Resurrecting a Legend: JR SG E12 ITO

[DCflyer]

Hello all. I've made enough progress lately so I thought i'd start a build thread. I use these not only to share cool builds, but also as sort of personal running journal entry/log of things. I've referenced such threads in the past in case I have an issue in the future. So please excuse the length/detail of this build. I do it so I can reference it in the future. Enjoy.

Anyway, a little history. The E12 has always been one of my favorite airframes ever since I first laid eyes on it. Its very unique and well thought out and JR quality is second to none. When I saw there was an ITO version, I knew it was something I wanted to own one day. Well that day has come.

Several months ago a pristine airframe came up on the forums with very low air time, sport flying etc. I purchased it with only servos and batteries. When I received it, it did not disappoint. It was pristine, meticulously built and cared for. There was no dirt in the gears, no scuff marks, canopy was flawless, landing gear struts didn't have even a spec of dirt - everything was like brand new. You know how they say to never meet your hero's because they don't live up to expectations? This was not the case here. I was just staring at the airframe that night excited to finally have a dream heli of mine.

I also own a Vibe 0.50 and the quality and design is very similar. Very rigid, narrow, stiff frames. High quality tolerances, etc. The ITO is just on another level though. You can tell the airframe was built for big power and high precision flying. I know there are newer JR kits out today, but the ITO is the one for me.

On to the build. After thinking about which direction I wanted to go I decided on a powerful 12S setup, but with a YGE controller, so I can run 14S down the road if I want to.

Xnova XTS 4530-525kv
YGE 160HV V5
iKon metal version
JR 8717's (cyclic), Futaba BLS 251 (760us/560hz) (tail)
DSMX sats
6S 5000mah 45C Pulse & Glacier packs (for mild 3D)
6S 4500mah 70C Thunderpower Magna (For light weight hard 3D)
7S 4400mah 70C Thunderpower (down the road)
Gryphon VEGA 10A/20A peak linear voltage regulator
Pulse 2S 2500mah Rx Lipo
Radix V2 710mm FBL blades (these were quite hard to find)
Radix 106mm tails

Gearing/headspeeds:
I decided to run the factory 9T/93T setup, yielding right at 2000-2050rpm governed 80% on the YGE. With 710mm blades that should be more than adequate and a good compromise between power and flight times. On 14S, I will likely swap on my Edge 695mm blades and turn it up to 2150 in the future if I want to.

The machine originally had a Western Robotics BEC on it, but I like to run separate power sources for my bigger machines. This cleans up wiring a lot and also allows me to do setup without powering the motor. The little added extra weight is only marginal. I also like to regulate down. My servos run at 6V and i'm using a Lipo. In the unfortunate case that the BEC fails, it will send 7.4v to the servos and FBL, which shouldn't damage the electronics and allow me to land.


Moving on to the actual build, the ITO is a fantastic machine, but there are some things I improved on and I will show those here. One of the things I enjoy the most is improving on the original design with better parts. I've done this on all my builds in the past.

Here is where the build begins. Cyclic servos only. The only enhancements I made the frame at this stage was to file down the carbon plate near the motor mount so my motor wires would clear easier (found out from dry fitting the motor that clearance was a little tight there). And I also used a very fast drying superglue called Instacure to put a coat down on the edges of the frames. This not only smooths them out, but gives the edges a high gloss professional finish.
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This was from my 700N build but you get the idea:




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So it begins. The ITO waiting patiently:



The unique linkage assembly. This is my only big electric that utilizes a "push/pull" linkage assembly. Although there are more parts, I kind of prefer this on big machines as the point of contact to the swash is leveraged and the load more spread out.



To give you an idea of how thin this frame is check this out. Its about as wide as a quarter. This is its greatest advantage over other models out there - its incredibly stiff due to its narrow nature; not a lot of room for flex. On the flip side, this does make routing wires a bit of a challenge on this machine, but I think I have that mostly figured out. Also, I replaced the factory plastic tail case block with the metal red one you see in the pic. Turns out, JR makes this upgraded version for the original E12 that also happens to fit the ITO naturally.



