#1 - Problems, Questions, Ideas

[Sebastian Zajonz]

Hello Helifreak-Users,

this is one of 4 threads to support our customers better. In this thread you can post your questions to products, issues with products or ideas.

Please keep it always as short and accurate as possible and try to document it well. If you have a problem, name the problem without small talk and add pictures if possible.

If I can't solve it or answer immediately - I will give it a number and you can see the result in thread #2.

PLEASE - Keep this thread always on-topic!

Thanks for your support!

Sebastian Zajonz

[fjoe]

US part supply? Parts have been scarce this summer.

[Sebastian Zajonz]

For the part suppy I start talking with Luke a couple of days ago and we are trying to find a solution. Luke also try talking with ProStar and the goal is to get a bigger parts volume into the USA without pissing someone off.

It will take a little time. In a couple of weeks I will be in China at Compass factory and we will have some seriouse meetings there. Major topic is for sure this situation, if we can't solve it earlier.

Greetings
Sebastian

[mmracecars]

Yes , parts supply is the biggest prob , I recently had to order 4 parts to fix my 7hv and had to order from 4 diff places , which added an extra week of shipping time and 4 times the cost of shipping.

[cyclo]

I have two 7HVs and in both cases I had to mod certain parts to get the tail section moving smoothly. I do enjoy building helis so this is not too much of a bother for me but I could see others who prefer to just put pieces together and fly with no need to do any modding. Is there a way to improve the quality / tolerances of these parts so it will require almost no modding?

[cyclo]

Another issue I would also like to see addressed is the quality and accuracy of the build instruction manuals. There are cases when users have found erroneous information and pointed them out here on HF but still the manuals were not updated.

Perhaps Compass can provide a sticky here at HF with links to the latest updated manuals, say, in PDF format. This would be very helpful.

[Sebastian Zajonz]

Thanks for that Cyclo.

Hard moving tail
The tail is designed to be like that. The problem with smooth running links is, if they are smooth for the beginning in colder conditions it will be sloppy in warmer condition and wear out quite fast. But maybe we will increase the diamter of the delrin sleeve for the ball to run smoother there and we want to change the aluminium bridge on the slider a bit to run smoother from the beginning. For the ball links I don't think they should be bigger.

Errors in Manuals
For the changes on the manual. We add many points to the WARP, 550 and 6HV ultimate manual. It would be nice to get mistakes in the manual named here in this thread. I will collect them and bring them in in the next version. The next manual will be the Chronos one. I will post it here and ask you all for errors (grammar, numbers, steps). A second version of the Chronos manual will be out fast than.

So for Issues on the manual please name them here like that. Not much talking necessary! 550 Ultimate, Step 34, Part Number 4: wrong article number.

[seefest]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Zajonz

Thanks for that Cyclo.

Hard moving tail
The tail is designed to be like that. The problem with smooth running links is, if they are smooth for the beginning in colder conditions it will be sloppy in warmer condition and wear out quite fast. But maybe we will increase the diamter of the delrin sleeve for the ball to run smoother there and we want to change the aluminium bridge on the slider a bit to run smoother from the beginning. For the ball links I don't think they should be bigger.

Errors in Manuals
For the changes on the manual. We add many points to the WARP, 550 and 6HV ultimate manual. It would be nice to get mistakes in the manual named here in this thread. I will collect them and bring them in in the next version. The next manual will be the Chronos one. I will post it here and ask you all for errors (grammar, numbers, steps). A second version of the Chronos manual will be out fast than.

So for Issues on the manual please name them here like that. Not much talking necessary! 550 Ultimate, Step 34, Part Number 4: wrong article number.

Has the 7HV manual been updated? Last I checked on Prostar site it still had the V1 tail assembly?

[Sebastian Zajonz]

Thats true. Chronos manual is covering the 7HV basically. So we are not going to do another 7HV Ultimate manual.

[GimpyGolden]

6 Ultimate Manual. Step 51, diagram showing belt twist is indicating wrong direction.
I know of at least one customer who suffered some damage when tail spun up opposite direction and machine piro'd on the ground.

