Goooooodbye MSH

[ddhuans]

Originally Posted by electronjunkie

Thats why I stay away from Align. They put a Rube-Goldberg torque-tube assembly in because they could not figure out proper belt design. MSH stuff is not top notch but it's designed better than Align and it holds up better in a crash. The T-Rex 500 is a flying piece of tinfoil. The gears, bearings, and shafts are destroyed on the slightest bump.

I have all belted helis and I have been flying belted helis for a long time. I have never had a static problem when the tail boom is grounded, which I learned to do with my 1st 450. If you spray the belt with silicone it runs smoother and has even less potential for static, so much so that you can leave the ground wire off if you silicone the belt regularly.

Disagree with you. My 450Pro flies well with TT, then I tried 450 Sport with belt but I cant stand with it. Back to 450Pro in 1 week.
My 500EFL flies good with TT too. I love Protos 500 since the first time I see it in PhoenixRC three years ago and I am not an Align fanboy but when I had my 500EFL, I have to say "good job, Align"

[jdExtraZ]

Yes, big fan of protos here. Excellent setup, easy access. Great structure.

[mkovalcson]

We've had these debates many times over.

A well designed belt system works well and a well designed TT system works well.

There are good and bad implementations of both.

There are people living in EXTREMELY low humidity areas that have serious static issues with just about everything with a belt out there.

Then there are people living in very humid places that have very few issues with static, that would include me.

YMMV.

[jombo]

I found a creative way to solve mine .I used the metal duct tape on my reciever and esc as a shield .Its pretty funny that anything above the shield i get static discharge on my greenly non conductive voltage detector , and below i get nothing .

[electronjunkie]

Originally Posted by jombo

I found a creative way to solve mine .I used the metal duct tape on my reciever and esc as a shield .Its pretty funny that anything above the shield i get static discharge on my greenly non conductive voltage detector , and below i get nothing .

Hey thanks for the info. Can you be more descriptive? I'd like to know what model receiver you are using, wheter you grounded your tailboom, and if you use silicone on your belt.

[desertstalker]

Originally Posted by ddhuans

Disagree with you. My 450Pro flies well with TT, then I tried 450 Sport with belt but I cant stand with it. Back to 450Pro in 1 week.
My 500EFL flies good with TT too. I love Protos 500 since the first time I see it in PhoenixRC three years ago and I am not an Align fanboy but when I had my 500EFL, I have to say "good job, Align"

And the reason the Align belt does not work well is that it is a terrible design, the TT is not much better but it is better.

All align helis have the same stupid tail drive design, I dont understand why they have not fixed it.

[jombo]

Originally Posted by electronjunkie

Hey thanks for the info. Can you be more descriptive? I'd like to know what model receiver you are using, wheter you grounded your tailboom, and if you use silicone on your belt.

I just use silicone for the belt ( the automotive one) , and just the aluminum tape . I use Futaba 7 channel receiver , I have everything mounted under the main gear. No issues so far .

[spykez]

Originally Posted by desertstalker

And the reason the Align belt does not work well is that it is a terrible design, the TT is not much better but it is better.

All align helis have the same stupid tail drive design, I dont understand why they have not fixed it.

Never flown an Align but what's silly about it's design? Honest question. Only TT I know is that of my 130Xlol..

[LVeillon]

Originally Posted by desertstalker

And the reason the Align belt does not work well is that it is a terrible design, the TT is not much better but it is better.

All align helis have the same stupid tail drive design, I dont understand why they have not fixed it.

Oh you know the answer to that one desertstalker! Upgrades=Align$$$

Just look at their forum thread counts...Huge! The Protos threads tend to get a bit boring because everyone is out flying a quality machine and not discussing the latest upgrade that points out the next fault in their system.

I can close a few times to buying into Align because it was so heavily supported at the local fields, but now I see why. They need LOTS of Suppport!

One of our local hobby shops is a full blown Horizon Hobby Shop, but refuses to sell or carry any Align product because the investment of time it would take along with lost $$$ in upgrades and frequency of those upgrades. They already have a hard enough time keeping up with Blade(grin)...

[electronjunkie]

Originally Posted by spykez

Never flown an Align but what's silly about it's design? Honest question. Only TT I know is that of my 130Xlol..

Here is what is wrong with their belt design. Look at the belt tail on a T-Rex 450. Then look at the belt drive on the tail part off the Mini-Protos or Warp360. I don't have pictures but here is a short description. The belt is skinny with small teeth going around small cogs. At least the belt in the T-Rex 500 is marginally better than the 450 but it is far from "robustness" of the tail belt drive for a Protos 500 or Compass Atom. They are just not even in the same league.

