425 FBL CF TT with BeastX maidened.

ukgroucho · 07-13-2010, 08:04 AM

Well it took me a while but I maidened the 425 FBL at the weekend. A few teething problems, one of which I still need to deal with.

When it was going well it was fantastic... even on pretty much factory settings for the BeastX controller it flies like it is on rails. I initially had a problem getting the tail to behave... that turned out to be a mistake on my part (mechanical issue). I still flew 4 packs on Sunday settting up and playing and it's a blast. Even with the smaller of the two pinions included in the kit (13t or 14t?) it gets a decent HS (2500 - 2600) using the governor on the Gaui ESC.

This is the stock Gaui 1400Kv motor and 60A ESC. I decided not to use the SBEC in the Gaui ESC as I'm running high torque digital servos and don't want to risk overloading the 3 amp unit that is built in. I'm actually very impressed with the power from the motor and the behaviour of the governor (and I've got a bunch of Kontronik ESCs which are reckoned to be one of the better governors around).

Anyway, went out yesterday to tune the tail more after sorting the mechanical issue out and hit some issues (cyclic gain seemed to be out, so I start trying to fix that ...). Finally after several flights, landings , etc. I realize that the OWB is slipping and causing the governor to pulse, which is upsetting the whole rig. From what I can tell it's the bearing spinning in the drive gear rather than the bearing being defective. I'll pull it apart and inspect then reassemble with Loctite 648 if all looks good.

More reports later.

Mikej · 07-13-2010, 10:42 AM

Looks good Jon - I have a Beastx on the way, but it will probably start off on my Mini Titan or Trex 450

ukgroucho · 07-13-2010, 11:16 AM

I have a second BeastX here and an Outrage G5 FBL kit for it to live in.... but I have to confess that after the great experience on Saturday with the 425 FBL I was looking at my 550 and thinking evil thoughts.
Maybe I'll just have to get a third one....

Oh, by the way... yours SHOULD come with the latest firmware... but I have a USB cable for the BeastX if you need to update it. (I did the original pre-oredr and they included a USB cable as a sweetener).

ukgroucho · 07-17-2010, 07:48 PM

OK so I have had some more time with the 425 FBL ... and had some ups and downs.

Went out Monday to do some tuning - back to back flights, and it started misbehaving. Was trying to tune the tail and still had a nasty vibe. But it also started nodding at the head... which (of course) I took that to be a tuning issue with the BeastX.. so I tried to tune it. Eventually I realised that the heli just did not SOUND right, and it was down on power.
Figured the one way bearing was duff and was starting to slip when hot (remember, back to back flights) so this was causing governot to pulse. Because of the way it felt when I held the head and turned the motor by hand it seemed that the bearing was turning in the gear. I dutifully dismantled the OWB and rebuilt it - but reinstalled with a new 20t OWB I had to hand (incidentally the stock unit is 19t).
Did not fix the issue.... more investigation showed that it was the motor shaft spinning 'free' from the windings. EHHH?
Pulled it apart and found that the motor had not been assembled correctly. Gaui 1400Kv 504 motor (for those wondering).. Pretty impressed with the motor, NOT impressed with the quality control!

The top plate had not been popped on correctly - there was a small gap - so the grub screw did not hit the incut in the motor shaft - it was a few millimeters too high up the shaft. Pushed the end plate on properly, reassembled and problem fixed.

Next the vibration... this was upsetting the BeastZ... the tail fin was doing a merry dance. I tried a bunch of stuff.. different blades, spooling up without main blades etc. etc. to try to track it down. I was getting MAJORLY frustrated.
Eventually I swapped in the tail blades from my 550 (K&B flouro yellow 'stiffies') ... problem fixed... the POS tail blades that were shipped with the 425 were causing the issue.
After all that I had one decent flight this evening... although I had to tweak tail gain a little. Now I am ready to go thru the setup of the BeastX in more detail and fine tune... although it did fly just LOVELY even with my 'guesstimate' settings (remember I messed with the head settings when I thought they were going adrift 'cos if the motor issue). I'm amazed that my "I think it was like this" settings in the BeastX resulted in such a smooth flight.

Hope to get out tomorrow, but overall very happy with the BeastX, very impressed with the Gaui motor and ESC (apart from the motor assembly issue) and delighted with teh Gaui 425 FBL CF frame and head.

Mikej · 07-18-2010, 12:55 AM

Jon,

It's only in my 450 - but I'm amazed by the Beastx - flying in the last few day's winds 15 - 20mph gusts and the heli feels like it is flying on a calm day. I've just done the standard set-up to get everything moving in the correct direction and that's it other than tweaking the tail gain - soooooo easy.

Enjoy

Mike.

P.S. I love the flybar-less look - so clean

ukgroucho · 07-18-2010, 07:52 PM

I did a bunch of setup flights late this afternoon in gusty conditions and the 425 just shrugged it off.

The biggest issue is that I think to really tune it (for me) I need calmer conditions so that I can tell what is the controller and what is the weather. Nothing that the controller has done so far has been radical enough for me to point and say "flybarless controller issue". In rough weather it is doing a great job of sorting out the buffeting and the heli is ripping thru it all.

