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Chris Arena · 05-17-2011, 04:43 PM

I took my heli out to my driveway for a quick flight. turned off the throttle, hit the safty switch on my spectrum DX6i, hooked up the heli battery and stood back with my transmitter and waited for the esc to boot up. Once booted up, the tail rotor servo did not work. (This has been a sometimes off and on problem with my Logitech gyro). When it happens, I just shut everthing down and reconnect the batteries. Or, sometimes I just disconect the tail rotor servo and replug it and everything works fine.

Now, I do not know if this has anything to do with what happened but... As what happens the servo did not set. So, I unplugged the heli battery, turned off my radio and, when checking that the throttle was all the way back, I plugged the battery leads in the heli and stepped back. The radio was on, throttle off (although I noticed that I did not have the safety switch off.)

Anyway, the heli just took off. (On my toolbox in my garage at full throttle! The exact second that I heard the motor go I ran like hell and didnt look back!!

Heli is now on the ground running full tilt and the radio is on my bency with the throttle back and the idle up switch in normal mode.

I grabbed the radio throttle was back and hit the transmitter emergency shut off button and it took at least 2 or 3 depressions until it shut off.

Heli is a mess, but nothing that can be fixed. BUT! I am at a loss as to what happened. I think I will send my radio and reciever our for a checkup. It has never been abused or dropped. Man. Am I confused.

The lesson here is: when you plug in that battery, make sure you get back and away with the preparedness that the damn thing just may do the unexpected. I have always taken this stance and it saved me from what could have been a disaster! I wsa about 6 ft from the bird when it lit up and was 20 ft from the damn thing in a split second when I heard that motor start up.

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Birdkiller · 05-17-2011, 06:15 PM

OH NO!!

That is terrible Chris!!

The whole time I was reading it I was invisioning your HBFP, then I seen the pictures and it was your 450!!!!

that is scary!!

Im glad it didnt get tangle up with you!!!

Chris Arena · 05-17-2011, 07:50 PM

Yeah! I got's REAL Fast Feets when it come to moving in a hurry. Really helped this time. I just turned away, split-stepped, crouched low, brought my hands up to my head and did the ol "Boot-Scoot-Boogie" outa dere!

The more I think about it, I think the problem is in my esc! It is a Turniqy Plush 40 amp and it does have a good reputation. However, My Logitec gyro servo at times does not get the signal, although the gyro light is on. Sometimes it works and sometimes I have to either disconnect the servo wire, or unplug and replug the battery to get it working. It is a random condition. However, over the last few paks, it seemed to get worse as I would have to plug and unplug the battery numerous times to get a connection. And twice when it did reset, the servo was all the way over to one side at center stick. Had to unplug the batteries again and finally get the setting right. This must have something to do with the problem. However, when the servo did set up right, the bird flew beatifully!

There is no reason why this heli should have started up this way. The throttle was off as was the idle up switch. Only the safety switch was no on. (my bad). However, it still should not have run away.

Birdkiller · 05-17-2011, 08:22 PM

Dang man that is crazy!!

I hope you definitely find the source of the problem, as my EXI 450 should be here tomorrow, I want to make sure I dont buy the same component that caused your mishap!

Your setup sounded pretty good as explained on the 450 FP thread, I was probably going to set mine up with similiar or same electrical components.....but now I dont know!

Viet-Lama · 05-17-2011, 11:28 PM

Damn Chris, I thought the same as BK, that is was your Bee till I saw the pics. Well im glad your ok and thats most important!

Running a AR6200 which has a satellite should never EVER do that! Something is seriously wrong here. Couple questions for you.
Did you set your fail safe to ZERO THROTTLE or -1 THROTTLE?
Did you RE-BIND AFTER setting the fail safe?

If so then it had to have been the ESC sending direct power to the motor without the RX's consent. Its like it bypassed the RX altogether. This is my opinion but I think its sound. Id trash that ESC ASAP and get an Align or one of those ICE LITE critters everyone raves about.

Chris Arena · 05-17-2011, 11:28 PM

I have at least 40 flights on it. Other than the occasional glitch with the tail rotor servo, the performance has been flawless. I'm at a loss?

Viet-Lama · 05-17-2011, 11:36 PM

Post this in the Trex 450 section and see what the guys think, their the real experts.

Chris Arena · 05-21-2011, 12:52 AM

VL. Got most of the heli back together, waiting for a few parts from X heli. Rebound everything and no problems. Personally, I believe that I must have had 1/4 throttle by accident. Trust me, it sounds like full throttle, when it lights off. So I'm chalking it up to operator error and panic in the moment of fire.

