Stratues wear/problem ?

[Tanen]

Hi,

I'm interested to buy a stratus, but i would like ot know if any stratus users have notice a premature wear of drive coupling dampers ?

If you nitce any problem about the stratus, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Alex.

[TerryBelanger]

No problems.......

Less you call too much fun a problem!!

[Jerry]

Alex,

Miniature released a more durable and longer lasting clutch dampener last year. This dampener is used exclusively in the Stratus and has never shown signs of premature wear.

The drivetrain on the stratus is more 'dynamic' than the Extreme / Tempest / Expert series. Even with this characteristic the rubbers will be 'like new' for a long long time.

Jerry

[megotroulette]

the closer you can get the fan hub onto the top clutch part(where the prongs go into the dampners.... yeah the closer you can get it(less gap between it) is better, as the dampners last longer..

nothing wrong with the stratus... just needs to be setup right :glasses:

Cheers,(goodluck)

[Jerry]

Matty - that was true with the Extreme / Tempest / Expert series WITH OLDER FAN RUBBERS.

The newer rubbers do not require a tight gap for longevity. Setting your gap tight on an Extreme / Tempest / Expert is not bad, as the drivetrain is not dynamic. In other words - it won't hurt anything.

Setting the gap initially tight on a Stratus is not beneficial. Because the drivetrain is now dynamic, it is possible under certain conditions to bang the surfaces together due to flight loads as a result of too tight a gap.

This can produce some noise and with certain equipment / receiver combinations, cause glitches and lockouts.

Use the advised gap to start with. Do not shim your stratus engine higher in order to reduce the gap.

Jerry

[Rada70]

HD dampners. No problems here

[EricLarson]

No reports of wear on the Stratus. Assemble per the manual and fly :)

[Rodney]

Jerry. Please explain Dynamic. Other than the clutch size, and harder drive dampeners, what has changed about the drivetrain?

[EricLarson]

To lighten the airframe a design approach was taken that is the same as full size aircraft. Basically design it to fly, not to be inflexible on the bench. The top frame set including the clutch driver moves independently of the bottom motor assembly. This is allowed by use of the correct clutch dampeners and the uni-ball clutch setup. That design also makes engine alignment and or any issues in there less critical. The clutch gap is set by the factory to allow for some movement in the gap area during flight, which is the way it was designed to work. The Stratus was designed a bit out of the box as that is the way Tim thinks. To loose weight and also make the model fly better, new approaches needed to be taken. A lot of people where a bit leery of the new clutch setup and movement, but after a year on the machines I am very happy with how it worked out.

Hope that explains it fairly well.

[Jerry]

I was a bit nervous about the dynamic approach in the beginning. However, after almost a year with the airframe, I can tell you that it works. The uniball system works as originally designed with the harder rubbers.

Many bench fliers have brought up the flexibility of the airframe. Bottom line is that in flight the airframe works extremely well - and the drivetrain longevity is there. Hard to argue with success, unless you fly from the benchtop.

Zero wear after hundreds of flights, even while flexing. Those same rubbers in the rigid airframe should last forever provided you havent completely missed the alignment by .010" or more by forgetting a shim. In that case, you're probably more likely to burn out the driver bearing and delrin ball than wreck the rubbers.

Jerry

[EricLarson]

I agree Jerry. Only thing that seems to wear some is the delrin ball which makes sense. I replaced mine at about 300 flights just for preventative maintenance. Dampeners look near new.

[Sprocket]

Ok I have noticed I dont have a gap between my fan and clutch. No daylight inbetween. I assembled the heli per instructions but there isnt a gap. Any ideas what I may have done wrong? I'm using the OS .91 SX-H C-Spec w/Pump. Thanks for the help

[Jerry]

Well...lets rule the simple stuff out first.

Was this a full kit or a conversion?

Do you have the OS version of the Stratus? Do the plates read "OS?"

With the pumped Cspec - do NOT use the 126-25 adapter plate. If you do, this will cause this issue.

Also - only use the OS supplied engine washer under your fan.

There are other issues that may arise if you converted your driver bearing block yourself, and put something in wrong. I've seen this as a cause also.

I'll wait to see your response before we go in that direction.

Jerry

[megotroulette]

with the brass cone thing that goes in the top of the fan also make sure its in the right way... i got caught with it the wrong way :lol:

Cheers,

[Sprocket]

Ahh yep I put in the plate between the pump and the engine block.. So that is the culprit I guess, right? lol
Thanks

[Jerry]

Yeah, the plate is only needed with the non-pumped OS. The thickness of that plate is identical to the thickness of the silver pump heat sink on the engine. Once you get rid of that plate, you should have no issues.

Jerry

[Tanen]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all your reply, i really appreciate !

I've been so disapointed by Fury, that i need agains ome time before buy the Stratus, but all your comment are encouraging me to buy one in the next week :)

Thanks again.

Alex.

[HeliExtreme]

So if you use the SZ-H engine non-pumped, you need to use the adapter plate 126-25, right?

[DavidH]

This thread is over a year old.

The engine plate for the Stratus when using the SZ engine is
126-32

http://www.miniatureaircraftusa.com/Store/proddetail.asp?prod=126%2D32

That plate is the for both versions of the SZ engine. The pump mounts on the bottom side of the plate.

David

[HeliExtreme]

Sorry, never noticed the date. :( At any rate, thanks for the response. I mounted the engine last night and it worked just fine with a minimal gap between the clutch driver and fan without the adapter plate.

[DavidH]

Just so you know. It may have mounted fine without the proper plate and have a minimal gap.
When you run the engine and fly the model. Check the gap, because it will change some once the engine is ran.

If you notice in the link I posted above. 126-32 has about .020 milled from the carbon for the SZ to sit on. So with the plate you used I am think the gap is basically going to be smaller after the engine is ran.

David

[HeliExtreme]

I have that exact same plate that you showed, although, it doesn't have any engraving on it that says "OS". I mounted my SZ engine on it without the adapter plate.

[DavidH]

Ok as long as the plate you have looks like the picture your fine.

David