Moving on to the gears in this helicopter, they did their homework. The gears are massive on this machine. The pinion is 20mm tall, the main gear is 18mm. The main hub and auto gear are very beefy Mod1 gears as well. The tail drive gears and tail case gears are very large and robust - much larger than my other 700's. The front tail drive gear that contacts the auto gear is even made of metal!


Here is a shot of the pinion and pinion support bearing. The large helical design necessitates this. The support bearing is huge. The top of the pinion is threaded. It slides through the bearing and a large 11m nut secures it on top. The pinion also uses dual M2 set screws.



To give you an idea of just how big this main gear is, here is a shot of it next to the Lynx main gear that will be going on my 14s 770 Competition build. Granted, the Goblin utilizes a two-stage drivetrain, but still. The ITO gear still dwarfs my Mod1 112T KDE gear on my 700N. Its almost twice the size. This gear is CNC'd and made to handle serious power with ease. The hub is also quite massive and very beefy and the whole assembly just feels awesome in your hands.




The main gear assembly is a bit flawed however. This is one of the first enhancements I made to the model. It uses one 15x17x0.25mm shim spacer in between the main and auto gear. When assembled there is about 0.5mm of play in between the two gears. When assembled into the airframe I could rock the main gear up and down on the pinion, effectively changing its contact points. Definitely not good. So, I searched and found a couple of shims that worked perfectly. These are same ID, but with a 20mm OD and 0.2mm thick. I used two. The larger OD actually fit much better into the groove of the auto gear. The smaller factory shim takes up the slack/space in between the bearing and hub where it rests, and the two bigger shims I used take up the extra slack in between the main and auto gear. The whole assembly is now rock solid with zero play, and ultra smooth. I cleaned the OWB out and re-oiled it with lightweight Tri-Flow oil. I also oiled the radial bearings with Scorpion motor bearing oil. Ready to go.

Here is a shot of the shims. The smaller one is the factory one and originally the only one used. The two bigger ones are the ones i've added. I've placed one in the groove of the auto gear to give an idea of how it rests when assembled.



Next up, I decided to rebuild the head and tail assemblies. All bearings (thrust and radial) were replaced with supplies from AvidRC Bearings. There was no real need to do this, since the machine only had ~40 easy flights on it, but I wanted to get in there and do it my way.

I used high quality bearings in the head and Tri-Flow synthetic grease on the thrust bearings. The head also received fresh dampeners and rubber bushings as well as a new spindle. Fresh red loctite was applied to the spindle bolts.

The head assembly broken down. A unique feature of the ITO edition is that it uses rigid Delrin dampeners for an ultra stiff head. This results in a very rigid head in the air that feels very crisp, but as a downside the machine is not great at low headspeed due to the stiffness of the damps. The actual dampening comes from the small rubber bushings that rest inside the grooves of the dampeners, similar to a Compass head. 1800rpm is probably the lowest i'll be running it to avoid head shakes.



The tail, however needed a little work. The rubber bushings (that also provide actual dampening) had worn out allowing quite a bit of play in the grips when pulled outward. I took a little extra care here since I wanted an ultra smooth tail and installed a fresh set of high quality ceramic radial bearings as well as ceramic thrust bearings. New rubber bushings as well. Also used a set of high strength QuickUK spindle bolts......3x8mm for maximum strength. Fresh red loctite everywhere here as well......tail bolts and set screws. Everything else in the tail rotor was pristine and very tight/no play.

Here is a shot of the ceramics going in as well as the new rubber bushings installed onto the hub:




One of the other major enhancements I made to this machine that i've also done on past builds is the linkage/link/ball assembly. I will cover this in more detail later but will introduce it now. The factory JR links are fine to use on the servos and push/pull linkage assemblies, but when you start getting up to the swash area I want:

-Bigger linkages and turnbuckles for adjustability
-Bigger links/balls to handle heavy duty abuse

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As an example, here is a picture of my Vibe 0.50's head assembly I put together using a Synergy head, DaVinci 2.5mm turnbuckles, 5mm Synergy balls/links on the head, and metal servo wheels:




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Back to the ITO, I had a similar idea. First of all the swashplate: I love the quality of it. So beefy and the swash radial bearings is enormous! Again, built for abuse. You can see here I replaced the balls for the head linkage assemblies with Synergy 5mm units. You can tell how much bigger they are next to the factory JR balls that will be used for the follower arm assembly.




