I was using the stock ESC. And I thought I was slowly bringing the rotors up to speed. Then bad noises happened. The pictures explain the rest. I just ordered the Align 35A ESC and I am going to see if that helps.

Are you sure you had the mesh set right. I'm kind of a leadfoot when it comes to throttle because I hate ground effect and I haven't had that problem.

Holy Cow! That main gear is messed up. I've done that once before on my HBK2, gear mesh was too loose, I hit idle-up and it just ground them down like yours. Gear mesh is pretty critical on all helis. Too tight, causes binding and overloading the motor, to loose and you end up with a toasted main gear. Soft start would help, but eventually with a loose mesh, you'll have premature wear and tear on the main.

Here's a picture of correct gear mesh.

Dave

I am pretty sure I had it right. I put a piece of paper between the pinion and main gear then put the motor as close as I could. There was just a little bit a backlash.

choppersrule,

It appears that in your photo the illustration should be labeled 1) too little backlash 2) correct backlash 3) too much backlash. I do agree on the backlash being a possibly culprit of stripping the gear. Too much backlash = small contact patch per tooth = teeth break. I usually adjust it by feel, but one can also slip a piece of notebook paper between the gears and press them together to get the proper backlash. HTH

RussianFlyer,

The photo was taken from an assembly instruction manual from a LOGO 10. Hmmm, I think they were in error. Good catch. And the paper trick works very well too. Been doing that for a couple years, and your right also, after time you can just feel when it's right.

Dave