Forever Static Freeeeee!!!!!!!!!

[torkboy]

First off

I want to thank all the people that have been researching, and proving that static is alive, and affecting our bird. They went over the top to help all us fellow freaks out, and helped provide solutions that litraley ANYONE can do. Fireup, ChasHeliCop, and everyone else, you are what make this hobby what it is, as well as Helifreak its self. :thumbup:

Now, here is how I fixed mine, after following fireups metal tail case fix.

1. Slip the metal tail case over the boom, and mark to the point where it stops.
2. Remove the tail case, and sand all around the boom, lightly to take the anodizing off, and you see the aluminum.
3. Install the tailcase back on, and using the popular voltage checking pens, check to see if you have the static now.
4.Should be forever free :)

We marked the case so you wouldnt sand out too far and not have bare aluminum showing on your bird;)

What I did to prove to myself that I had static in the first place was install everything in "working order" after my crash(using the same Frayed belt and all), and grabbed the pen, and sure enough, light up like a christmas tree. *Note tail blades were attached*

Then today I did the above, and it worked out, and again I tested the same way I had last night, tail blades and all, but with the sanding mod, and I got NOTHING on the pen.

If you can build a 500, you can fix the static issue by yourself, if you have the initiative, tools, and patience to fix it.

***Side Note***
You can also do this with the stock plastic tail case by attaching a wire between the tail bearing, and the tail boom. Of course you need two bare ends on the wire, nothing a pair of scissors wont fix, or strippers.

Happy Flying Guys!

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39976&d=1203952667

[helis101]

Jason so you didnt ground the front boom to the frame mod?

[ChasHeliCop]

Well, that's my next move, waiting on parts to get here tomorrow. Metail tail, metal bearing blocks and heck I went ahead and got the arms for the head while they were available. Glad to hear that's working Jason, fly it a few times and report back.

[torkboy]

Jason so you didnt ground the front boom to the frame mod?

Nope, no front ground mod, or esc ground mod.

[mike04743]

algin should fix there junk .I have tried every thing. still glitch not fun to fly

[Jason Chow]

nice jas...now get those flying videos out !

[I want it]

So I take it that after grounding the tail casing, you are no longer having to spray the belt with anything? A friend is using WD-40 and it seems that the belt is stretching/ becoming more elastic for a lack of better terms. This concerns me. I have a can of silicone spray and used it during assembly, but If I don't have to respray every 5 flights, that would be awesome. :arggg:

Mo

Ooops, hate it when my brother uses my computer and doesn't sign out...LOL

[motowncali]

This way I will receive notification too of responses...LOL
Mo

[torkboy]

I havent lubed/sprayed the belt with anything. Just replaced with new one.

[PTFlyer]

I havent lubed/sprayed the belt with anything. Just replaced with new one.



are the replacement belts made of different material than the ones that come in with the kit?

[ChasHeliCop]

Hey, that belt doesn't say " V2 High Carbon" does it ??? LOL Just kidding ! :banana

[DoctorAudio]

I boiled my main gears and all plastic parts in static rinse stuff. I also dropped the belt in the water!
I let a pot full of water boil for 5 mins , then put a half of cup of static rinse in the hot water.
Placed all the parts in the hot water and let it soak and cool untill room tep was reached.
No static issues.
This way you make the gears runn smoother and does not build up any static.

[psindrup]

Hi Jason

Thank for the update.

Perhaps I slept when you talked about it, but what exact metal tail case did you use?

The ones I remember having seen, still uses the nylon/plastic tail pulley and that, I believe, will not do the trick.

Thinking a little more about this modification, it is so logical that it solves the static buildup in the tail, because it shorts the belt and the tail tube.

Align:
Please include a metal tail case in your future kits, and all your (future) customers will be happy and glitch free. ;)

Thanks a million.

Peter

[Astennu]

Nice that it works. I was thinking about doing the same. That black paint on the boom is isolating it perfectly. I think i'm also gonna ground the boom to the frame just to be on the safe side.

[jurassic5]

Hi torkboy,

Nice job !!!! Waiting for your videos !

That would be great if you could post photos of your work, I mean the little picture how to of the "no glitches" !

