FYI.. I ran my DMM over the 3in1 board yesterday afternoon, and confirmed my fears. Apparently when I reverse polarity zapped the 3in1 (which of course is the BEC for the Rx) I must have popped the BEC circuit, because it is/was now pumping a full 11v through the Rx connection on both wires, yes, even on the signalling wire. This easily explains at least one variable of why the Rx smoked.

After I #$%^&* and moaned about it for a while, I called my Not-so-Local-HS (1hr one way) and asked if they had any mini ESCs in stock. They're primariliy a copter shop, and he suggested I go with the GWS ICS-480 ESC for about 15$. Got it, wired it up, replaced all the battery connectors with the larger T-style Deans connections.. and now I should get my Rx board today.

--------------------------

UPDATE: IT LIVES AGAIN!!! WWWWOOOOoooooooooo... *coughcough*

Just hovered through a 1320 LiPo. I have noticed immediately that either: A) The new Rx is more responsive, B) The new GWS ESC is more responsive and powerful or C) all of the above.

The throttle response is much smoother, and seems like it has a bit more kick to it. Other than that, the LOA and GY240 are both working beautifully. Now, back to the warehouse where my Axe met it's most recent demise. Let's see if I can keep'er running.

When is an Axe no longer an Axe? I suppose I still have it's motors, and it's Rx board... and the frame...

Got a question for the braintrust on the board. My son has been flying his AXE for a couple of weeks now (when I say flying, I mean attempting to hover about one foot and chasing it aroung the yard a lot). It has has a couple small bruises (new blades of course and one blade grip) but nothing serious. It has suddenly aquired a peculuiar behavior. When the bird is cold, you can hook up a fresh battery, spin her up, and take off, everything seemingly working fine. I wll add here that there are no vibations or any abnormal operation at this stage. Everything is working like it always did at this point. After about two minutes, especially if you were to shut down to go reposition the axe back to the center of the "box", it wont power back up. No servo movement or motor movement at all. It happens with either battery pack and if you unplug the battery pack and plug it back in, the servo's will twitch for an instant like they always do but you can not get anything to move by using the transmitter. I replaced the trasmitter batteries just to make sure and no difference. I suspect that some thing is heating up on one of the boards causing it to fail when it gets hot. What I don't know is which board. It is only a couple of weeks old so I suspect the LHS I where I bought it would cover a non crashed board as a warranty item but I wanted to check with the group and see if anyone had experienced this and could narrow it down for me before I head off to the LHS. I am not sure if they are really all that familiar with the AXE down there and I would like to be able to steer them toward the problem when I ge there. Thanks in advance for any wisdom you are able to dish out.

Not sure what the problem is. you mention it being cold??? HUh I would call helimax if I were you. They will tell you to send it in. But if you talk to the tech a bit they will send you the part and you can replace it yourself. They sent me a new 3-1 board. sounds like you might need one too. I dought the LHS will be able to make much of a difference, since the warrentee is through hobbico.. Best suggestion I have is call Helimax they are pretty cool.

Good Luck.

Chaseman81

What is your weather like? If you are flying in cold weather that may be the cause. I took my Axe outside when it was around 20 degres out. It flew for about a minute then gradually dropped like the battery was dieing. Replugged the battery in and it did just about the same as you described. Let it sit in the house for five minutes and tested it in the house, worked perfectly. I would suggest flying like you normally would and when it dies take it inside and let it sit for a few minutes then try it in the house, just to see if it responds. If you are in warmer weather it is probably the 3-1.

Thanks fellers. I'm in Tallahasse and it certainly isn't cold enough here to be the problem. I will check with Helimax.

Hey all,

Just wanted to say that one of my Axe CP's 'upgraded' (if you want to call them that) Hitec HS55 servos developed a nervous twitch last night after about 10 minutes of flying. No real reason as to why, but when I give it left cyclic the left swash servo twitches downward.. but on right cyclic, it's fine. Go figure. I went through the usual changing of channel connectors, etc. and it's confirmed.

As I ordered them from Tower just about a month ago, they said no problem, and are sending out a new servo today. Still have to wait a week to get it though.. oh well.

Just an FYI.

After my last crash[:'(] I am having some blade tracking issues. I just finished replacing the feathering shaft and the flybar and this has not solved my problem. When I spool it up I can see the top of the head wobbling so I figure it has got to be a bent main shaft. So, tomorrow I am going back to the LHS and pick up a new main shaft.

