cc85hv. i'm about fed up with my hurricane, and helis in general.

[istandalone]

ok, so this has nothing to do with the other issues i've had with this bird, such as the tail wag and the almost impossible to attain cg with any pack bigger then a 2200...just for starters. so i installed my cc85hv and tested it tonight, running on 6 cell lipo for starters. i spool it up, and the first thing i notice is how lovely the soft start is- almost too soft and quieter then i've ever heard it. then it seemed to bog down hard (mind you i'm only just spooling up, not even light on the skids) and, what happens? smoke pours from my brand spankin new z20a 980kv. so now i've got to figure out which is the culprit. was my motor a dud (only like 8 flights on it, but acted fine with my phoenix 60)? or is the 85hv crap right out of the box? i can install my rcp 1100kv, but if it's the esc that's bad i'll smoke that motor too, just testing it. the z20 fried itself in less then 5 seconds. if it's the esc that's bad, i doubt tower hobbies will take a return after i've soldered connectors on it. how is castle creations customer service? :arggg::arggg::arggg:

[wren1702]

Castle Creations customer service is top notch. Give them a call and they'll walk trough everything with you and help you narrow down the problem.

[istandalone]

cool. i'll do that. just for the hell of it, i pulled the z20 off of the heli and pulled the can off of the rotor/stator. absolutely nothing is burnt, as least nothing visible. of course, that doesn't help my diagnosis at all, but it's just kinda funny that it happened on the first spool up of the 85hv and everything was aces before.
one question, would running a high voltage esc like the 85hv on only 6 cells cause issues? i wouldn't think so, i'd think quite the opposite to be true. that it would run cooler and more efficient.

[Vinger]

Castle Creations customer service is top notch. Give them a call and they'll walk trough everything with you and help you narrow down the problem.
Beg to differ, got an automated reply on my email query regarding the gov mode on the 85HV, stating that they are busy but my query will be answered in 24 to 48Hrs, that was 2 weeks ago. 4 More emails same response. They suck.

[istandalone]

my big worry is that it's the esc that's the problem. if it's the motor, oh well. $90 down the tubes. if it's the esc, and castle's tech dept's test doesn't show a problem i'm going to get it back and it's going to burn up another motor.

[worldofmaya]

Oh man... you've no luck! Things like that are always hard to decide. I would sent it to the customer service and let them check the ESC. Don't know about Castle Creation, but with Kontronik this was never a problem!
-klaus

[wren1702]

Beg to differ, got an automated reply on my email query regarding the gov mode on the 85HV, stating that they are busy but my query will be answered in 24 to 48Hrs, that was 2 weeks ago. 4 More emails same response. They suck.

Re-Read what I typed....give them a CALL. E-mail for stuff like this sucks.

[skigolfmike]

I had a Phoenix 35 that was DOA. I called Castle Creations, explained the situation and they were very helpful. They sent me a new ESC with a mailer to send the old one back. I've called them several times about setup questions and they have always taken the time to talk to me. Some times it took several calls to get through though.

So far, my HV85 works fine. It took a few tries figuring out how to set the softstart set so it didn't spinout the heli on spool-up. Mine has been trouble free so far. I haven't tried governor mode yet though. I know from experience from setting it up on my B400 it takes some experimentation to get this right.

The biggest problem I am having so far is that I only have one battery pack. As soon as I start to make progress on setup, I have to charge the batts. I've had a few issues with the gyro G770 3D. In HH mode I get a slow left rotation. In rate mode, I'm mechanically trimmed perfectly. It's hands off. When I switch back to HH mode the slow left piro comes back. It's like it doesn't know where neutral is or can't remember it. Last night I was hovering under the lights in a parking lot trying to figure it out. 2 clicks of right trim fixed it, but, according to the manual, that isn't supposed to happen.

[Vinger]

Re-Read what I typed....give them a CALL. E-mail for stuff like this sucks.
I am in South Africa, calling their customer support is a lenghty and expensive exercise, they did promise to answer me, but alas NOTHING NADA, not a squeak!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wren1702]

Whoops, didn't notice your location.......

