RE: axe cp thread
 

Hey guys, i have a Red & BlackMicro-Heli Deluxe Main Blade Holder on ebay for sell.
[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-Heli-Deluxe-Main-Blade-Holder-RED-BLACK_W0QQitemZ180301809075QQcmdZViewItem?hash=ite m180301809075&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A 1424%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318]Main Blader[/link]
Also, i have 2 good condition main blade heat sinks

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Eflite-MAIN-MOTOR-HEATSINK-BLADE-CP-Pro-EFLH1131_W0QQitemZ180301808549QQcmdZViewItem?hash= item180301808549&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72 %3A1424%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318]Heat sinks[/link]

RE: axe cp thread
 

I have burned up two Heli-max AXE CPv3 E-boards (3 in 1 controller) and two tail motors have failed. I found an article on "Upgrading your Mini Electric Helicopter for protections for your motor electronics, main rotor drive gear and drive motors" at one of the RC forums (likely RCU) after posting separately here and talking with Heli-max technical support.

I have visually checked the wiring to the main motor and tested it to measure zero resistance with a digital multi-meter, as desired. As suggested in this article, I installed a 3 amp mini-fuse on the wiring to the tail motor, which I suspected to be the cause of the problem after replacing two of these tail motors. After test starting the AXE CPv3 both without and with the main motor connected, I shorted out this 3 amp mini-fuse and its replacement.

Should I next move up to a 5 amp mini-fuse?

I welcome all suggestions here.

RE: axe cp thread
 

Hello All,

I have just recently got back into flying my Axe, but I am an experienced flyer. Anybody have any links to cheaper CNC head parts? The prices are just ridiculous on Tower. I am hoping to replace some parts I broke while i got a little "cavalier" while flying.:D

Brian

RE: axe cp thread
 

Brian,

I don't know of any cheap CNC parts for the Axe.

But I do know where you can buy a Trex 450 clone
for under $60 including shipping from Hong Kong.

Check out the HK 450 at www.hobbyking.com. You
will have to backorder as they sell out fast.

My eyes were opened to a whole new world when
I started buying 450 size parts. Just about everything
is cheaper and better than Axe parts. You can buy
a complete cnc head, with swash and grips for under
$100.

To see the prices for cnc stuff see the copterx and align
450 parts at miracle mart.

To end, I still fly my Axes every day because they are
small enough to fly comfortably in the garage. But we
do pay a high price for that ability.

RE: axe cp thread
 

bdelmonte

In terms of terminology, just so you know, a "short" means a direct
electrical connection. So a fuse is "shorted" when it is good. When
a fuse "fuses", then it is "open". There are many kinds of fuses,
one kind is called a "slow blow" and allows higher current to pass
for a short time before it blows.

You will not find fuses on many (?any) electrically powered
helicopters.

This is a clue, I think, that fuses are generally
undesirable. If the fuse protects the tail motor circuit,
if the tail motor draws too much current, or there is
a "short" to something that allows a current high enough to blow
the fuse, or the tail motor will stop working and you will crash.

I would pull the tail motor wires out of the tail boom. Inspect them
carefully, especially in the area where the tail motor mount screw
goes into the boom. Take a resistance reading across the tail
motor wire with the motor end and the 3 in 1 end disconnected.
You should get infinite resistance, i.e. an "open".

Re your tail motors failing. This is unlikely to be caused by
excessive current. Even if the motor leads were shorted, the motor
itself probably would not be damaged. The problem with
the direct drive on version 3, which I tried on a version 2 with
version 3 parts is overheating. The brushes in the motor are
connected to the leads outside the motor by a "plastic rivet".
If the motor gets hot enough, the plastic softens and brush holder
will move and stop making a hard enough contact with the
commutator. Also, if the motor gets hot enough, it can
demagnetize the magnets. By drilling out the two tabs on the
end of the motor, you can pull the plastic end cap off and see
for your self that you have plenty of "brush" left.

A couple things you can do. One, after you've soldered on the
tail motor wires, lay a thick coat of household cement over the
whole plastic end plate. This will keep the wires from moving.
If the wires move or vibrate, they can cause the "plastic rivet" to
loosen and the brushes will then move.

