pmdevlin

Hi all, bit of a strange question really, as I am sure everyone will be jumping up and down and asking why such a stupid question! However, I am a novice pilot, have attempted to get a controlled hover 5 times on a stock brand new HBK2. First 3 ended in tears, feathering shaft, blades etc etc, everyone been here? 4th try, ok, no damage, 5th go,just ran a full battery of 10 mins, reasonably controlled all the time,. just 1 or 2 near misses, (thanks to training undercarraige no damage).
After the 10 mins of virtually constant hovering 5 feet up, the stock motor was red hot, so I am thinking its going to burn out pretty quick, as there is virtually no air flow when hovering as apposed to more experienced piolts moving the heli around, so the questions are:
1/ should I get an esky outrunner motor, will it make the heli harder to fly, that I dont want!
2/ should I get an esky 25a esc
3/what pinion, I dont really know what difference the pinions make, I do not want 3d, just basic flight
4/ will the stock lipo be able to handle these upgrades, will the flight time increase or decrease?
5/ 10 mins flying just isnt long enough, so I need another battery, what should I get? I am thinking more amp/hr and "c" is better?

When I have mastered hovering and basic moving around, I would like to fit a scale fuslage, so will the above help get this airborne ?

Now, its a limited budget, so the battery needs to be reasonable priced, so all comments welcome!

Lastly, everytime I have tried to fly, it seems that the setup is different every time, is this normal? 4th flight needed rudder trim tab 1/2 way between left and centre, 5th flight, trim tab all way to the left, and some stick to keep nose forward, as battery depleted, less trim was required, is this ok?
Thanks

USHobbySupply

You should look for reasons why your motor is so hot.

1) Is your gear mesh too tight? That will cause extra load on the motor and will cause a red hot motor
2) is there some sort of drag on the drive line. HBK2 is belt driven, is the mesh right with gears and belt? Tail spindle spinning freely?
3) air flow. Try flying without the canopy. does that help?

Michael

tbaus

The Esky stock motor gets smoking hot. It will not last. I have not known one yet that did. The Esky 3900, with a 10 tooth pinion and Esky 25A brushless controller will drop right in. It will not make it harder to fly. If anything, it will make everything easier to fly.

pmdevlin

thanks for responses, every thing is nice and free, mesh fine. I had a flight earlier tonight, only got 6 mins out of it, I ran a voltage check b4 flight, battery fully charged ( I checked all cells, balanced nicely. )Let battery cool, and recharged, just tried to fly again, its dead!!!!
I have taken motor off, and put a battery directly to it, and motor is dead!! Only 6 10 mins hover and the motor has had it??? Surely this is not right..... will have to ring supplier in the morning, its onl;y 5 weeks old
If I connect a battery direct, it should run should it not?? I was thinking maybe esc, but it must be the motor, is thetre any warranty on this kind of thing?
Thanks
( I wonder if the very hot motor was infact faulty all the time?)

USHobbySupply

You can hook a battery straight to the motor. Of course that will kill it for sure. These are PWM motors, not dc current motors. it will spin, but you will significantly shorten the life

pmdevlin

Hi US, I hooked the battery up direct just to try and eliminate the fault and establish why the motor would not spin up. THe stock motor surely is just like any other brushed motor used in cars, boats etc is it not? then it should have spun up when directly connected to a battery, as it didnt, I would think the motor has had it, if that is the case its very disappointing, as its only done 1 hour flight time, easy hovering, 1/2 throttle, and must be a warranty return?
What do you think maybe the prob, eberything else is operating fine, just no power from the motor

USHobbySupply

Yes, the motor should spin when you hook it straight to power. It will shorten its life. Of course in your case (sorry), it was already dead. You maybe able to get it covered, depends on where you bought it from. But all the manufacturers have a disclaimer. RC is just that way. No way to know for sure what caused the death. If it came doa, one thing. But after you use it, its a tricky situation.

tbaus

Pmdevlin, the motors do not last. Some last just a few minutes.. If the manufacturer warrantied the junk motors, they would go out of business. The rest of the heli is really well made. Dump the motor and upgrade to brushless.

pmdevlin

Thanks Tbaus, I think I just needed to be told what I thought, still, it is pretty rubbish isnt it that the motors are so bad, After you have bought the brushless upgrades, the cost starts getting there!
I have ebayed, and will use a store in uk, then if I have any probs I stand a better chance getting some backup, I think!
THe esky 3800 outrunner, esky 25amp esc, and you think a 10t pinion should work for what I want? This will run at £30.00, which is about $45.00 I think. What difference do the pinions make? I can't understand this.
I also need a battery, but there are so many out there, and I cant afford another charger yet, so the stock charger needs to work. Any suggestions what to get ?I am thinking something like 1350mah, upgraded from the 1000mah stock, but not getting too heavy. Anybody got a good alternative? In simple terms please!!!!
Thanks

tbaus

The 3800 is a very good motor. The diameter of the can is larger than the 3100 or 3900. Because of this, you will have to either modify the frame a bit, or put a spacer between the motor and the frame. The amount of teeth on the pinion will have an effect on the RPM of the motor. If you get too powerful a motor with a pinion with too many teeth, you can spin the rotor beyond 3000 RPM, which ( in most circles) is considered a practical limit for plastic heads and wooden blades.. I don't have the 3800. I have the 3900 with a 10 tooth pinion. Believe it or not the 3900 KV motor is not as powerful as the 3800KV motor, but is smaller in diameter and just bolts right up without modification. You can always try the 10 tooth pinion. If it spins the rotor up too fast, go down to the 9 tooth. Meanwhile, someone who is running the Esky 3800 may chime in and tell us which pinion they are using. ( and if small animals flee the area each time it is spooled up--because of the parts flying off the head--lol) Battery: If you use the standard battery holder you have to limit the width and height of the battery. If you use the slow factory charger, you will need to stay below the 1350 mah battery unless you want to wait hours for it to charge up. I found a 1250 battery made by Dynam that fits and charges with the stock charger in not too long a time. I just ordered a couple different batteries, but can't recommend them until I get them and try them.. There are lots of fairly low cost battery options.

pmdevlin

thanks Tbaus for that valuable info. Given my novice staus, I am going for 9t pinion, and will go bigger as confidence rises, and will try a megapower 1350, loads of people seem to like them, or something from here www.flightech.co.uk, very good reviews in UK

tbaus

pmdevlin, you are more than welcome.. Let us know how your new power option works out.. I could not get your link to work for me..