[GimpyGolden]

It seems a some guys are having issue with tail belt running to close or rubbing the main gear on their 6 Ult's.
I had a couple ideas that could be implemented to resolve this.
One would be machine the lower flange on the one way sleeve with a little less height to it allowing the main gear assemble to drop down some.
Con is it may weaken the sleeve to the point we see failures.


Other idea was to slot the mounting holes (up/down) for lower support bearing allowing it to be lowered enough to drop gear/pulley assembly but still maintain proper gear alignment.



This couple mm might also cure the 'issue' some have with left cyclic servo horn contacting main pulley at full negative collective and full fore/left cyclic.

[quinn]

Sebastian, will there be a stretch kit for the chronos? It looks like it was built to handle an 800 or maybe 750 setup.

[cyclo]

Thanks for your prompt reply Sebastian! It is good to get the answer direct from the designer of the helicopter!

One other question I have is with regards to the tail hub and tail grips. When you pull the tail rotor blades outwards, should there be a 1-2mm axial play of the blades along the tail hub/shaft?

Based on reading up in the forums there seem to be a consensus that there should be axial play of around 1 to 2 mm. On both my 7HVs, when I assembled them, there was no axial play. I left the first one as is but the second one as part of the fix in trying to resolve shudder at FFF when turning I decided to do some sanding of the tail hub shaft to enable this 1-2 mm axial play on both tail rotor blades.

[RedJoE]

Sebastian, I know you have improved the tail a lot since 7HV v1, however, coming from using other helis, such as Align, SAB, etc and now a 7HV, I have to say, I dislike the 7HV tail. The tail actually fly's really good, however my beef with it is the durability and piece of mind.

1) Drop the delrin hub slider. Take a look at SAB and the others, use a dual arm slider, where the arm grips both upper and bottom of slider. I don't like the fact the slider ball is anchored into a piece of plastic with a very small bolt, it's horribly weak. Again, SAB nailed it.

2) Drop the delrin tail grips. Plastic tail grips don't go well with me, get with it and make metal grips like 99% of the other helis.

3) Don't use grips that slide on the inner bearings, they can jam and cause the grips to be out of balance.

4) Instead of grip link retaining pins simply pressed into the slider hub, use bolts or pins with C-Clips to retain them like everyone else does. Users have reported the pins coming out and destroying their heli.

5) Don't use a roll pin to retain the tail pulley to the tail shaft, again take a look at SAB or KDS, etc, they use bolts with threads where you can use Loctite and rest assured things will hold. Again, SAB nailed it on this one. The pin on my 7HV fell out and almost destroyed the heli. There is nothing you can say to me that will change my mind on this, it could be made safer.

6) Main servo to swash links have been separating at the threads for several pilots including myself, we have made a big stink about it, I'm hoping your new links resolve this problem, if not it needs to be fixed.

7) Servo to swash links should be turnbuckle style. Other helis like SAB and KDS have deployed this style link, it works great and allows for perfect adjustment without having to pop links off, it should be a standard on all helis, including Compass, check out SAB's links you will see how much of an improvement this is.

8) Swash needs to be serviceable, I see you may have fixed this on the Chronos. Swash rear pin is very weak on the 7HVU swash, why is it the 6HVU swash is much stronger than the 7HVU swash, this just doesn't make sense, if the 6HVU swash is the swash to use, then drop the 7HVU from sales, only sell the swash that is strong.

9) Main blade dampers wear very quickly, I see you may have fixed this on the Chronos.

10) Anchor point for grounding the heli. Please build in an easy anchor system into the boom for grounding the boom to the main frame.

11) Fastening the tail block to the boom, there needs to be a better way to do this instead of ramming the bolt through the boom, my tail box bolt holes are stripping out because of this.

12) The main spindle bolts are horrible, the amount of bite you get with your allen wrenches is too little and can easily strip out when disassembling the spindle, you really need to some bigger bolts here, again, look at other helis like SAB, they nailed it, I really hate the spindle bolts on this heli, why is it my SAB 500 has stronger bolts and that have lots of bite for the wrench.