How much trouble is it to replace the main shaft? The closest I have come to this was loosening it up to replace a stripped main gear. Do I just remove the head, slide off the swash, loosen the collars and main gear, then slid it out. Rinse and repeat in the opposite order? I would appreciate any tricks that you all might know of. It will probably be Friday before I have any time to work on it so please share your pointers. Thanks

Before you go through all that, Take off the head button and see if it still does it. I had a warped head button whiched cause a nasty vibration when spooling up. Tweaked it with my thumb the oposite direction it was leaning and it's been fine ever since.

Rotor- Thanks for the tip. I just pulled the head button off but it did not solve my problem. The main blades are still not tracking properly. It is not so bad that I can't fly it but the main shaft is definitly slightly bent. Not really that big of a deal. However, even if it is only a $6 dollar part I am never going to be able to save up for the T-Rex 450SE that I was eyeing the other day at my LHS.

I am just starting to get a little tired of always fixing this thing, even though it is always my fault. [sm=50_50.gif]

Ohh well if flying helis was easy it would not be nearly as rewarding. I just don't get the same feeling of accomplishment bashing my RC trucks for an hour or two at my favorite spot as I do flying my Axe for 30 minutes in the backyard. Then again I usually don't end up fixing my trucks about once a week. [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

I will stop rambeling now and just pick up a new main shaft at the LHS tomorrow and get my bird fixed as soon as I have the time. I would still appreciate any tips that you all might have on the easiest method of replacing the main rotor shaft.

Wow! Have to say yesterday was pretty cool R/C Day, got my NTC3 out for some test and tune and later the wind died down to dead calm and took the axe out for a bit of flying, did three pieroittes the last one got a little nervious. I know this because my hand movments (shake)were showing up in the heli, wobble wobble. Brought her back down and landed nicely. put my hand stright out and it was shaking. Have to admit after driving my rather fast car, I wasn't shaking after that. So yeah gotta love the heli flying. Keeps the blood flowing.

Chaseman81

Welp, thought I would make a quickie post reguarding my purchase of an Axe Cp. First flight went ok until on my thrid hover attempt I brought the main power up too fast and lost it. Banged a nearby chair. Oh well, my fault. Unfortunately, I broke a few inexpensive parts on the main rotor boom. Taking apart all that hardware is quite the chore. Just need Stabilizer Hub but I get the feeling replacing a main blade grip will be worse. I haven't had a modem yet I didn't break on the first day. That's life though....

I am not sure what you are referring to when mention the "stabailizer hub" but I have got replacing blade grips down to a science. I think I can replace one and be flying again in less than 5 minutes flat. Like they say, "Practice makes perfect." and boy have I had a lot of practice replacing blade grips!!

Congrats on the new heli. Just take is slow and you will be hovering all around in no time!

I hear that.. but in regards to changing the main shaft.. it's not that hard. If you pop off the Flybar links at the swashplate, and then remove the Head Assy. shaft mounting screw, the head'll pop right off. Then you have a screw in a retaining collar just below frame under the swashplate. Lastly, you need to remove the screw and nut from the main rotor gear, you'll need to brace the nut with pliers. You may find that it takes significant force to remove the main gear from the shaft. I used a screwdriver braced up against the frame while pulling upwards to slowly pry it off.

I know this because just the other day I chewed up the main rotor gear during a crash. Oh well, live and learn.

You also noted something about the stabilizer hub, I wanted to tell you I have found a very industrious repair option for that control piece. It seems the most fragile section of the hub are the two extensions that hold the flybar, right? Well, when mine recently broke, I drilled out the flybar holes to about 1/8" or so, and used two 1/2" long pieces of small heatshrink tubing and shrank them to the flybar. I then fed the flybar into the stabilizer hub and CA-glued the shrinktubing to the stabilizer on either side. I let it set, and then removed the flybar and put another layer of shrink tubing on the now 1/4" posts sticking out of the hub. Reinserted the flybar, and shrank again. I then trimmed the tubing flush to the inside of the hub on both sides, lightly filing down any excess after, and then slipped on the flybar weights on the now hardened posts and trimmed the exposed tubing flush to the weight. I now have a very rigid, completely operational stabilizer hub without waiting for parts, and repaired my other busted stabilizer that I knew I was saving for some reason or another.

First it was necessity, then lazyness, now impatience-with-slow-shipping that leads to invention.

