550E + 12S + Sk720 = Very Happy

[heath9069]

Gents,

With some inspiration from TJinguy, I put together a 12S 550E and all I can say is WOW.

I know I'm preaching to the converted but this heli is a dream to fly, especially with a SK720 and a 12S power system.

Here is what I decided to use on this bird:

Castle Creations ICE 80HV ESC
Western Robotics Hercules Super BEC (tapped into main battery)
Skookum 720
Scorpion HK4025-630 motor
2 x Turnigy Nanotech 6S 2650maH lipos
Align DS650 tail servo
Edge 553 FBL blades
Belt conversion for tail

I'm running a 17T pinion and have the HS governed to 2400 which gives me 5 minutes of sport/mild 3D while leaving 20% in the packs.

With the 12S system and motor I haven't been able to bog the head at all. The most amps I have pulled is 86A with a power output of over 3800W. On average its only pulling about 17A.

I'm just waiting for the KDE tail upgrade kit to get rid of the slop in the grips which seems to be a feature of all Align helis for some reason.

I'm really liking the efficiency of a HV setup and will probably convert my 500 over to 8S once my old 6S packs give up the ghost.

If any of you have the urge to try out a 12S system, go for it, you won't regret it all.

Anyway here are some pics of my setup.

[phuy9450]

nice, i want to do the same but i only have 2 3000mah 6s, could they fit under the stock canopy ?

[Nko15]

Wont fit. too big. max you can sqeeze under it is 2x 2650mAh 6S 30C(normal blue turnigy's)

[kidphc]

I'm piecing together almost the identical setup. How's it fly at a head speed of 2200?

I'm in about of trouble since I have the blue turnigy 3000. Wonder how tight of a fit they are.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Nko15]

3000 normal turnigy's wont fit.

with 600 blades @ 2200 rpm its a canon, tictocability is insane, i fly 5.5 minutes 3d on 2000 rpm. with 600's.

On the 520 blades, the 2200 is a bit low.

[heath9069]

+1 I have normal flight mode set at 2200 which is a little sluggish on 550 blades, 2400 seems to be the best for power and flight time for me. Some guys are running 2600 but it cuts the flight time with 550 blades.

[jamin_00]

Now this will be an animal you must get a vid

I have a feeling you would get nano tech 3000 under the canopy as they very close in size to the normal 2650 turnigys

[Nko15]

I can get 75x42x140 under the canopy.. anything more and you wont get the canopy on anymore...

[Blades345]

Sounds awesome,, would love to see the video! I am on 6S at the moment with 553mm blades and love it, so I can only imagine how the 12S setup is.

[OnTheSnap]

Wow, totally sweet. Can you measure the AUW ready to fly?

Also, it's close to mandatory to use the sk720 power bus. The accelerometers are pretty vibe sensitive. Gyros should be fine. But the power dist is much more rigid withe the bus.

[Nko15]

Originally Posted by OnTheSnap

Wow, totally sweet. Can you measure the AUW ready to fly?

I'm at 3150ish grams with 2 turnigy 2650mah 6s 30c, separate 2s 2200mah for the rx, and 600 conversion(with belt)+603 Edge's on 2000 rpm, power is insane+ 5 minutes of hard 3d.

YouTube

YouTube

[Blades345]

Nice flying!

[RobO]

Looks nice but you have basically built a 600 in a 550 frame.

I'm in the process of doing something similar, same basic components but starting with an HK600GT kit and building a 12S 600. Might weigh a little more but should be able to fit 2 x 3000 and posibbly 2 x 3300 packs. These are the packs I use for my 500.

[Nko15]

Originally Posted by RobO

Looks nice but you have basically built a 600 in a 550 frame.

I'm in the process of doing something similar, same basic components but starting with an HK600GT kit and building a 12S 600. Might weigh a little more but should be able to fit 2 x 3000 and posibbly 2 x 3300 packs. These are the packs I use for my 500.

A 600 with 12S is above 3500 grams.. even more with 3000 or 3000+packs Its an old and heavy design. the 550 with 600 blades dances a bit more.

the 550 is a scaled down 600.... tail, head, gears, electronics, everything is the same.

[tyfries]

buddy

i dont know why but i just tested my 600 esp out with the Scorpion HK4025-630 motor and 2 x Turnigy Nanotech 6S 2650maH lipos
and in my logging is said im only pulling out 2750 watts?????
why is yours better?

[OnTheSnap]

Originally Posted by tyfries

buddy

i dont know why but i just tested my 600 esp out with the Scorpion HK4025-630 motor and 2 x Turnigy Nanotech 6S 2650maH lipos
and in my logging is said im only pulling out 2750 watts?????
why is yours better?

ICE controller? You need to tweak the PWM and timing settings. 8KHz, normal timing worked best for me when I ran that setup in my old 600e.

[RobO]

Originally Posted by Nko15

A 600 with 12S is above 3500 grams.. even more with 3000 or 3000+packs Its an old and heavy design. the 550 with 600 blades dances a bit more.

the 550 is a scaled down 600.... tail, head, gears, electronics, everything is the same.

I agree and disagree, the 550 is scaled up 500 and a scaled down 600. Its not an old heavy design, its not as if the designers 4 or 5 years ago didn't know how to make a light airframe.. The 600 airframe is more robust.

The stock 600E motor and ESC are weak in the 600 airframe but rock in the 550, I believe bone stock the 550E is a great balance.

There are tons of people out there now using the 4025-630 on 12S in the 600 and still having problems stripping gears etc.. The thrid bearing block helps. So would a bearing block on the other side of the pinion like the 700E.

No doubt putting that 4025-630 power system in a 550 is going to be a rocket ship! but it may not be a good balance, I'm curious to see. In the Jan 2011 issue of RC Heli there is a guy Mickey Johnson who double stacked his frames (2 sets of carbon fiber frames!) to stiffen it up for a Scorpion motor on 6S! That makes me suspect the stock 550 1.6mm frame may not be up to the task for 12S.

I don't want to sound critical, I admire those that push the limits! It's guys like you that make the hobby better for all of us! I'm just not that cutting edge, I'll sit back and see how it works out.

[Nko15]

Originally Posted by tyfries

buddy

i dont know why but i just tested my 600 esp out with the Scorpion HK4025-630 motor and 2 x Turnigy Nanotech 6S 2650maH lipos
and in my logging is said im only pulling out 2750 watts?????
why is yours better?

I have a set nanotechs too. and they SUCK bigtime.... 30c's normal turnigy's do better than 35c nanotechs..

@robo, i meant with heavy, the use of bellcranks, levers etc. all the unneeded stuff...

[Blades345]

Originally Posted by Nko15

I have a set nanotechs too. and they SUCK bigtime.... 30c's normal turnigy's do better than 35c nanotechs..

@robo, i meant with heavy, the use of bellcranks, levers etc. all the unneeded stuff...

Really? I heard good things about the nano-tech batteries so far!

[Nko15]

Originally Posted by Blades345

Really? I heard good things about the nano-tech batteries so far!

after about 50 flights they began to lose power. its so bad that i cant even do a nice tictoc with them anymore.. and thats not because of a bad collective management....