Hey all,
What ( if any ) is being used to monitor motor temperature on your heli ? I'm looking for something a little more accurate than my finger, and want take up my flying time. Any suggestions ?

Hi, is it nitro???? I fly nitro.....and I use the good old spit test. You can use a point and shoot thermometer also. How far is Vonore from Turtletown? Aren't you close to Tellico?
Mark

I have an infrared digi temp guage but I must admit never used it on an electric motor. Maybe I'll try that next time I fly? Although since I've made Swiss cheese out of my canopy I haven't had any problems.....

[sm=rolleyes.gif]

Lyk2fly,
I'm just up the road from Tellico ( highway 411 ). Tellico Village is out my back door. Don't know where turtletown is though.
Anyway, I'm running a C40 hacker and it gets pretty hot to the touch. The max. temperature is 190 F per manufacturer specifications.
Who sales infrared digi temp or point and shoot thermometers ? I don't want to make swiss cheese out of my canopy and I don't want to add a cooling fan either. I plan on putting Darthdrk's hughes 500d canopy on this winter, so no holes.
Coy

Coy...most hobby shops carry the point and shoot thermos. Any refrigeration wholesaler will have them too. They usually cost about $50.00-$70.00. I don't think that I am too far from you. Turtletown is on Hwy 68 south.....12 miles north of Copperhill....(Polk Co.) Heli flyers are few and far between around here!
Mark

Not very many Heli flyers in Tennessee period. there is just a few of us. If youre running a Hacker and its timed right (correct pinion size) you shouldnt have a problem. Getting into the cooler time of the year you definitely shouldnt have a problem. Helis fly better in cooler weather both Gas and electric .

Mark, your almost close enough to fly with, maybe one day will get together. Next time I'm at hobby town, i'll get a point and shoot if they got it at that price.
Darthdrk, I'm running stock pinion ( 9 tooth ), short blades ( 10 inch ), altron gyro, Hacker C4012T, phoenix 45esc, 5000mah lipo TP.
Any suggestions that would keep me from cooking the motor would be great. I can't fly that good, but when I get there I'll be thrown the juice to it.

Coy,
I got my point & shoot at Hobby People for $25. Might try there even if you do have to order it through the mail. It is a good price.
If you have the 4 degree grips you can change one first or maybe both to 2 degree. Or if using 6 go to 4. I'm not really sure how yours feels but I hover at about 60% throttle with fresh pack. Make sure both your gear meshes are nice and smooth and line up correctly. If others on the groups have been running your set-up with a canopy you shouldn't have a problem with cooling.
I have a different set-up than most and had the heat issues. Next time I'll go with a faster spinning motor with less torque instead of the lower rpm motor with high torque. That is a big mistake for heli's. Also you might try stepping down one gear to an 8 tooth. It's a $3.59 fix maybe?

Good Luck!



Ron

Thanks Ron,
I'll check out Hobby people for that price. I want to make an accurate temp check before making any changes but the changes you suggest sounds like what i'll have to do to get the temp down. I'm running 4 degree grips and get a hover at about 50% throttle. I thought about cutting a hole in the wood crutch behind the motor to allow for more air flow.
What is different on your setup ?

Mark,
" Spit test ", spoken like a true hillbilly

Coy.....I'm sorry......I meant to say "saliva" test
Mark

Coy,

Basically what I did was take a slower turning motor with higher torque and geared it high so I could get the same head speed. I'm not so sure this was the most efficient way of doing it. Next time I believe I'll go for the higher speed less torque motor and just drop the gearing.

BTW, by using the lower turning motor I screwed myself out of being able to use the belt drive because no one make the right cogged drive pulleys. [:@]

So lesson here is do what everyone else is doing and you will be able to use the same aftermarket parts.



Ron

Okay, I just got back from Hobby People.

The California winds threw my Corona into the ground and broke my landing gear and battery pack in half over the weekend. So I picked up some shrink wrap to repair the batteries.

While I was there I noticed they have the infra-red temperature guage I was talking about on sale for $19.99 till November 30th. So you better hurry!

Tonight after work I'll try to remember to take the temperature of my motor after a flight or two.

Thanks Ron ,
I was just starting to check out there site, and thought I would come here first. What's the temperature range on yours ?

Okay. The range is in either –27 to +428 degrees F or –33 to 220 degrees C

With +/- 2% accuracy.

Good enough for me. I flew a whole pack of 8-cell 3300 mAh pack, set it down out of a hover, and it measured 155 degrees F.
The temperature outside was 49 degrees F.


I’ll be curious to check it when it gets warmer during the summer and see how much hotter the motor will get. I had problems with the speed controller heating up and that is why I needed to cut the holes in the top and bottom of the canopy.



FFW

I bet the temp will be pushing it in hot weather, but what you got now looks good.
I checked hobby peoples site the other day and it wasn't showing to be on sale. So I checked the local HS and they had one for just a few $ more. As soon as I get my motor back, I'll be doing the same check. Thanks for all your help Ron.
Coy

FYI Here is how I cut my canopy to provide the awesome cooling I've obtained right now. It won't win any prizes but it does help me more with orientation vs. not having a canopy at all.

[sm=rolleyes.gif]

Ron

Hey, that's a nice looking bird you got there. When you said swiss cheese, the first thing that popped in to my head looked like something the dog got a hold of. I ordered darthdrk's hughes 500 d body this morning, and if the temp is to high when it goes on the heli, I might duplicate those slots you have on the bottom of your body. Right now I use an old beat up LMH body. Probably will for a while.
I have a couple computer cpu fans laying around if worse comes to worse.