Mister_Scary

Well my metal-framed 60 with 3200kv Brushless Motor + 30A ESC (with a nifty aluminum carrying case) just arrived!

It came RTF but I'm glad I didn't try to fly it before I gave it a good visual inspection. Whoever put it together, did a crappy job.
The motor is positioned so that it's wires are pushing down on one of the servo rods so much that I doubt it would function properly, let alone move. The gyro is positioned way off center and turned sideways so that the wires have to stretch around it's side.
The way they bundled the wires and positioned the ESC prevent me from even putting the canopy on.

So it's probably a good idea for me to go over every screw, nut and bolt while I'm re-doing everything else on my "RTF" helicopter.
I have more little screwdrivers than I'll probably ever need, but I haven't been able to find any tiny little wrenches or anything.

What does everyone here use? Any little kits you can recomend?
Thanks

Mister_Scary

Come on folks........this is pretty easy.

Here's some examples:

"I use my fingers"........

"I use a little kit of wrenches I bought at whateverdotcom"....

"I use two coins to grip the nut"......

"I use a shrink ray on Mr. Goodwrench and he tightens them for me".....

"I use my painted fingernails".......

"I use needle-nose pliers"........

"I use the forces of darkness to scare the nut into tightening it's self" etc. etc.

choppersrule

Mister_Scary,

I personally use the all-in-one laser tool. It's omni-directional and has gps guiding for accuracy. And an automatic torque replicator.
And for the serious hobbyist, it has an upgrade for an infra-red, anti-gravity spectrum-ed remote.

On a serious note: There's a lot of specialty tools that you will need for this hobby. Each heli, may require one tool that the other doesn't need. Just dig deep into your wallet. The heli hobby is very expensive. If you're in for the long haul, you'll always want something, maybe bigger or better. Just the nature of this hobby. Oh, and what type of battery charger and what type of batteries to buy is just a total nightmare.

Dave / Choppersrule

Mister_Scary

Good one!

Yes, I know what you mean by expen$ive. This is my first helicopter purchase and along with the helicopter ($275-ebay), I also bought:
Metal upgrade for head $60 ehirobo.com
Metal upgrade for tail $48 ebay
Extra 2200mAh 10c lipo battery $30 ehirobo.com
Align Balance charger $60 rchover.com
Wireless 2.4 Ghz mini color camera/mic system (1000' range) $181 helihobby.com
Mini DV camcorder with a/v input and 2.5" LCD to record/watch mini camera $200 ebay
Navigation LED light system $20 superbrightleds.com

Cha ching!

*I just remembered the 12 8-packs of Duracell AA's I also bought for the TX*

choppersrule

Mister Scary,

You mentioned, *I just remembered the 12 8-packs of Duracell AA's I also bought for the TX*

You should get the energizer fast charger, it charges 4 aa or aaa batteries in 15 minutes. The charger and 4 aa batteries is 19.95, and a 4 pack of aa's, to give you the 8 required for the tx is 9.95. For initial investment of 30 bucks or so, you'll have batteries for 1000's of charges. see pic

Dave / Choppersrule

choppersrule

Hey, forgot to tell ya, got mine at Menards, Wal-Mart has them too.
Make sure you get the right one, one charger comes with 4 aa bats. and the other comes with 4 aaa bats. Both use the same charger though. The charger will charge aa or aaa.

Dave / Choppersrule

Mister_Scary

I bought a charger (charges 9v, AA and AAA Ni-Cd and Ni-MH) and a bunch of AA batteries for it, to power various things like my digital still camera etc. Well after grabbing my camera to get pics of something important (like a shuttle launch) and having zero power in the batteries, I threw all that junk away. I now buy the Duracell's in bulk for roughly 36 cents each, shipping included.

choppersrule

Mister Scary,

I've checked out the bulk batteries 4 or 5 months ago. It is good deal. I think I'll stay with the rechargables for the helis. But, since you brought up the camera thing, I'll have to order some bulk aa & aaa batteries. I have so many remotes for all the TV's and crap I have. Tiny flash lights and all that good stuff.

You jogged my old memory,

Later,

Dave / Choppersrule

thecheatscalc

little wrenches? wha? never used those... never needed em either. (the 36 is nearly identical to the 60, minus the 120 degree swash)

what're you having trouble doing?

choppersrule

thecheatscalc,

I need a tiny little wrench for my Falcon, need it to change the blades. Not all helis are created equal. And the hex wrench for my Blade CP doesn't fit the Falcon. Darn, more tiny tools.

Dave / Choppersrule[8D]

Mister_Scary

I had to loosen a part to get to a screw I dropped. When I turned the bolt with the screwdriver, the nut on the other side started spinning. This is where wrenches come in handy. I had to improvise with needle-nose pliers. I just want the right tools for working on my 60 and eventally my T-rex 450SE.[8D]

choppersrule

Mister Scary,

Using the right tool for the right job makes tear down and rebuild so much more easier.

It doesn't take alot of cash. I've got a good set of jewelers screw drivers both flat blade and phillips head.
Two hex head drivers and 4 combo open end/box end wrenches. I buy tools as I need them.

Just get things as you need them, go for the better quality, you won't be sorry.

Some of the tools only your LHS will have, most of them can be purchased at the hardware stores.

Improvising makes it frustrating..

Dave / Choppersrule

Mister_Scary

Ahaaaa!!!![X(]

And what sizes would those wrenches happen to be?