Protos arrived today - Build question

[ryguy76]

Hi guys,

My Protos arrived today, and I started building tonight. Just a fair warning that I'm going to have lots of questions.

I'm already off to a bad start trying to assemble the servo frame block... I have a bad habit of not knowing my own strength and over tightening. I cracked not 1, not 2, but 3 of the little plastic, 2 hole fitting plates that are used to attach the servo to the frame. I really didn't think I was even close to having them THAT tight. Is "snug" the key in this endeavour?

Should I continue with the broken fittings? (seen in the 1st pic). Remove them and get new ones?

I also notice that servo block is far from square, (pic 2)... will this resolve itself when mounted to the frame?

Not only that, but I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the servos is going to be "funky." It makes a bad grinding sound when I've bumped the horn. Not sure how much work it's going to be to undo all of this after assembly, if it turns out to be faulty.

Advice?

[ryguy76]

ignore.

[mtuccio]

If you do not own a servo tester I recommend you order one and get one to help you out in the future. If you had one you could center the servos, mount the horns, and build the cage without any worries for later setup. If you don't have a servo tester you can also program the FBL unit on the bench to the point where you plug servos into it and then set the servo horns this way. The later method is a bit more of a pain but something that can be done in a pinch if needed.

In regards to the plastic holders breaking you need to make sure the slide into the servo before you screw them down or they can crack like shown in your first picture. If they do not just slide into the servo then you can use a rotary tool to split the mount into two pieces or get a sharp exacto knife and cut it into two pieces. Many people run Savox on these birds so I'm kind of perplexed as to what happened. It's been quite a long time since I've used a Savox so hopefully someone can jump in with a little bit more info on this.

Hope this helps...

[ryguy76]

Originally Posted by mtuccio

If you do not own a servo tester I recommend you order one and get one to help you out in the future. If you had one you could center the servos, mount the horns, and build the cage without any worries for later setup. If you don't have a servo tester you can also program the FBL unit on the bench to the point where you plug servos into it and then set the servo horns this way. The later method is a bit more of a pain but something that can be done in a pinch if needed.

In regards to the plastic holders breaking you need to make sure the slide into the servo before you screw them down or they can crack like shown in your first picture. If they do not just slide into the servo then you can use a rotary tool to split the mount into two pieces or get a sharp exacto knife and cut it into two pieces. Many people run Savox on these birds so I'm kind of perplexed as to what happened. It's been quite a long time since I've used a Savox so hopefully someone can jump in with a little bit more info on this.

Hope this helps...

I haven't bought an FBL yet for this bird, so I'll look into a servo tester.

Ya, they were slid into the servo properly and seemed to fit just fine, but all of a sudden, they just cracked as I was tightening them down. I'll order a replacement set, I suppose as I'm not sure that there's a way to salvage the cracked ones. Do I need to worry about screws backing out of plastic, or is "snug" enough?

[ryguy76]

Appears like a moderator has moved my thread locker build question from the Main forum into this forum and has merged the 2 threads to share the same title. Hmmmm. Hopefully that can be fixed, it confuses my brain...

[mtuccio]

If you edit the thread you should be able to change the title since you were the thread starter. Don't know if this works once it has been moved though. Give it a try...

[mtuccio]

Originally Posted by ryguy76

I haven't bought an FBL yet for this bird, so I'll look into a servo tester.

Ya, they were slid into the servo properly and seemed to fit just fine, but all of a sudden, they just cracked as I was tightening them down. I'll order a replacement set, I suppose as I'm not sure that there's a way to salvage the cracked ones. Do I need to worry about screws backing out of plastic, or is "snug" enough?

Sounds like you just overtightened them a tad too much. You can just snug them down and then go like an 1/8 turn more and you should be good to go. The plastic holds very good in this application.

Hope this helps....

[ryguy76]

What about using the hardware that came with the servos?? There's rubber grommets and metal inserts that I'm thinking might work as replacements for the pieces I broke. Or should I just bite the bullet and order another set?

[TimM]

I would just put a washer over the split and keep on trucking.
Nights are for building and a new Heli just begs for assembly (until around 03:00 if you have to work tomorrow)

[banditpowdercoat]

Yes Use washers. Don;t tighten the tops of theservos down untill in the frame. Leave them almost snug, Then mount the bearing blocks in frame and align in frame untill the main staft drops in smoothly through all THREE bearings. Thats the most difficult step sometimes. Sometimes some prying on a bearing block to move fore/aft and tightening down in frame. Once the main shaft drops smoothy as you can get it, then snug the servos. You have to tighten the lower servo screws out of the frame on the back ones, as you cant get them when its in the frame. But tops you can tighten once all aligned

[ryguy76]

Thanks for the tips, guys!

[ryguy76]

I received my servo tester and installed the arms after centering them. All is well and I am confident that I can continue my build, as I was questioning whether I had a faulty servo too.

The downside in breaking the servo mounts and doing the testing is I've ended up taking the servos off the servo blocks more than I should've had to. I wondering if I should be using any CA to ensure that these screws stay put in the plastic that's been screwed into multiple time already.

Do any of you use CA on the metal to plastic parts, or are they fine on their own?

[sp00fman]

Use that as a last resort if the hole has been stripped out. The servo screws do not have that much force on them in flight anyway.

[tat2spyder]

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

Leave them almost snug, Then mount the bearing blocks in frame and align in frame untill the main staft drops in smoothly through all THREE bearings.

+100

[tat2spyder]

Also, i did use a TINY TINY dab of CA (kinda like threadlock) on some metal to plastic connections. But you really dont want to get carried away, or damage any parts that will need to be removed later. I wouldn't want any on my servos.

[M&P_Hooligan]

Hey Ry im just gonna throw this out there quick

[ryguy76]

Originally Posted by M&P_Hooligan

Hey Ry im just gonna throw this out there quick

Well, if I had any worthy pics yet, I'd show you. For now, you'll just have to use your imagination.

[BHChieftain]

If you have not done so already, check out Finless Bob's build video series on the Protos. Showed me everything I needed to know...

https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=105493

Chief

[M&P_Hooligan]

Originally Posted by ryguy76

Well, if I had any worthy pics yet, I'd show you. For now, you'll just have to use your imagination.

im imagining a pile of parts on a table with an assembled frame

[ryguy76]

Well, here's the assembled frame, but I had already cleaned up when I snapped this pic. I'm building on the kitchen table.

I think I've already decided that I'm going to be needing a dedicated heli shop area, though.