lokiyawl

My Feedback: (10)

Stephane,

My Graph Tec gear weighs 281.6 grams. I have not weighed the stock gear to see what the actual savings is.

James

mm

well,
the stock gear does 350 g

Stéphane

lokiyawl

My Feedback: (10)

Not much of a savings at all. I might have to have a chat with Graph Tech, I was expecting more of a reduction. I saved quite a bit on using the carbon gear on my 74". Good luck with your build, there are lots of helpful folks that frequent this board.

James

mm

thank's james

mm

well,

do you know a cf gear, other than graphtec, which is light and could go on that plane ?

Thanks

Stephane

lokiyawl

My Feedback: (10)

Stephane,

I got a nice response back from Mike at Graphtech, I will include it below. I think that the greatest weight savings would be to have a cowl made out of carbon as the fiberglass one is quite heavy. I asked Mike about building me some lighter gear and also a cowl, I will let you know what I hear. I have had good luck with the stock gear on my other EF planes myself by the way, I am just like yourself trying to trim a little weight.

James

From Mike at Graph Tech

The stock aluminum gear is way more flexible than the carbon one. I can make the composite ones thinner and save more weight, but they would become very flexible like the stock gear. I usually make the gear more adequate for the plane and increase the durability so they will last.

The biggest complaint I get with the Extreme stuff is that their gear is too thin and either bends or prop strikes with hard landings. The stock gear is 1/8" and should be 3/16", but china always goes the cheaper route. We usually save about 25% on the thin gear and 50% on the thicker gear.

We have some special carbon that is being weaved for now. I won't have it until April. It is multi-axial and will enable us to reduce the weight of our G2 gear by 10-15% and retain the correct flex properties. It is extremely expensive to do, but the end result is nothing short of phenominal. I wish I had it now.

Thanks,
Mike
Graph Tech

mm

thanks lokiyawl

Stephane

Gatorb8

yeah, not quite as advertised "half the weight of stock gear"..............but every little bit helps!
may save a prop strike on a hard landing, did for me....paid for the gear in 1 bad landing (vess 27a)

lokiyawl

My Feedback: (10)

Gator,

Those are good points, I am glad that you didn't break that expensive prop. The carbon RASA prop I will be running is not cheap either! l I guess this shows how important it is to actually weigh after market stuff to see what the real numbers are. My power system should be in by the middle of next month, I might start bonding in the horns and doing the hinges here shortly...

James

Gatorb8

Hey guys,
Got my DA-85 back with factory updates, runs really smooth and starts sooooooo easy!
Here is a vid taken with the Gatorb8 hatcam (royalties to WrongWay). The quality sux but U get the picture!
I moved the ELE horn connection to the outer hole and don't like it. Tomarrow it's going back to the 2nd hole from the end.

I have a HD camera coming this week, can't wait! Once I get it wrung out I'll post a better vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPUjtKcKt9o

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

My Feedback: (42)

Nice Jerry.....what is the vertical speed limit? I had a vid come out all blurry once.....then I found a big thumb print on the lense!!!

Gatorb8

Thanks Richard,
My camera only shoots 320 x x240 at 15 fps so it's blurry "by design"
next cam wil shoot 1280 x 720 at 30 fps
laser guides have been designed and prototyped.....see at FX3D

diamondave

My Feedback: (29)

you guys with dls or dles...i read on tbm they say up to 6v for ignition, can i run my 6v mthdy batt unregulated? ive heard after a charge it may be just over 6 and wondering if thats an issue, i dont want to buy a reg, id get a 4.8 i guess if i have to, i ask to see if anyone has been doing it, i heard da used to say no more than 6 also but my buddy had his 85 in there for work and they told him to run his 123 unregulated which is more than 6 and it would be fine

lokiyawl

My Feedback: (10)

Gator,

I think that your hat cam has some real potential there...good idea. It's funny watching your plane zipping around with the engine practically at an idle. (from the sound at least) Your plane looks floaty to me in that vid and you are about 20.5 lbs. with fuel?? The engine sounds great. What size prop are you turning with the 85?

James

Gatorb8

Dave,
I run 2 cell A123 direct into my DA-85 ignition and that's OK per a call into DA.
On my A51 it says something like 5V max so I run 2 - 3 amp diodes in series with the A123 battery to drop it down. Cheaper and more relaible than a reg.

Gatorb8

20 oz of fuel weighs about 16 oz so my AUW is 20# (fuel w/ethenol is about 6.5lb/gal)
vess 27A
I got the hat-cam idea from WrongWay, that guy can do everything Wrong!

cjcyclesrc

My Feedback: (10)

Dave,

The sameRcexl ignition is used by Brillelli, DLE, BME, etc. It's not recommended to run them at over 6V. A five cell Nimh is equal to the voltage of an A123 (~7.2 fully charged). I talked to CH ignitions about the Rcexl sold by them. I was told that anything over 6V would build heat in the ignition and shorten its life span. DA's have a totally different ignition. They can be run on a 5 cellNimh or A123.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Like Gator said just solder a couple of diodes between the switch and the ignition. You'll be about 5.2 volts max at the ignition. When you're battery is lower you might get down to 4.8V at the ignition, perfect.

diamondave

My Feedback: (29)

silly question where do i get diodes then? home depot, and what exactly would i look for, 3amp diode.....? and why more than one? i may just get a 4.8 battery but i was hoping to use what i already had which is a 6v...

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Radio Shack has them. I'd use two. The link below includes 2 of them per package ordered.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062578

See attached PDF below for how I'd do it. Let me know if you can see everything. The diodes are little small.
This would work for A123 as well.

weezle

do you guys use blue or red loc-tite for the standoffs for your engines?

cjcyclesrc

My Feedback: (10)

Blue

Red can pull the threads out of Aluminum.

xtraflyr

My Feedback: (11)

I just run a 4 cell 2700 nimh and it runs great and adds really no weight at all. I'm not sure what you get from running more then 4.8 though,anything special happen ?? I'll be running the same pack on my 88" Edge !!

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

I run 4-cell Nimh too. You don't get anything extra with higher voltage with these ignitions...except more heat and a shorter life....and it uses more battery capacity to create the extra heat. The diodes are most useful with the A123 batteries. That's what I'll do on my ignitions when I switch over eventually.

diamondave

My Feedback: (29)

so a 4cell like a 1600 or so, from tower hobbico ones the 2000 is acutally $1 cheaper than the 1600 for some reason, i dont think there is that big of a weight diff either, im using 2000 on my twin and im glad i am, seems to drain similar to my reciever batts, my plan was to use the 5cell 2000 that i took from my sdyak, but now i have a choice i guess, seems like you guys are getting more flights on ignition batts than i was, at least on the twin, even my 80cc single seemed to use a bit...