dawhale

My Feedback: (20)

christophe31, we have been waiting for several years now for 100 degree rotating retracts. Any chance in 2014 we will see them in production. I would be glad to preorder two sets?

dawhale

irocbsa

My Feedback: (12)

Don't hold your breath. They obviously don't care about making a profit or are too lazy to figure out how to. They won't bring a very simple and in-demand product to market, they can't seem to figure out how to obtain a U.S. distributor despite having a large demand here, and they don't seem to care about customer service. I have two sets of their retracts and practically had to beg for them. It's not something I will lower myself to again. I'm surprised they're still in business.

dawhale

My Feedback: (20)

Problem is, to my knowledge, no one else is producing a reliable rotating electric retract. LADO is but we need them to go one step further and produce 100 degree. 90 degree will just nose over. I thought Robart might this year. Reports have not shown them to be reliable. Thought E-Flite might go there but must have ran into problems.

As to problems getting retracts from LADO. I ordered and received two sets of non rotating 90 degree retracts and struts a couple of months ago and received them in less then 10 days. Sorry your experience was not the same.

corsaircrazy

My Feedback: (2)

You know, you can retrofit any pneumatic retract to electric. Give Down and Locked a look http://www.downandlocked.com/ they do great work. I have sent them Robarts and Sierra retracts, and have had great luck with them.
Just a thought.....
CC

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

sorry but I am not married to any brand, I am sending two into century jet for retro fit and giving them a shot .
I have used FMS retracts, hobby king , the LX retracts that come with the 79" P40 and so on , I liked the FMS so much I bought three sets .Its depends on the weight of the plane but there are indeed many retracts that are now field proven and working well .

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

hey LDM I went to the CJ site and there conversion for air to electric was 79$ if you buy the gear from them I have a couple of CJ gear sets I want to convert if so thats a great deal is that what they said they would charge you or was it more for used sets they don't say what the used sets cost to convert (one set I have has never even been mounted in a plane)

Finest Racing

I just sent them an email to find out if they have something for the Top Flite Texan. Fingers crossed they get back to me, I am moving along with the build.

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

hey Tim, nice to hear from you !! My gear will be more because I am starting with an old ESM Corsair retracts and then sierra P40 retracts .
Bruce will have to cut the base to make the retro fit , its not a problem at all but more work.
I did not request a quote on an existing set of CJ gear but I know from Bruce that the conversion works , and the units are lifting Robart wheels not some light foamy wheel .

Bob Paris

My Feedback: (13)

Hi Guys,
I have a set of Lado rotating 90 deg. retracts and would love them to be 100 deg. Is there anyone that has the modification to fix the issue. I want to put them into a Top Flight Corsair, but holding back on the build until I can get my Lado's modified. Anyone know.....who to contact to modify?
Soft Landings Always,
Bobby of Maui

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

that sounds great I will give them a call after the Holiday, I have the CJ's in my TF P-47,and a set for the P-40 I am rehabbing, and another set for a TF FW190 that I would like to convert to electric my P-47 has a leak that I have not been able to find and I am ready to just go with a plug in unit like my LADO gear its too bad there not being repped in the US I like the LADO's but if the CJ's are working good then I would just as soon spend my money there.

Happy New Year!

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Ok a couple of notes first Bobby . Some of the 100 degree retracts are not worth it due to QC issues but this is what I have done .
I have two fixes for you . On a new build I bevel the retract wood rail base so that the gear can still recess into the wing but when extended its gets the forward rake from the beveled rails.
On an existing mod when its more difficult to either bevel the rails , I have simply added wedges but you get 100% retraction of the wheel in the well . I just did this exact thing to the Hobby King P40 because I don't have the room in the wing to bevel too much down on the rails in order to get the full retraction and forward rake .

Tim,
On Bruce he is on vacation in Florida until the week of the 20th , he will be back in Kentucky late January to start the mods on the more difficult retracts . On the CJ gear the mods are drops in , on other brands its more work .
Bruce is great at answering emails and great to work with

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Dawhale and Olle_W,

Dawhale, sorry that I never noticed these emails when they came out on 10/18 but if you have not solved this problem, can I suggest that you go to McMaster-Carr www.mcmaster.com and do a search for tubing, bushings, etc., that might help you? They also carry metric sizes. Failing that, would it work if you wrapped your trunion in shim stock, which you can also get a McMaster.Carr??

Olle, how did that maiden go, way back in October??

Bob

acdii

I ordered a set of the CJ electrics for my Corsair build. Hoping they ship soon so I can finish up the wing. I heard good things about them, so keeping fingers crossed it is true.


And just received an email that they shipped today!

