what is a good and inexpensive brushless motor and/or brushless motor system to put in the axe cp?

I am doing a similar modification on my axe but I am not using freestyle-hobby kit.
The freestyle hobby kit is simple and cheaper but it is designed around the stock main gear.
I wanted to change the main gear so I am not stuck with the axe pitch which is usefull if converting to brushless.
So I use parts for the blade CP conversion and t-rex main gear do a little bit of modification on it. the stock boom will work but 397T belt is needed because axe CP boom is longer than blade CP. I am almost done with it, I am just waiting for some bearing that I am going to use on the guide pulley.

Brother Heliko! Yep up and running again, and I made more progress this morning!

I did two 4-minute hovers after tweakin' up the Normal Pitch Curve and smoothing down the Normal Throttle Curve.

The LiPo barely got warm. I'll guess peak at 110 deg. F. It measured 11.2V after the tests. Great!

The Tail Motor and both ESCs barely got warm. Again, maybe 110 deg. F. peak. Great!

The Main Motor maybe, just maybe peaked at around 178 deg. F. Actually, that's not completely insane. I will probably hack in some more heat sinkage, and all should be well. Could be also I can sneak the Pitch Curve up a bit more and drop the Throttle Curve.

SMOOTH!!! I can tell too that when she spins down after landing, the main rotor takes a lot longer to come to a stop. Great! Less friction! Looks more cool! She was smooth enough I could sneak a look down at my radio - hovering at exactly half stick! Cool, but it needs to be a little above that point.

I am still putting up with the Tail Motor not spinning down. Its not so bad if I peg the Left Rudder Trim all the way over after landing - the tail still spins but slowly. I can then remove the canopy and disconnect the LiPo pretty safely.

The tail wags badly on sudden changes to Collective / Throttle. This could be because the brushless motor can not change RPM fast enough with that tail gear in there.

A few more tests, and probably I will configure the tail for Direct Drive. If the tail motor gets too hot, I can add more heat sinkage.

It never ends... [sm=angry.gif]

Markind, I believe I read that you are using a Spektrum DX7 radio now? If so, and if you do not mind, could you give me a list of your settings. You see, I have just placed my order for the DX7 and I am going to run the AR6100 in the Axe. Just kind of curious as to what your settings are and possibly any advice / tips you have found in setting your system up with the Axe.
I am running stock with the motor modification on heat sink, ceramic bearings on the main shaft and I did the water break-in on the motor. (Hobbico sent me a new bird after mine started doing the kangaroo glitching . Plastic blades for the mains.
Appreciate it.

Well I finally got my parts after 9 days! I called Tower after it had gone past their outside estimated delivery date and they told me I had to wait 10 business days before they would call it lost. Thankfully it arrived the next day. So now I have the parts but I haven't installed them yet. While waiting for the heli parts to arrive, I pulled the trigger on the LiPo solution. Got the TP1320, GP Triton2 charger & Equinox balancer (originally backordered but on its way now). Also got all the necessary adapters and connectors to switch everything to ultra deans, as well as the required adapter to plug the TP into the Equinox. I also picked up the thermal probe to use on the battery with the T2. I couldn't have pulled all of this together without the help of my new helipals here. Much appreciated.

Tonight I finally got some time to start getting it all ready. Put the UD connectors on the LiPo (female) and Axe (male). Been awhile since I did any soldering; yup, still don't like it all that much, and now that I'm older the eyes aren't what they used to be. Could they have made the wires on the Axe any smaller?! Well at least I ordered a ready-made adapter to go from banana plugs to ultra deans for the charger to battery connection so I don't have to fuss with that. Here's the catch. I didn't buy a power supply. Thought I'd have a go at one of those home made PC power supply conversions. Not sure if it'll be worth the hassle, but I'll try it.

Possibly stupid question: Does the new LiPo arrive without a full charge? The instruction sheet has specifics about the first charge but it doesn't specify whether it's shipped charged or not. I'm getting 11.73v on the pack with my VOM, which is what the sheet tells me I should get. If I read the sheet properly, it appears I need to charge it to 12.x volts. I'm guessing it needs to be charged before first use. Until I get the P/S built I guess I'll have to run the charger off my car battery. Pain in the Axe.

The good news is I'm on vacation for the next couple of weeks, but the wife only has 1 week, so the second week is all for heli-training. I'm getting this thing off the ground even if it costs me parts! Got a few extra parts with that last order, including a different color canopy. After buying the red one, I decided I liked the yellow one better.

Oh, I also cut the slots in the main motor's heatsink as some of you suggested. Does it matter what kind of conductant I used on it? I had some that was for connecting a heatsink to a computer CPU. It was a royal PITA working with it as it's thicker than the stuff that was on the heatsink originally, but I assume it'll work just as well. I also need to get the LiPo mounting situated. I think it was Markind that had the velcro tape wrapping around it; sounds like the way to go.

That's good to hear.

I could be wrong, but that motor might be a little light for the Axe. I've heard that it was really designed for the Blade which weighs considerably less.

Cool isn't it. Spin down was really cool after a I swapped in an MX400 main gear.

Do you have hover pitch adjustment. It makes dialing it in a snap. I have mine set to hover just above half stick too so the throttle can trigger the timer.