07-13-2010, 08:04 AM	#1
ukgroucho Registered Users Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: UK, Stratford Upon Avon	425 FBL CF TT with BeastX maidened. Well it took me a while but I maidened the 425 FBL at the weekend. A few teething problems, one of which I still need to deal with. When it was going well it was fantastic... even on pretty much factory settings for the BeastX controller it flies like it is on rails. I initially had a problem getting the tail to behave... that turned out to be a mistake on my part (mechanical issue). I still flew 4 packs on Sunday settting up and playing and it's a blast. Even with the smaller of the two pinions included in the kit (13t or 14t?) it gets a decent HS (2500 - 2600) using the governor on the Gaui ESC. This is the stock Gaui 1400Kv motor and 60A ESC. I decided not to use the SBEC in the Gaui ESC as I'm running high torque digital servos and don't want to risk overloading the 3 amp unit that is built in. I'm actually very impressed with the power from the motor and the behaviour of the governor (and I've got a bunch of Kontronik ESCs which are reckoned to be one of the better governors around). Anyway, went out yesterday to tune the tail more after sorting the mechanical issue out and hit some issues (cyclic gain seemed to be out, so I start trying to fix that ...). Finally after several flights, landings , etc. I realize that the OWB is slipping and causing the governor to pulse, which is upsetting the whole rig. From what I can tell it's the bearing spinning in the drive gear rather than the bearing being defective. I'll pull it apart and inspect then reassemble with Loctite 648 if all looks good. More reports later. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by ukgroucho; 07-13-2010 at 11:19 AM..

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07-13-2010, 10:42 AM	#2
Mikej Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: UK	Looks good Jon - I have a Beastx on the way, but it will probably start off on my Mini Titan or Trex 450

07-13-2010, 11:16 AM	#3
ukgroucho Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: UK, Stratford Upon Avon	I have a second BeastX here and an Outrage G5 FBL kit for it to live in.... but I have to confess that after the great experience on Saturday with the 425 FBL I was looking at my 550 and thinking evil thoughts. Maybe I'll just have to get a third one.... Oh, by the way... yours SHOULD come with the latest firmware... but I have a USB cable for the BeastX if you need to update it. (I did the original pre-oredr and they included a USB cable as a sweetener).

07-17-2010, 07:48 PM	#4
ukgroucho Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: UK, Stratford Upon Avon	OK so I have had some more time with the 425 FBL ... and had some ups and downs. Went out Monday to do some tuning - back to back flights, and it started misbehaving. Was trying to tune the tail and still had a nasty vibe. But it also started nodding at the head... which (of course) I took that to be a tuning issue with the BeastX.. so I tried to tune it. Eventually I realised that the heli just did not SOUND right, and it was down on power. Figured the one way bearing was duff and was starting to slip when hot (remember, back to back flights) so this was causing governot to pulse. Because of the way it felt when I held the head and turned the motor by hand it seemed that the bearing was turning in the gear. I dutifully dismantled the OWB and rebuilt it - but reinstalled with a new 20t OWB I had to hand (incidentally the stock unit is 19t). Did not fix the issue.... more investigation showed that it was the motor shaft spinning 'free' from the windings. EHHH? Pulled it apart and found that the motor had not been assembled correctly. Gaui 1400Kv 504 motor (for those wondering).. Pretty impressed with the motor, NOT impressed with the quality control! The top plate had not been popped on correctly - there was a small gap - so the grub screw did not hit the incut in the motor shaft - it was a few millimeters too high up the shaft. Pushed the end plate on properly, reassembled and problem fixed. Next the vibration... this was upsetting the BeastZ... the tail fin was doing a merry dance. I tried a bunch of stuff.. different blades, spooling up without main blades etc. etc. to try to track it down. I was getting MAJORLY frustrated. Eventually I swapped in the tail blades from my 550 (K&B flouro yellow 'stiffies') ... problem fixed... the POS tail blades that were shipped with the 425 were causing the issue. After all that I had one decent flight this evening... although I had to tweak tail gain a little. Now I am ready to go thru the setup of the BeastX in more detail and fine tune... although it did fly just LOVELY even with my 'guesstimate' settings (remember I messed with the head settings when I thought they were going adrift 'cos if the motor issue). I'm amazed that my "I think it was like this" settings in the BeastX resulted in such a smooth flight. Hope to get out tomorrow, but overall very happy with the BeastX, very impressed with the Gaui motor and ESC (apart from the motor assembly issue) and delighted with teh Gaui 425 FBL CF frame and head.

07-18-2010, 12:55 AM	#5
Mikej Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: UK	Jon, It's only in my 450 - but I'm amazed by the Beastx - flying in the last few day's winds 15 - 20mph gusts and the heli feels like it is flying on a calm day. I've just done the standard set-up to get everything moving in the correct direction and that's it other than tweaking the tail gain - soooooo easy. Enjoy Mike. P.S. I love the flybar-less look - so clean

07-18-2010, 07:52 PM	#6
ukgroucho Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: UK, Stratford Upon Avon	I did a bunch of setup flights late this afternoon in gusty conditions and the 425 just shrugged it off. The biggest issue is that I think to really tune it (for me) I need calmer conditions so that I can tell what is the controller and what is the weather. Nothing that the controller has done so far has been radical enough for me to point and say "flybarless controller issue". In rough weather it is doing a great job of sorting out the buffeting and the heli is ripping thru it all.