[istandalone]

well i believe it's the motor anyway. i got bored today, and put in my RCP motor. runs like a raped ape. so i think now that the motor was going to go anyway, no matter what esc it was hooked up to. i've said from the second this motor was new that something didn't feel right about it. too tight, but i chalked it up to the magnets being strong. i even started a thread about it, and someone here has had a similar complaint. so i've emailed helidirect and we'll see what they say. hell, the motor is less then a month old with only a few flights on it- and babying it at that.

[xodarap1]

Istandalone, I have 2 of the Z20 980's and one is blue and one is red. Both seem to perform well but..out of curiosity, what color is your Z20 that smoked?

Steve

[istandalone]

blue. i emailed helidirect and this is their responce:


Hi Mike,

Please provide me with your order number, we can have you send it back to get a replacement.

best regards,


Vu
Technical Support
Jimmy@HeliDirect.com
HeliDirect.com


that's pretty freakin sweet! for all they know i could have beaten the shit out of it. helidirect is on my a list now for sure.

[skigolfmike]

Good for them!:thumbup: (and you too!)

[istandalone]

oh, the one that cooked itself was blue.

[xodarap1]

oh, the one that cooked itself was blue.

OK. Thanks!

[istandalone]

and i just ordered a custom heli carbon fiber frame set from readyheli!!! i figured screw it. i'm getting sick of cg balancing this thing with 8 cell a123 and what not, way way nose heavy especially with this huge cc85hv. no more!!!!!!!!! this will be the last upgrade i do to this thing. next up: some sort of nitro bird. i'm thinking raptor 60 but the 90 is calling my name. http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45060&stc=1&d=1208095084


off topic, who makes all the smiley emoticons? we need a smiley that shows mr smile hitting a crack pipe. that's how i feel right now. i'll be jonesing until that package from readyheli hits my doorstep on wednesday.

[mysticmead]

here ya go... now just get an admin to add it to the site.

[FlyawayClyde]

That smiley is cute as heck

[istandalone]

that's awesome! i'm not in any way advocating the use of hard drugs, but soooo many people compair this hobby to that of a crack addiction.... that smiley is great!

[ps61785]

The biggest problem I am having so far is that I only have one battery pack. As soon as I start to make progress on setup, I have to charge the batts. I've had a few issues with the gyro G770 3D. In HH mode I get a slow left rotation. In rate mode, I'm mechanically trimmed perfectly. It's hands off. When I switch back to HH mode the slow left piro comes back. It's like it doesn't know where neutral is or can't remember it. Last night I was hovering under the lights in a parking lot trying to figure it out. 2 clicks of right trim fixed it, but, according to the manual, that isn't supposed to happen.

I get the same type of problem with my 401...in another thread about this someone has suggested that if you have any subtrim in to get the link centered witha DX7 system that the two systems are trying to initialize at the same time and then the Gyro will take the subtrim in as rudder input...which would make sense for me anyway as i have 10 points of left subtrim in on my rudder. I will try to correct the subtrim issue and set it mechanically and see if this works. Someone else says that you can reset the zero on the 401 by switching from HH to rate mode rapidly three times. I will also try this to see if this works...


anyone else have any ideas...

[ps61785]

so i tried both things and neither worked...anyone please help...

[worldofmaya]

The best way of setting up a 401 is by setting everything for Normal mode and than just switch to HH... Anyway, any kind of rudder input will be used by th 401 as rudder signal and it will react. So trim / subtrim or anything else is a no-go...
If you power-up your heli your 401 has to initialize in HH mode.Than switch to Normal. Power up your motor until your heli get's light short before hover... if it rotates away shut-down and change your rudder mechanically. Do this until your 401 doesn't rotate away even when hovering... than try once more in HH mode and everything should be fine...
It's true... set your mode to Normal, center your rudder stick and switch 3 times between HH and Normal and your 401 will save the rudder position as center position for HH.
Try to set the limit on your 401 between 100 and 110... if it's too much or less than use a inner or other position on your servo! That's pretty much everything about 401 setup! If you just use HH mode, it should be enough to set the servo horn to 90° and your tail blades to 0° and everything should be fine... set your sensitivity and have fun!
-klaus