How many versions of the X7 are there?

[907Heli]

I'm thinking about buying an X7, I think version 1 from Gaui's special sale.

http://www.gaui.com.tw/product/speci.../x7-basic-kit/

Can anyone tell me what version it is, how many important updates there have been, I'd there are any really important ones. I'm mostly concerned about durability issues.

Thanks

[scoio]

That is the first version.The X7F follow it, these upgrades:
http://www.gaui.com.tw/product/x7-se...ula-basic-kit/

It is your call, in getting the basic kit and do the main upgrades (might save few bucks) or getting directly the X7F or either the just released X7FZ.

Except this, you can t go wrong with any of those, V1 included. The X7 is a tank, IMHO the strongest crash resistant heli in the market...
The only "issue" I can complain about is their TT, which is a PITA get in mounted right, never got a TT perfectly straight out of the box..

[Integrity Handywork]

Originally Posted by 907Heli

I'm thinking about buying an X7, I think version 1 from Gaui's special sale.

http://www.gaui.com.tw/product/speci.../x7-basic-kit/

Can anyone tell me what version it is, how many important updates there have been, I'd there are any really important ones. I'm mostly concerned about durability issues.

Thanks

The link you gave is the basic kit. The frame is good, the tail and everything are basically the same as the newer kits. But that basic kit just doesn't come with the wrap around "formula" style canopy or the nicer formula flybarless rotor head (not that the "basic" rotorhead isn't nice too, at least to start with). As scoio said, you could buy this heli and then buy the formula rotor head and likely save some money. The one and only thing I would want to be sure of is that it comes with one of the upgraded OWB hubs that uses a sprang clutch bearing instead of the original roller clutch bearing. It's been so long since that original OWB hub and they've released like 5 different versions since then. So I'm pretty sure even the basic kits have the new OWB hub by now. Even if it doesn't, for that price you could upgrade later.

Otherwise I agree with scoio about it being the strongest, most crash resilient heli on the market and you can't really go wrong either way you go, IMO. However, I personally never have problems with the torque tube like he described. I usually just take them out of the package, glue the bearings, bolt on the tips, apply some silicone grease to the bearing o-rings and shove the TT into the boom. Even if the TT shaft has a slight bend, the bearings and the end gears straighten it out and it's never been a problem for me. Though tail blades are a different story. It's kind of a known issue at this point that the X7 can hum, vibrate, and be rather particular about what tail blades you use(because of the high tail speed). Especially if you fly 2000+ RPM. It seems that there are some brands/designs it just doesn't like. Though it doesn't seem to have much of any problem with others.

[907Heli]

Thank you gentlemen, that's the type of input I'm looking for.

[fastblade]

2260hs.... no issues what so ever with Rail 106... never an issue with the torque tubes either... and I've have been through a lot of them in the beginning... maybe just lucky

[Integrity Handywork]

Originally Posted by fastblade

2260hs.... no issues what so ever with Rail 106... never an issue with the torque tubes either... and I've have been through a lot of them in the beginning... maybe just lucky

I do the same with Rail 106mm tails also. However, when I tried blades like Align or RJX they just vibrated so violently that the tail box turned on the boom and the pin screw "ate" a 10+mm slot around the boom where the pin hole used to be in just a few seconds. Zeal blades worked good at lower RPM, but once I put it up to something like 2100-2250 they would hum like crazy. But not vibrate like the others.

So there are some blades out there that just don't play well with this heli. Otherwise if you stick to the brands you know that work. It's not an issue. I know Rotortech 105s were the smoothest for me. But Rails have been working well. I've also been told that Spin, Edge, and Switch tails work fine. I've also used Halos without any issue. Also it looks like there is a brand new Halo branded set of the "Fun-Key / Century RotorTech" 105mm blades being sold at Gaui.com.tw that look very promising.

[bredler]

I was also just looking at this. Shipping is $98 and they state that you may still have to pay other fees for customs and taxes or whatever...has anyone ordered direct from Gaui and can confirm or deny this?

$349 would be entirely too good to pass up and I was going to buy the kit and acquire parts slowly. $450 total with shipping is still 50% off...but anything more and I'm not really seeing why I should get a kit now.