Any way, In regards to the Logitec Gyro. The servo still does not work when batt connected. It used to work part of the time. Now, it never turns on by itself.

UNLESS: (and this is equally strange)! If I do a normal tranmitter and heli batt hook up, and let the reciever get a signal. (Note, my Logitec gyro servo is not working at this time). Bit, if I unplug the servo from the gyro and then plug in one of my cheapo HXT 900 servos, it works right away. THEN I unplug the cheapo servo and then plug in my Logitec servo then it works great!

This is twilight zone stuff! I will post it in the gyro and 450 site, but I thought you might get a kick out of it!

Heli.Maniac · 05-21-2011, 03:56 PM

Maybe you had also low battery on transmitter and no failsafe setup? Sorry for your heli man, this should make me back out on a DX7 purchase for a while

. Hope to have everything fixed soon....

Chris Arena · 05-21-2011, 07:18 PM

Don't back out of the DX7 purchase!

At this time, I bellieve that the culprit was me! Got most everything back together. Have done many, many transmitter, reciever boot ups and no problems (except for my Logitech servo), that started this whole debacle. Radio works perfectly! Looking back, after testing things out, the only way this could have happened is that I HAD TO HAVE HAD the throttle up somewhat. I can confirm that I DID NOT have the throttle hold on. I am just writtilng this off as general stupidity and PANIC at the moment.

All fixed, waiting for Xheli to ship me a new canopy and tailboom brace and I'll have it all done. I am amazed at how tough these helis are!

Heli.Maniac · 05-22-2011, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Arena

Don't back out of the DX7 purchase!

At this time, I bellieve that the culprit was me! Got most everything back together. Have done many, many transmitter, reciever boot ups and no problems (except for my Logitech servo), that started this whole debacle. Radio works perfectly! Looking back, after testing things out, the only way this could have happened is that I HAD TO HAVE HAD the throttle up somewhat. I can confirm that I DID NOT have the throttle hold on. I am just writtilng this off as general stupidity and PANIC at the moment.

All fixed, waiting for Xheli to ship me a new canopy and tailboom brace and I'll have it all done. I am amazed at how tough these helis are!

Glad to here it will be up and running again. What about the cost of this repair? Just remember that those things happen sometimes, thats the not so fun aspect of the hobby...

PS: Just found a deal for the Dx7se and I think I wont miss it! I will just miss the trainer function.

Viet-Lama · 05-22-2011, 08:05 AM

Glad your heli is all patched up Chris. Strange about your 3100 servo. Mine "knock knock" still works awesome on my little 250.

Spektrums have fair safes that wont allow the ESC to initialize if throttle is up when the lipo is connected. Lucky for me on several occasions I plugged in my 450s and received the slow beeps telling me the throttle was not at zero.
Are you sure you bound the failsafe at zero throttle? Your heli should never have shot up upon lipo plug in.

Chris Arena · 05-22-2011, 12:48 PM

VL. I rebound my heli with the throttle lever down at idle. On a DX6i Isnt the "failsafe" option automatically done in the "binding" process. Anything else for failsafe?

Heli took the beating well. It is all back together except for the tail brace that is on order. Will track the blades and test fly later today. In fact, Although I have a spare CNC rotor head assy. I can still get some life out of the stock alum/plastic head assy. Personally, I have never had a problem with it. So, I put some upgraded alum see saws on it as they were the only things that broke and its ready to gol. Man, these heli's are tough! Swash leveled, blades degree's -11 / +11.

Almost good to go. I used this opportunity to tear most of the heli down, check the servo's and wiring, etc. It has been about 6 months since I built it and it was refreshing to relearn a few things on this 2nd goround. (Just don't want to make a habit of it).

Birdkiller · 05-22-2011, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Arena

VL. I rebound my heli with the throttle lever down at idle. On a DX6i Isnt the "failsafe" option automatically done in the "binding" process. Anything else for failsafe?

Heli took the beating well. It is all back together except for the tail brace that is on order. Will track the blades and test fly later today. In fact, Although I have a spare CNC rotor head assy. I can still get some life out of the stock alum/plastic head assy. Personally, I have never had a problem with it. So, I put some upgraded alum see saws on it as they were the only things that broke and its ready to gol. Man, these heli's are tough! Swash leveled, blades degree's -11 / +11.

Almost good to go. I used this opportunity to tear most of the heli down,
check the servo's and wiring, etc. It has been about 6 months since I built it and it was refreshing to relearn a few things on this 2nd goround. (Just don't want to make a habit of it).

