BEC on or beside ESC ? edit... hints for newbie?

[Automan]

Hi everyone !!!

Im totally new to heli. I have thought about helis for so many years... the last years have been devoted to big scale cars like fg and mcd.
I finally kicked myself so hard that i went and got myself a starter kit... a simple start with a easy hitec optic6 qpcm and a 550 hurricane.
I have read up on almost all there is... but i have a simple maybe stupid question...... Can someone tell me if i can put my bec on top of my esc or is that a no no ? interference or maybe it gets to hot ? If i cant i just have to find another place for it somewhere, no biggie.

Have seen all those setup video and build videos, man they are great for newbie like myself, just top help there !! finless bob, you have really helped me understand so much in a short time with all your great advices and builds etc :thumbup: and to all in here that have so much knowledge about this and help newbies without sarcastic remarks etc, just love the feeling one get's in here, keep it up :thumbup: :thumbup:

Feel really good to have found a great forum like this with so much information and helpful people. Even if i have read so much and ran so many hours sim, adjusting etc etc.... im still kinda nervous about that first flight :wink:
But in my heart i feel that this is something i can be really good at, feels like this is kinda something i was ment to be or something. Does that just sound stupid, or have anyone else felt this ? as i dont have money for the real deal i do it this way instead :? I think it's just that im really burning for this right :wink:

[Pinecone]

Not on top, and if it is a switching BEC not too near the Rx.

You want to make sure the ESC gets plenty of cooling air, they do get warm.

[Automan]

Just as i thought then, thanks Pinecone.

My bec IS a switching model. So perhaps placing it just under the esc (hanging under) should be no problem, as it probably dont effect the esc, just that it cant be placed on it due to heatproblems if i do.

It said in the manual "do not extend the input cords", but i feel that must be bs cause extending those cords cant have any negative effect at all. If i make them longer i have more places i can put that bec.

[Pinecone]

The problem is you don't want to extend the ESC cables. The distance between the battery and ESC IS important. Too long and you develop inductive surges that can fry your ESC.

[Automan]

Thanks for the head's up.

I did shorten those cables between esc and batteries just after my first posts, and turned out i made them just like bob did in his vids, made the "adaptor" right on the esc instead of being a separate thing between batteries and esc, should work like and it looks much better. Had to make the in-cables to the bec longer, and placed that under the lowest front servo... on the bottom at same level as the rx, but at a very safe distance.

So now all things are checked and checked again feels like i have rechecked them a 1k times :lol: but all are set up very nice, and i think i have a pretty good starting pitch/th-curves.... the tail is center and tuned in. held it on the head and with the batteries on it balanced perfectly, havent used a pitch instrument on it yet (will recieve one today or tomorrow at latest) but i have iballed it all and it seams just fine.

I did screw on the taleblades firm and checked so they where in center, should i do the same with the main blades ? or should i keep both just a littlebit loose ?

One more stupid question: Is it normal for the pitch to change a tiny bit when going from normal to idle1 if they have the same setting pitch (center stick) in the tx.
When i hit idle2 the gyro turns off :oops: shouldn't that turn off at normal ? ((hitec optic6 qpcm) i really feel like i want another radio). I am running at mode 2, before this it was set on mode 1 and i had the gear for turning off gyro, but that mode didnt work at all, so i changed it to mode 2.

I am thinking of using two thin about 4mm aluminum sticks 1meter each (they are very light), as a extra help with landing/takeof in the beginning... or should i skip that and go with stock only ?

Im in the place when i feel that im ready, but quite nervous :?
:wink:

[Pinecone]

Main blades should hold if you tilt the heli sideways, but if you give t a shake, tehy should move. Tail blades can be loose.

No, the pitch should not change. Check that you have inhibited pitch trim or have the levers/knobs centered if you can't turn them off.

[Automan]

Thanks Pinecone, did as you said about the blades. If i have the same ammount of % at middle stick in the radio, there IS a small pitchchange between normal and idle1, but i went ahead and centered the mainrotors at 0 at idl1 50% in radio, then adjusted normal as i wanted that (idle2 is working as idle1 at same radiosettings) btw, there was only a gyrolight of at idle2 because i went under 50% gyro in the radio, i really dont know what lever controls the adjustmentcable for the gyro anymore.... it was gearlever when i was in mode1, but now im in mode2 and cant get a reaction on any :?


I went out saturday evning, had wooden sticks in cross for practise etc... but i had no balls in the ends so it wasnt that helpful :( and i would like to raise my heli more so the tail rotor dont hit the gras or something that easy as it may do now.

I started it up and just allmost hovered.... then a few centimeters from ground felt alivator etc, and that felt pritty well.... almost perfect, have to check it out more later. I felt the rear to be a tad to sensitive but hold perfect.... maybe it's me just have to get used to it :wink: All i did yesterday was get of the ground only a few tiny centimeters. The wind was nice and very calm.. almost non at all, but it got windy in waves so to speak.. with a few minutes calm in between, no biggie.