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

excellent post some video when you get them

RBean

I have a set of original Lado 60 size rotating retracts in a VQ P-40. I have had them for four years (180 take offs and landings and probably 300 cycles) and generally happy with them. I did have to drill out the trunions to take a 5mm steel rod. Anyway, the plane was a little heavy at 10.3 lbs with a DLE 20. To lighten some I substituted 1100mha Life 6.6 v. two cells. One for the radio and one for the ignition. Used 5v regulator for the ignition but no regulator for the receiver. Lightened the plane by about .4 lb. Gear cycled twice. Only used 5ma per cycle, then left gear just quit. No burning, no smoking, no hot electric smell. Just quit. Stone dead. nominal voltage is 6.6 but fully charged is up to 8.4v. Was this too much. More important, can anyone fix this thing? Is there any service? Does any one have a good Lado rotator left gear they don't need or conversely, does any one need a good Lado right gear? Half a set doesn't do anyone any good.

Bob Paris

My Feedback: (13)

Hay RBean,
I'll sell you my new set, never flown Lado rotating retracts if you want them. Send me a PM.
Bobby of Maui

acdii

What voltage battery did you use prior to the Life? 8.4 "may" have been too much. You might want to see if CJ can repair it since they do retrofits. Still waiting on mine to arrive and hopefully it have specs on what the voltage range is so I can know if the packs I have will work of if I need to get different ones. I also picked up a 5V @4 amp regulator for the CJ.

CNY_Dave

If you ever gave the wires coming out a good tug it could be the wire separated or pulled out of the circuit board.

If you over-voltaged a component that gave up the ghost it might be repairable. I've had my non-rotating retracts apart and they are not too complicated inside.

Different options on whether the manufacturer can even attempt to repair or not.

RBean

I took the Lado apart since there is no warranty. The machine work and gear box are first class. I soldered a circuit board from a electric gear out of a small ARF (the plastic gear parts broke). The motor ran and the gear worked, up to a point. Apparently the Lado circuit has a load limiter that stops to gear when it gets to the end of it run. The other circuit board apparently has a timer feature. The motor only runs a certain amount of time and then stops. If you flip the switch quick up and down, it well run another bit. Takes three runs to get the gear down. If I could get the right kind of circuit board, I could fix the gear. Also the voltage seems to be not an issue. Obviously the circuit board is the problem.

CNY_Dave

Can you get a good pic?

Any components that look like they got 'hot'?

Did you check the servo wires where they go to the board?

Maybe the company can replace the circuit board?

I am somewhat tempted to offer to fix it if your other options don't pan out.

RBean

Dave, I don't think my camera will take pictures close up enough to be any use. Couldn't find any broken wires. Lado had the circuit board glued onto the back area of the motor. I actually had to break it off. I then soldered the positive and negative wires from the salvaged board and it worked as noted. There was no burned looking spots or any smell of electrical components burning or overheating. I'm no electronic engineer so I have no idea whats on the board. I can mount a circuit board remote, just don't know how to get the correct board.

superduke1

Hi All,

I have a set of Lado RS333 85° retracts on a 60 size warbird after takeoff the retracts switch has to be cycled three times before the gear will retract but have no problem with extension. I'm not sure if this is a voltage issue they do have a decal on the side of the units that states min 6 volts. I'm running a 2000ma 6v MiHM flight pack that is powering all the servos and the gear. I'm going to power the gear from a separate flight pack to see if this will fix the problem. Has anyone experienced the same problems with their Lado retracts.

CNY_Dave

Could it be they are binding a bit and the current sense is activating, thinking the retracts have finished retracting?

Can you measure the current?

Also, what is the actual voltage during the gear operation, up and down? Low voltage could cause that behavior.

skubacb

If the batteries were reading that high they were not charged as A123s. That is a LiPo or LiIon voltage. The highest all my A123s get is 7.2volts. You cannot charge the Life batteries on the LiPo setting. If you have a newer charger you should be able to change from LiPo or LiIon to LiFE. If not you need a new charger. I have see a couple of people make this mistake. I have A123s in all of my 40 plus aircraft and all of them without a regulator since the nominal voltages for the A123 are the same as for a normal 6V NiMh.

Magnum RC

Hi, We used to be the US Distributor of Lado retracts. I was even involved in some of the original testing before they went to market through Doug. IF you have a REV B or a REV C unit, they will not take the voltage you run thru them. Those units would burn out with a nickel metal 5 cell battery. You were limited to using a 4.8 volt on them. ONLY the newer ones REV D or more are capable of handling the higher voltages. The card doesn't smoke or smell burnt, it is a delicate board that can be destroyed by even taking the unit apart. I know this because I have repaired many of them. The French fellows done wonders to advance their electronics and power and still utilize the same design. When we sold a set in the past, we installed a warranty void sticker if the modeler opened them up to work on them themselves. Granted, some are capable of delicate work, but most of the time, the prospective tinkerer would finish them off. Nothing can be done about a Fried board other than send them to France for repair.