What did you do to your 350QX today?

[edin508]

Originally Posted by The ShOCkER

how about some pictures of those props.

uploadfromtaptalk1392076018180.jpguploadfromtaptalk1392076061290.jpgHere ya go. The last red one on the right is one that I put a little pressure on to see how bad it was, it broke as soon as a little pressure was added.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[pixeltim]

I Mounted the GPS receiver on top, right over the battery today, it worked so much better than before. It's going to be a permanent fix for mine.

[RZR007]

Originally Posted by pixeltim

I Mounted the GPS receiver on top, right over the battery today, it worked so much better than before. It's going to be a permanent fix for mine.

Is that the factory antenna or the upgrade antenna?

[Hunner]

I could really tear that up the way things have been going.
Do you think the plastic interferes a lot?

I'm using the upgrade antenna and with camera recording I can fire up the quad and get a lock now.

I have mine in a dense foam "Helmet".
I use a different antenna.
PixelTim seems to have the original one.

Project today was fly a couple of batteries and see what happened. It drifted some with the new motors and props.
I cleaned up some wiring again to more crash protection and beefed up the landing gear with stronger cross bracing.

I ordered some prop guards for the 9 inch props for testing around here in my limited test area.

Then LHS pilot extraordinaire tried to set my accelerometers but it did not want to bind in that mode. Must have a glitch somewhere. I will work on that.

He flew it in stability and said it was trying to move around but not much.

So I just now, again, after dark have time to test fly in safe mode some more.

Re-painted my heli-pad, the snow sort of had it looking rough.

The present Blade/Hoverthings/Phantom/Tiger/Hybrid



Played with the baby parts quad some
Family portrait







Another wonderful day in the life of a quad.
Now I gotta go lift something!

Oh yeah, some guy in the store asked the classic question, "how much would you charge to build one" priceless!

Edit: flew for a little bit at 12:09 am, 29 degrees gusts to 23 and started snowing. I'm done for tonight.
It flew well but needed more throttle to lift off than stock.
Will see tomorrow if I have enough left for the gimbal and camera with the added lift I hope I am getting.

[mrcottonmouth]

Sweet

[Hugh.E.Chopper]

[YOUTUBE][ame]http://youtu.be/xF5P4yCFgdg[/ame][YOUTUBE]

I went out to video the ice/snow storm aftermath this morning (2/13/14) and after doing what I could in SAFE mode I needed more altitude so I switched to Stability mode and climbed to several hundred feet. About the time I had used all the battery I dared and decided to make a descent for landing the quad snapped onto its back and made about an 11 or 12 turn spin, totally out of control onto the roof of my house.

Both body halves are demolished. one skid is broken, GoPro mount tore out of the fuselage and broke in half, and I found a classic break/missing blade half on one of the OEM "B" props.

The good news was that the GoPro Hero 3+ Black is still working perfectly, just a few scratches on the waterproof camera case lens frame, the battery never budged beneath its Velcro strap, and I have a set of tall skids already on order at my LHS. Now I have both fuselage halves on order too. :-)

BTW, NO control input had the slightest effect . . . just in case you were wondering.

[edin508]

I just took mine out of the box to install the new GPS that showed up today so I can take it out tomorrow and give it a try. All 4 brand new blades are stress cracked! ZERO flights on them! I was careful not to over tighten them when I put them on, WTF!? This is just after discovering all 4 of my old blades were stress cracked, all "B" props BTW. Which is why they all just got changed out the other day,( 6 posts up ) then then 350 went back into the box until today. I am so frazzled right now!! I'm not sure I can trust this damn thing. Going to place another call to HH tomorrow to see what the hell is going on here. I have one more brand new full set of props complements of HH that showed up today from the first set that all cracked, but I don't plan on even putting them on until I talk to HH.
These things must be made of the cheapest damn plastic there is!

[HIGHOCTANE22]

You aren't using loctite on the screws are you?
Also ANY chance ANY type of chemicals came I contact with the props..
I know first hand that certain chemicals will turn the props into candy props without any visible deformation of the plastic other than they become extremely brittle, in my case it was CDC electric motor cleaner..the QD version was fine..the regular version..kills the props...lesson learned..newb moment.

Originally Posted by edin508

I just took mine out of the box to install the new GPS that showed up today so I can take it out tomorrow and give it a try. All 4 brand new blades are stress cracked! ZERO flights on them! I was careful not to over tighten them when I put them on, WTF!? This is just after discovering all 4 of my old blades were stress cracked, all "B" props BTW. Which is why they all just got changed out the other day,( 6 posts up ) then then 350 went back into the box until today. I am so frazzled right now!! I'm not sure I can trust this damn thing. Going to place another call to HH tomorrow to see what the hell is going on here. I have one more brand new full set of props complements of HH that showed up today from the first set that all cracked, but I don't plan on even putting them on until I talk to HH.
These things must be made of the cheapest damn plastic there is!

[edin508]

Originally Posted by Hugh.E.Chopper

[YOUTUBE]http://youtu.be/xF5P4yCFgdg[YOUTUBE]

I went out to video the ice/snow storm aftermath this morning (2/13/14) and after doing what I could in SAFE mode I needed more altitude so I switched to Stability mode and climbed to several hundred feet. About the time I had used all the battery I dared and decided to make a descent for landing the quad snapped onto its back and made about an 11 or 12 turn spin, totally out of control onto the roof of my house.

Both body halves are demolished. one skid is broken, GoPro mount tore out of the fuselage and broke in half, and I found a classic break/missing blade half on one of the OEM "B" props.

The good news was that the GoPro Hero 3+ Black is still working perfectly, just a few scratches on the waterproof camera case lens frame, the battery never budged beneath its Velcro strap, and I have a set of tall skids already on order at my LHS. Now I have both fuselage halves on order too. :-)

BTW, NO control input had the slightest effect . . . just in case you were wondering.