Two, get an Align aluminum tail boom servo holder. Drill two
holes in the end of the tail boom, top to bottom, and mount
the bracket. The hole that goes over the boom will fit a
tail motor just right. Run the tail motor wires outside the boom.
If I can, I'll post a picture. This give you an added heat sink as
the bracket absorbs heat and so does the aluminum tail boom.

Another option is to convert to a geared tail. I've got 3 axe's
all with geared tails and they work fine. I used the servo bracket
described above to mount a geared tail and the tail motor stays
very cool.

Last on tail motors, let the motor cool off completely between
flites.

Now on to the 3 in 1. If you have a "short" anywhere in the tail
or main motor wires, too much current is going to go thru the
board and burn up a component. Otherwise, if a board fails
it's probably crash damage or a manufacturing defect. One of
axe's has almost 400 flites and the version 2 board is still
working correctly.

You can buy an after market brushed motor esc and they are
cheap, at www.hobbyking.com. I've got a couple but have not
hooked on up yet. For the tail motor, I've used the C12 esc, which
is expensive but works well.

Finally, see my next post re the $36 450 size heli from Hobby King.

Good luck. While the Axe has many issues, I still fly mine every
day and like the ability to keep learning by garage flying regardless
of the weather.

RE: axe cp thread
 

Darn, I just time out and lost my reply to JEMFLYER above. I will try his suggestions, but no wire problems found. Perhaps vibration is damaging the brushed and overheating the tail motor, as possible cause for E-board failures.

I found that a 5 amp fuse on wiring for the tail motor does not open like the 3 amp did and will test it now that wind is lighter outside.

RE: axe cp thread
 

i'm new to helis and new to forums.i've been flying glofuel planes but have been fascinated with helis.bought a used axe cp from one of the guys at the club.i want to keep costs down as much as possible, don't have to tell anybody out there that rc anything can get expensive.i have been using a 1250mah lipo battery while trying to learn how to hover.the heli got tangled up in some star jasmine and i saw smoke.the motor has died.i want to upgrade to a brushless motor but i want to know if i will need to chage anything else (also new to electrics).i have questions regarding size of motor,new pinion gear,new main gear,new esc.bottom line i guess is can i squeek by with just popping in a brushless motor?

RE: axe cp thread
 

Joe,

Lots of people have put brushless motors, both main and tail, on an Axe.

Check this site and others. All the info. you want is available.

My opinion: Putting any more money in an Axe than absolutely necessary
to keep it flying is a mistake. Save your money because you will want to
buy a bigger and better helicopter.

If you've toasted the 3 in 1 board, then going brushless may be cost
effective. You must buy an electronic speed control for a brushless
motor and the main motor.

Opinions vary about using a brushless motor for the tail. I've read some
comments that a brushless tail motor does not respond fast enough.

If the 3 in 1 is dead, and you don't want to replace it
then you have to buy the appropriate ESC for the tail
motor as well.

And you have to buy a gyro to use in lieu of the one on the 3 in 1 board.

To recap: Say the 3 in 1 is good, but you want a brushless main motor, then
you'll need the brushless esc and motor. You can still use the 3 in 1 for the
gyro and the brushed tail motor esc.

If the 3 in 1 is bad and you don't want to replace it, then you will also
need an esc for the tail motor and a gyro.

You can also stay with brushed motors, main and tail, and buy esc's for them.

www.hobbyking.com has a cheap brushed motor esc and cheap brushless motors
and esc's and gyros. The C12 brushed esc is more expensive, but I've got
it on one of my Axe's for the tail motor and it works well, check Tower Hobbies.

Good luck.

RE: axe cp thread
 

thanks jemflyer, as i said i'm new to forums and if i had read some of the earlier posts i would have seen that a heli motor can go south EVEN when your nice to it.right now i'm still trying to get it to hover in one spot with the nose pointed away from me, so i'll just keep it simple and just replace the dead motor.i have looked at the electronics and nothing seems to be scorched so i'm goin to assume it was in fact the motor that died.by the bye the servos still work so thats a good sign,right?

RE: axe cp thread
 

Joe,

Actually, the 3 in 1 board does 4 things:

It has a gyro, a tail motor esc, a main motor esc, and a battery eliminator circuit, BEC.

With glo planes you used a separate battery pack to power the receiver and the servos.

With smaller electric heli's, the esc has a circuit to provide power to the receiver and servos
from the main battery pack, so no separate battery is needed for the receiver.

