keiths mini protos build thread

[keither1984]

msh faces out

[Thalios]

away from the ball.

[rossk]

another night of playing around, got the motor in and finished all the hardware.
Found my blade grips were on upside down, so I will have to redo them, noob error, lol
Then I got EC3 connectors onto my packs and ESC.
Then I pulled out all the servos and cracked open the vbar box...
Every step of the way caused me issues, but I got there in the end.

Issues experienced:
1. Error starting app "Selected Port /dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART cannot be opened!"
- Install Driver
- Restart Computer
- Fixed

2. Could not get dsmx sats to bind via the vbar.
- Connect a normal receiver that uses sats and bind individually to the receiver.
- Connect both to the vbar and they are bound already and you are good

I ran through the rest of the setup and did it as best I could with out being in the heli.
So now I have put servo's back n heli and do final setup...

I have a question regarding the packs, there is a thin plastic covering them, I don't know if it is packaging or supposed to be there?

[th0rg0d]

Originally Posted by rossk

Cheers guys for more tips

Another night of building, got the tail done.
It was a little bit more difficult than I thought it would be, I did some things wrong and had to back step a couple of times.
The tail pitch seems a bit sticky and not so smooth, dunno how to fix that.
My tail servo ball was hitting the boom after I did it up the first time, I filed the end of the ball a little bit and it cleared, I see dylan is using the inner hole on the arm, so that will alleviate that issue.
I stripped two grub screws trying to get the tail spindle on the shaft mainly because I had it on and off a few times because of my stupidity(leaving spacer on the shaft etc)
I used CA on the boom supports and control rods as I don't have any 'slow curing epoxy' handy.
As you can see I am using fusuno fins and blades, also have matching canopy, but that will be last...

Attachment 320750
Attachment 320749
Attachment 320748
Attachment 320747

I didn't see this answered, so I will. Mine was sticky too. I took a piece of emery cloth and smoothed it out while running the heli with no tail and no main blades. Kept it around 40% throttle for 30 sec or so at a time. I'd check it by sliding the slider back on and moving the arm by hand under power still. Mines smooth as silk now.


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[Dylwad]

You have to cycle power to the Vbar pretty fast to enter bind mode. It should be set for Spek. Sats digital center.

The thin plastic on the packs is the shrink wrap, you will want to leave it on

I polished the tail shaft with Mothers metal polish, and made sure that the pitch forks were aligned properly using the included spacer tool thing. Smooth as silk, havent had the tail hub off of the shaft in over 100 flights

Originally Posted by rossk

another night of playing around, got the motor in and finished all the hardware.
Found my blade grips were on upside down, so I will have to redo them, noob error, lol
Then I got EC3 connectors onto my packs and ESC.
Then I pulled out all the servos and cracked open the vbar box...
Every step of the way caused me issues, but I got there in the end.

Issues experienced

2. Could not get dsmx sats to bind via the vbar.
- Connect a normal receiver that uses sats and bind individually to the receiver.
- Connect both to the vbar and they are bound already and you are good

I ran through the rest of the setup and did it as best I could with out being in the heli.
So now I have put servo's back n heli and do final setup...

I have a question regarding the packs, there is a thin plastic covering them, I don't know if it is packaging or supposed to be there?

[keither1984]

hey man you absolutly have way too many thunder power pack you should go ahead and just send me 2 of them you dont need them. I cant wait till those packs are available here. definitly leave that clear shrink wrap on them like the other poster said you want all the protection on the packs you can I dont know how experienced you are with lipos but they can really be dangerous just go to youtube and type in lipo explosion 6s and you will see. also like the other poster said you have to cycle that power really quick to get it into bing mode and make sure you have the tx while doing it. dont worry about making mistake man thats how your gonna learn at least your are catching prior to flying after you get done with the build just go all the way back through the manual and make sure every step was completedthat way there is no doubt in your mind that everything is done and loctited
. . you said you got through the vbar setup ok were there any problems that I might be able to help you with let me know if you need anything you are gonna love this heli it is so smooth and quiet

Originally Posted by rossk

another night of playing around, got the motor in and finished all the hardware.
Found my blade grips were on upside down, so I will have to redo them, noob error, lol
Then I got EC3 connectors onto my packs and ESC.
Then I pulled out all the servos and cracked open the vbar box...
Every step of the way caused me issues, but I got there in the end.

Issues experienced:
1. Error starting app "Selected Port /dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART cannot be opened!"
- Install Driver
- Restart Computer
- Fixed

2. Could not get dsmx sats to bind via the vbar.
- Connect a normal receiver that uses sats and bind individually to the receiver.
- Connect both to the vbar and they are bound already and you are good

I ran through the rest of the setup and did it as best I could with out being in the heli.
So now I have put servo's back n heli and do final setup...

