ingleburn

Had to be quick to get a fly in today. I wasnt quick enough. Just hit 45.4 here ( nearly 114 for you other people.)

ingleburn

Yeah that was the first thing I checked. Looked at a 130X yeasterday but I think my fleet is big enough already.

mnemennth

Jonesy -

When I'm PLANNING a monster post, I usually work out the details in a word processor & copy/paste from that... but this is the first time RCUniverse has NOTdone like Brian suggests below; this time it purged my cache of the "Reply to" message editor. I suspect foul play and/or something in the way the site interacts with my post-zero-day updated Java plug-in. It sure SMELLSlike a Java failure.


The thing you hang your underwear on to dry. :P


Hey, same with the Hausler. A brand new Heli...

Sounds to me like Blade is taking a page out of Walkera's book... but like always, we have to remember that they have to price to support brick & mortars, and the mCPXIS one of their staple products. When I ran my recycled electronics business I had to use the same mentality; I'd always get the Emerson & RCA "El-cheapo" VCRs &TVs going first priority. They usually cost me the most, but they were also the ones that sold every week and paid the rent, so INEVER dropped the price. They were the ones that kept the doors open; I counted on my higher-end stuff to make my profit. For them, the parts are the cash cow.

mnem
moo.

Kozzy_98

I wanted to fly but the bearings in my "stiff" dt750 aren't anywhere near optimal...

My LHS doesn't have them, even though there is an E-Flite spare part that is the bearing that I need. HK has them for like $1.50 for 4 bearings, but as always they are BACKORDERED!!!!!

So today I wasn't happy that I couldn't fly...

Fixing my MCPX is last on my list. Both need new frames and a range of other bits and pieces but as always the price doesn't seem to justify it, especially when the tail blows out all the time and the one of them crapped itself when I gave it max pitch in a small wind outdoors. The quadcopter seems much better for it.

Labelle107 works on ball bearings, right? Or do I use grease (which I don't have...)?

ahamay

Most bearing and seal places keep small bearings these days. There might be one near where you live or close by. Jonesy

rikybob

Hmmmmm, interesting.

I grew up in the same atmosphere in which you speak.

Dad was a TV/Appliance repair man for 50 years.

I used to be able to repair any TV in the 60's thru early 80's. After that you just replaced panels so a monkey could do it!

As for VCR's and the like there was a time window that repeiring hem was cost effective but then they got soooo cheap!

We may be kindred spirits there Mmnnsnsnns!

b

Edmund2

Washing machines and freezers nowadys fall into the same category. I had fist a washing machine fail on me and it was cheaper to buy the same manufacure new one than to have it repaired.  One of my freezers packed up two weeks ago on a Saturday evening, checking out the repair company's website indicated that the call out fee was at around 40% of a new one, adding a new compressor and labour over 30 minutes made it worth buying a new one that was delivered the Sunday morning. Does help if the Mrs works at aplace selling it.

As for flying, for a change we are fortunate that it is raining over most of South Afica today and after the heatwave of last week we are appreciating every drop. Will have a house full of visitors this weekend so no indoor flying as well.

Now should anybody be tempted ot buy the new mCPX please post your findings ASAP and advise if the  livery can be changed with old canopy and tailfin. Should that be the case I will pull the trigger to get one. MrsE will be none the wiser though that lipo does look a lot thcker than the old one.

Enjoy your weekend guys.

Edmind

Kozzy_98

Our friends from China have released new versions of the 6ch Orange Rx.

Both are still only DSM2 compatible.

The R615 is a replacement for the R610 and it has a 2nd antenna on it, however it has no port for a satellite Rx.

The R620 is a full range 6ch Rx with satellite ports on it.

Looks nice, but I don't need any just yet

mnemennth

LOL... I've been doing component level repair on pretty much anything Electronic SINCE the '80s. My experience has taught me that in most cases, the cost of original boards is such that if you have to replace a board to fix it, you're spending more than you can sell it for. I have a garage full of pulls from the last 7 years or so doing Onsite Warranty service; I need to organize them & put them up on fleaBay.

Spent a few years after I left Crystal River, FL working in a local Ding&Dent Appliance warehouse; I replaced more FSP busted oven door glass & vents/handles & rebuilt more crushed bottom rails than I could count; I was on a first name basis with the pickers at the local 1stSource warehouse before they merged with Servall. I could build a steel barn out of all the sides I replaced & straightened. My specialty was all the expensive stainless stuff; we'd started getting a regular supply of all the high-end Frigidaire & Electrolux brands and I was good at ironing out stainless & fixing the finish so it looked good rather than forking over hundreds for new sheetmetal. Got a brand new set of KitchenAid pots & pans for my how-tos in the factory repair forums.

