So Kenny, are you gonna go with separates now?

Watch out for ESC's with an AUTO-CUTOFF for Lipo's at 9 volts, like the Great Planes ElectriFly series of brushed ESC's (C-25), cause if you don't keep tract of your flight time, it will drop from the sky like a rock. I have a GP C-12 on my tail motor & I hate it! You have to really know your machine, and how it behaves near a low battery situation. When the voltage approachs low-level (your at 3/4 throttle, been airborne for 10-12 minutes), LAND NOW, or take the risk of losing tail control in mid-flight (not pretty). I couldn't even imagine having losing main motor during flight, that would REALLY SUCK!
I'd rather an ESC with an adjustable cutoff, although if your not careful you can ruin a Lipo battery by running it down too low. The Castle Creations Pegasus 35P I'm using now has it's cutoff set for 8.4v (max setting) & a "soft-cutoff," meaning I keep main motor control, just at a reduced throttle and risk of losing RX control. I use a flight timer attached to the stock TX so I can keep tract of how long I've been airborne, and land before I lose the tail motor at 9v. I saw somewhere a Lipo or Lion pack that can handle voltages as low as 2v per cell, so if that's true, you wouldn't have to worry about over-discharging during flight. I have to look to see who makes them, their in one of those RC magazines, somewhere?!

Rick

Yes, I am going to go all separates now. I was noticing that problem with the GP ESCs. I have had a hard time finding ESCs for brushed motors that have the "soft-cutoff". So the Castle Creations have it? Any other brands that people are using with the "softcut"?

Its "AirThunder" Lipo's that claim they can be run down to 2v per cell, there's an article in the RC HELI magazine Nov'07 issue. Other brands of ESC's for brushed motors are:GWS, EvoFlight, Venom. I had an EvoFlight 20 on my AXE before the CC-35P, the Evo20 worked & it was cheap, but didn't let you know if it was armed (no beeps, flashes, etc), and tended to arm when IT felt like it.

Rick

This should protect your lipo.

http://www.heliproz.com/prodinfo.asp?number=335444

That's really neat little unit, the warning buzzer sounds good. Are you using one PilotLight?

What would be better is, having your heli scream at you "I WANNA GET DOWN!!" Over and over again, with the high-pitched tone of a 3-5 yr old, that'll get some attention!

Rick

OK, I am thinking of using the Pixie-7P on the tail and the Pixie-20P on the main. These are the only two Brushed ESC that I could find that are programmable with soft cutoff (so the heli doesnt fall like a rock).
http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id...28&pid=U963631
http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id...06&pid=U086492

I honestly didnt want to spend that much, I was thinking more along the lines of getting something from www.hobbycity.com but as far as I can tell all of their programmable ESC are for brushless motors.
So basically its going to cost me about $200 to get the heli back in the air
Pixie-7P ~$30
Pixie-20P ~ $35
GY-401 Gryo ~$140
Total ~ $205 (ouch)

Its hard for me to justify spending that much when I only gave $100 for the heli... maybe I will just buy another stock ESC, anyone got a used one that they wanna get rid of cheap?

Edited to say: Maybe this?
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LR0092&P=DS

Shadow - I looked at those AirThunder batteries - I don't think they have anything small enough for the Axe right now.

No, I don't have the lipo alarm, but I should get one.

Kenny, don't get the gy-401 gyro unless you have a different radio. It won't work with the stock Transmitter. The reason your ESC burned up is because the large batteries you added were awfully heavy. This caused the motor to turn slower and the blades to pitch greater with lots more amp draw. The ESC couldn't dissipate the heat so it spontaneously combusted. (Must have looked cool!)

If I were you, I'd go with the Pixie ESC's and get a gy-240 Gyro or equivelent and some Thunder Power 1320's. That will give you a heading hold gyro and about 10+ minutes of flying for each battery. The weight of the battery shouldn't exceed the OEM batts weight of about 110 grams. TP 1320s are 90 grams so thats just extra gravy.

The slower a motor turns, the more amp it draws until it completely stops. Then, its just a dead short. That's what the fuse is for, it blows incase the motor stops suddenly (blade strike) and you haven't throttled down quick enough.

Ok, I'll get off my high horse. (Just trying to save you another headache )

I have a Futaba 9C that I am going to be converting to AXE onto so the radio is not a problem.

OK, I have decided to get two of the Pixie 20's one for the main and one for the tail. I know its overkill for the tail but the price is only like $4 more so I figure I might be able to use it on something else in the future should the axe meet an untimely end.
Also I am going with an Art-Tech Gyro. Its like $36 and I have read two threads on RCU about people who have them and say they are almost just like the GY-401. Maybe its a clone
http://www.ka-planes.com/gyros_servos
I figure its worth a shot, and this will get me back in the air for less than $100.

Just searching around for that gyro - one of the nice things is it has both remote AND local gain adjust - if CH5 is not plugged in, you can adjust the gain with the pot (BTW - read where the adjustment is reverse - turning positively DECREASES gain! So beware!) Also the reviewer says it seems to have much less, not even noticeable, drift with temperature change, compared to the TeleBee.

Do you have a link to the manual? Also it is stated it is larger than the Futaba - I would like to know the specs.

This is all I was able to find.
http://www.art-tech.cn/english/Artic...?ArticleID=144

For $36 if its even halfway close to the same then I think we have just found a new alternative AXE upgrade

Can you buy them from a store in the US??

Never mind - saw original link was to a Florida location!

Yes, I just bought it from www.ka-planes.com

Got the gyro for $40.49 after shipping
Also ordered two of the Pixi-20 from TH for $70 total
So basically for $110 I am going separates with a HH Gyro. Not too bad I guess. I also had a guy contact be about trading one of my planes for a TREX 450XL, so I may be getting one of those too

Hurry up and install it when you get it so we know how it holds!! A review of the Falcon heli stated it held solid during a hard climb and maneuvers. Wonder if it is Futaba compatible??

Just a general question... got to thinking... why do I need a different ESC for the tail? Can I not just hook the tail motor to the ESC that is on the main and then the gyro controls how fast or slow right?

No, you need 2 seperate ESC's. The Gyro will not control the motor directly, the output of the gyro has to be fed into the ESC to affect the tail speed.

If you were to hook it to the main, it would spin at the same speed, not what you are looking for. And, i'm not sure you can drive 2 motors from 1 BL ESC.

That make sense. I ordered two of them so I am OK.