I have a question regarding the packs, there is a thin plastic covering them, I don't know if it is packaging or supposed to be there?
Attachment 321045
Attachment 321046

[rossk]

Originally Posted by Dylwad

It should be set for Spek. Sats digital center.

I have it set to Spek DSMX sats 1 or 2, as I have 2 DSMX sats, is there any difference?
Both the lights are solid on the sats and the bars in the vstabi respond to my stick movements and the servo's move too.
I did notice that i can only hit 99% on vstabi when dx8 says 100% on all ch's tho, 0 stick = 0% vstabi.
Is this right or is there something I should do to correct?

For setting the rudder...
I should have the servo arm @ 90, and the pitch should be 2-3 against touque(not sure which way that is?) and thats where I will tighten the servo mounts on the boom.
Is that procedure correct?
Then in vstabi, I move the stick to make sure I hit the endpoints of tail pitch and adjust cw and ccw slider to achieve this, is that right?

Originally Posted by Dylwad

I polished the tail shaft with Mothers metal polish

Did you do that with the motor running, or just by hand?
I don't think I have to remove much material, and I think a polish would do it.
However i'm not keen on removing/replacing the grub screw again, lucky I have plenty of spares.

[Dylwad]

Digital center uses less sub trim and travel adjust in the radio to calibrate it to Vbar, I dont run in DSMx mode on anything though, so not sure if that makes a difference.

I polished the tail shaft with it chucked in a drill before installing it.

[rossk]

Originally Posted by keither1984

I dont know how experienced you are with lipos

I have destroyed 3 hyperion 550mah, one in a crash, one through me not thinking and one because of crappy accessories, I didnt get and explosions, just puffing and lots of heat and bad smells and these are ony 3.7V, i have absolute respect for these packs and am treating them very gently, lol

Originally Posted by keither1984

you said you got through the vbar setup ok

As well as you can with out having the servo's in the heli, so I havent set the pitch levels or anything yet, prolly have more questions when I get to that point...

[Thunder Fighter]

With the tail, any binding is usually from the pitch yoke and the bolts not lining up correctly, you should not have to polish the tail shaft.

Of you are stripping the grub screws in the tail hub you need to get some better Allen drivers. I find the MIP ones are great but others like the Losi drivers. With a good driver you should not be stripping the grub screws.

//Dennis.

[th0rg0d]

Originally Posted by Thunder Fighter

With the tail, any binding is usually from the pitch yoke and the bolts not lining up correctly, you should not have to polish the tail shaft.

Of you are stripping the grub screws in the tail hub you need to get some better Allen drivers. I find the MIP ones are great but others like the Losi drivers. With a good driver you should not be stripping the grub screws.

//Dennis.

I disagree. In my stock kit, both my main and tail shafts were sticky. My swash would stick as well as the tail slider. After brief polishing, both were smooth. I think the shafts are coated with something, but my subsequent replacement needed nothing.

Regardless, polishing solved my problems, and my tail slider is silk.




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[desertstalker]

Originally Posted by th0rg0d

I disagree. In my stock kit, both my main and tail shafts were sticky. My swash would stick as well as the tail slider.

My tail was also a bit tight, no need to polish it though, after a few flights (with a very slight tail wag, though that could have been gain related as i was still setting up the tail) the bushing wore in and its now perfect.

[rossk]

Originally Posted by Thunder Fighter

Of you are stripping the grub screws in the tail hub you need to get some better Allen drivers. I find the MIP ones are great but others like the Losi drivers. With a good driver you should not be stripping the grub screws.

I have MIP drivers.
I think I was stripping the thread as it wasn't quite lined up and I tried to screw further so it find its spot, I just have to be more gentle I suppose...

The yoke bolts hit the spacer at the same time, but I will double check.
I will give my shafts a quick polish and I think I will be happier

[Thunder Fighter]

Maybe there are some tolerance issues with the shaft and slider if many are having to polish them but I haven't seen that on any of my Protos. An easy way to check is If the slider moves freely without the yoke in place then it points to the yoke alignment not the tail shaft.

You can try backing the bolts in the yoke of a little and as per the instructions twist the yoke till it smooths out.

//Dennis.

[red_1030]

I started my build tonight...dry fit everything w/o locktite. Waiting on the stretch kit to come in; decided to go 6s and stretch because I'd end up there anyways lol!!! Anyways here are some pictures of my progress:






Really impressed with the kit so far. More to come later!


