Power systems that work - READ first post

[c00lhands]

So after messing around with the HBK2 for a few weeks, I decided to pick up the bare bones 550 kit. I have a spectrum 6 channel receiver and was wondering what power system the experts would recommend to maximize flight times on 2200 3s lipos. I’m a n00b so I’m not going to be doing any 3D flying for a while. It looks like most of the setups recommended here are geared towards performance upgrades and will probably chew through 2200 3s lipos pretty fast. Right now I’m just concerned with stretching the flight times as much as possible doing basic easy going stuff.

Is the stock (850kv) motor any good/ efficient and where exactly do I find it? I looked in a bunch of places but no luck. I’m in process of stocking the electronics a little bit at a time. Any help would be appreciated.

[mysticmead]

get the Z20a-980 it's easy on the lipos and works good with the 2200mah setup. I went with that motor a 14T pinion 20T OWB 50T primary gear and the stock main gear. that should keep head speed down to 1800-1900 RPM which is good for learning and sport flying.

the stock Gaui motors while they do work, are not as efficient as the Z20 and Z30

[Mikej]

Originally Posted by mysticmead

get the Z20a-980 it's easy on the lipos and works good with the 2200mah setup. I went with that motor a 14T pinion 20T OWB 50T primary gear and the stock main gear. that should keep head speed down to 1800-1900 RPM which is good for learning and sport flying.

the stock Gaui motors while they do work, are not as efficient as the Z20 and Z30

Agree with everything that MM said - I have 2 550's one with a Gaui 850, one with a Z20A 980, I'm not good enough to tell any difference in performance - both give about 7.5 mins (max) on 2 x 2200 (make sure 25C). Z20A is defo cooler running

[michael88997]

anybody that needs power here is my setup that rocks

z30 1110 kv motor
align 75amp esc
zippy 3300s
15t pinon 50 main 20owb
100% tc gave me 2470 headspeed(which is what i flew it at)
rcp 500 carbons

i also have the align 600 tail grips and didnt have any trouble with tail kicks... the 7703d held rock solid ... im going on vacation this weekend for a week so hopefully once i get back i can get a video of me flying to show some people the power it had...

just though id do a follow up on my power system... everything is awesome, the plastic frames are holding up, gears all good, batteries excellent... i highly recommend this setup for anybody that is power hungry like me :

[xodarap1]

I'm running a similar setup 13T, 14T and 15T with a 42T and 20T OWB. It is plenty of power.. overkill with the 15T for most things really lol.

The only thing I don't have is 3300 batteries but I imagine that even if my kongs were 3300's it would only be a matter of time until they were in this same shape. My kong 2200's were fine for a few months of hard flying but they are starting to really sag and drop off after 2 minutes of hard pushing now.

One of my friends I fly with has some outrage 30C's coming in and we are going to test those buggers out to see how well they stand up to long term hurri abuse.

[skigolfmike]

After all the blown motors and stripped gears, I think I'm finally getting dialed in on a setup that works consistently. My setup is the Scorpion HK3026-1400, Phoenix 85HV ESC with 15/61/20/61 gearing on 500mm RCP II CF blades. My current throttle curves are Normal: 0-60-80-90-100, Idle 1: 100-80-100, and Idle 2: 100-90-100. I had been running the 16T pinion, put I think the 15T is better. I may try a 14T with a 100-100-100 throttle curve just to see how that works. On Idle 2 a 4:30 flight of aero and mild 3D uses 2400mAh.

With the TRex 600 tail I have the gain on my 770 down to 62%. I did up the throttle curve yesterday and I started to get a little wag in the tail, so I backed it off a little. I should get 2300+ with the 14T and 100% flat throttle. I'd kind of like to try that to see just how it works. I have a Medusa Data Logger coming, so I can put up some data when I get it. I can always try 14/60 instead of 14/61 to get a little more (~50) rpm.

[rotorhead58d]

i'd like to use my thunder tiger ripper motor and esc from my E550. anyone try this combo yet?

[mysticmead]

as long as the Gaui pinions will fit the shaft and teh motor will bolt in, I don't see why it shouldn't work... then again I'm no expert

[rotorhead58d]

do i need to put a better servo in my 550? i'm using ds821's. sport flying and newb 3d only.

[mysticmead]

Originally Posted by rotorhead58d

do i need to put a better servo in my 550? i'm using ds821's. sport flying and newb 3d only.

DS821's work fine on cyclic...

[bobbybe]

One thing you can do with your 821s (you may have already done this) is get a bec and switch the voltage to 6v instead of 4.8. I just did this at the hobby shop on their software and it's supposed to boost up the speed and torque for the cyclic servos. however, if you do this, you must get a stepdown regulator for your tail servo or you could fry it.