First off, sorry for your loss, very frustrating! I would bet the bank that a prop broke off in fight, send that vid. link to HH. They seemed so surprised the other day when I called to tell them about my props.

[edin508]

Originally Posted by HIGHOCTANE22

You aren't using loctite on the screws are you?

I used the tiniest amount (end of a toothpick) just on the bottom of the screw because I didn't want to over tighten the screws.

[HIGHOCTANE22]

Originally Posted by edin508

I used the tiniest amount (end of a toothpick) just on the bottom of the screw because I didn't want to over tighten the screws.

Oops..there's your problem Undried loctite and platistic do not play well together..you aren't the first to make this mistake.

[edin508]

Originally Posted by HIGHOCTANE22

Oops..there's your problem Undried loctite and platistic do not play well together..you aren't the first to make this mistake.

Do you really think that small of an amount of lock tight would do this? There is no warning on the lock tight (Zap blue) or in the 350 book not to use it. And the cracks in the props are not that close to the screws either, the plastic just seems very brittle.

[HIGHOCTANE22]

Originally Posted by edin508

Do you really think that small of an amount of lock tight would do this? There is no warning on the lock tight (Zap blue) or in the 350 book not to use it. And the cracks in the props are not that close to the screws either, the plastic just seems very brittle.

Yes I do.
From the loctite (brand)website..
"IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not use anaerobic threadlockers on most thermoplastics (ABS, PVC, etc). Softening and/or stress cracking may occur. "

Like I said you aren't the first to find out the hard way. I've read that the loctite doesn't even have to contact the plastic..that the gases it gives off while curing will cause deterioration.

[edin508]

Originally Posted by HIGHOCTANE22

Yes I do.
From the loctite (brand)website..
"IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not use anaerobic threadlockers on most thermoplastics (ABS, PVC, etc). Softening and/or stress cracking may occur. "

Like I said you aren't the first to find out the hard way. I've read that the loctite doesn't even have to contact the plastic..that the gases it gives off while curing will cause deterioration.

Holy crap!
I wish they would put this warning on the stinking bottle of the stuff. And I kinda wish HH would have said something to that effect when I talked to them the other day as well. With a warning in the 350 book too!

Thanks for pointing this out.

[HIGHOCTANE22]

Originally Posted by edin508

Holy crap!
I wish they would put this warning on the stinking bottle of the stuff. And I kinda wish HH would have said something to that effect when I talked to them the other day as well. With a warning in the 350 book too!

Thanks for pointing this out.

The thing about "tech support" with any big multiple line company like HH is the guys answering the calls field questions about many different products..they are kind if a jack if all trades...a guy who owns 1 or 2 or 3 models and spends a little time on these forums with other owners can talk circles around a guy about his specific issue when talking to someone who has to know a little about every model. I'm sure they have some computer aides..but it only goes so far. So far in my experience their CS is very good..but chances you get a 350QX expert on the phone who has all the answers is pretty slim..minus the blade 350 product developers they probably don't have any employees that know the 350 inside and out. jMO

BTW I'm pretty sure there is a warning on the loctite brand and maybe permatex threadlocker..not sure about any others.

[fishycomics]

Originally Posted by edin508

First off, sorry for your loss, very frustrating! I would bet the bank that a prop broke off in fight, send that vid. link to HH. They seemed so surprised the other day when I called to tell them about my props.

+1 send it in!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I stare at the Blade 350, and the FFM350, and I stare outside, All I can say is, the fish will fly another day. Wetness and theblade for me just does not mix, especially the ffm 350.

Small steps. getting the old, original one working, then the radio, tehn the gps, the foil the gimbal, and before you know it SPRING!

[pixeltim]

Originally Posted by RZR007

Is that the factory antenna or the upgrade antenna?

Just the standard one. I did screw up thought, I must have pulled on the cable a bit or something because now it's loose and won't lock at all. I picked up the upgraded antenna but I haven't installed it yet.
What would likely work really well is to make a new battery holder that has the antenna mount aft of the gps board, then the battery would shield the rfi from the GoPro and the antenna would still be protected by the shell of the 350qx.
If only I had a 3d printer..... maybe that will be an upcoming purchase. I need to research to find one that does what I need without breaking the bank.

[HIGHOCTANE22]

Originally Posted by pixeltim

Just the standard one. I did screw up thought, I must have pulled on the cable a bit or something because now it's loose and won't lock at all. I picked up the upgraded antenna but I haven't installed it yet.
What would likely work really well is to make a new battery holder that has the antenna mount aft of the gps board, then the battery would shield the rfi from the GoPro and the antenna would still be protected by the shell of the 350qx.
If only I had a 3d printer..... maybe that will be an upcoming purchase. I need to research to find one that does what I need without breaking the bank.

I keep seeing mention of relocating to get shielding from the battery..pretty sure the antenna is above the battery in the stock location right? Don't have mine here to confirm but I could have sworn the battery extends past the antenna

[pixeltim]

Originally Posted by HIGHOCTANE22

I keep seeing mention of relocating to get shielding from the battery..pretty sure the antenna is above the battery in the stock location right? Don't have mine here to confirm but I could have sworn the battery extends past the antenna

If the battery is in the furthest forward position, then yes, but I move my battery as far aft as possible to get the center of gravity to be less nose heavy, that opens a direct path between the GoPro and the antenna.

[HIGHOCTANE22]

Originally Posted by pixeltim

If the battery is in the furthest forward position, then yes, but I move my battery as far aft as possible to get the center of gravity to be less nose heavy, that opens a direct path between the GoPro and the antenna.

Gotcha, thanks