I programmed one of my mixes to max offset and attached it to my throttle hold switch. So basically when I flip the throttle hold it not only prevents the main motor from coming on, but the offset mix simulates full left rudder so the tail motor stays off too. It makes it alot easier to carry around and mess with the canopy and battery. I love my 7C. [&:]

My Axe's tail bouces a bit sometimes, but it doesn't really wag. I'd try reducing the gain. Right now my 240 gain setting is a bit below 50% and that seems to be the sweet spot on my bird.

You can never have too many heat sinks. Cool Runnings.

Yes, absolutely charge the Li-Po's before using them. Also they don't have memory so you can charge them with partial charges in them and it won't effect flight times. Just don't run them low it will damage them.

Well you've got the right attitiude.

That's funny. I migrated to blue after buying a red one.

I don't think what kind of thermal paste is too critical.

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Well hello I am new here and new to rc heli. I bought an axe cp about a month ago. I truly am ready to throw it out the window. I fly the sim as much as possible and hover it great on there. Plug in the heli and cant get more than 6 inches befor running to the lhs for parts. New problem now it seems to be making a horible screehing sound and not even lifting on full throttle. seems as though the main rotor gear is worn. I now need to get that part and try to figure out how to change it. You would think they would give you some kind of repair manual with this thing. anyone that knows how to fix this please let me know. Also has anyone tried out the plastic flat trainer blades? I bought and installed them but like I said gear must be worn and not spinning enough to give me lift.

You may want to check if the teeth are meshing. If not, loosen the main motor screw and move it closer to the main gear.

As for the screeching, it may be a bit early for this, but it could be the bearings along your main rotor shaft. I know that going from stock to new bearings quieted it down significantly. Check out any bearings that are 6x10x3mm and that aren't the stock bearings. I bought these [link=http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/256965.asp]XTM Racing[/link] bearings from my hobby shop.

The gyro upgrade seems to have shortened the life span of the tail motor a little bit. After going thru a couple of tail motor, they did not fully die they just slowed down to a point that it slowly spins to the left even with full right rudder, I decided to experiment on the belt upgrade. I bought parts for the 'blade cp' belt mod and with a little machining and fabrication I made it fit the AXE, I also change the main gear to a t-rex to have more options on the pinion gear. It is nearing completion I am just waiting for the new idler pulley because the first one is too big. If any one is interested I will post pictures when completed.

I don't think what kind of thermal paste is too critical.
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If you can get some of the silver thermal paste at your local computer store, it has exceptional heat conductance properties.

definately interested in the tail mod pics

I just got a CP, and the tail rotor blade at half throttle only turns on with right stick. When I give it left stick it does not turn at all. Is there somthing wrong?

It really doesn't start it's work until around half throttle or more. What happens if you advance it beyond half throttle? Is this a new heli or used?

It is a used heli. I have not really tried to go past half throttle since I just got it today and I am a total nube.

It's supposed to do that.

Thanks guys!

here are some pictures.

If anyone is in need, I have a Axe cp for sell.
The only thing wrong is the tail motor going out ($24)
The rest is all stock.

It has a brand new ESC from Helimax installed.

$100.00 firm.

Have box.

Just PM me

I will check back

Thanks

how many dollars was this upgrade?

Well it's some of the gray stuff Dell uses on the processor heatsinks, so it'll probably suffice.

Well I finished my PC power supply conversion. That was a cool, easy and fun project. I'd like to post images the way I've seen you guys do it in your posts, but I can't figure out how. I see the link to upload images, but once I upload them I don't see them anywhere. There's no option to embed them in the post either. Please advise. Thx.

I think it's about $120.
It's cheaper if using the regular tail assembly but I used the CNC version(which already cost $69 on its own).
The kit from freestyle-hobby is cheaper but it used the stock maingear, I use the T-rex gear so I can have more options on the pinion gear. I also manage to use one way clutch. The two main gears nead to be modified and an idler pulley bracket needs to be fabricated

Below the last reply but above the Fast Reply box there is a "Post Reply" option. Replying using this method gives you the option to upload files - this uploads the pictures to the Forums. Alternatively, you can post them somewhere and then link to them.

Ok, I'll give it a try but since I can't preview the images, this will be an experiment in image placement.

So here is my PC power supply conversion for running my charger from an AC source. It has outputs for +12v and +5v (still need to label those). I used banana binding posts so I can plug my GP Triton2 right into it easily. The first 4 pictures shows my charging setup. I'm actually charging my new TP1320 LiPo for the first time here. You'll also notice something peculiar in the first 4 pictures. The local Rat Shack didn't have the power resistor I needed to put a load on the +5v rail in order to a) keep the PS running, and b) increase the voltage on the +12v rail. So I improvised temporaily, leaving a hard drive power connector plugged into a hard drive. That did the trick. I added a simple toggle switch in the hole where all the power wires had been routed; the switch fit perfectly so no drilling required. In the 5th picture, I have removed the hard drive and its connector, and replaced it with the power resistor that I obtained from another Rat Shack. You can barely see the power resistor (sandbar) tie-wrapped to the vent slots. I used thermal compound as suggested for good heat conduction. To fill the hole where the PC power switch whip came out I added a lamp to show power on state, that fit perfectly into that hole, so again no drilling needed. This was an AT style PS so it had an internal fan which is very quiet. The whole project was accomplished with a few parts from Rat Shack and a few hours of work. This was my first so it took longer. I bet I could do it over in about an hour. Fun project, cheap and dirty PS.