The bad news is the 3 in 1 board can fail on any of the 4 functions and the other 3 can still work.

Once I put too long a bolt in the tail motor mount. I managed to short circuit the tail motor wires.

The 3 in 1 smoked, but everything worked except the tail motor.

So, the fact that your servos still work doesn't mean you didn't fry the main motor esc.

If you saw smoke, it is likely the 3 in 1 was damaged as motors don't usually smoke.

If you look very carefully at the 3 in 1, you may be able to see "burn marks" where
something got too hot.

One trick is to cut the power immediately when you know you're going to fly into something.

You should take a close look at the main gear because if the rotors are stopped by a bush
or the ground, the main motor has enough power to grind the plastic teeth off the main gear.

If there is only slight damage, you may be able to salvage the gear by using a small common
screwdriver to plow out the grooves.

Check out ebay for cheap axe parts. I've found it's cheaper in the long run to just buy
a heli for parts. You should be able to get a complete flying heli for less than Tower's
price for a new 3 in 1 board.

Good luck.

RE: axe cp thread
 

Early in this post some were finding the solder between the main motor and the bullet connectors was poor. In fact, on mine, the only thing holding the wire to the connector was the heat shrink. Its another good place to check.

RE: axe cp thread
 

did some more reading,learned that waiting between flights is a must. i did'nt. popped in the second battery quick as a bunny.i have looked very closely at the esc. and the eboard and definately did not see any scorch marks either front or back.also looked at the wiring to see if anything there had burned did'nt see anything i am going to go with the lesser of two evils and go with replaceing the motor.next question is: do the 2 halves of the frame need to be completly seperated to replace the motor?,and is seperating the 2 halves going to give me any surprises with regards to what it will do to the main shaft or anything else?thanks for the hep

RE: axe cp thread
 

hey guys. i am completely new to heli's. I bought a axe cp barely used from a guy off craigslist for $100. I got it home, charged the batteries, watched the dvd and did everything as it said to. I first turned the transmitter on and the throttle down. when i plug in either battery it just clicks once and thats it. there is no light flashing light like it says there should be. the orange wire was unhooked so i thought that was the problem and found a wiring diagram on this forum and have everthing connected as it shows but still get the same problem. any help is appreciated.

RE: axe cp thread
 

joebecerra1947,

I never had to separate or even loosen the frame to replace the main motor (3 times, ughhh).

Unsolder it, remove the heatsink and you can "wiggle" it out.

Heatsink compound can be bought at Radio Shack or found on-line.


smoke157,

So when you move either Tx stick nothing happens?

Is the left stick's vertical trim slider all the way down?
This might cause a main ESC arming issue but the right stick should move the swash servos regardless.

Does the Tx have it's crystal installed, are they the same channel # in the Tx and Rx?

The green light on the 3 in 1 should flash for a couple of secs. and then stay on.
That is gyro initialiation but may give other clues.

The orange wire is the speed signal from the Rx to the tail motor ESC.
I don't recall which pin it goes on but if you didn't get the manual with the heli it is on-line.

We can't assume much when dealing with a used purchase.

Pilotlight????

Edit for spelling.

RE: axe cp thread
 

Yes, both crystals are the same and plugged in. The heli does nothing at all but click once when hook up the battery. I know the batteries are good because if hook them directly to the tail motor it will start spinning. There is no green light on anywhere. I'm starting to think the e-board is bad. So much for my "good deal".


edit/update

I unhooked the e-board from the heli completely and plugged in the battery to the e-board with nothing else connected and the green light started flashing. Could a bad motor or servo cause this?

edit2

I reconnected everything to the heli. Now the green light works but it just flashes and will not go solid. Also, I still get no response from any servo or motor. Is there any way to test the receiver to see if its bad? I don't have another heli to take the rx from and test. I do have a t-maxx and a revo. would one of those rx work just to test?

RE: axe cp thread
 

Are the batteries in the transmitter new? Sounds like its not recieving a signal. You are turning on the transmitter first, right?

You should verify the voltage of the Axe battery also. As little as 5 volts could make the tail motor run, but not be enough to run the Eboard.

I'm sure there is some way to swap recievers to check operation, but that's up to you.


Joebe,

You can unplug the motor to remove it too. Remove the front servo and you'll see the two bolts holding the motor in place. To reinstall, place a piece of paper between the pinion gear and the main gear to set the spacing and then tighten it down.

