Tail Motor Upgrade??

[rtmiller]

Does anyone know of a upgrade for the tail motor?? Or Will I just have to keep a couple of them on hand at all times??


Thanks

[zooland1]

Does anyone know of a upgrade for the tail motor?? Or Will I just have to keep a couple of them on hand at all times??


Thanks
I am using the E50 motor from GWS. I have been flying with the same motor for about four months. I have it set up direct drive. I've heard of people also using it with the gear, but never tried it myself. You will have to slightly modify the housing to use this motor with the stock configuration. There is a full write up on the whole GWS setup at bladecprepair.com if you want to go that route.

[Gary JP4]

I did it and like it. I am on my second motor though. I think it lasts longer then stock though. I did the GWS tail and motor mount as well. I also like super skids. Kind of like T-Rex gear. Much stronger.

[zooland1]

I did it and like it. I am on my second motor though. I think it lasts longer then stock though. I did the GWS tail and motor mount as well. I also like super skids. Kind of like T-Rex gear. Much stronger.
Did you break in the motors first? I do a water break-in with a rechargable AA until it doesn't turn the water black. As I noted earlier, I am still using my first E50 after four months. I also don't fly very agressively so that I know that makes a huge difference. It's just hard for me to believe how many motors most guys go through. This is my third bird with tail motors and I've only replaced one motor in 1 1/2 years. It was the original cheapy from my Picollo Fun. That's why I went to the E50 right off with the Blade.

[Rick Rotorhead]

Problem is they just get so damn hot. Both motors on my bird are un-holdable after 5-10 mins hovering about in warm weather, so I conciousley land for cooling time. Maybe I should get those fancy blue heat sinks, but how effective are they, I mean they don't cover the full length of the motor cans and metallic blue is a poor colour for dumping heat (should be matt black). The stock tail motor is a sealed unit and desperately needs cooling vents. Anyone actually use those heat sinks and could tell us if they really work and extend motor life? Or just good for 'bling' factor?

[zooland1]

I use two of the small sinks on mine, one at each end. GWS also sells a much longer one, which I have on my Pico. But still blue :)

[schmleff]

Problem is they just get so damn hot. Both motors on my bird are un-holdable after 5-10 mins hovering about in warm weather, so I conciousley land for cooling time. Maybe I should get those fancy blue heat sinks, but how effective are they, I mean they don't cover the full length of the motor cans and metallic blue is a poor colour for dumping heat (should be matt black). The stock tail motor is a sealed unit and desperately needs cooling vents. Anyone actually use those heat sinks and could tell us if they really work and extend motor life? Or just good for 'bling' factor?

actually blue (or almost any other color than silver or white) is the same as black in emissivity.

I have say 40 flights on mine with lipos and no problem with either motor.

[cbdane]

Maybe I should get those fancy blue heat sinks, but how effective are they, I mean they don't cover the full length of the motor cans and metallic blue is a poor colour for dumping heat (should be matt black). The stock tail motor is a sealed unit and desperately needs cooling vents. Anyone actually use those heat sinks and could tell us if they really work and extend motor life? Or just good for 'bling' factor?

The heat sinks definitely work in my experience. The color doesn't matter since they don't rely on the emissivity of the material. They work by conductive cooling through the aluminum and into the air and then convection to carry heat away from the fins. This is a completely different physical mechanism than radiative cooling which, as you suggest, would depend on the emissivity (color, etc.) of the material.

[Skiddz]

if you can turn the TR mount over and reverse the polarity to the TR motor, you can run a tractor setup and have the tailrotor blow air over the heatsink and it'll help keep it cool.

[Gary JP4]

I run the tractor set up, GWS heat sink with thermal past, and the GWS mount with vertical fin. I run two sinks on the main motor. I too have had other models with the GWS tail motor. Two DF4's running 2s lipos. The one I curently have in a DF4 runs cool. They last longer with 2s I think but I have only had two on the HB2 CP. I do brake in motors. I have tried water break in and dry and then clean out the armiture after break in. I have had main and tail motors that ran hot and others that didn't. I am currently trying a 4530 blade cut down about 3/8 inch.

[zooland1]

I use the 3020 push-on. I bought the 4530 and an adapter,but the 3020 works so well I never installed the other one. Still in the box with other stuff I thought I couldn't live without. I'll eventually build a BL motor for some small plane and use it on that.

[Rick Rotorhead]

Ok I'm convinced. I've ordered main and tail motor heat sinks. Since I have to hold a little left tail stick in addition to full left trim I conclude the tail rotor is too effective (fiddling with the 4 in 1 screws hasn't helped) so I was considering cutting down the tail rotor by 1/2 inch off its diameter - this would also benefit the loading on the tail motor. What do you all think about tail fins? Do they help stability significantly and if I try to fly her backwards will she track straight or weather cock round. Appreciate some input on this before I risk it!!!!!

[Gary JP4]

You should be able to adjust the proportional to bring the trim into center. Mine worked with the stock set up and GW DD tail. Have you turned the proportional all the way (or at least further) each direction to see what it does? Still, I think you are right, the tail is more effective than necessary but you should be able to adjust it.

I have the fins that came with the super skids http://www.helidirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=30_65&products_id=846. The fins don't do that much except maybe at the highest speeds. The gyro works well enough to hold it for me, other than during power changes and the fact that the trim requirements change constantly as the motor gets hot and battery runs down. In other words it holds pretty well in a constant state. At mid speeds (fast forward for me, for indoors, inside a large hangar) it will hold reasonably well in reverse and side ways flight. The vertical fin does protect the tail rotor from strikes. The one that comes with the super skids works better than the stock post. I replaced it with the GWS DD tail mount fin. It is so soft that I occasionally have a tail strike. Both look better than the stock graphite post.

Edit: To sum it up the tail doesn't hold very well, you have to fly it all the time.