A quick power question- for some reason, my kit didn't include a motor pinion. I have the gaui 1100 motor, 75a esc, and i'll be running it with the stock gears. any opinion as to what type of pinion to get? on the calculator, a 14 tooth pinion with this setup would give me 2175 hs, and a 15 tooth would give 2330. do i really need a 2330 hs?
any suggestions for a new hurri owner??

[rotorhead58d]

your kit should have included a 14T pinion. hmmm

[xodarap1]

I'd go with a 14T. A 15T on there is quite a bit and would be harder on your batts..

[bobbybe]

cool thanks for the advice guys! I'm ordering a 14t now

[skigolfmike]

We're talking sustained tictocs, power loops outa' sight without hitting full throttle, unbelievable autos. Absolutely amazing power and acceleration.

Gaui 1100kV/1500W Motor (A Z30 1100kV is a good choice too).
Phoenix 80 in fixed heli mode, normal timing and normal PWM. 100% flat throttle curve.
2 Outrage XP25 3700 3S batteries in series.
RotorTech 550 Angle Tip blades.
Gear for 2200-2250 headspeed. 21/68/20/61 or 15/50/20/61

Use the lightweight paddles and move the mixing arm linkage to the seesaw to the inner hole on the seesaw to speed up the head. I'm going to put in a longer flybar from a T600 to speed up the head a little more.

A 4:15-4:30 flight of aero and mild 3d will take ~2700mAh to recharge.

I think the extra 100mm of disk really makes a huge difference in the way this heli flies. It flies a lot lighter now and just has amazing power. For this heli I think this is as good as it gets.

[phillipda]

Here is my brand new setup.

Hurricane 550 Pro with CF Frame and CNC head.
Z20a 980 Motor
15t pinion on motor,
42t front gear, 61t back gear.
20 OWB
Outrage 6-cell 3000 Lipo
I don't know what my head-speed is. I sure would like to know.
Gaui 75 ESC
Gaui standard BEC
Flightpower 2-cell 2150 Lipo to power the receiver and servo's
Futaba S9451 on Cyclics
GY401 Gyro with Futaba S9254 on Tail.
Gaui 500mm Carbon blades
Pitch Curve on my DX7: 34 INH 54 70 83
Throttle Curve: 0 60 75 82 90

I am only flying in Normal Mode and hovering.
I hover at three quarters hover position on radio.
I get 7 minutes of hover time and put back apx 2250 back into the Outrage pack.
I am a bit surprised with my hover time, I thought with this motor I would get a longer flight time than 7 minutes.

I figured a head-speed of something in the range of 1800-1900 would be good for me, But I have no way of telling what the head-speed is. Can't afford a Tacho.

I used this site: http://www.ezfly.se/hscalc.htm to work out my gear ratio's, according to that site with the gears I have listed I should be in the range between 1800-1900 head-speed. Am I wrong? I am only getting 7 minutes of flight time with my Outrage 6-cell 3000 Lipo. I thought with the Z20 motor I would get at least 9 maybe 10 minutes. My ESC comes down a bit warm after a flight. I am getting temps of 60 Degrees Celsius on the ESC, 45 degrees Celsius on both the Lipo and Motor.

[Mikej]

Phillip,

You don't have your set up as efficient as it could be - brushless motors prefer running at constant speeds (throttle curves) plus your throttle curve is a bit low. You would be better off running a flatter curve and at higher levels, you would obviously need a smaller pinion or a larger primary gear - I use 14/50/20/61 and a TC of 0, 95, 95, 95, 100.

Cheers,
Mike.

[phillipda]

Hi Mikej

Thanks for the advice. So I obviously have this all wrong. What flight times you getting?

I don't have a 50t front gear, but I do have a 14t pinion for the motor I could go back to and a 19 OWB. Would this work with that throttle curve you have listed? Obviously it will work, but I don't want to high a head-speed.
Also got a 16t for the motor.
I also have a 60t front gear, I don't know why I got that one instead of a 50t. If it makes that much of a difference using a 50t up the front, I will order one tomorrow

[Mikej]

I get about 7 minutes from 2 x 3S 2200 so effectively a 2200 6S battery

[mysticmead]

try using a gearing of 14/20/50/61 with that Z20... that will get you 1800-1900 at a TC of 100 flat... the motor will be cool and so will the ESC.. plus you'll get longer flight times.. on 2200mah packs I get 6 mins and still have very cool packs plus power left (my charger sucks so I have no idea how much is going back in.. but there is plenty of power left.. I just cut the flight short and be nice to my packs)