opjose

Rotorhead95313

The brushless setup we discussed above is VERY different than the brushed setup.

In the brushed setup, there is one ESC that drives both motors.

This is possible because that ESC is merely providing variable voltage to both the motors at the same time.

In a brushless setup, the ESC must precisely pulse the proper set of wires.

In your case it sounds like one of the motor wires is reversed.

In a situation like this then one motor will see full battery current because of the miswiring, causing the motor to spin up uncommanded.

Disconnect one motor, turn on the plane, and adjust it so that it spins in the proper direction and works properly.

Then repeat for the other motor. This should fix your problem.

It sounds like your original ESC was just fine, and what you saw was the result of the reversed wires on one motor.

joneska

Thanks......but how on earth do you get those spinners on and tighten the locking nut at the same time???

Ken

opjose

You have to immobilize the motor temporarily.

On other planes ( where I frequently have exactly the same problem ) I'll resort to carefully sticking an allen wrench through an opening, etc. Anything that will prevent the shaft from rotating...

joneska

CERTAINLY you have to keep the shaft steady!!!

That's not what I'm saying............The spinner "HITS" the propeller while it's being threaded into the shaft.

What are you supposed to do.......FORCE it on over the threads??

The propeller nut has to be tightened downfirst.

No information at all in this "partial" manual that mentions this....or even how to attach the props using the supplied hardware.....

opjose

Sorry I did not understand what you were asking...

In effect you are correct...

The nut is tightened down along with the prop. Once these are firmly affixed the spinner is pushed down over the threads.

Friction keeps it in place.

The Parkzone Typhoon uses exactly the same mechanism, but on it, I've had a lot of problems loosing the spinners as pushing the spinner down over the thread wears the rubber...

I've resorted to putting on a bit of Elmer's white glue on the spinner's shaft hole and letting it dry.

Elmer's comes off easily but will hold the spinner during flights...

Gale155

I stumbled upon a method that works well...at least on this particular plane. Thread the back locking nut onto the shaft and move it all the way back to the front of the cowling. Push the other nut into the recessed area on the front of the prop (once you get it in, it will stay put). Then, position the spinner on the prop and screw them both onto the shaft at the same time. Once you get it where you want it, tighten the back nut firmly against the back of the prop (a longer wrench than the one supplied comes in handy for this), and you're done. In this manner, you won't strip the rubber spinner, and no Elmer's or shaft immobilization is required.

foambreaker

I bought the brushless version and it came with 2 separate prewired ESC's. I have finished building it now that I cut a channel in the wing bottoms to countersink the motor wires. I covered them with white electrical tape and then white packing tape - looks OK. The controls and throttle and trims seem to work fine. I just need a bit more ice to thaw then I can test it with the boat out on the pond. Regards FB

joneska

Foambreaker......I bought the one I'm building with the "optional" brushless motors.Each one has an ESC.

Getting that wing on was a royal pain. I would suggest using "studs" rather than the screws with the heads, if you can find them. Or cutoff the screw heads and run3 mm nuts over the cut area to repair the threads.

I drilled 4holes in the yellow plastic to access the nuts on the studs......Ken

foambreaker

I didn't even put on that yellow wing cover. I glued the 2 wings together with the white glue and left the screw heads showing. I notched out where the wing meets the pylon to make a gap for the wires to come in/out of the pylon without keeping the wing fromlaying flush on top of the pylon. I also have not put on the spinners. I will fly it first and see how it goes and do all the cosmetic stuff if I don't wreck it!!

enricofermi

My Feedback: (2)

I built the PBY. My motors are no where in sync at half throttle and below. Dealer cut wire to one of controllers but didn't help any. I now have computer radio and can only get motors synced by TX mixing command. Is this normal fot this kit? How did forum contributors get there motors synced up? Also, where do I get a Channel 23 RX for the Guan Li rx. I ordered a 2nd kit on CH 23 but Nitro ignored my request and sent some other freq. Which is OK if I can buy a ch 23 RX crystal so I can use it with my computer TX. Will Futaba FM dual conversion type crystal work in Guan Li RX? Thank you.

foambreaker

 To sync my ESC s I turned on the TX with the throttle set to full. Then I plugged in the battery on the plane to turn the plane on. The ESC s beeped a few times, then I turned the throtlle down to the lowest setting and waited for a few more beeps.  At that point the ESCs should be synced and ready to go.

enricofermi

My Feedback: (2)

did you cut any wires to one escapement before using this sync method? Will futaba dual conversion FM crystal work in GuanLi recvr. Retailers seem to be all out of GuanLi crystal sets and in fact they appear not to carry Ch23. Help!! What do we do for crystals for GuanLi 72MHz stuff?

