wired203

The cool down part is correct, I read information years ago about proper RC car battery handling which is the same as for these birds (besides lipo) and once you are done running the pack throw it in the fridge for 10 minutes to cool it off so you can re-charge it. Have packs that are years old that still run great because of this.

sfinckster

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I have a wireless meat thermometer that I use to notify me when the battery is "done" I just poke the probe through the shrink wrap of the battery, use best judgement when doing this to avoid shorting. I set the temp. to 90 degrees and it beeps when it gets there. A perfect charge every time.[8D]

hartar

Walterpug,

yes.. about an hour... I just keep checking the battery after 45min of charging. As for the left tracking thing, I have to adjust my tx for about three clicks to the right to compensate.. Yours sounds like a bit much. I don't have a lot of experience, pretty much a newbie myself..I'm still working on my hovering..I would just suggest going over all the trims very carefully with all TX trims centered to make sure swash plate is level. Make sure stablizer bar is level and paddles are level. Should have some negative pitch on the main rotor with throttle all the way down. If you have problems with the PLT/PZT dial settings, there is some real good info on setting these on this thread. In order to set those you need to flip the lock/unlock dip switch on the back of the TX to the unlock position for this to have any effect.. The manual that came with your bird is not very accurate so I would not rely on it very much. I have found this discussion group to be very helpful..

freeonthree

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Good morning, fellow chopper pilots/trainees...
Ace Busa, Thanks !!! I sleep alot easier when I quit with no damage, felt good... LOL

Hartar, I wouldnt trust JB Weld or Epoxy, if it breaks while hoovering, anything could happen. Some of the guys have been using those studed balls to replace the balls when they break off. Just drill a hole in the piece and install the new ball with stud and nut. That's alot safer I beleive...

Ah Clem, I was talking about leaving it over night with a full charge, and topping it off the next day. I bit the bullet a while ago for my other RC Toys (Revo, Mini Quake, 2 planes) and bought a Triton Charger. I don't know how I ever got by without it. $130.00 from Tower. It will charge all the different types of batteries, it's digital, and you set all the paramiters to suit your needs. For an extra $10.00, you can get the optional temperature probe too. With this charger, you set the discharge rate and cutoff voltage, charging current, peak detection voltage drop, and even a cutoff timer, and emergency temperature cutoff (mainly used for LiPo's). Charging the stock 650ma, 10.8 volt battery, takes about 45 minutes at 1 amp. Also, I incorperate a muffin fan blowing on the battery, so I can charge right after a run, and when it peaks, it's only about 75 to 90 degree's.
I would suggest terminating the charge as soon as you feel the battery getting warm, when using the stock charger. The temp rise tells you that the battery has peaked, or about to.
The Triton Charger is the best investment I have made since getting into this hobby 3 years ago, and I have only had it a few months. The only down side is that the Triton is 12 volt only, so you'll either need about a 5 amp minium power supply (I have a 20) or at least a motorcycle battery and trickle charger. If you have a boat, this is a good way to keep the battery alive in the non boating months.

walterpug

Thanks guys! Your tips are much appreciated. I must say that I'm not getting much work done today. Gotta fly! Good tip on cooling the battery befor and after use. Here in Ontario I just have to put it out side. It is minus 10 today. Good flying in the shop though.
I think that I'll try a few test runs with the set up as is and adjust the TX before I get in to turning screws. ANy thought on the cable for the SIM?

wired203

Be carefull on putting the pack outside as if you get busy and forget you could freeze the cells, this will reduce the life of the pack faster than you could ever want since the chemicals in the battery will crystalize.

The deal with cooling off a pack before you charge it is if you heat the pack up and charge it the chemicals get into a liquid form and can crystalize as well from the heat and voltage increase. The fridge is generally set to 40f or so but above the freezing temp for the packs so if you forget about your pack it will not cause any issues.

walterpug

OH MY FREAK'N GOD!

Just crashed. I was just trying to hover low (3 or 4 inches) it Jumped up a couple of feet and snaked left FAST, I tried to put it down soft, and it totally dismantedled itself. Second flight too. Broke the head, landing gear, rotors, rotor clip, and bent the tail boom. CRAP! Where is the best place to get all of this stuff. Anyone have an exploded pic of the 22E showing all the parts.