Then they decided TT was the way to go. And it is a wonderful design if you are the manufacturer or seller of TT drive parts . As an end user they have FAR more parts that can and do fail. They are harder to repair because it takes time to get all those shafts, gears and bearings replaced. They also need repairing more often thanks to the fragility. Ever tried to remove or install a TT bearing on your umbrella gear without destroying the bearing? Its possible but it is a pain in the butt and involves a small hammer. On top of this the parts are so fragile. Bump a tail in tall grass or a little dirt and lose your gears. Any crash you lose most of your fragile Align TT drive system. Bend a tail shaft in your T-Rex? You gotta buy the gears too even if they are OK.

But hey you can get the parts anywhere.

[solex227]

Im sorry but im late to the party ... WHY IN THE HELL are we talking about Align POS for??? THE GODS DO NOT APPROVE OF ALIGN TALK!! LOL

[electronjunkie]

Originally Posted by solex227

Im sorry but im late to the party ... WHY IN THE HELL are we talking about Align POS for??? THE GODS DO NOT APPROVE OF ALIGN TALK!! LOL

The gods don't approve of positive talk about Align. My precious Protos will be struck by bolt of lightning for the one positive Align point in my post. No point in editing now as they are all seeing and all knowing.

[2004sccobra]

Originally Posted by LVeillon

One of our local hobby shops is a full blown Horizon Hobby Shop, but refuses to sell or carry any Align product because the investment of time it would take along with lost $$$ in upgrades and frequency of those upgrades. They already have a hard enough time keeping up with Blade(grin)...

My LHS was carrying Align and now are dropping them. They have re-structured the purchasing and for a smaller shop they cannot afford to purchase the $ amount they want.

I fly Protos, Align and Blade. I love the design of the Protos from the day I saw one hanging at the LHS for sale. Unfortunately I crashed it in a low hover, as a result of static I believe. Hovering fine and then boom down to earth. I have no static fighting measures in place as of now. I will be working on the above listed grounds for it. I would like to see this duct tape shield in a picture for sure!

[The_Dude]

I have never had any static issues on my P500 or Mini P ..

[Carpetbombing]

Definitely not trying to get into an argument here, but I have a Gaui x3 and x5, (both superbly designed helis) as well as a small pile of Align birds. All are torque tube, and all work great. I'm here because I just bought a used Protos 500, and I'm REALLY excited about the design, but I have very real concerns about losing the heli to a static hit - not an unfounded fear. I'm going to be soldering all kinds of cockamamie bonding wires all over the heli so it doesn't drop out of the sky randomly. Reminds me of my 1st gen Spektrum DSMX transmitter locking up my DSM2 receivers - helis would just randomly drop out of the sky. Not OK. I bought a Protos, and I know I'm going to love it, but you have to admit that never having to worry about your 3-4 lb flying Van De Graaff falling out of the sky out of control is a major bonus. I know most of you have never had it happen, but I like flying in Minnesota in the winter where the humidity is really low. We'll see..

[Scott Bowersox]

no need to go all crazy with it. The modern boom block is conductive, just sand down the boom end before putting it in the boom block and then just some copper tape or wire from the tail shaft bearing to a clean metal spot on the back of the boom inside the tail case. done. If you have plastic frame then you need to go to a motor screw but very simple. Little silicon spray here and there if you want.

[byHISgrace]

Originally Posted by Scott Bowersox

no need to go all crazy with it. The modern boom block is conductive, just sand down the boom end before putting it in the boom block and then just some copper tape or wire from the tail shaft bearing to a clean metal spot on the back of the boom inside the tail case. done. If you have plastic frame then you need to go to a motor screw but very simple. Little silicon spray here and there if you want.

Agreed!

I have a carbon framed Protos with the non-conductive boom block. All I did was connect a wire from a frame bolt to a bare spot under the tail servo mount. I've had zero static hits without even siliconing the tail belt. The humidity can definitely drop pretty low here during the winter in east TN. Matt

[BHChieftain]

+1, simple static fix for me. Sanded a spot on the boom where the clap attaches, ran a copper wire camped to the boom to the motor mount screw, zero stack issues.

Chief

[kayakboy69]

I have done nothing but fly the crap out of it .. !

[kingmeow]

Originally Posted by kayakboy69

I have done nothing but fly the crap out of it .. !

Show off! LOL!!!!