I looked up the part in the manual so we can both be clear what we are talking about...lol...in the book it's called "Tail Rotor Belt Drive Gear" (http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...8027&search=Go) and here is a link to a picture of it at Towerhobbies. Yeah I figured you were talking about the tail rotor gear and I wish it was that one. This one is actually inside the frame and I'm pretty sure it's going to be some work to get to. I know for sure it's the tail rotor belt drive gear (that's a mouthful) because if you spin the bottom part of it the top part does not spin and it must be broken otherwise the tail rotor would spin. Also note that if I turn the top of the tail rotor belt drive gear then the tail does spin so everything else is in place and intact. I will replace the belt as well while I am in there since I'm in there already. I with they had a cnc rotor belt drive gear and I asked the company to make one in the future. Thanks for your help and I may take pictures of the repair process and post them for everyone else.

On another note, I absolutely love this heli and furthermore I thought that I wasnt going to going to like my new Triton 2 charger but I actually LOVE it. The heli is very nice to fly and is an excellent intermediate heli. The Triton2 charger is super nice and gives me beyond maximum flight times with just over 9 minutes ever flight and about 80 minute charge times using a 11.1V Lipo 2000mah. I'm going to order 2 of the 2200mah lipos soon and I was wondering if I could use a A123 battery instead since they charge so fast and last so long. I haven't really heard much other than good things about them. Thanks for your help! Josh.

Ya, I figured that out, kinda stinks you have to replace that gear...but what the heck, I've never had one of those strip...make me wonder if that is the flaw of this bird...know what I mean? I haven't (knock wood) crashed this one yet, but we all know it is comeing. I am tring to get use to it, by comparision to my Blade 400, the tail response is quite soft, but boy don't she lock in sweet!!! My Blade 400 tail doesn't lock in any where near how nicely this bird does...makes me wonder why there is so much concern and complaints about this stock gyro. I haven't had any problems so far, but then again, I am not flying it hard either.

Good luck my friend

Ray

Again appreciate your help. Note that this gyro is truly a piece of crap...there are some of them that are really good, like yours, and some that are really bad but it is pretty configurable. There is a "secret" pot under the sticker if you didnt know about it. If you give it a little tweak the thing flies like a champ, like yours so dont mess with it if you're already happy. Talk to you later. Josh.

Thanks for the info, but if all it takes is a tweek of that pot, is it really a peice of crap? Time will tell, as with everything. I haven't had this bird that long and have only put about 6 flights on it...

Thanks and let me know how tough that repair is, I've dreaded the day when I have to split the frame!!!

Ok let me rephrase it, it's not a very good gyro especially when you compare it to something like the GY240 which is another entry level gryo and is superb. The helimax gyro is ok but doesnt last long and when you end up replacing yours, and you probably will, you'll want to get a really nice one. People replace their helimax gyro another one of the same kind and suddenly they cant get that gyro to work and end up sending it in for another one from helimax and begin playing the "I hope this one is good" game which, as you know if you love flying, isn't fun. Just my opinion though. The tail on my heli drifts like anything and I can't seem to find the sweet spot on the gyro yet and I'll keep you posted on that one too.

Yeah, having to split the frame for my first repair on this heli is pretty much sucky but gotta get-er-done... I plan on only loosening up the screws required to get to the part and replace it so if I can just bend it open a little and put another one in then I'll do that. I'm eying the new CNC parts coming out for the AXE 400 and I'm sure I'll quickly upgrade all of the parts available with the metal ones.

