RE: Lado retracts, do the really exist?
 

Money ready for installation in Hangar9 F6F Hellcat. It's had US Lados, 2 sets of Wingspans and now sits gearless.

Money ready for new installation in TF Gold P40 Warhawk.

Money ready for installation in Hangar9 F4U Corsair. It's been flying US Lados since they came out. I've lost count of the broken props on landing.

It looks like the full scale Hellcat design didn't hinge the strut immediately inside the wing leading edge. It looks like Grumman had the same problem modelers have. The main gear structure projects forward the trunion axis. So Grumman angled the strut forward.

RE: Lado retracts, do the really exist?
 

I crashed my Hanger 9 Hellcat flying into a highwire at full speed while being stupid. I was planning on maybe going with an ESM 72" wing span Hellcat. Already have a G38 for an engine. I've read it need lots of nose weight. I would like electric retracts. None are available. WingSpan Rotating retracts are 100 degree but are rated to only 10 lbs. The plane will probably weight 16-17 lbs. The Lado rotating retracts are rated to 22 lbs. That is great, except the are only 90 degrees. Sierras will work, but I don't want air. I'm putting the project on hold until suitable retracts are available. 100 degrees????? Lados?? Someday?? Maybe??

RE: Lado retracts, do the really exist?
 

Any news on the 100degree rotators yet?

Has anyone disassembled a pair of the older style 60-1 retracts?

I have a set from 2008, one wire seems to be intermittent where the cable enters the retract body.

A pic of what this critter looks like internally would be great, I've repaired a lot of finicky stuff in my time but knowing what I'm getting into is always better!

I have the pair reviewed here (the actual pair, by happenstance):
http://www.zerorc.com/lado-60-1-electric-retract-review

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1917031

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1917032

Dave

Yup I've opened up a couple of these. One of mine had the same problem, and previous owner covered the wire area with silicon in a failed attempt to fix it. So I removed the silicon and resoldered the wire back onto circuit board. It's not hard to disassemble, just make sure you have the correct hex wrenches (they are metric). Use small tip soldering iron as the circuit is delicate to work with due to size.

By the way, I was very impressed with the construction of these. When you open them up you will see the flawless machining, and the precision of all the pieces.

Good luck.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1917037

Excellent, thanks. No sign of wonder-goo on mine.

So the circuit board isn't just a cover, I see. Only one of the small screws that hold the circuit board in place would come loose, I plan on slotting the other on the same side, removing the 2 on that side, and leaving the circuit board attached to one side.

Does it seem like that will work, or do you think all 4 have to come out?

Not sure what you mean by slotting, do you mean cut a slot in the circuit board? I had to loosen the two on opposite side since they were stuck to the case, and remove the two screws on the side I am removing the case-halves from.

No, the small hex screws on the circuit board are 'rounded out' where the hex key goes, I was hoping I could pull just 2 of the screws and leave the other 2 in place, only having to slot 1 screw for a screwdriver.

It sounds like they will have to be loosened, and I'll have to slot the 3 rounded-out screws.

Dave

The signal wire pad broke off. It goes right into a via next to the pad, managed to insert 1 strand from a 20ga wire through it and solder it- it works!
The strand of wire pokes out the outside of the board, but was easier than trying to solder to whatever the trace eventually went to.

As good as these retracts are, the strain relief needs a little help! But then again, you're not supposed to land poorly and rip out the retracts.

I tested it with the plane RX, plane on its side on the bench, the RX would not connect at first, thought it was the retract as I removed it from the RX and it bound, but several rounds of A/B testing showed that wasn't the cause.

It connected every time with or without the retract with the plane upright, though. I can post some pics tomorrow.

OK, a shot of the guts, and a not too blurry pic of where the pad lifted, it's the brown spot next to the other wires.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1918363

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1918362

I have only one flight as yet on the repaired retract, so far so good!

Excellent!

I had to apply some more grease into mine since it was sticking after sitting around for a while. It would stick at random places causing it to stop. After the grease and few cycles on the bench, it worked perfectly everytime.

So I guess they way these work is when the motor current reaches a certain level the circuitry cuts power to the motor?

I didn't see any limit switches etc.

I would assume so. But they are the very few that got it right. A lot of the cheap Chinese retracts tried to use similar cutoff method, only to result in burn up motors.

Yeah, it'd be easy to spec a 'cutout' current that was greater than the permissible motor stall current or heat shedding capability of the motor... oops!

I can speak from experience on the cutout current... I mocked them up just to see how they worked and inadvertently had one gear leg badly adjusted. The gear would come part way up and then stop. It kept jamming until I figured it out. I noticed that the motor would come to a dead stop whenever the gear leg jammed - no indication that the motor was laboring or trying to pull clear of the jam. I have to measure their current draw (just to satisfy my curiosity) but I tend to believe their spec that they will run fine right off the gear channel.

Bob

It came in handy for me as well when I accidentally hit the gear switch while taxiing, it couldn't pull the gear together so it shut off partially retracted, I noticed when it started taxiing funny!

BTW mine are running off the gear channel power feed, off the 5A switching BEC built into my castle 75a ESC. Was worried about draw, I don't see the bus pull down with the quick checks I made before the 1st time I took it up.

Hello there!
I have not been reading the entire thread but I saw that you have been opening some units.
I have a dead 333 unit. Never used in flight, only tested during installation. Once during the installation the unit did not respond on comand, i knocked on it and it worked again. Did not bother about that anymore since it only occured once..
Yet, it ocurred twice and now the unit is totally dead. I get no respond concerning this from e-tract (the unit was bought less than a year ago) so now I'm concidering open it and have a look for maybe a loose signal wire or something.
What do you think? shall I open it and say good bye to the warranty?

No response from e-tract? try sending him a message on this forum.

But I don't see any harm in opening it. It's not like there's a warranty seal or anything.

I emailed Christophe through the new website (contact page) and found him to be responsive.

http://www.e-retract.com/en/

http://www.e-retract.com/en/contact-us

Yeah, I have an account there and that is the website I have been using to contact them.

Hello Again!
Succeed in having a contact. Returned the unit and got it back today. Now it works fine. Everything ok. Thanks E-retract!
I will maiden as soon as the wheather wil let me.

Just got two more sets of RS333 LADOS. They have gone to 6mm pins for the trunions now. Work fine if you use their struts. I would like to use Robarts. Anyone know where I might be able to find steel reducer pins, trunion to strut, 6mm to 5MM or 6MM to 3/16"?