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Main Forum - Helicopter Talk R/C Helicopters and the people who fly them. VENDOR TOPICS DO NOT GO HERE. Full Scale Heli threads go in OT please |
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04-23-2010, 02:42 PM | #1 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Mar 2010
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Loss of power during sideways hover
Hi all,
I wanted to get your thoughts on something. On my Blade 400, I was practicing sideways-right hover about six feet up today. I was sustaining the hover for about a minute and a half when all of a sudden I hear what seemed to sound like a a big power loss and the heli immediately drops about 4 feet in about a second. I gave it much throttle right before it hit the ground and I was very lucky to be able to land it gracefully. I thought my motor seized up again. I've had two motors seize up in the past week. After landing and disconnecting the LiPo. I turned the motor by hand and did not notice any rough spots. It turned fluidly. I looked at the main and tail gears and did not notice any teeth missing. I flew the Blade again and just did tail in hover for the rest of the LiPo charge. While I did not experience any weird power loss, I notice now that the tail will not stay still anymore. It swings from left to right. I need to constantly compensate with constant side to side rudder input which makes hovering for a noob extremely difficult. I put in another fresh pack LiPo. Again, no power loss but I can't keep the tail straight anymore. Questions: 1. On the weird power loss, do you think it's my battery (eflite 11.1v 2100mah (45+ flights so far)) or my esc or something else like belt stripping? 2. Is it just a coincidence that the tail doesn't seem to lock anymore or do you think there is an underlying problem that ties the two together. One thing I should mention is that my tail boom is slightly bent from a previous crash but the LHS said it should still be okay to fly. Do you think a bent tail boom is related? 3. Does transitioning from tail-in to a sustained sideway hover deplete more energy from the LiPo than a simple tai-in? Sorry for the long dissertation. I'm just scratching my head right trying to figure out where to start troubleshooting. Thanks in advance for the feedback.
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Eric |
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04-23-2010, 03:27 PM | #2 (permalink) |
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The e-flite batteries are not very good; I'm impressed that you got 45 flights out of them.
Your battery might very well be sagging early in the discharge cycle. As far as tail wagging, the tail rotor needs to have a minimum amount of rotational speed to be effective. If you drop below this, you can encounter wagging, as the tail response is too slow for the gyro. You really need to up the headspeed to get more authority (and more effectiveness) out of the tail. This will result in a more locked-in tail. Sideways hovering should not suck more current than tail in. However, a slightly bent tail boom might result in more friction. If you can be sure that the boom bend is not resulting in internal belt rubbing, you should be all set. I fly with slightly bent booms only if they don't touch the belt. You should up your headspeed in the throttle curve.
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Logo 500 SK720, 4025-890, CC ICE 100 T-Rex 600 ESP w/3G - 12S, 4025-630, CC ICE 80HV Blade 400 w/ HS5065MG, CopterX FBL, ICE Lite 50 eRaptor Conversion, 12S, 4035-500, JR 8700g, 3xDS610s |
04-23-2010, 04:27 PM | #3 (permalink) | |
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2010
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Quote:
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback! I tend to agree with you. My batteries may be reaching its EOL early. So, when you say "Up the headspeed", are you saying put in more powerful LiPos like a 30C or something? I think the eFlites are only 25C. If so, I still have the stock ESC. Do I need to replace that as well? While I'm in that frame of thought. What would you suggest is the most powerful LiPo configuration I should use if I only have stock equipment? Thanks again.
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Eric |
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04-23-2010, 05:54 PM | #4 (permalink) |
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The electronics on the Blade 400 are very low quality, even the ESC. I had a blade for a while and it was OK flying stock, but not when I actually wanted to tear it up, I had to upgrade the parts to do that.
Tail in, nose in, side in doesn't really matter, they will all pull the same. You may be pulling more on the servos in an orientation that you're not comfortable with, but the motor should be pulling about the same if the headspeed is the same. A very valuable resource for your Blade 400: http://www.slyster.com/heli/b400bible.html |
04-23-2010, 05:55 PM | #5 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Nov 2004
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Sideways hovering
Your heli doesn't care where it's hovering relative to you, It does not have eyes or brain, it has never known where or who you are so it's just coincedence it happened in sideways flight.
If you have a tail control problem that started at the same time it is very likely related. If you have another servo you can sub into the tailrotor then do it. Good luck Junkpilot
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junkpilot |
04-23-2010, 08:53 PM | #6 (permalink) | |
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Quote:
As far as electronics go - I flew for a while with the stock G110 gyro, as far as it would take me. The stock servos are garbage - the HS65MGs are a much better option when you crash often. The stock ESC is also fine for hover training and basic aerobatics. However, if you do go to HS65s, consider installing an external BEC so that you don't overwhelm the onboard ESC on the 25A ESC.
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Logo 500 SK720, 4025-890, CC ICE 100 T-Rex 600 ESP w/3G - 12S, 4025-630, CC ICE 80HV Blade 400 w/ HS5065MG, CopterX FBL, ICE Lite 50 eRaptor Conversion, 12S, 4035-500, JR 8700g, 3xDS610s |
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04-24-2010, 07:32 AM | #7 (permalink) |
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Check your pitch curve as well. Too much in a hover, and you can really load up the motor and ESC. 5-6 drgees pitch is all you need in a hover. If you have never checked it, you better check it with a pitch gauge. Seizing the motor sounds suspect to some overheating issues. Is your motor, ESC or Batt really hot after flying? As for remaining the same in a hover sideways, sliding left will pull more current as the tail will be adding more load/pitch to hold the tail straight in this orientation. If it happened to be breezy out and you had 15-20C batts, you would here the load increase and power could sag a bit. Make sure every linkage is smooth and the motor pinion is correct with regards to gear mesh. Too tight and you will heat up the motor. It should have a slight ammount of gear lash and turn smoothly. Also check your tail belt for how tight it is. Too tight, and too much load/drag on the drive system. Plug and play helicopters are anything but that. You need to learn how to conduct a proper overall inspection of the helicopter prior to flying. Good Luck!
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04-24-2010, 08:23 AM | #8 (permalink) |
Join Date: Jan 2010
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I will just add that I've had this same, side-on& motor cutting out, problem this last week on one of my Mini Titans. I've narrowed it down to either the 35MHz antenna being too close to a servo, and/or the ESC.
I've rerouted the antenna, and the ESC is being replaced pronto. If you're using 2.4G, then you're left with the ESC being the culprit. Can't help on bent tail booms. I never fly unless every part is 100% straight and as new. |
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