I'd be interested to know what battery you are using and what your flight times are on that battery. Are you using a different battery then the 2000mah lipo they recommend? I've heard amazing things about the 400 with the 2200mah Trex battery (http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXTVE3&P=ML). J

My gyro went bad. I was hovering in my garage when the tail spun a few degrees hard to the
right then stopped. A few seconds later did the same thing. Then a few saconds later it spun
hard completely around. I was able to let it down with out doing any damage. Had a couple
of minutes left on the battery so I let it set on the floor and spun it up till it got light. Started
spinning out of control. Couldn't stop it. Then I noticed the LED was not lit on the gyro.
Couldn't get it to light up. Called Helimax they said they hadn't heard of that problem and
sent a new gyro. When I took the old one off there was something rattleing inside. There
was a capacitor loose that the legs had broken off. Anyone else have this happen or heard
of it before.

Huh, no, I've not heard of a gyro breaking off internal parts, even in crashes, unless it got smacked by one of the spinning pieces. If the gyro was getting vibrated enough to break it off from that, I wouldn't expect the gyro would have worked to hold the tail, so I'd just guess that it was a manufacturing defect. They do happen.

Unfortunately this is all too common for the helimax gyro. I think I've made my point about their gyro, use it at your own risk or just buy a nice Futaba one that you know will work. I'll be getting the GY240 or something similar in the future. Heck, maybe I'll try the xheli.com gyros out. Did I mention though that the Axe 400 is a fantastic heli to fly? Very stable, very nice over all, just a really great and fun copter. J

So you've had parts mechanically break on your gyro? We know you don't like it, but others are having better experiences with them.

Wow, maybe I've lucked out...time will tell for sure. I haven't had any trouble with mine....YET!!!

I am inclined to agree, never heard of that either, but defects for sure

Well, that is interesting considering your statement. Good bird, bad gyro...is that what you're saying? Have you had problems with the gyro?

Ya, I agree with you and have had great luck with it.

Well, perhaps I am very fortunate and have a good one. But I have used all those high rated gyros, spent big buck, and didn't find them any better then what I started with. I have had several hilemax units, this new 400 my most recent, others had been the axe cp variations. But overall, I find them to be a good product for the money.

Let us not forget that it is a "package", meaning simply that the receiver and transmitter also impacts the gyro's performance...doesn't it?

One can offset an apparent "bad gyro" by using a different model product and seem to have better results. Input and output impedance comese in to play here, with this said, maybe...just maybe...the receiver is what is bad! Maybe I am out to lunch here, but i've been drinking lately and that may be imapcting my "logic"!! (spellink too)

Without a doubt the problem could be anything from mechanical to electrical but, from what I have seen in the forums people are having a lot of problems with the helimax gyro. When I get my heli parts in and it back up and running I'll tune the gyro in a little better and we'll go from there. I have some tail drift but then again I just got this heli not too long ago and havent even dialed in the tail yet. My next heli I'll make sure to get a radio that allows me to adjust the gyro from the transmitter. And yes, I LOVE the helimax axe 400, it's been very, very, very stable for a smaller (400 size) heli. I highly recommend playing with the exponential to get the "feel" right and I'm pretty happy with where I have mine now, I can go from mild to wild without issue.

I'm glad you have a good gyro and a good cheap gryo and a good expensive gyro does the same thing for the most part until you get into 3D and that's where you really notice the difference.

For the AXE 400 people, can you guys answer these questions and we can compare? I'm curious if everyone is experiencing the same thing with this model.

I'm using the 11.1V Lipo 2000mah battery that was recommended.

1. How long is your flight time?
Mine is about 9 minutes to empty.
2. Was your heli stable out of the box or did you have to do anything to get it there?
Mine is very stable and I did nothing other then dial in the trims.
3. Are you having any issues with the helimax gyro?
So far only tail drift out of the box but I have not fully dialed it in yet so we'll see.


Thanks guys! Josh.

osterizer, I have never had parts mechanically break but I have electrically had them fail. I was really trying to say that many people have had problems with this particular gyro. J

OK, that's cool- it sounded as if you were saying that having parts break off was a common problem.