I left after repeated requests for promised raises had been ignored and finding out how great the disparity between what they paid sales staff vs the people who made the product was. One of the worst salesmen on the floor (and a bona fide moron, to boot) made the mistake of complaining about how poor his bonus check was that month. I told him he was a retard and needed to shut the f$ck up; his "inadequate" bonus was more than I made all month and I built every piece of product he sold, most of it literally from the ground up, so why does he deserve even more than that when any monkey can write up a reciept for a product which sells itself?

That, coupled with an expansion-driven shift in management demand for quantity over quality (we were going over the line between fixing cosmetic flaws and moving product which I felt wasn't safe) made it no longer a shop I wanted to be associated with. I was only one of several; most of the senior repair staff left soon before or soon after I did.

mnem
No, "Jobber Price" does not mean "How much for a hand roll?".

ingleburn

That explains why they had a sale on the 610's. Trying to clear stock for the new ones. Think I have about 3 or 4 spare so no need for any just yet.

My MCPX is undergoing a rebiuld today. New frame only but its the only thing I have needed to replace apart from some blades so for $10 I can live with that expense.
If you put a new extended boom on it that will stop the tail blowouts and for $15 its money well spent.
The Nano has been neglected of late as Im to busy with the 450's. Will spend more time with it soon practising inverted getting ready to try on the 450.

@ mnemennth. When my kids were younger my VCR spent more time in the shop than at home. They thought it was a toaster, tape recorder and a hidey hole for there toys.

@ Edmond. Yeah I know what thats like. After spending money to repair a dishwasher only for it to fail again shortly after its easier to count your losses and just get a new one.
Although about 7 years ago I found a clothes dryer on the street and after spending $5 on a sensor for it, it worked like new and still does to this day.

@ All. Temp here today is only 22. What a change from yesterdays record highs. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/city-chaos-as-mercury-hits-record-458c/story-e6freuy9-1226557082826

Rob2160

Save your money.. the 130X is overpriced at $299.. I rarely fly mine now because the 450's fly better and the 130X has a terrible tail drift that I just can't eliminate... tried all the mechanical fixes, and also adjusting the AS3x gain in both directions...

its ok.. but I would never buy it again...

Just heard about this brushless MCPX now when catching up on this forum.. that will be a nice little heli..

Have been in the USA for many weeks now but brought a Nano CPX with me.. managed to find a blue canopy and tail for it which I prefer over the stock yellow..

Great to see this thread still powering along!.

PS.. can't beleive the TEMPS I am hearing about in Sydney at the moment.. Record high of 46.5 C... Glad I'm in Tuscon... A lovely 14C today..

Kozzy_98

Haha 14C is too cold for me!

Glad to see you Rob back on the forum

ingleburn

Good to see you stick your head in Rob. What I would have given to get some cooler weather the other day.

Bit to windy to fly today so pulled the tail apart on the HK 450 ready for the new parts that should be here tomorrow.
Noticed there was a lot of sideways play between the rotor shaft and the tail box, like there was a shim or washer that needed to be there to take up the play.
Ended up removing the whole box and putting the Tarot one from the GT on it. www.ac-rc.com/product_info.php Had to retension the belt and no locking pin to go through the boom so hope it stays put.
Its all basically brand new so ready for a test flight tomorrow and will keep the new parts for a rebuild later on.

ingleburn

Had an interesting day today. This morning I flew 9 packs with the HK450 Pro. Tail worked great once I set it up in rate mode. Had to turn the link in 3 turns to get it right but once it was set it flew great.
Piros were a bit bouncy so will read up and do a bit of tuning on the software. Almost ready to try inverted, maybe tomorrow.

Did 3 packs with the MCPX and it was acting up. One minute it was flying great, the next it would go crazy and hit the deck.
Got it home and took a look and found one of the servos was locking up. Pulled it apart and everything looked ok but when I was puting it back together noticed a small piece of grit was wedged in one of the gears.
Removed it and installed it back in but when I connected the battery the servo went full deflection one way then stalled and went full deflection the other way. Pulled the servo again and noticed it was hot.
Thinking the servo was toast I grabbed one out of the old MCPX and put it on but this time the heli kept on losing bind and would work for a while then shut down.
Think the dud servo must have fried the board because I replaced it with the board out of the old one and now everythings working perfectly.
To bad its a V1 board in a V2 MCPX.

Next I decided to put a new motor in the Nano because its been losing power lately.
As I was unplugging the servo wires from the board the elevator connector popped straight out of the board.What is it with me and boards today.
With nothing to lose I got the soldering iron out had a go at resoldering it. Boy those pins are small and close together.
Any way put it all back together and it still works so I must have got real lucky. Good to have the Nano back at full power again.

Sorry about the long post but its been one of those days.

I noticed that ZeeJays will have the MCPX BL in stock next week so if anything else goes wrong I might order one and chuck everything else in the bin.

ahamay

Hey mate, 9 packs awesome...must have been there for a couple of hours. Sounds like you had the forces against you with the micro helis today. The nano new motor definately makes a difference...it's a shame they are crap quality to start with and don't last.