Here is the factory swash-to-blade grip link/linkage assembly that was used compared to the one I will be using. Lynx 2.7mm titanium turnbuckles with Synergy links.



I will also be using Lynx titanium turnbuckles for the Aileron arms-to-swash assembly. These were hard to find. The Goblin 500 actually has 34mm turnbuckles that Lynx makes a linkage for so those matched up perfectly. Here is a shot of the factory ones next to what i'll be using for both the head linkage and aileron linkage.



On to the final, and most significant, enhancement I made to the airframe is adding a third bearing block to the mainshaft assembly. Why JR decided to only include two blocks I don't understand. Every modern 550+ sized machine should really utilize three blocks. Also, most traditional two-block setups use both blocks above the main gear with main gear "floating" below right? Not the case with the ITO. It uses one block below the main gear and the other above it near the top of the frame. Thats right.......ONE bearing block supporting 710mm blades at 2000+rpm. Why JR? If that block fails, its over and it spectacular fashion to boot. You need at least two blocks above the main gear - if one fails you still have the other as backup. This is common sense I thought. Granted the bearings are huge, but I drilled holes and added a third block here to be safe, since this will be a high-powered hard 3D machine.



My last piece of progress was installing the motor and speed controller setup. Before install I test spooled everything and set up the speed controller and GovStore mode so everything is ready to go once bolted up. The Xnova motor is ultra smooth and sounds so powerful - amazing piece of tech. 5100w of continuous power, 11,000w 2sec peak. 1.5mm single wind that is hand wound. Triple bearing support for the motor shaft. Large, self-lubricating bearings, etc. Very impressed by this motor. Xnova also includes very large male/female 5.5mm bullets for the ESC/Motor. Very impressed at their quality as well.

The YGE should be a great match for it. I am using EC5's throughout. More detail on the battery/harness setup later. For now, behold......



The pinion and support assembly mounted and red-loctited. I have left the motor mount bolts loose so I can easily adjust gear mesh later.



Another challenge with this narrow, tight fitting airframe, is wiring the ESC/Motor wires. Luckily, Xnova has an answer for this as well - they use very stiff motor wires allowing you to simply bend them into place - they aren't going ANYwhere. My Scorpions, in comparison, use very flexible motor wires that would require some kind of strap to hold them down out and away from the frame if I were to use one here. The Xnova wires allow for a very clean and professional look with ample clearance of the wires from the motor can.

Here is a top down view showing this:


With motor setup done, I quickly moved on to the servo assemblies and replaced the factory phillips head screws with high quality 3x6mm bolts. Utilizing the proprietary JR servo horns that allow for perfect positioning of the servo horn therefore eliminating any need for subtrim within the FBL controller. Well done here JR. Kudos!



And lastly, here is where I am at now. I have installed the mainshaft and main gear assembly. I have also used Clean Ride Wax based lube on all gear assemblies to give them some non-stick, non-oil based adhesion protection during initial break in of this powerful motor.



That's it for now. Over the next couple weeks I will try to finish up the head assembly and mount the FBL, program the cyclic servos, install tail servo, BEC, Rx lipo, Sats, and route all wiring. Once that is done I will move on to installing the tail assembly. I will update as I go along.

Cheers and Happy New Year! Lots to smile about going into 2016.

[malc1]

Thanks for posted this and look forward to your thoughts and information.

I luckily have a brand new in the box Hiroki Ito version kit here that I managed to get hold of and all electronics ready to start very soon.

[malc1]

Is there any chance that you have the JR part number for the Red tail boom block upgrade?
Thanks.

[myster.mask]

I like your thread, man!

It's built like a professional review, with so much useful and detailed info!

Keep going!