Try a blow dryer to losin the main gear a little heat always helps she should slip right off. Mine did.

Thanks for the tips. I have replaced a main gear before so I remember how to do that part. I just did not remove the entire main shaft when I did it. I am slightly intimidated by replacing it but I am sure that it will not be a big deal.

See:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5611153/tm.htm
before you get too involved with chasing vibration.

PilotLight- Thanks for the link.

I got my problem fixed last night. I replaced the main shaft and the vibration is now totally gone. It really was not that big of a deal at all. What took all the time was getting my blade tracking down. After replacing multiple blade grips over the past 6 weeks my linkages had gotten all out of whack. Last night was my first attempt at getting my blades to track properly and man was it a learning experiance.[sm=spinnyeyes.gif] I finally got them adjusted and it is ready to go! Hopefully the wind will die down this weekend so I can get some good flying time in!

Just crashed again was trying to spot land on a two foot high tub that I missed and hit the side of when I pulled the right stick own to far.

No major damage, most of the parts were already broken in a previous crash twoo weeks ago and fixed with ca.

Tryed to put some pcs, don't know if it worked.

Stryker Do you think yu have enough wires on your axe. Looks a lot more sufisticated than about three fifty or four hundred.


Did anyone notice hat there is a small metal bar in the leading edge of te blades?



Crashed teach you more than just how to spend money

Is the main shft a ***** to fix I can see a slight wable in the gear and thought it might be a bend in the main shaft. I have a new shaft but didn't really want to fix something that is not boken. If it isn't that hard I will swap the shafts and see if that is it.

I just replaced mine for the first time last night and really did not think it was hard at all. My main gear was tracking straight but I had a wobble in the head. I was intimidated at first but it went rather smoothly.

I just disconnected the servo to swash linkages. Unscrewed the head from the main shaft and removed it with the swash still attached. I then loosed the main motor and slid it back Next, loosen the lower lock ring and an unbolt the main rotor gear. Finally remove the main rotor gear and slide out the main shaft. Then reinstall everying in the opposite order. All in all I think it took about 30min.

Mine now spools up and runs silky smooth with zero wobble. Good luck!

I'm going to fix it right now because it going to be apart anyway. My only other question is Do I grease the main shaft at the swash plate. I know the answer is yes but does it matter what I use?

Thanks for the help.

Heh, I do think I have quite a few wires on the bird, yes. Mostly from the Hitec HS-55 servos, their connector cables are long. I'm actually waiting for a new replacement servo for one of mine anyway, but when I get it, I'll go through the effort to clean up the wirepaths and the like. With the new ESCs x 2, and the L.O.A., I have added some wires to it, but I wanted everything to be easily removable and modular. While it adds bulk, I have made sure to keep the CG quite balanced.

Yes, the stock wood blades have a graphite rod in them. I used a hobby coping saw to slice right through them, works just fine.

For greasing the main shaft, as it is metal to metal, I've been using white lithium grease, just a very very thin layer. Seems to work good for me.

Thanks. As For my hour effort to remove the main shaft. I have failed. The main gear does not want to come off. Ipull, pushed, twisted and pryed, But it just will not move. I reasambled th head and fixed the blade grips.

I made the stupidest mistake that you could possibly make while reassembaling a heli, I put the blades and flybar on backward. I took it outside to test it and i gave it throttle then pushed the stick all the way up. It just sat there spinning.

I got a post card from tower's hobby services in the mail. They offered to send me a free "upgrade". They say they will send me a free feathering spindle with hex head bolts, instead of philips head. I don't really see the difference between a hex and philips head, except of course the tool used.

Did anyone else get one of these. It says it is only for helis purchased after Feb. 10

I had one of the pan-head screws that hold on one of the grips fail. My local hobby shop sold me some socket head screws. Seems to be fine now, but the blades to not have clearance to fold back. They bind on the "taller" socket head screws. When I first looked at the size of the pan-head screw that holds on the grips, I nearly crapped my pants. There's no way that there is enough meat there to keep the centifugal forces from spitting a blade. I've got 20+ years fixing the real thing, and it didn't take long to figure out that there is an engineering issue here.

Avtech98

I had a slight mishap with my cp last night. Was too windy to fly outside, so I did a quick flight downstairs..........hit a chair. I broke one of the ball links on the swashplate. I noticed that there is another set of ball link (balls) there, 90 degrees from the other ones. Are they spares?

Avtech98