mCPx: Known issues, fixes, information rollup

[superrmario]

Hey Guys.

Just jumped into my second Little Machine so obviously it was a MCP X.

I ahve read through this thread, and I have a few questions if you dont mind answering. I cannot seem to find the right answers.

I currently fly it was a DM8 Module in my 10c for which i do with all my BNF stuff.

With the Blades that it comes with, I get a really Really bad occilation in a hover at Half throttle. I swapped them out to the wighted ones.

I read up on the ball links needing to be covered with teflon tape or backed with the canopy grommets, will this solve that issue?

I had a tail boom crack on me unfortunatly. (Seems like a known issue). I decided to make a solid carbon boom, cut the wires, burned the ends to get the insultion off, but I cannot for the life of me get these wires to solder togeather.

Another issue is the Pitch and aileron creek (I guess you would call it) I can hold the Heli on the table, put it into Flight mode with the blades at neutral no collective. The swash will creep towards full forward flight and full right aileron..

Any advice??

Thanks in advance!!

[superrmario]

Okay..

I put the Grommets on the ball links which stopped the occilation completely.

I found a LHS that had 2 tail booms in stock. I tinkered with the first and cracked the boom open. Pulled the wires out. Took a length of solid carbon rod, and made a new boom. I wrapped the wires down the boom and it is nice and strong. FWIW, I made it 1/2 inch longer than the stock one. Seems more stable

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Heli_Usr_Marty]

Originally Posted by davidpe

Me too. 35 clicks.

Apparently I missed reading something. This appears to be a 'setting'?

Just starting with this type of heli.

Also having fun and NOT breaking stuff, yet!


Marty

[Spunjah413]

Originally Posted by superrmario

Another issue is the Pitch and aileron creek (I guess you would call it) I can hold the Heli on the table, put it into Flight mode with the blades at neutral no collective. The swash will creep towards full forward flight and full right aileron..

Any advice??

Thanks in advance!!

I have this same issue. I will not touch the cyclic at all, and after a second or two the swash ends up moving all by itself and seems to go right. Strange.

[stevec]

Originally Posted by superrmario

Okay..

I put the Grommets on the ball links which stopped the occilation completely.

I found a LHS that had 2 tail booms in stock. I tinkered with the first and cracked the boom open. Pulled the wires out. Took a length of solid carbon rod, and made a new boom. I wrapped the wires down the boom and it is nice and strong. FWIW, I made it 1/2 inch longer than the stock one. Seems more stable

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Hi Superrmario, Could you give references to the grommet thread or show some pictures of yours please?

My MCPX shakes real bad when going to negative pitch in slow forward flight. I have ordered a metal main shaft as there is a tiny crack in my main shaft, also there are a couple of teeth missing from the main gear so I have just got one of them from my LHS,
Also ordered some KBDD blades as well.

The bird has well over a hundred flights on it and I just tried the cleaning the servos trick but this made no difference.

once I get my new parts I will see if this is fixed, but I am interested in where the grommets go...

Cheers
Steve

[HeliSpaz911]

Hi, I have had my MCPX for about 3 months now. I'm just starting to get good with it now. The problem I am haveing is sometimes the tail will either be unresponcive for a few seconds and come back or, When I throttle up hard it wants to spin. I'm not "flooring" it, just when I'm catching the heli from a drop or just when it needs a bit more throttle. I check the plug after every rough landing or every batt, change and make sure it is in tight. Is the motor going? is it the bord starting to go? Can anyone help me out plz? It just started doing this like 3 flights ago. and it is starting to get on my nerves. Any help is greatly apreaciated. Thanks.

[Luis48]

Originally Posted by Jaydawgx7

Should have probably also mentioned it's the RTF model, so I'm using the DX4e. Also, after a closer look, the PIT is not reversed. It simply doesnt move. It stays at full negative pitch through the entire throttle. Only thing that changes it is pressing the trainer button which makes it go to full pitch instantly

Rebind your aircraft, I had experimented very offen this issue, and suspect of: 1) Pluging the battery before 5 second after turning on Tx. 2) Heli too close to Tx when turn on craft.