Regarding the tail on your HK PRO, I found that I had to make sure the ball on the servo was 8-10mm as per the manual. Just check you don't have it any more than that otherwise you end up with too much mechanical gain. If the ball is all right then try decreasing the Deceleration L & Deceleration R values a couple of points via the software and try it again. Usually it will bounce one way and not the other...adjust accordingly.

Jonesy

ingleburn

Yeah the ball is at 8mm. Only got bounce one way so will try to get rid of it tomorrow. 10 packs charged plus 6 on the MCPX and 6 on the Nano. Guess Ill see how good the soldering is.
If the weather stays good might go out for an afternoon session with the Tarot. Looks like the #16 cams battery is starting to die. Time to order another one.

rikybob

I've actually never had such a good explanation as this before.

Kinda funny, folks here in the states fear the Chinese, I think we are inexorably linked!

Click [link=http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=df55ca5e45eb7b22250db625c&id=4386d2017d&e=439ec39db8]HERE[/link] to see the plaintiff cries of a Chinese vendor for understanding.

b

PS When they complain about 72 hour weeks, apparently they never met my wife!

rikybob

Wifey joined me down at the lake for some air boating and sailing!

Even got her to run the airboat!

I don't have a willing partner though as it just ain't her thang!

All the best!

b

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDfxI73uaZs[/youtube]

ahamay

If anyone is after a good non DFC FBLhead for the 450 then keep an eye out on the stock for this. I think I just bought the last one, but they get stock pretty quickly. Can't go wrong for the price.

www.miracle-mart.com/store/index.php

ingleburn

The swamp dog goes a lot better now the motor mount is on the right way.
At least wifey had a go. To bad your aim was terrible, as usual.

ingleburn

There a really good price. The ZYX was as well. The spare I have cost 3 times that.You must have been quick as when I read about it this morning they only had 4 or 5 left.
Had a play with the tail on the HK today but couldnt get all the wag out. Its good enough for me so it wil do.
Time to put it away and give the Tarot a go. The tail on that is perfect with stock settings.

ingleburn

A few people are getting their hands on the new MCPX BL. Who is going to be first here. Notice they are in stock at JeeJays. Might be a bit wild for me.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMFKlLZmQD4[/youtube]

rikybob

Hiya Kidz!

I think I will pass on the little helis for now!

Had a WONDERFUL afternoon in that I took my boats down to the lake, replete with chair, drink and snacks!

I enjoyed sailing for two hours! What a nice day!

Hope all is well in your worlds!

b

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D4GphRl4Dk[/youtube]

rikybob

Hiya Kidz!

Had yet another great day off!

Started out flying at the field all by my self (p u s s y s thought it too cold)!

I then worked my way to the town of Orlando and ate lunch with my son. It's really neat to watch him mature on his job as a Paramedic and his stories of college life!

I then got my Gemini 600 powered sailboat from China (only about 9 days since I ordered it) too and and find it will require quite a bit of work before it sees the water!


All the best!

b

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DScZh1CMXe0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moBOBkghpa8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJeZUI0GGnk[/youtube]

ahamay

Howdy all, firstly happy Australia Day for us Aussies..... the east coast of QLD is dealing with the left overs of a tropical cyclone and we are expecing 500-700mm of rain over the next few days so no flying this long weekend.

Thought Iwould post this as some of you might gets a heads up or not be aware of this information. It's regarding the tail grip bearings on the align 450 and most clones that have directly copied the Align design. Basically there is a design flaw that may arise and it's not only a safety issue it will cause your heli to fall form the sky.

Now with me being all safety conscious and all I've delt with the issue by replacing (on order at the momnet) the tail grips and bearings on both my 450 pro's.

The issue -> if you checkout the image below which I found somewhere you'll see that the tail grip has two bearings with a brass spacer and the screw that holds the grip on. So basically the only thing that's holding the grip on is the outer case of the bearing. If this bearing fails and seperates then your grip is going to be ejected and that's one little sucker you don't want to get hit with. You'll see the inner sleeve of the bearing and the screw are still attached and the outer bearing and grip are gonskey.

The solution to this is quite obvious and that's to have a thrust bearing setup just like you have with the main blade grips. Tarot have has this available in the tail for a while now and is what is going on mine when they arrive next week.

Funny enough Align have just announced their thrust bearing upgraded tail.

So for those that have the old design, then replacing your tail grip bearings on a regular basis is mandatory. Another good tip also is to never stand directly behind your heli when you spool it up on the ground...always have the tail off at an angle so if something like the tail grip does seperate it's not going kill you.

Here are the pics of a failed bearing, the Tarot thrust tail and the new Align thrust tail.