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by malc1

Is there any chance that you have the JR part number for the Red tail boom block upgrade?
Thanks.

Sure thing - here it is:

https://rcjapan.net/jr-heli-parts-61...56f962m32u15u5

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by myster.mask

I like your thread, man!

It's built like a professional review, with so much useful and detailed info!

Keep going!

Thanks....i'm just waiting on a Kontronik Tordial core and a Quantum 12in sat extension cable to get here and I can finish up wiring. The BEC, Rx pack, and FBL unit are now mounted. Will detail that soon.

[amphibia]

your post is on the same quality level as your E12. It provides a lot of good details and inspirations. thanks.

[malc1]

Originally Posted by DCflyer

Sure thing - here it is:

https://rcjapan.net/jr-heli-parts-61...56f962m32u15u5

Thanks for that.

A pair of them now ordered along with a spare main gear.

[DCflyer]

Was able to tidy up the wiring today. Very happy with the way it turned out. Mounted all electronics. Red loctite'd everything. Next will be to level the swash, set up the cyclic servos in the FBL, and do head pitch setup before mounting the boom and finishing the tail. Also installed fresh JR battery straps and velcro strips on the battery tray. I also decided to opt for running the Quantum Sat Rx cables over the Spektrum units. They are much beefier and heavy duty.

I get more and more impressed by this machine as it comes together. Everything is just perfect tolerance, bolts up so well, and just feels super solid/rigid in your hands. I'm currently also beginning to build my Goblin 770 and I have to say - the Vibe quality is higher than the Goblin. I guess that isn't much of a surprise when you think about it.

So here's the rest of the electronics all mounted up. The Gryphon BEC on the side of the frame runs its two power leads through the side slot in the frame and forward up into the FBL.



The biggest challenge with this airframe has to be wiring. This is due to its extremely narrow profile - running the wires inside the frame can be difficult. So for the electronics mounted toward the back of the frame you have to get a little creative. I swear by using JR wire clips for mounting wiring externally. Makes for a very clean setup.

I decided to run my ESC throttle cable up and over the frame and down the right side (since there is a single linkage assembly on that side and there's tons more room). I've researched this model and see many wiring routes that lead the wires up and underneath the main gear, which is a little scary if it gets sucked up in there. The only way forward from there is to secure the wires to the battery tray system and then up forward in the FBL, which I also wanted to avoid should I want to remove my battery tray. This way all the wiring is permantly attached and out of the way as well as easily serviceable. I also ran my satellite cable down the same route along with my tail servo.



Here's how the three wires converge on the opposite side of the frame. Also went ahead and installed fresh gears in the Futaba BLS251 tail servo.



The wiring moving forward on the frame, using three JR wire hooks down the length of the right side, keeps everything nice and neat and very accessible. I also decided to mount my Rx pack, a Pulse 2550mah 2S, vertically toward the front of the frame. Since my YGE is mounted on the left rear, the Lipo should nicely counterbalance that weight.



Finally, into the FBL.



Final linkage assembly done. The Lynx turnbuckles look great on the bellcrank-to-swash. Another interesting thing about this model is that the mainshaft collar actually sits below the upper bearing block, which is kind of a PITA should you need to remove the mainshaft - you will also need to remove the upper bearing block. But, the advantage is that the swash can sit lower and the mainshaft can be shorter thus allowing the head to run lower to the frame for faster response. The third bearing block worked out great and the main gear pinion lash is set.




She's alive!!!

[cboo]

I won this same kit at IRCHA this past August! I am just starting the build. I am more of a sport flyer than hard core 3D, Flips, rolls, tick tocks, flying inverted. I hope ill be ok using a scorpion 560kv with the Talon 120 ESC, Ikon fbl, and a set of the Xpert servos. This is my first 700 size heli. I hope parts will be available, this is also my first JR heli.

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by cboo

I won this same kit at IRCHA this past August! I am just starting the build. I am more of a sport flyer than hard core 3D, Flips, rolls, tick tocks, flying inverted. I hope ill be ok using a scorpion 560kv with the Talon 120 ESC, Ikon fbl, and a set of the Xpert servos. This is my first 700 size heli. I hope parts will be available, this is also my first JR heli.