RE: axe cp thread
 

transmitter batteries are brand new and im turning it on first. i will check voltage.

RE: axe cp thread
 

I never had to remove anything to get the main motor out/in but it does take some patience to remove / replace those screws.

You will have to solder eventually as the new ones don't have leads (none of mine did).

Verify proper polarity or it will spin CCW.

I do have about 4 inch long allen wrenches and maybe that's the difference there with the servo removal some have had to do.

RE: axe cp thread
 

Thought I would add to this thread since its been a while. I've been flying in the hangar for the past few weeks practicing backward flights in all directions. You gotta think which way the heli is pointed, not where its going. Anyway, last night the brushsless tail motor made a funny high pitched whine and went back to normal. The tail kicked out but went back to working quickly. Decided to get it on the ground before it could do it again. Before that happened, the tail motor was surging from nothing, to nearly full power. Axe was spinning both directions in greater than 180 degree arks. Tried to save it, but clipped the blades on the tips to the ground. Lost a servo, most tail mounting stuff, and all the other usual parts that break.

Now, I can replace the broken parts, but I still don't know what caused it. Ran the tail motor up and down for 5 minutes, and it never skipped a beat. Hate to replace everything just to have it happen again. When it works, its great, when it doesn't work, it sucks ( $$$, and big donkey .... )

RE: axe cp thread
 

i hate the axe cp. first off the battery takes forever to charge and "fly" time is very short. second mine started to violently twitch (tail motor was jerking) after about a week and LHS didnt really have that many spare parts on hand. On the other hand when you get it trimmed and the wind doesnt blow it is a very responsive machine and surprisingly durable.

RE: axe cp thread
 

After a year of flying the AXE CP I've been through 2 sets of blades, a swash plate, about 8 blade attach fittings, a tail rotor blade, 1 main motor & 1 tail motor, and 2 batteries. The best thing I have done with it is put it on the shelf and got a Blade 400 3D. It has been great out of the box. I have not even had to adjust any trims. Getting about 21 minutes of hover work from 2 batteries (an 1800 & a 2200). Just waiting for the wind to die down to take outside and flog it some.

Video clip of hovering practice indoor: http://www.drbohannon.com/drbhobbies.html

When it works it works, when it doesn't get something better!

DRBo
Blade 400, AXE CP, CX2

RE: axe cp thread
 

Nice flying, Dr. Now, you have to work on rotating the heli to the side and eventually, all the way around.

Something better is always on my mind.

RE: axe cp thread
 

hey guys i got my axe cp-l in december from towers for 91 shipped. lol it was in the S&D section never opend and i guess it was because it had a cut on th eside of the box???, anyway flew it a few times inside then i hit a door jam and busted one main blad and a piece off the swash plate and a grip. Well i got the bell hiller rotor upgrade and a bunch of spare parts. well got it all back togethe and turned it all on and it started to push down into the ground and not taking off. well i rebuilt the damn thing like 3xs. got made cuz i couldnt figure it out. well science my 1/8 lst2 MT racer and my ax-10 crawler are both down waiting for parts i figure i give the axe another go. well its been like 8months science i rebuilt the heli and now i got smart... i called helimax lol. he said i know exactly what u need to do. look down the main balde towards the copter and see if the blade grip arms are on the left. if they are switch them over to the right side. And wouldnt u know :eek: damn thing now flys lol. pissed me off for so long. so yesterday i was messing around with it for the first time in forever. well after a few time inoticed that my tail just kept on going in circles.??? come ti find out my tail motor stoped working. well brought it inscide and borrowed the wifes dads voltmeter. its getting volts when the throttle is up and not when its down just like its supposed to. come to find out the + peice that goes inside the can is loose and not toutching the brushes and if i press on it works just fine. so this morning i fix it all and resoder and get it back working. which it now does.:D yeah. let my battery charge and im off.

now will a gyro help keep it stable while im hoovering and is it hard to wire up?

RE: axe cp thread
 

No, it will not keep the heli stable while learning to hover. You have to fly it all the time. Its not hard to wire up if you take your time. Instructions are here: http://manuals.hobbico.com/hmx/hmxe04-gyro-manual.pdf

RE: axe cp thread
 

guys how do i take the gear off the tail motor?? just pull it off?