foambreaker

 No.  No wires were cut.  I would assume if you use a Futaba Tx then you need a futaba Rx.  I don't know much about that.  I bought the RTF Brushless Catalina kit

ericp755

I just started my Catalina. It seems that ifI put the the ESC in thefuse the wiresare too short to reach the motors. Am I supposedto put an ESC in each cowl? The battery and receiver wires are long enough to allow me to do that but it is not what the rather cryptic instructions illustrate.Therewould be alot of wires running on the underside the wing, is this normal?
Thanks

foambreaker

In minethe 2 esc's are just below the wing inside the pylon that the wing mounts on top of. There was barely enough wire to reach the motor wires coming out of the cowling. I had to cut a grove in the top of the pylon and cut out a channel in the botton of the wing to recess the wires flush with the botoom of the wing and then cover the wires/groovewith white eletric tape. Not really a RTF model is it?

ericp755

No it's definitly not RTF!! It would not be too bad with decent instructions, I spend far more time deciphering than building. I'm sure it's not the first time any of ushave had difficulty with import instructions. You would think making written instructions would be the easiest part of engineering a product like this...... Anyway is putting the ESCs in thenacelles a bad idea? they fit well, theY cables are the right lengthand they would get lots of cooling.
Thanks

Gale155

Hello fellas. I've been so smitten by the heli bug that I sold all my airplanes, including my Cat (before I even flew it). If you think building the Catalina is bad with its crappy instructions, try building an EXI 500 heli...that comes with no instructions at all. Luckily it's a Trex 500 clone, and there are plenty of online manuals and build videos available.

Locating the ESC's inside the nacelles sounds like a novel idea, and it might even be a good one. However, both the motors are going to generate quite a bit of heat, and the ESC's will put out some heat as well. For that reason, I don't know that it would be good to have them mounted next to each other in such a confined space.

foambreaker

Hi Eric. You can put the esc's in the nacelles but they need to be kept dry, as far as I know from reading in these forums. I tried to put mine in the nacelles but the wires wouldn't reach to the receiver. Waterproofing can be anything from saran wrap to caulking - whatever works I guess. You will need air cooling so don't wrap too many layers around it.Mine flys great butbuilding it was a bit of a pain! Worth it in the end though : ) . One other thing - Put it in the water and push down on it a little bit with the hatch off then check for leaks in the fuselage. Water sloshing back and forth really upsets the CG!!! Nose heavy then tail heavy, back and forth lol!!

69sofine

i have been assembling my cat flying boat and found that the escs work perfectly in the motor compartments. mine is the brushless version. i dont see how the wiring harness would work any other way without chopping on it. not very muck room in the cockpit for the escs either. ill let you know how it goes if anybody is interested.

ericp755

I did mount the ESCs in the motor housings and it works well, It is the only way to mount them without cutting the wires, cutting them would most likely bea bad idea. I wish the instructions had made that fact clear,i spent alot of time thinking about this step in the assembly. I think the instructions are for the brushed version and even at that they are not that great.

moodier

My Feedback: (1)

The wire lengthmustvary on the brushless version.Of course the instructions are only for the brush version!Now withthe existing wires I was able to put the ESC in the fuselage they hung just into the pylon area which I figure is good as shouldn't get wet there unless you completely submerg it!Had to d the usual cuts and grooves for the wires and sure would have been nice if theyhad put in instructions for the brushless wireing as is different from brushed version!!Used waterproffing on the ESC as on any of my seaplanes but one ESC failed on second flight just received new 25 plush ones from HK installed one but guess need thepair as motors don't start together etc with the different ESC's.Kind of expected that so had ordered 2 butnow find I am out of bellet connecters for the sevond one as don't want tocut the wires on the ESC that is good use it somewhere else!It seems to fly nice maybe even better than my GP PBY which suffers from such poor wing construction!!Good Flying

foambreaker

Hi. Yes I mounted mine the same way and I have not had any problems. Mine did have a leak in the fuselage join on the bottom which caused it to go from nose heavy to tail heavy as the water sloshed back and forth.My 2 ESC's came pre-wired in a bundle, like a harness. If I had to replace one it would have to be soldered/connected back the same way the old one came out, I would assume. Once I fixed the leak which caused my balance problem,I had no more problems. ( Just the usual crappy, bouncy, porpoisey landings due to pilot error!!! ) Have Fun and Good Luck

69sofine

Here is a few pic's of my cat. I drilled my clevices and installed small screws. I was planning on maidening her this weekend but the wind is up to about 20 mph. I removed the two big orange **** as they had vibration in them!

"LIVE TO FLY FLY TO LIVE!"
Jeff 69sofine

69sofine

Maidened my cat today. it flew great! Much better than i expected. The only problem i encountered was when i landed i got a splash of water in the motor capsules and the left motor or esc quit working, The bad part was ilanded in the middle of the lake. one motor turns you in a circle. anyway i managed to get her back to shore in one piece to fly another day! Let me know your flights!

69sofine LIVE TO FLY. FLY TO LIVE!

moodier

My Feedback: (1)

69sofine:Good luck wsiththe PBY it is a niceflying plane but have been plagued b y failures first one ESC requireing 2 new ESC's then one more flite and starbosrd motor failed just got 2 new one from HK the other dayhaven't rigged up the connecters yet!BUT!I still think it is a nice plane and I also have the GP PBY and this foam one is much more durable the GP whose wings go to pieces if get wet which is bad on a sealane!WIsh you luck with it and hope to get mine back in the air with the new motors.Still think it is a good plane!!!