I would like to report that I have this Gyro (HM4000) in a sub-micro heli (probably the toughest environment a gyro could be in), It has about four hours of run time on it, also I have had to take a small amount of that time and trim it out, so the end result is: the gyro works well. Is it the best gyro out there? No, Does it suck for being an inexpensive piece? Absolutely not. It just works, it just takes some time to tune it.

My philosophy is: if one receives two duds, then one can bash the product. Been there and done it[sm=angel_smile.gif]

the gyro is junk I have had 2 with internal parts fallen off (the capaitor) installed an hetic gyro love it

Well, I'll just have to wait and see. I just ordered one for myself.

Regarding the tail drive gear (shaft, bearings, and pully), I had the same problem. It didn't seem to damage the belt at all, but because the nylon pully was slowed on a very rapidly spinning shaft, it immediately wore the center of it so it now slips on the knurled shaft. I have removed it already and found a shortcut to splitting the whole frame.

Remove the four screws surrounding the tail boom mount. Use a sharp blade to cut/pry the gyro from it's mount, making sure to note it's orientation. Remove the four screws from the tail drive gear bearing area. Loosen the four screws from the areas of the main shaft bearings. Remove the rear left screw from the landing skid mount. Detach the ball link from the left side of the swash plate, the one from the left side servo. Remove the two screws from the left side of the anti-rotation bracket. This should allow you to gently pull the back of the frame apart enough to remove the tail drive gear assembly by reaching in and slipping it down out of the belt loop and back out of the frame. When replacing it, be sure to check the tail rotor rotation direction by spinning the main blades. My belt likes to flip over the other way for some reason once it's free, and if I don't catch it, I have to take everything apart again to twist it the other way. Use foam tape to place the gyro back where it was.

Hope this helps.

Hey Tweener, thank a lot for your post and I did exactly the same thing yesterday and had exactly the same thing happen with the plastic part. Please write and ask them to make a CNC part for this, I already did and they need to hear it from a bunch of people. It took me about 1.5 hours to fix the issue altogether..not bad. J

There's already supposed to be a CNC pully in the works for the top of that assembly. It's listed in the back of the RTF manual. I just wish they'd hurry with all the CNC parts. If something needs replaced that can be upgraded with metal or CF, I'd rather do that than replace it with plastic.

yes the gyro is junk will not hold, is it worth putting into the ground over a cheap gyro, its a good price on the bird so they hsd to cut conners, i got the futaba 401 and the tail never moves unless i move it,for the money with out servo it a good buy for a pieace of mind, ive been doing good bout 15 flights in but was flying today and was bringing back to my and all the sudden the rear tail blade grips fell off, got to looking and the bolts that hold gripps on sheared off throwing my bird into circles but i didnt panic i hit thro, hold and minal damage bout 30 doll. but im like u guys i want to replace my parts with cnc, where can they be found???

Actually, no there is no plan to make this a CNC part. Just about every part is going to be CNC except this one. This is not the tail piece and is nowhere near the rotor blades, it's exactly opposite and inside the frame. I contacted the manufacture and they told me there are no plans to make that a CNC part which is pretty much crap.



Correct, without any question this gyro is total junk and the 401 is outstanding for the price. I tried to order the CNC parts from Towerhobbies.com but they are not set to ship to them until June or July so expect to have to wait and remember this Heli is fairly new still. They are trying to compete with the Blade 400 and they did a good job but they need to come out with the CNC parts and a darn carbon fiber frame for this thing. Yesterday my landing gear screws stripped so the back of the landing gear came lose, I'm going to use some bolts with nuts to put them back on as you should NOT expoxy or glue these. I love this heli so far but I'm already eying my next heli with a carbon fiber frame and CNC parts, I'll probably get the EXI 500 or the Genesis 450PE after some research. I want a bigger Heli so it's easier to work on, easier to see in the air and more stable in flight (i.e. wind etc).

Anyone have any experience with the EXI 500 or the Genesis 450PE? Any recommendations? I know everyone loves the TREX 450 and 500 right? Josh.