I've got a power/heat problem...

[HeliMix]

Since my crash/repair, I have a problem with the heli after it has been running a bit. While flying, the power drops and then it comes down to the ground gently. The ESC is rather warm. The only things I had to reapir were, the flybar (did not have to do anything major to repair), tail boom (did not take apart the chassis. Just took off the tail rotor etc, easy fix). Feathering shaft (watched vids on the repair and it all seemed to go as it should). Landing gear (not a factor) and stabilizer wing (not a factor). The only thing I thought it could have been was the belt tension. I tried loosening it, I tried tightening it, same thing battery after battery. Gets hot, power drops, heli drops. There seems to be no binding. I can turn main rotor easily with one finger and then the tail rotor turns, smooth as silk. No servos are hitting anything, it all looks good.

What is my next diagnostic step? Any ideas?

[SeaComms]

The only thing I can think off first up would be belt tension as well. Mine is pretty loose, basically hold the main gears tight and try to turn the tail, keep loosening it off til you can get the belt to skip with only light pressure then bring it back tighter a fraction. You only want it to just not skip, but test regularly in case you get a little wear or stretch.

[LockMD]

I do the exact opposite but still should have the same effect. I hold the tail while trying to spin the main.

Eventually you will need an external BEC - summer is comming. You are still on stock servos, yes? if so, that is not the prob. if you did upgrade your servos than that is it the internal bec cant handle the voltage/amp draw of upgraded true digital servos.

[HeliMix]

Stock everything still. And now I have a battery even that has a bad cell. And I have treated them TLC. :(

[LockMD]

Stock everything still. And now I have a battery even that has a bad cell. And I have treated them TLC. :(


Sorry to hear of your troubles......not sure what to say. I treat my batts like red-head step children and have no problems YET

guess that didnt help ya. Will need more info to help trouble shoot.

[HeliMix]

It happens in one of my videos I think. I will have to find an instance and show you if I can. It is just flying away, then the power drops, I hear it in the heli, but not like a low battery, like a safety feature, maybe the LVC? You have no choice really but to land. Sit a sec, power up, it is fine. May do it two to three times in a 8 min batt. As I said before, played with belt tension in and out, serviced the heli (lub'ed it),oil it. Nothing seems to be binding, dragging, hitting, striking. Reading the manual again, I wonder if my crash jolted it in a bad way. I hit the legs of a Webber grill. You can see in the video, I'm not hauling total butt, so I didn't think it would have hit hard enough to mess with the ESC, but maybe so.The blades are barely damaged. Enough I had to replace them. I have taken the tail works off twice since the repair to make sure the belt was not twisted too much etc... It is driving me crazy. :dontknow

[HeliMix]

Eventually you will need an external BEC
Recommendations?

[sparx-]

Have you check the all your bearings? Main Shaft, Tail and Motor. If they are "knotchy", then that could be the problem. Friction is a funny thing. The faster something spins the more friction is creates. So if one of your bearing is "knotchy", it might spin smoothly by hand, but once it is up to speed it could be creating alot of drag/friction on the drive train. Motors bearings are where I would start.

SPaRX

[HeliMix]

Have you check the all your bearings?
I did check the tail bearings, none of the others. But I was thinking about them since I am running out of possibilities. There was no real damage to any parts around bearings, so I didn't think they would be affected unless struck. May have to tear into it again and see.

[LockMD]

Recommendations?


I'm using a SportBEC running at 6V but if you didnt upgrade this is not your solution.

Sucks, but I would go with Sparx's route.....sounds like it would be hard to pinpoint, only way is to replace it all I guess

[Wolfpackin]

Check for binding ball links if you haven't already.

[XKALBR]

Gday guys,
I have the same problem I've tryed a new ESC but its still the same, I'm going to try uping my throttle curve to 0-40-65-80-100, some one said if you don't run at high head speed the ESC will over heat and that sounds like what is happening to me.

All the best from down under.
Allen

[HeliMix]

Gday guys,
I have the same problem I've tryed a new ESC but its still the same, I'm going to try uping my throttle curve to 0-40-65-80-100, some one said if you don't run at high head speed the ESC will over heat and that sounds like what is happening to me.

All the best from down under.
Allen

I just tweaked my throttle curve too. Will be interesting if this helps. I also changed the position of the ball on my tail servo per the recommendation of skigolfmike (skigolfmike's post (http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=66644)). I'll let you know how mine goes and you do ths same. ;)

[MaxKool]

Hey sparx, I had my belt to tight after I had the tail apart. U guys should remeber the post. Basicly the same as this one, I loosened the belt and now it flys great. My question is this.

If I hold the gears and try to turn the tail it dosnt skip until I put decent pressure to it. Then I can hear it skip. So should It be tighter than that? It flys like a champ now, Im thinking I might be at the threashold of perfect, but mabye not...

[HeliMix]

Well, my problem is solved. Just had a GREAT hover next door. Man, more room really makes flying easier. :YeaBaby:

Ends up, the tail rotor shaft was SLIGHTLY bent. I could not really see it. Flying, I heard something coming from the rear that I had not heard before. Kept driving me crazy. So this afternoon, I set it up on the table, took a dental tool, set it up in a vice so it would not move, and SLOWLY rotated the main blade, which turned the rear rotor and then it happened. I had the dental tool VERY close to the shaft out towards the blades where any bend would be extreme. As I turned it, the tool touched the shaft. I had to do it quite a few times to trust what I was seeing. So I went to the LHS, got the shaft plus a few other tail parts in case I needed them. Put in only the shaft and she flew like the first day I took it out. One happy camper right here! :banana

Goes to show, the SLIGHTEST drag along the system can cause the ESC to heat up and shut down.

Tonight, I even flew a clockwise circle. Man I am stoked. Need to go buy a couple more USB cables so I can drag the web cam next door. :lol: Starting to eye ball video cameras. My only problem if I had one would be, I have no camera man. [looks in the floor at his dogs. Hum... Wonder if I could duct tape it to thier head] :rolling

[HeliMix]

ROFLOL And after making the above happy post, I went outside with my second battery... AND CRAHSED IT! :rolling

Got the blades and all three front servos! Geezzz

Ok, what do I do? Get gears or replacement stock servos? Or, do I upgrade to something else?

[LockMD]

ROFLOL And after making the above happy post, I went outside with my second battery... AND CRAHSED IT! :rolling

Got the blades and all three front servos! Geezzz

Ok, what do I do? Get gears or replacement stock servos? Or, do I upgrade to something else?


Sounds like someone got cocky and got bit :)

I would UPGRADE, just my nickle

[HeliMix]

So happy I did a clockwise circle. tried it with the next battery. It had gotten darker, and when I came to one point of the circle, I could not see it clearly. As it came back into view, realized it had more left roll than I wanted. I brought it down, but didn't get it leveled off enough. The training gear compressed and the rotor struck the patio. Do not see any other problems.

Is there anything good that bolts in? Sounds like metal is the way to go.