My overall feel for the 7HV is that it's built a bit weak, it's got parts that are weaker than my other 500 - 550 size helis and I want to know the heli is going to be tough, this strength may not be needed, but I want the piece of mind knowing something isn't going to blow apart and the other heli manufactures "get it" and produce strong parts.

Please get some parts here for the USA market, or all of this talk is a moot point.

That's all I can think of for now.

Thank you for looking into your customers feedback, it means a lot.

[Jmann841]

1. On my 6HVU I have had issues with certain servos (Torq BL9188's) not having enough deck clearance to get more than 12 degree's of pitch before the lowest aileron servo horn will touch the main gear.

2. The Elevator swash pin on my Atom 500 is very weak and easily snapped causing me a 70 dollar crash as the Swash plate was unusable after the pin broke off inside. The swash plate is also very expensive for a 500 sized machine.

3. The swash plate is not serviceable. There is a major bearing in there that will wear out over time. Instead of an easy fix of switching the bearing, the design does not allow for it so it is another $70 dollars just for a basic service.

4. Taking the tail case apart on the Atom 500 is a huge pain in the butt. It requires removing the roll pin and replacing it with a new one if you are to change anything with the tail. This was fixed on my 6HVU, however.

5. +1 for the 6HVU Manuals having the belt twist in the wrong direction. I was very lucky and did not crash when My heli took off and started piroing the wrong way very fast because of this.

6. Turnbuckles! Every time I have to pop on and off a swash link it gets weaker. The best solution for this is turn buckles like the SAB and KDS helis. Set it to the correct length, pop it on once, adjust with the turn buckles for better precision and less wear on the links.

These are all I can remember right now as both my compass helis are being shipped. Once I get them back together I will add the ones I am not remembering.

I realize some of these issues, especially on the atom 500, will probably not be updated as it is an older airframe as well.

[Rob43]

Just another voice for more parts inventory. Compass heli parts are the most difficult parts to get of most any brand at this time. The modelers will all thank you for addressing this by purchasing the highest margin merchandise Compass sells!

[TheBum]

1. Get rid of the ball link attachment of the tail grips. Use bushings and screws instead.

2. As previously mentioned, go back to a forked tail slider control arm but make the tail case attachment hinge piece and control arm out of aluminum instead of plastic as it was on the original 7HV tail (and still is on the Atom 500 tail).

3. Except for the tail grip attachment, make the tail slider mechanism fully ball bearing-raced. This includes top and bottom on each end of the tail case attachment hinge as well as top and bottom on the slider itself (where the fork pins go in). Dart Tin does this on their DT models' tails (with a Delrin slider) and they move very freely and fluidly as well as being slop-free. It's the best tail design I've seen.

[Ah Clem]

Sebastian,

Thank you for doing this!

Very good to obtain public feedback and give then end-users/Compass fliers a voice!

[Rockarruda]

+2 for Parts availability and yes THANK YOU Sebastian for responding and stepping up to answer the public and customers.

I would personally delay the Chronos out to either the Holidays or after the new year and really focus on getting the infrastructure, processes, manufacturing, and distribution of the parts completely sorted out. Without the parts supply, releasing a new model will be a moot point. Not to mention a difficult sell, I bought a Compass over another brand for that very reason, and at that time parts were in good supply. We are at the end of the flying season for most of the USA, so the release of a new model at this time may not warrant as many sales as the spring time.

I know my suggestion will be very unpopular with a lot of folks waiting for the Chronos but securing its future, in my opinion, is a higher priority.

[seefest]

Originally Posted by Rockarruda

+2 for Parts availability and yes THANK YOU Sebastian for responding and stepping up to answer the public and customers.

I would personally delay the Chronos out to either the Holidays or after the new year and really focus on getting the infrastructure, processes, manufacturing, and distribution of the parts completely sorted out. Without the parts supply, releasing a new model will be a moot point. Not to mention a difficult sell, I bought a Compass over another brand for that very reason, and at that time parts were in good supply. We are at the end of the flying season for most of the USA, so the release of a new model at this time may not warrant as many sales as the spring time.

I know my suggestion will be very unpopular with a lot of folks waiting for the Chronos but securing its future, in my opinion, is a higher priority.

Well said.