CRAP!

hartar

Walterpug,
Sorry to hear that man! sounds like a real bad crash.. are you using training gear?... check rcandme.com looks like they have lots of parts...

acebusa

I feel your pain! I went through some nasty crashes in my first few weeks, I just bought another one when I crashed bad, I figured I would need the other parts anyway, I was right, if you decide to get another one, Take my word for it, and look at the night ranger instead, I think is is made with better electronics from my 22e experiance.

freeonthree

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Walterpug, Sorry to hear about the crash... Just think, someday we will be giving advice to the newbies, and telling them about all the destruction we went thru to get where were at. This is truely a heartwrenching hobby. Hang in there bud, it can only get better... Dennis

acebusa

Walterpug, I got parts here also [link]http://www.hobby-estore.com/electric-helicopter-parts.html[/link]

sfinckster

My Feedback: (2)

If you guys haven't done so already, I suggest you take the Radds School of Rotary Flight. I used to crash all the time and was very gun shy about flying, lest I crash again and have to wait two weeks for parts. Now I can hover inside my shop and keep the heli in a 5 foot box... usually. It really boosts your confidence.... DONT CHEAT.....and you will be hovering confidently in a few days to a week with no crashes. I just finished it last week.

here it is...

http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

hartar

sfinckster,

wow that is great.. I just read it over and will follow it closely.. I'm tired of crashing and have problems controlling the tail and going left.. great link... thanks

freeonthree

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Very cool !!! Made an icon for it on my desktop. I read thru the first battery so far. Great !!!

freeonthree

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Is the only difference between these and fixed pitch heli's, the way the lift is attained (rpm only with fixed pitch) ??? Do they fly the same for just buzzing around otherwise ???
Goin out for another session !!! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!! Dennis

Ah Clem

Dennis,

The fixed pitch machines fly very differently. They are Hiller steering only (cyclic pitch on the blades is controlled by the flybar, flybar moves based on airloads, based on deflection sent by swashplate. The stability of fixed pitch machines varys with throttle setting as the RPM changes depending on whether you are moving up or down. The blades on most of the small, fixed pitch electrics are usually very light, so that the motor can accelerate the mass more quickly-this is not helpful for stability either.

Collective gives you relatively constant rotor RPM, so your stability is more constant regardless of throttle stick setting.

Bell/Hiller mixes direct inputs from the swashplate to the blades, with the Hiller inputs to the blades from the flybar. This, along with the collective, gives you a faster, more positive response.

Technically, you could build a fixed pitch head, which had stiff, symmetrical blades that could feather independently, and use Bell/Hiller without collective and have a very fast responding ship without the benefit of the constant RPM that collective provides. Obviously, inverted would not be possible.

Other things that contribute to flying characteristics are: Head RPM, Blade Chord, blade weight, blade stiffness, paddle weight, paddle thickness, flybar length, mixing rations on Bell/Hiller steering (%of Bell input vs. % Hiller input), power, cg, and a lot more than I can think of at the moment.

You are flying one of the quickest machines that I have ever flown, if that helps any.

Does this help?

freeonthree

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That make me feel pretty good considering that I am learning with it. I let my guard down a few minutess ago, and I swiped my blade tips on a pile of leaves. Lucky break !!! Stay in the box, stay in the box, stay in the box... I hope im listening... LOL

acebusa

I love the way that these heli's fly, I Think once you train your fingers to make slight movements than these are awesome, I was flying mine at work around christmas, I only had about 10' from wall to wall, and about 50' straight, I was flying forward, than backward all the way down I did this about 4 or 5 times before drifting into a push broom leaning against the wall, It was solid though with little sway back and forth. It was great (all except for the ending though) I usually cant get myself to quit flying while I am ahead, I am trying to train dennis though.

freeonthree

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I've got several charges behind me already tonite. Im getting er off the ground and holding for a few seconds, and then setting down. It's getting easier and easier to control it, but I am no where near being in control just yet. Still gettin pretty nervous too... Were gettin er done though !!!

zacc

can some one tell me i have a 10.8 volt 650mah batterie which came with my 22e , how long should it go for in my 22e ? right now at full charge i am only getting aprox 5 minites if that and that is only at hover , is this right ? what should i be getting? what is the cause of such a short time for the batterie? my blades are pitched right.

acebusa

That sound about right, I could only get about 5-7 min on the stock batt. I now have the 11.1 1900mah it works for about 15 min, witch is about 3 times as long as yours, (notice the mah on the battery is around 3 times as much.)

freeonthree

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After 5 minutes of practice, I need a rest...

hartar

ace,

That must be a lipo battery you got... are they easy to deal with? I've heard they can be dangerous. any recommendations?

skidkid269

Same place I got my stuff from but it takes a week or two. I will put a picture of my "improved " control assembly when my battery to my camera charges. I put Dupro 190 balls (1/16) and screws in place of the "upgrade" linkage and it flys as good as a 22 e-V2 can. I got it to fly fff today for one pass and then ffc (fast forward crash) I bent the tailboom and messed up a couple of other things but its back up and going to be tested in the AM. I flew in helicopters in the USMC for 21 years(3500 hours) and this thing scares the #$%t out of me every time I crash. But so is this new phase of flying

zacc

need help i have a 22e and every time i adjust the giro to stop it from spinning , i unplug the batterie and plug it back in the giro is out of wack again it does not seem to hold its settings . any answers?