As I'm french, It's sometimes a little hard to get into theses tricky explanations :D

Cédric

[torkboy]

psindrup-

Align Metal Tail Case

Here is the pic of the "sanding"

[motowncali]

very good thanks. Did you notice or did I get something mis-aligned. never mounted plastic tail casing, just went right to the metal unit, but the ttention was perfect and I wasn't able to slide the tube in any further. Not too worried, it just made it so that I had to assemble the tail with it unter tention. Hopefully I won't go through all the crashing that other have.....:thumbup:

Mo

[docjoe]

I just came back after doing some anti static mods on my 500. THe last week, apart from the weather, my 500 was grounded due to 2 lockouts I had. One was my fault. I had a faulty ESC solder joint. Flew anyway and crashed. I deserved that one. I had been having some very short brown-outs before though. Then I crashed 2 weekends ago but this was a lock out.

On my rebuild, I bought new side frames (which I lowered the battery tray to allow more room under the canopy), new Align 75A ESC (I thought my ESC might be bad because even though the solder points were fixed, I thought I was getting some brief interruptions of power). I also got the metal tail boom, grounded the tail drive gear and took off some of the black anodizing like Torkboy did.

So I flew 3 solid flights today! It feels good to be back in the air with the 500, my new favorite heli!

Oh, I did put WD 40 on the belt and also dyed my white paddles/tail blades/skids and main gear blue. I'll post pix later.

[Justin911]

ahh I have a good project for tonight.... got the metal case in my hand as I am typing this at work! haha

[BlackTitanium]

algin should fix there junk .I have tried every thing. still glitch not fun to fly

Show us a photo of your build, i.e., electronics placement.
ESC should be mounted under the battery tray.
Receiver mounted on the bottom of the receiver tray or on the rear bottom tray.
Gyro mounted on the tail boom block, to the far edge, or on the receiver tray.

Did you ground the ESC negative wire to the motor mount?
Did you ground the tail boom?
Did you verify electrical connection throughout the heli?
Using an ohm meter, did you get continuity with one probe on the negative dean connector, and the other probe touching any screw on the frame, screw on the motor mount, and bearing on the tail?

See photo for example:

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39201&d=1203375011

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39388&d=1203525922

[DoctorAudio]

I mounted the ESC under the main gear section, because there is far less satic in the front as then in the back of the frame!
Receiver is mounted up front under the Battery tray.
Gyro is under the Helicopter, On the top of where everyone else is placing the REC.

Did you ground the ESC negative wire to the motor mount? Heck no , I boiled all my plastic parts in static free fabric softener! Amasingly it works and also cured the whole problem, Beside having GF frames. I have no static on the tail at all!

Did you ground the tail boom? No because I have no more static issues.
Did you verify electrical connection throughout the heli? NO!
Using an ohm meter, did you get continuity with one probe on the negative dean connector, and the other probe touching any screw on the frame, screw on the motor mount, and bearing on the tail?

When you drive static, to ground and don't filter it. You can induce an AC spike on the ground line. If that ground has no AC spike protection then you could be causing a problem in the long runn you will suffer from. Like the ESC dieing early!

Just something for you to think about!
Elvan Wilson II

[psindrup]

Show us a photo of your build, i.e., electronics placement.
ESC should be mounted under the battery tray.
Receiver mounted on the bottom of the receiver tray or on the rear bottom tray.
Gyro mounted on the tail boom block, to the far edge, or on the receiver tray.


Hi Black T

I have two suggestion for your setup.

First - and most important - I don't think it is a good idea to have your sat-receiver mounted on top of the servo. Too close to other electronics = electric noise/interference.

Secondly, if you turn your ESC upside down, you will be able to have your battery wires pointing downwards, with a much more "smooth" run of the wires. And the Motor to ESC wires runs fine as well. Just make sure they do not hit the pinion.

Good luck

Peter

[warpspeed]

Jason, how's it working out? Have you had a chance to fly since making the mod?
You mention in your first post that you made the "Fireup fix"-I'm assuming you mean grounding the bearing to the boom? If so did you check to see if that eliminated the static? Just curious if the fix was just the ground, just the boom sanding, or a combination of both.

[jurassic5]

Hi,

This is what I did; I didn't check with a voltmeter the continuity but that should be OK :D

http://www.gamani.org/mab/d.JPG

With upgrades :

http://www.gamani.org/mab/e.JPG

http://www.gamani.org/mab/a.JPG


http://www.gamani.org/mab/b.JPG


http://www.gamani.org/mab/c.JPG

[torkboy]

Jason, how's it working out? Have you had a chance to fly since making the mod?
You mention in your first post that you made the "Fireup fix"-I'm assuming you mean grounding the bearing to the boom? If so did you check to see if that eliminated the static? Just curious if the fix was just the ground, just the boom sanding, or a combination of both.

No, I did what Jurassic 5 did. I believe that this solution was #2, but he did go off and did a different mod, as you have stated.

Maybe I should put the pic in my 1st post :P.