[Luis48]

Originally Posted by Jaydawgx7

Should have probably also mentioned it's the RTF model, so I'm using the DX4e. Also, after a closer look, the PIT is not reversed. It simply doesnt move. It stays at full negative pitch through the entire throttle. Only thing that changes it is pressing the trainer button which makes it go to full pitch instantly

Are rebinding correctly? I aso have the RTF, experimented the same problem and rebinding is the fix.

[davehour]

Hi guys:

I posted this in another topic but I thought this could be of help to others that might have the same problem.

This is a fix for a mCPX suddenly shutting down in mid flight for no reason. Mine was doing that and I found it was caused by the gear mesh being too tight. The motor was being forced due to it, causing the shutdown due to excess current draw and voltage drop.

If you're having a shutdown problem, check the gear mesh in your mCPx. To check the gear mesh, wiggle the main gear with your fingers; a small gap should be felt between the main gear and motor pinion. Rotate the main gear and check the gap is still present at all times. If you feel a "tight" spot, the gear mesh is not correct.

The gear mesh in the mCPx is fixed, and should be correct from factory. But variations in the molding process affect its setting.

In order to fix a "tight" gear mesh in the mCPx, an easy modification must be done. What I did to fix it was to use a diagonal cutter and nick the plastic joint between the motor mount and main gear hole, to force the motor to separate from the main gear (see picture below). Worked flawlessly there after.

David

[dna001]

Originally Posted by davehour

Hi guys:

I posted this in another topic but I thought this could be of help to others that might have the same problem.

This is a fix for a mCPX suddenly shutting down in mid flight for no reason. Mine was doing that and I found it was caused by the gear mesh being too tight. The motor was being forced due to it, causing the shutdown due to excess current draw and voltage drop.

If you're having a shutdown problem, check the gear mesh in your mCPx. To check the gear mesh, wiggle the main gear with your fingers; a small gap should be felt between the main gear and motor pinion. Rotate the main gear and check the gap is still present at all times. If you feel a "tight" spot, the gear mesh is not correct.

The gear mesh in the mCPx is fixed, and should be correct from factory. But variations in the molding process affect its setting.

In order to fix a "tight" gear mesh in the mCPx, an easy modification must be done. What I did to fix it was to use a diagonal cutter and nick the plastic joint between the motor mount and main gear hole, to force the motor to separate from the main gear (see picture below). Worked flawlessly there after.

David

What!!!!!!!!! are you mad,,,, just elongate the screw hols move motor over a bit, All you are doing is weakening the frame ????



.

[davehour]

Originally Posted by dna001

What!!!!!!!!! are you mad,,,, just elongate the screw hols move motor over a bit, All you are doing is weakening the frame ????



.

Not really. I did come to use this procedure because:

First, the mCPx motor is non adjustable, and elongating the screw holes won't do anything because the motor is hold in a cage.

Second, doing what I did doesn't weaken the frame at all to a point that affect the flying.

Third, and as far I can see, the only fixes that can be done besides this one is replacing the frame or turning the motor body 180 degrees praying it will be farther, and not closer, to the main gear. Of course, this requires a lot of work.

David

[dna001]

Originally Posted by davehour

Not really. I did come to use this procedure because:

First, the mCPx motor is non adjustable, and elongating the screw holes won't do anything because the motor is hold in a cage.

Second, doing what I did doesn't weaken the frame at all to a point that affect the flying.

Third, and as far I can see, the only fixes that can be done besides this one is replacing the frame or turning the motor body 180 degrees praying it will be farther, and not closer, to the main gear. Of course, this requires a lot of work.

David

Well the frame you show is a BL modded frame so what motor are you using.

[davehour]

I see what you mean.

I'm referring to a stock frame, and not a modded one, but I inadvertently used a picture of a modded frame that's to be used with a brushless motor.

Thanks for pointing this out. I have now included a picture of a stock frame with the mod explanation.

I apologize for the confusion.

David

[8th elephant]

Hope I didn't miss this one somewhere in the thread already, so here goes:

I'm flying in beginner mode (no negative pitch) and when throttling up to hovering speed, the RPM suddenly drops and comes back again in pulses. This happens in about 50% of my flights. No crashes due to this yet since I usually catch the little bird, but it's really annoying.