When i was done yesterday i took of the batteries and one of them had a cell swollen, even if i was well within the timelimit and had fully charged them a couple of days before (new batteries that they said was hiquality cells, from the other place i got my hurricane 550 from) i got a littlbit pissed about that, tried to charge it outside, but after a hour i decided to skip that and trash that pack :( (it was down at 7.6v after i took it of, the other one was at 11,1 or higher) They where connected in serie on my double connector on my esc.... i guess that pack was just made on a monday or something :wink:

Fine adjusted the link to the rear rotor.. one turn and trimmed the servo, so it feels a tiny bit better now, and i shorten the sticks on the radio as i have raised just before... felt to high.
Now i charged my second pair i had last night after the first flight, thought that i was going to fly today, but i ordered the realflight radio with usb connector and will be training on that for a while before i take out my hurricane again for the second try..... but i want so much to take it out right now and have a go at it again, but i guess it's better to get a feeling in that sim before a continue with my real life flights.
A part of me say :FThat and go out and fly, but the master say do the sim first or else :Fan

[kgfly]

Automan you might find RADD's flight school helpful, many have: http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

If a pack puffed on the first flight I would talk to the shop about getting it replaced under warranty. It is always hard for the supplier to know if you abused the pack or not but many will help out with a replacement at a discount if not for free.

Top quality packs are expensive and the H550 can work those small packs fairly hard, although it shouldn't be a problem for decent 20C packs, especially if you are just bunny hopping/hovering.

What charger/balancer do you have ? A high quality charger/balancer setup is really important for safety and to get the best performance and lifetime from your expensive batteries.

As tempting as it is to fly, good idea to get some time on the sim first.

[Automan]

It is 20c-30c high quality lipos if i should listen to the place that sold my hurricane 550 and these packs... im not convinced at all so far.

Im using a Platinum Ex charger, and i think that is a good charger, many say so anyways. Not found a good balancer yet.

kgfly, thanks for the advice, even if i was aware of that place, and it IS a really good place to understand the best way to get into flying with helis... and im folowing his advice as i feel that path to be the best way to go.

I have sent a mail directly after it happen, havent got a reply yet but i sure hope they do change that pack as this is no abuse at all of the pack, i was chocked to say the least. Dont wanna feel lipos to be that oversensitive and crappy, i hope i just had some real bad luck with that pack.

[kgfly]

The Platinum EX is OK but can be tricky to program correctly. Double check that you have the right number of cells programmed for the memory you are using for those packs. If it was me I would sell it and get an integrated balance charger like the eStationBC6 or eStationBC8 instead.

Get a top class balancer right away. There are several very good ones including the FlightPower VBalancer, Hyperion LBA10 or eStation PB6 (amongst others). These are all charge-through balancers. Be sure that they either come with or have adapters for the balance plugs on your packs.

Actually for not much more than the cost of a balancer you can get an FMAdirect CellPro4s. This is a great integrated 3s/4s Lixx balance charger. Smart, safe and fast it is ideal for the size batteries used in an H550. A good idea might be to keep your PlatinumEX and get a CellPro4s as well. That way you can charge two packs at once (halve your charging time) and simply alternate the packs between the two chargers so that each pack gets balanced every second charge. Yup, thinking about your situation that seems a really good idea to me.

[Automan]

What i could find out about my charger is that i cant set number of cells on lipo, just how much to charge and how fast to charge/discharge, that's it. I guess it takes care of the rest.

I will check out other chargers, but what i have been told and heard around is that this charger i have is a very good charger even for lipo, but i guess i could check around and maybe get one with built in balancer or something. That charger you mentioned are no where to be found over here, do you perhaps know a good place not to far from sweden ?

Thank you for your advice and help so far, great :thumbup:


Edit: those lipos i have does not have a sticker on them telling me what brand etc, just a warninglable. So i dont really know what kind of cables to get for that balancer or charger with balancer..... only thing i can see is four cables of different colors, orange, red, bown, black.
Cant get a answer from the store that sold them either :( they only say that those lipos are extremly good high performance etc.
Next time im buying lipos im getting a123 or e-power or something like that, that i know you guys think are good. But for now i sure would like to know what cables to get for these.

Edit 2: Having a platinum ex charger. Should i buy a for example e-station bc-6 charger with built in balancer, or for example a e-station balancer only now and hook up to my platinum ex... then later maybe buy a highend e-station charger to that balancer ??
Any advice on this ?

Last thing..... i was bored, so i decided to try to rescue the two healthy cell's in that destroyed 3cell's pack, to make it a rx battery. Littlebit nervous i cut away the black protected cover... then cut of each side of that swollen cells connectors, very gently. Then i saw that they where attached with strong doublesided you know what, so i thought *crap* it just felt so wrong using a sharp little knife between two lipocells... took it real easy and didnt forget for a second what would happen if i made a misstake, finally i got them apart. Then i cut down the front and rear ic-boards or what they are called, then changed the black cable position and checked them, yeah i had full volts on both. Will cycle them with balancer later this week.
I can NOT recommend anyone to try what i just did, it was extremly stupid and could have ended up real bad. Think of it, a little hole with the knife in one of those cell's and BOOOM i could have been killed or badly burned, house could have burned down. It is not in any way worth the risk.