Sent from my iPhone

[beans07]

Originally Posted by Thunder Fighter

With the tail, any binding is usually from the pitch yoke and the bolts not lining up correctly, you should not have to polish the tail shaft.

Of you are stripping the grub screws in the tail hub you need to get some better Allen drivers. I find the MIP ones are great but others like the Losi drivers. With a good driver you should not be stripping the grub screws.

//Dennis.

Dennis I tried 4 different shafts out of the pack when chasing problems, along with sliders, hubs, tail cases etc.. and found all of the tail shafts needed to be sanded to get smooth.

[Thunder Fighter]

Originally Posted by beans07

Dennis I tried 4 different shafts out of the pack when chasing problems, along with sliders, hubs, tail cases etc.. and found all of the tail shafts needed to be sanded to get smooth.

Thanks for letting me know Tim, I keep hearing about issues with tolerances, I guess I have just been lucky and not had any problems yet.

//Dennis.

[keither1984]

Looking good

Originally Posted by red_1030

I started my build tonight...dry fit everything w/o locktite. Waiting on the stretch kit to come in; decided to go 6s and stretch because I'd end up there anyways lol!!! Anyways here are some pictures of my progress:
Attachment 321269
Attachment 321270
Attachment 321271
Attachment 321272
Attachment 321273

Really impressed with the kit so far. More to come later!


Sent from my iPhone

[rossk]

Another session of building done.
I decided to tear down the tail to find out what was causing my binding.
The pitch slider was smooth on the shaft, so polishing would have done nothing
The blade grips were smooth and the yoke was lined up right.
The problem was when I put the pitch links onto the grips, they were at a bad angle and had to bend to fit and this was causing me issues:

I couldn't get why it was like this, then I desperation I pulled on the blades and 'boom' everything lined up and there was no more binding, the grips were too far on to the spindle.
Problem probably would have sorted itself out in the first flight when it got to full speed, but I am glad I got to the bottom of it:


I just have final tuning of vbar now that everything is on and connected and on the heli.
im not totally happy with the wiring positions, but I can't see any better ways and everyones pics don't help me much with routing options...
COG is pretty perfect in unstreched form, will probably struggle when I stretch it...
Also have to setup the ESC with prog card...
Then it is time to connect the motor and spool her up!(little scared)

[rossk]

I finished the build and got everything setup ready to go.
Couple of issues:
1. Vbar - cyclic throw, it said that I was to have 0 deg at start pos, which I did, then at the measure point I was to have 8deg, click measure only pulled down the right ail and only gave about 1deg of pitch, even maxing the slider out it was no where near 8deg, so I skipped that step...
2. YGE programming, I tried my best to understand the instructions across the 3 manuals, my main issue was setting up Gov. store mode.
I understand it to be that I have 'brake' = off then set the throttle end points with 'stop' and 'full speed' by moving the throttle stick to 0% on 'stop', press enter, move stick to 100% on 'full speed' and press enter.
Now when I startup, I just spool up in normal mode on tx then hit IU's with are the % of HS I want, I had 60% and 70% set.
3. Fusuno canopy grommets were too small for the pins, so stole them off the stock canopy.




I wasn't expecting the weather to clear but it did so went out for a maiden.
The grass was too long at my field and I didn't have a landing pad, so I used one of my car floor mats.
I spooled her up, she sounded sweet and I had lift off, dam she was touchy and I quickly realised that the rudder was backwards, so I got her down, chewed some grass with the tail rotor and it was at this point I also realised that throttle hold doesn't work!
I had to be in normal flight and drop the stick to stop the motor.
I switched the servo direction for rudder and went for another go.
Got her up and it was solid and super stable, was just holding a nice hover, had it up for a few mins, my thumbs were shaking and this was translated directly into the heli, which was funny.
I landed it off the mat and checked temps, all was fine, checked the pack level, still had 50% so went to go for it again.
This time on spool it wanted to tilt so I corrected, it jumped a bit then the tail rotor grabbed my mat and made a mess of it, hit TH, but since that didn't work, it continued to chew carpet till I got the stick down

Mazda 3 floor mats do not make good landing pads.
Only damage was a chip out of one tail blade, I have replaced both blades and am ready to go again, but I have to get the TH thing fixed.
Also I thought the vbar saved logs, I went to check them for vibe levels etc, but its a pro only feature, so i guess I will upgrade.
I'm off to create a portable landing pad now, was thinking marine ply, as big as my boot will fit, I will also use it to transport heli in my boot safely, by velcroing it down