I would suspect a routine PM "Preventative Maintenance " tear down would be a good habit to get into . So I guess some good came out of the incident....

What are you using to level your swash?

Viet-Lama · 05-22-2011, 11:59 PM

After you set up the heli (servos , ESC , RX) you have to re-bind your RX to lock the setting of the fail safe throttle.
The throttle value with idle up switch OFF should bee set to 0 or -1 and make sure the throttle is all the way down.
You may have done something incorrect without realizing. Lets hope so because then it should never happen again.

05-17-2011, 04:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
Chris Arena Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2010	Scary moment!! What happened? I took my heli out to my driveway for a quick flight. turned off the throttle, hit the safty switch on my spectrum DX6i, hooked up the heli battery and stood back with my transmitter and waited for the esc to boot up. Once booted up, the tail rotor servo did not work. (This has been a sometimes off and on problem with my Logitech gyro). When it happens, I just shut everthing down and reconnect the batteries. Or, sometimes I just disconect the tail rotor servo and replug it and everything works fine. Now, I do not know if this has anything to do with what happened but... As what happens the servo did not set. So, I unplugged the heli battery, turned off my radio and, when checking that the throttle was all the way back, I plugged the battery leads in the heli and stepped back. The radio was on, throttle off (although I noticed that I did not have the safety switch off.) Anyway, the heli just took off. (On my toolbox in my garage at full throttle! The exact second that I heard the motor go I ran like hell and didnt look back!! Heli is now on the ground running full tilt and the radio is on my bency with the throttle back and the idle up switch in normal mode. I grabbed the radio throttle was back and hit the transmitter emergency shut off button and it took at least 2 or 3 depressions until it shut off. Heli is a mess, but nothing that can be fixed. BUT! I am at a loss as to what happened. I think I will send my radio and reciever our for a checkup. It has never been abused or dropped. Man. Am I confused. The lesson here is: when you plug in that battery, make sure you get back and away with the preparedness that the damn thing just may do the unexpected. I have always taken this stance and it saved me from what could have been a disaster! I wsa about 6 ft from the bird when it lit up and was 20 ft from the damn thing in a split second when I heard that motor start up. [ATTACH][ATTACH] [/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

05-17-2011, 11:28 PM	#5 (permalink)
Viet-Lama Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Jun 2009	Damn Chris, I thought the same as BK, that is was your Bee till I saw the pics. Well im glad your ok and thats most important! Running a AR6200 which has a satellite should never EVER do that! Something is seriously wrong here. Couple questions for you. Did you set your fail safe to ZERO THROTTLE or -1 THROTTLE? Did you RE-BIND AFTER setting the fail safe? If so then it had to have been the ESC sending direct power to the motor without the RX's consent. Its like it bypassed the RX altogether. This is my opinion but I think its sound. Id trash that ESC ASAP and get an Align or one of those ICE LITE critters everyone raves about. __________________ Every time I crash I wonder, why didnt I get into RC tanks.

05-17-2011, 11:36 PM	#7 (permalink)
Viet-Lama Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Jun 2009	Post this in the Trex 450 section and see what the guys think, their the real experts. __________________ Every time I crash I wonder, why didnt I get into RC tanks.

05-21-2011, 03:56 PM	#9 (permalink)
Heli.Maniac Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Mar 2011	Maybe you had also low battery on transmitter and no failsafe setup? Sorry for your heli man, this should make me back out on a DX7 purchase for a while. Hope to have everything fixed soon....

05-22-2011, 08:05 AM	#12 (permalink)
Viet-Lama Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Jun 2009	Glad your heli is all patched up Chris. Strange about your 3100 servo. Mine "knock knock" still works awesome on my little 250. Spektrums have fair safes that wont allow the ESC to initialize if throttle is up when the lipo is connected. Lucky for me on several occasions I plugged in my 450s and received the slow beeps telling me the throttle was not at zero. Are you sure you bound the failsafe at zero throttle? Your heli should never have shot up upon lipo plug in. __________________ Every time I crash I wonder, why didnt I get into RC tanks.

05-17-2011, 06:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
Birdkiller Registered Users Join Date: Nov 2010	OH NO!! That is terrible Chris!! The whole time I was reading it I was invisioning your HBFP, then I seen the pictures and it was your 450!!!! that is scary!! Im glad it didnt get tangle up with you!!!