[907Heli]

I bought a set of B finish 580 mm blades, paid 7 dollars shipping and no extra fees.

[2slow2g]

My x3 kit was around $50 to ship so $98 for the x7 sounds about right. High but reasonable for as fast as they ship. The other fees are most likely related to countries other than the US.

[Integrity Handywork]

I have bought multiple pieces of apparel as well as Gaui E28R parts direct from Gaui, as they aren't or weren't available elsewhere in the USA, at least at the time. They sometimes seems to take a couple days to ship. But it's always been FedEx or DHL which I haven't had any issues with additional taxes or fees. They don't give you an option of carrier. They use whatever works best. But at least they seem to use what are in my opinion the better carriers to use if your shipping from over seas. Of course they have to put that advisory there, just in case. Also every region could be different, and I haven't ordered anything as big as a X7. So every order could be different. But I would pull the trigger and hope for the best if it were me.

[bredler]

Pulled the trigger on the X7 basic kit. It's too good of a deal for a heli that I just love to watch fly.

Now the 18 month process of acquiring parts begins!

[Rc-Heaven]

Congrats!
Lots of options for setup in this thread

[bredler]

I got my kit and took a look through the parts.

It looks like the old OWB gear set is what's included. How much of a priority should I make it to replace that with the updated part? Same question for the standard head vs. formula head. I'll be taking quite a while to pull parts together for this, but I'm doing all the research up front so I can just watch for deals and pick them up as they come. Even switching those parts out, I'm at ~$700 so it's still a 20% discount if I can get those parts in the US with free shipping.

[Integrity Handywork]

Originally Posted by bredler

I got my kit and took a look through the parts.

It looks like the old OWB gear set is what's included. How much of a priority should I make it to replace that with the updated part? Same question for the standard head vs. formula head. I'll be taking quite a while to pull parts together for this, but I'm doing all the research up front so I can just watch for deals and pick them up as they come. Even switching those parts out, I'm at ~$700 so it's still a 20% discount if I can get those parts in the US with free shipping.

The old OWB set being the one with the roller clutch bearing instead of the sprang tooth one? I fly mine in between waiting for a new OWB and it hasn't given me any issue. But back in the day people reported having them slip on them after 40-50 flights, or something like that. Others had no problem, so it's hard to say what kind of priority to put on it. Like i said, I still use mine sometimes. I can't remember if the roller bearings were failing. But I do remember that under heavy flight the whole OWB assembly would slip in the hub. So there was a mod to add flat spots for the grub screws and glue the OWB assembly into the hub with green thread lock. If your not a 3d smack pilot, you might not have to worry about it much at all. But you'll have to decide your priority on when to upgrade it.

The old rotor head is actually still pretty nice. You might want to get the CNC driver fork upgrade for it. You can read around the forums about how some people had the stock plastic drivers get bound up on the pitch linkage between the metal and plastic. But if you set it up properly you can prevent that. Just check it out well before flying and move the loops around to make sure nothing can catch. The CNC forks don't have that to worry about because they aren't loops. But they do wear out after a lot of flights so you just have to keep an eye on the slop between the pitch links and the forks and replace them for $20 every couple hundred flights. No big deal. So again, your call on what priority to set on upgrading. A lot of the other stuff like the canopy and tail boom are just cosmetic. Also there are some red parts that come on the newer Formula kits that probably don't come on the basic kit. Most of them are the same just red instead of silver. Things like C washers, support rods and their caps,tail parts, etc.

[gilligansc]

I have all the upgraded parts from a crashed formula, except the swash plate( which had the AR pin rip out)
PM if interested

[Gaui-Deanoo]

I have been using the old OWB for 12 months now in competition flying and i can honestly say that iv had no trouble with it, Just keep it greased up every month or so and there should be no trouble

I was going to upgrade it to the new one but i honestly cant find a reason to do so, dont worry about it unless it is causing you problems

[flyswatter40]

907 Heli , did you buy a kit? What do you think of what you received?

[907Heli]

No, things didn't work out the way I hoped.