I'm using a DX8 with stock batteries at full charge and I've also replaced the main gear to make sure it's not slipping during flight.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

[dna001]

This sounds like the LVC (low voltage cutoff )

Dose it doit from the start of the hover or just after, say like 1 minuets .
Are you shore you batteries are charging.
how meany flights have you had before this started to happen, could be motor packing up.

[8th elephant]

Originally Posted by dna001

This sounds like the LVC (low voltage cutoff )

Dose it doit from the start of the hover or just after, say like 1 minuets .
Are you shore you batteries are charging.
how meany flights have you had before this started to happen, could be motor packing up.

It usually begins from the start of hovering. LVC would make sense for the symptoms though.

Yup, the batteries seem to be getting near a full charge. A full flight time is still 5+ min.
I'm using the mSR charger with adapter cables and each battery seems to go through usual amount of time; cycling with LEDs constantly on, then flashing more rapidly towards the end of the charge.

Oh, I should mention that 3 of my 5 batteries are new, with less than 20 flights on each.
The 2 older ones do have less capacity as expected.

This is about my 60th or so flight. Do the motors burn out that fast?

[AlexTheRC]

is that necessary to make any change if i get a BNF?

[8th elephant]

Originally Posted by AlexTheRC

is that necessary to make any change if i get a BNF?

I'll chime in here based on what I see on the forums:

I'm guessing you're referring to changing anything stock...?
For many folks, especially those just learning to fly collective pitch helis; the stock setup is great for quite a long time. Of course there are parts on micro-helis that wear out with normal use, which can be upgraded as you go along Just bare in mind that upgrades often cost more than factory parts and usually change/enhance the performance a bit, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your skill level.

The only real reasons for upgrading things immediately, would be if a particular stock part fails or wears out too quickly (such as landing gear in some cases) or if you've reached the end of the flight envelope already and and want to push it further.

One of the greatest thing you can upgrade, is the transmitter.
Like going from something without much custom programming, to one with editable pitch & throttle curves.

Hope this helps,
-8th

[AlexTheRC]

Originally Posted by 8th elephant

I'll chime in here based on what I see on the forums:

I'm guessing you're referring to changing anything stock...?
For many folks, especially those just learning to fly collective pitch helis; the stock setup is great for quite a long time. Of course there are parts on micro-helis that wear out with normal use, which can be upgraded as you go along Just bare in mind that upgrades often cost more than factory parts and usually change/enhance the performance a bit, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your skill level.

The only real reasons for upgrading things immediately, would be if a particular stock part fails or wears out too quickly (such as landing gear in some cases) or if you've reached the end of the flight envelope already and and want to push it further.

One of the greatest thing you can upgrade, is the transmitter.
Like going from something without much custom programming, to one with editable pitch & throttle curves.

Hope this helps,
-8th

you are right, I am talking about changing the stock
thanks so much

[spykez]

Originally Posted by 8th elephant

<... snip...>
One of the greatest thing you can upgrade, is the transmitter.
Like going from something without much custom programming, to one with editable pitch & throttle curves.

Hope this helps,
-8th

Newbie mCP X owner here - completely agree about the radio.

Possibly batteries would be next. Currently trying these Turnigy nanotech 300 mAh ones, but I don't know if there are any better options out there.

Apart from that I've been thinking of the tailbooms...

I've broken two already (currently flying with my cracked second one, yes this bird still flies, lol).

I have heard coating a stock tail assembly in think CA saturates the carbonfibre in CA and makes it a little stronger but I don't know for sure - I've just had to do that to my cracked one, just to keep flying till spares arrive.

I might buy a 2mm carbonfibre rod and try and roll my own fix. One question about this though:

* How do you get it to stick to the main frame? *

I think the blade stock assemblies have a notch, do you cut your own notch in a solid carbon shaft, do you glue it in? if so, what with? CA?

Bear in mind, I'm expecting more crashes and would like to easily swap out broken booms without any significant damage to the main frame, and I am wondering what the least damaging way to do this mod is.

Thanks.