unplanned tail spins this is most likely the problem. Rather than tear apart the case and replace it I put some CA on top of the gear where it contacts the spindle. I cant blame rc-expert but most builders put a drop of CA here to cement the spindle to the belt drive pulley.

That is a good piece of info. Stuff like this is why rcuniverse is so helpful. I will do that. Thanks

absolutley thought wheelstu, i agree about the disclaimer, AFTF, mine was also received as an Almost, but i receievd it, and it was in perfect shape, so i didnt care, it wasnt real hard to hook up, in my case, I actually took the liberty of making 'step-by-step' photos of my setting it up, up to completed. anyways, i havent had th etime to fly (glide) mine since this last weekend, but we'll see what happens with the spurattic take offs no that i *thinkn* ive adjusted the reversla DIPS in back correctly.. heh


cheers.
X1705

hey a tip on the spindle problem. you should only have to take out the 7 rear most screws to pull it out , yes it's not that easy but better than unscrewing the whole thing. ok back on topic. Take that thing out an look at it that little gear where the rod keeps it in place was probably cut too shallow, mine was barely 1mm... take that slot and make it much deeper until you feel like it won't slip again. then put super glue on the spot it goes in and quickly slid it on. after doing this you'll have a strong, and doubly secured gear. Also to prevent this from happening again make sure your tail blades aren't too tight.

PS: when I used the CA method you discribed it worked but hitting the tail rotors on tall grass lightly broke it loose, I'd suggest the above method. good luck! (you could use a pin and just heat it up and then legnthen the slots, that should work too.)

Thanks for the tip

Just to let everyone know - I have had a very good experience and contrary to what they state on eBay they have provided me with tracking info. The customer service dept. must have undergone some changes. All of my emails were returned within 6 hours. After I get my heli and all is good I will be able to say that I would recommend them to anyone.