Blade 400

[havasufred]

I purchased the Blade 400 in January from Hobby Zone, after charging the battery, I connected it to the helicopter the helicopter started smoking, something was burning. I disconnected the battery, and emailed Hobby Zone, they told me to call tech support at Horizon wich I did. After sending the Blade to Horizon and waiting a total of 4 weeks, they sent me a new Blade (great). Today I took the new blade to our community gym.
I had charged up the battery and connected to the Blade, no smoking this time, I had to reverse the Rudd as this was incorrect. Next I was ready to fly, up went the throttle, blades start to rotate, more throttle blades spinning faster, and faster......thats all that happened, it wont take off, the blades are spinning in the right direction, everything looks good.
I have a Lama coaxial, and a Honeybee, both have the cheap tx, not like the DX6I.
What could be wrong is there some setup that I should be doing with the DX6i, this heli could not have been tested and flown at the factory, I am begining to wish I had not purchased it. If anyone could help me to setup the DX6i or give me some tips I'd be gratefull.
Regards Fred

[int2str]

Fred,

Congratulations to your new heli! The Blade 400 is a very nice bird and you'll enjoy it a lot. I'd love flying mine in a gym someday! :D

The Blade is in a very different class than your other heli's however. The first thing you'll need to get it in the air is.... patience!

This kind of CCPM heli is not just a "but batteries in and fly" kind of model. Please spend some time learning about setting up a helicopter and programming your remote. Then go over the head setup on your 400 and program the DX6i accordingly. If you have it all setup on the bench, I bet you a lot of $$$ it will take off and hover like a champ.

Don't try to find a quick fix. Instead, watch the Finless T-Rex 450 videos on this site. Especially the CCPM setup ones and the tail servo setup ones. Once you've seen the videos, get familiar with the pitch, throttle, gyro and swash settings on the DX6i and try to setup your head like Finless does in the CCPM videos.

Once you're happy with the setup, go fly!

Enjoy your new heli and the hobby around it :D

[havasufred]

I just noticed that the Tx says Blade 400 ACRO, I have just changed it to Heli, I dont know why i did not see that before. I can not test it until tommorrow, but do you think that was it.
Regards Fred

[int2str]

Fred, don't fly it now!

Once you swtich from ACRO to HELI, *ALL* other settings get reset. You'll have to re-program all the settings first now and make sure on the bench that all is setup correctly.

[havasufred]

Ok I will do, I will spend time doing it tommorrow.

[DavidH]

This kind of CCPM heli is not just a "but batteries in and fly" kind of model.

From what I have witnessed. The Blade 400 is just take out of the box. Put the batteries in the transmitter. Charge the battery for the heli and fly it,

http://www.ronlund.com/blade_400.htm

When we was at Ron's event. I saw a customer, take a new Blade 400 out of the box. Put a charged battery in it and fly it. He was flying it in about 10 mins after he took it out of the box.

David

[int2str]

David,

That MAY work or may not... Mine crashed right out of the box. I wish I had taken the time to set it up properly first before I took to the skies. I did it "the right way" with my T-Rex, and have been much happier that I invested the time before hand.

The Blade is supposedly setup from the factory, but if that's the case, the person who setup mine must have been drunk on the job :D

Do it right = crash less!

[havasufred]

I reset all the settings, and the Blade is working fine now, I have no idea why the Tx was set for acro it came that way, that threw me for a loop, I am glad all is well thanks for your comments.
Regards Fred

[samufish]

Where did you find the settings, how did you know what settings to use. surely not just resetting and fly. Mine will not take off either. May be a pitch error.

[widower]

There are other threads that include all the default radio settings for the b400. A search should produce the threads.

[Pinecone]

Go to the Finless Tech Room section, look for the thread on Basic Skills and Setup 101. Post #1 has a list of vidoes that will teach you how to set it up.

Since each heli is slightly different, using someone else's setting will not be optimum.

