SERVICING YOUR MCPX

[Imzzaudae]

One of the most common problems discussed in the MCPX forum is tail wag.
I have found that lubricating the helicopters bearings reduces drag and the problem goes away.

I have tried
3-1 oil
WD-40
Vaseline
White lithium grease
Pure silicone lubricant and a host of other products most work well but the silicone differential fluid available at the hobby shop seems to be best of all.

Remove Canopy
Remove landing gear
Remove Drive gear use a flat jewellers driver to pry it off
Unsnap all 3 push rods from swash and slip the head assembly and main shaft out of helicopter.

Take care you do not drop one of the push rods! They can fall off servo.
I use a peace of old broken tail boom to push the bearings out of the helicopter frame.



Vaseline or white grease: Squish into open side of bearing. Wipe outer race clean and re instal bottom bearing facing up top one facing down.

Silicone: Lay bearings on a clean paper towel and pour silicone into open side of bearing.
Let it run into bearing. Wipe outer race off and re instal bearings in helicopter.
Bottom bearing facing up top one facing down.

Slip main shaft assembly back into helicopter frame and instal white drive gear.

I put a little grease on landing gear pins before pushing back into frame. When you splash the gear flies out of frame and does not break pins off inside!

Snap servo push rods back onto swash.

Place a drop of lubricating silicone or oil in swash bearing.

A very small amount of silicone on ball link stops any binding and
makes for a much smother flying helicopter.

Give the main motor bushing a drop of light oil.

I give the white drive gear teeth a little silicone as well.

Give the tail rotor motor bushing a drop of light oil.

A small amount of light oil or silicone between blade grips and the head block. Just a little drop each side.

I have been using silicone control cleaner on motor bushings and ball links for quite some time now and it works quite well.

Instal canopy and fly.
As I fly a lot, I do this to each of my MCPX helicopters every other weekend!

If you want to clean the swash and main bearings. Spray some carb cleaner or break cleaner in a jar.
Toss in the bearings swish around. pick them out with a peace stick and set them on a paper towel to dry for 5 minutes. Re grease and your good to go!

If you end up with a splash on your helicopter. I use spray auto break cleaner.
It won't hurt the helicopter, gets rid of about anything and dries in seconds. Do this outside!

[Commander4]

Wow thanks for the tips. My Mcpx tail has been wagging for quite some time now. I will try your maintenance tips on it and let you know what happens.

[Drivinfast247]

I used reel oil. Abu Garcia Sili-cote.Very nice oil.

[BeefKopter]

Great tips. I especially like the oiling of the landing gear pins. I've had the pin break inside the frame before and its annoying, lubing it great idea

[02stampede]

Nice write-up! Thanks for sharing.

[CyclicPete]

Thanks for a great write up !!

What weight silicone diff oil do you use ?

I still have some from my RC car days !

[Nytflyer]

Originally Posted by CyclicPete

Thanks for a great write up !!

What weight silicone diff oil do you use ?

I still have some from my RC car days !

I have been oiling my stuff up with trinity 45 weight silicone shock oil. Like you I had it from the RC car days. Works great!

[Ric66]

Great ideas! I did have my landing gear come off and as a result the battery connector parted from the black wire. I would say grease the pins to prevent breaking but also use rubber bands to hold the LG on and keep from stressing your wiring in a crash.

[montyZooma]

This is a useful thread can't believe there havnt been more posts.. Anyways I just have some questions about the maintenance. When oiling the main/ tail motors could I use "finish line Teflon lube" it is a synthetic dry style lubricant that will "not absorb grit or grime." yes it is designed for bike chains but still just wanting to know if it can be used then for oiling the bearings, swash/frame can I just use wd40 or can I use stuff called molyboenum grease " for gears, plastic and metal bearings"

Thanks
(btw I have a stock motor and c05)

[Imzzaudae]

You can try using what ever lubricants you like and see how your helicopter responds.
I tried using dry lubricants and did not like them myself but post your results so we have your opinion!

molyboenum grease, if you can get it into the bearings why not try it and see how the helicopter responds. Let us know how it works!

I find if you keep the helicopter clean and out of the kids sand box you will have no buildup of any kind! If you drop it in a mud hole or sand box your going to have to strip it down and clean it up and re lubricate it anyway. Blast it off with break cleaner re lubricate it top to bottom and your good to go!

I'm off to the pro shop for some of that, Abu Garcia Sili-cote

[Drivinfast247]

Originally Posted by Imzzaudae

You can try using what ever lubricants you like and see how your helicopter responds.
I tried using dry lubricants and did not like them myself but post your results so we have your opinion!

molyboenum grease, if you can get it into the bearings why not try it and see how the helicopter responds. Let us know how it works!

I find if you keep the helicopter clean and out of the kids sand box you will have no buildup of any kind! If you drop it in a mud hole or sand box your going to have to strip it down and clean it up and re lubricate it anyway. Blast it off with break cleaner re lubricate it top to bottom and your good to go!

I'm off to the pro shop for some of that, Abu Garcia Sili-cote.g

FYI. It's Sili-cote. No "g". My fault, lol. Good stuff though.

[montyZooma]

So putting the wrong lubricants and grease (just in case) will not ruin the motors and bearings?

[TKhelipops]

Imzzaudae, this should be a sticky! had a new V2 that had a wobble right out of the box. Had is the key word. Your lube hints worked great, and it took less than 10 min. Thanks!

[slowcelica@gmail.com]

Wow I did this using 3 in1 oil and Vaseline when I fixed my battery wire, and what a difference it made. Flies like its brand new!

[ed2728]

love this thread

thanks for taking the time to write it up, Imzzaudae.

Agree it should be stickied!

[newbiehelipilot]

Will chain lube work for oilIing and lubricating everything, I can go pick up lithium grease if necessary. I also have a tube of silicone grease would that work.

[Imzzaudae]

Any silicone lubricant will work well. But the lighter the better!
find 3000 weight differential fluid for RC Cars works very well on the entire helicopter.
I also tried silicone fishing real lubricant. It's great stuff.
Ron

[SandorV]

I received my brand new V2 today, out of the box it had some tail wag, I did this thinking it would never work, and guess what, it worked PERFECTLY.

Amazing what a little bit of greace does.

[Tony777]

How do I get to the bushings of both these motors?

Originally Posted by Imzzaudae

Give the main motor bushing a drop of light oil.

Give the tail rotor motor bushing a drop of light oil.

[Imzzaudae]

You cannot get to the inner busing of the tail rotor motor.

But you can put a little drop of light silicone lubricant on the shaft and let it work into the outer bushing.

Same with main motor. Some guys blast some WD40 into the motor mount holes
let the motor sit on its end do the oil migrated into the bushing. then mount the motor
with one screw, let it drip over night and install the other screw.

I have tried this. My MCPX motor has well over 600 flights now with no ill effects.