The Talon 120 should be fine for it, but the 4025-560kv will be a good bit underpowered for a machine on 710mm blades. With that motor, i'd run 690mm blades and you're still going to have to take it fairly easily. That motor, being underpowered, will push the ESC harder as well. The ITO normally runs the Scorp 4525 which isn't a crazy motor but still quite potent. An alternative to that would be the Scorpion 4235 Nick Maxwell Edition. Same motor basically - just a narrower, taller stator/can that suits the Ito well. Aside from that I think you have a solid setup there.

[cboo]

The motor is a newer scorpion HKlll-4035-560kv and I have 700mm razor main blades. What do you think, will that be ok?

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by cboo

The motor is a newer scorpion HKlll-4035-560kv and I have 700mm razor main blades. What do you think, will that be ok?

Here's the spec sheet on that motor:

http://www.scorpionsystem.com/catalo...KIII_4035_560/

As you can see there, it makes pretty decent continuous power @ 4200w. Thats ok. The issue is the peak power listed @ only 5200w. Thats pretty low there.

So the machine will have no problem doing basic sport flight, flips rolls, circuits etc. But that peak power is needed when doing more aggressive stuff like tic tocs, big air power loops or hurricanes, fast direction changes and hard stops etc. Thats where that peak power comes into play for those 1-2 seconds you need maximum power. If the motor is underpowered here it will struggle to maintain headspeed and will bog and as a result will pull maximum amperage from your ESC as well as your packs. Not much "overhead" if you will with that motor.

Will it work? Sure - but i'd highly suggest a 4525 stator on a machine this size. Something with peak currents in the 6500-8000 range minimum IMO.

Really depends on your flying style as well. But i'd rather have the power and not need it than need it and not have it. A little wiggle room is nice.


Here is the spec sheet on the 4525:
http://www.scorpionsystem.com/catalo..._4525_520_ult/

Notice the peak wattage figure. Almost double that of the 4035. Yet it still runs at the same, 100A, continuous current. The peak current amperage pulls are quite different though, due to the increased peak power figures.

[malc1]

I have a 4525 Ultimate 520kv to go in mine along with a Scorpion Commander V 160A Sbec.

[cboo]

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately I already purchased the 4035-560 and won't be able to return it. Bummer

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by cboo

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately I already purchased the 4035-560 and won't be able to return it. Bummer

I'd put it in the classifieds here in that case. The 4525 is a pretty common motor. They come up for sale here quite often. Just check from time to time and try to get one with low miles.

[cboo]

If I get the 4525 ultimate 520KV will my Castle Talon 120 be sufficient? I see the peak amperage can reach 230 amps.

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by cboo

If I get the 4525 ultimate 520KV will my Castle Talon 120 be sufficient? I see the peak amperage can reach 230 amps.

Should be fine, given your described flying style. 120's is what 700's were initially run with when the 4525 was sort of the go-to motor for 700's. For today's high powered setups, a 120 on a 700 is a bit on the lower end, but still very capable. Once you start getting into the bigger motors like 4530s/4535s a 160A is required.

Here's a video of the machine with a 120 being pushed quite hard. Very aggressive collective inputs here. You can see it handles the abuse quite well, but starts to bog quite hard a few times in the video when it hits large current loads. If you don't fly this hard you should be 100% fine.

Also, make sure your "current limiting" selection in the Castle software is set to "insensitive". This will keep the ESC from going into over-current protection (ie slowdown) when bigger loads are reached.

Steven Gerrard JR vibe E12 Ito (4 min 9 sec)

[cboo]

wow! I'm no where near that level of flying yet, but someday I hope too. Thanks for posting that video of the ITO edition of the Vibe. The Nick Maxwell scorpion 4025 motor is for a narrow body Helicopter, would you recommend that motor. Thanks again for your help!

[DCflyer]

The nick maxwell edition is a 4235 stator. Same motor essentially as the 4525 - just different dimensions. Either will work perfectly.