05-17-2011, 07:50 PM	#3 (permalink)
Chris Arena Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Feb 2010	Yeah! I got's REAL Fast Feets when it come to moving in a hurry. Really helped this time. I just turned away, split-stepped, crouched low, brought my hands up to my head and did the ol "Boot-Scoot-Boogie" outa dere! The more I think about it, I think the problem is in my esc! It is a Turniqy Plush 40 amp and it does have a good reputation. However, My Logitec gyro servo at times does not get the signal, although the gyro light is on. Sometimes it works and sometimes I have to either disconnect the servo wire, or unplug and replug the battery to get it working. It is a random condition. However, over the last few paks, it seemed to get worse as I would have to plug and unplug the battery numerous times to get a connection. And twice when it did reset, the servo was all the way over to one side at center stick. Had to unplug the batteries again and finally get the setting right. This must have something to do with the problem. However, when the servo did set up right, the bird flew beatifully! There is no reason why this heli should have started up this way. The throttle was off as was the idle up switch. Only the safety switch was no on. (my bad). However, it still should not have run away.

05-17-2011, 08:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
Birdkiller Registered Users Join Date: Nov 2010	Dang man that is crazy!! I hope you definitely find the source of the problem, as my EXI 450 should be here tomorrow, I want to make sure I dont buy the same component that caused your mishap! Your setup sounded pretty good as explained on the 450 FP thread, I was probably going to set mine up with similiar or same electrical components.....but now I dont know!

05-17-2011, 11:28 PM	#6 (permalink)
Chris Arena Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Feb 2010	I have at least 40 flights on it. Other than the occasional glitch with the tail rotor servo, the performance has been flawless. I'm at a loss?

05-21-2011, 12:52 AM	#8 (permalink)
Chris Arena Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Feb 2010	VL. Got most of the heli back together, waiting for a few parts from X heli. Rebound everything and no problems. Personally, I believe that I must have had 1/4 throttle by accident. Trust me, it sounds like full throttle, when it lights off. So I'm chalking it up to operator error and panic in the moment of fire. Any way, In regards to the Logitec Gyro. The servo still does not work when batt connected. It used to work part of the time. Now, it never turns on by itself. UNLESS: (and this is equally strange)! If I do a normal tranmitter and heli batt hook up, and let the reciever get a signal. (Note, my Logitec gyro servo is not working at this time). Bit, if I unplug the servo from the gyro and then plug in one of my cheapo HXT 900 servos, it works right away. THEN I unplug the cheapo servo and then plug in my Logitec servo then it works great! This is twilight zone stuff! I will post it in the gyro and 450 site, but I thought you might get a kick out of it!

05-21-2011, 07:18 PM	#10 (permalink)
Chris Arena Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Feb 2010	Don't back out of the DX7 purchase! At this time, I bellieve that the culprit was me! Got most everything back together. Have done many, many transmitter, reciever boot ups and no problems (except for my Logitech servo), that started this whole debacle. Radio works perfectly! Looking back, after testing things out, the only way this could have happened is that I HAD TO HAVE HAD the throttle up somewhat. I can confirm that I DID NOT have the throttle hold on. I am just writtilng this off as general stupidity and PANIC at the moment. All fixed, waiting for Xheli to ship me a new canopy and tailboom brace and I'll have it all done. I am amazed at how tough these helis are!

05-22-2011, 12:48 PM	#13 (permalink)
Chris Arena Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Feb 2010	VL. I rebound my heli with the throttle lever down at idle. On a DX6i Isnt the "failsafe" option automatically done in the "binding" process. Anything else for failsafe? Heli took the beating well. It is all back together except for the tail brace that is on order. Will track the blades and test fly later today. In fact, Although I have a spare CNC rotor head assy. I can still get some life out of the stock alum/plastic head assy. Personally, I have never had a problem with it. So, I put some upgraded alum see saws on it as they were the only things that broke and its ready to gol. Man, these heli's are tough! Swash leveled, blades degree's -11 / +11. Almost good to go. I used this opportunity to tear most of the heli down, check the servo's and wiring, etc. It has been about 6 months since I built it and it was refreshing to relearn a few things on this 2nd goround. (Just don't want to make a habit of it).

05-22-2011, 11:59 PM	#15 (permalink)
Viet-Lama Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Jun 2009	After you set up the heli (servos , ESC , RX) you have to re-bind your RX to lock the setting of the fail safe throttle. The throttle value with idle up switch OFF should bee set to 0 or -1 and make sure the throttle is all the way down. You may have done something incorrect without realizing. Lets hope so because then it should never happen again. __________________ Every time I crash I wonder, why didnt I get into RC tanks.

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