[HeliMix]

I am going to order a 110v power supply for the default charger from Horizon (they are out of stock right now). But until I do, I want to make sure I know how I can safely and accurately charge my B400 batteries.

Can I can hook up the charger to my truck battery? Then charge the battery for 1 - 1.5 hours and watch for the correct lights? Will this work correctly?

When they first came out, I heard a ton of horror stories about Lipo batteries and I do not want to start of wrong and blow anything up or ruin my batteries.

[h60]

Can I can hook up the charger to my truck battery? Then charge the battery for 1 - 1.5 hours and watch for the correct lights? Will this work correctly?

Yes, You can charge the Li-po off your car battery with the included charger.

[HeliMix]

Yes, You can charge the Li-po off your car battery with the included charger.

Since I posted my question, I have found some other info on batteries. It says that Lipos come with a small charge, and it is advisable that I do not charge a new battery right away but rather run it a little bit (not too long to where the is completely drained), and then charge it completely. This is correct for the B400?

A complete charge from what I am reading is roughly 1.5 hours?

The default charger the B400 comes with, does it shut off (may stay powered but quits delivering juice to the battery) automatically when the battery is charged? So if I miss the second the lights change to charge, the battery is still safe plugged in the charger for a little bit?

[h60]

the B400 manual says the battery it comes with has a partial charge on it, and you should charge it fully before using it. It should take about 40-50 min.
The balance charger it comes with does shut off when you reach full charge on the Li-po Battery. just clip the alligator clips on your car battery terminals and plug in your battery. the charger wil have 1 red LED and 3 green LED's while charging, and a fan runs. When all the LED's are solid red and the fan stops, it's done. I plug my battery in and check it every half hour up to 1.5 hrs and then every 5 min if it hasn't finished. My Vampower 2200 mah 25C Batt takes about 1 hour to charge, but the stock E-flight batt takes 1.5 + or - a few min. The Vampower gives me about 3-4 more min of hover time too.

Alot of the danger's involved in charging LI-po's are over charging/ discharging and charging damaged cells. If (when) you have a crash, disconnect the battery immediately, and make sure you don't have any physical damage to the battery before you charge it.

[HeliMix]

the B400 manual says the battery it comes with has a partial charge on it, and you should charge it fully before using it.

So you know, I have read the manual and I lean towards believing what E-Flite says about the batteries and charging them since they make it all, but I have read otherwise in regard to new lipo's at the following link (http://www.bladebusters.com/batteryguide.php) and else where. This is what makes believing what you read difficult.

Since I have two batteries, I suppose I will start with only one for now and follow the manual with my first charge.

Thanks for the detailed info h60.

[eugenefelisco]

Yes, You can charge the Li-po off your car battery with the included charger.

Can I suggest you use a ATA power supply from an old pc computer. With its 8amp clean power I can hook up 2 chargers side by side and charge. Yes my stock e-flite and my triton1 at the same small wire I pulled out the ATA power supply. Best bet is to search google"how to use ATA power supply to 12v applications". I'm sure you won't spend much doing this, most maybe 10bucks considering you get the power supply free.

Eugene

[HeliMix]

Can I suggest you use a ATA power supply from an old pc computer.

I have read some of the articles on doing so already. But with the
E-Flite power pack only $20 +/-, the peace of mind of knowing it was done right etc... I do not want to let the smoke out. If I do, it won't work any more. LOL

...considering you get the power supply free

Where can I find free PC power supplies?

[eugenefelisco]

I havve read some of the articles on doing so already. But with the
E-Flite power pack only $20 +/-, the peace of mind of knowing it was done right etc... I do not want to let the smoke out. If I do, it won't work any more. LOL



Where can I find free PC power supplies?

Good question. Do you have friends that want to discard a old computer? Take out the power supply. Or go to a recycling plant near you and harvest a power supply. I got mine from the school I'm workin in, these will go to auction so I pulled out one for my power supply