Moved Belt-CP stuff to EXI

[alan-31]

I got that same $50 EXI kit from xheli (http://www.xheli.com/exi-450-arf-rc-helicopter.html) and this weekend I moved the Belt CP motor, ESC and the gyro to the new frame. Finally I feel I have a real heli that looks like one. The frame is awesome and very solid. The head/tail is ok. I have a used CopterX head/tail as a backup. I got all SG90's, and the e-Sky heading hold gyro. I had a few questions for any of you who've also moved to an EXI:

1. The canopy mounts look loose. It comes off easily and in flight one side comes off. Maybe I need to file the mounts so the canopy goes in deeper, or should I buy new mounts?

2. Are the paddles meant to be loose? The Belt CP paddles couldnt be turned once the screws were locked in but in this case I just twisted the plastic paddles onto the flybar. I can turn them with my hand fairly easily. Wont they turn during flight? I dont know what I should do to fix their angle. Its plastic on metal so I cant use loctite. I could buy new paddles or do something else.

3. Gyro: There's these cheap options:
- $15: GY 400: http://www.r2hobbies.com/proddetail.php?prod=rcps61801 - some people say it works fine
- $36: G401B: http://www.cnchelicopter.com/servlet...o-G401B/Detail - This has had some good reviews (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=956825). I might go for this one.
Any other suggestions for a cheap good gyro?

4. Motor pinion! Should we switch from a 10T to a 13T? I've heard people did that. It will just make the blades go faster I guess.

5. Whats the most visible color for a canopy? Yellow or orange I guess? I've never painted a canopy. Are those cheap 99c paint cans from Walmart good enough? I might just fly it as it is.

6. Do you guys mount the battery on the slanting mount or in the front? My ESC control wires werent long enough for the receiver on the back so I had to put it on the side for now. I might get a extension and put the ESC in the front later.

Notes:

1. Tail servo: Many people are saying the Futaba 3114 is nice so I'll go for that.
2. Main gear was wobbly, I gotta replace it. Tail gear was also slightly wobbly but I'm gonna use it.
3. Cyclic servos: I wish the front two servos were easier to replace but there has to be a lot of squeezing around if the servos have to go on the inside. I'm ok for now. I put them in with long screws and bolts and was able to loctite them in so they're very secure.
4. I got some heat sinks lying around, if the ESC gets real hot in the summer I'm going to put them on the ESC with heat paste and plastic ties.
5. The tail rotor binds slightly towards the tail boom as someone else also pointed out. I was thinking that one solution to that is reversing the directiong of the belt on the tail shaft (one turn) and then reverse the directions of the blades as well. This will let the blades move on the outer half of the shaft and prevent the binding. Thats incase there's no binding on the outer half (which is away from the tail boom).
6. Radio internal dip switches are: 1 (Off), 2(on), A and B = down. This is probably as it was in the beginning but I had to struggle and hit/trial to make the servos move correctly. Someone else was right, if we are keeping the stock Tx, we have to keep the rear servo on the right side of the heli (the side where the tail blades are).

Everything else was great. This is a great move. If you're not happy with your Belt CP, buy this kit when it goes down to $50 again and move everyting over. It will be so much better than the plastic home-made DTS-modded frame (my own DTS mod sucked, some others have done a great job though) .

[creteus]

The paddles shouldn't be loose. Did you tighten them down all the way?

[B2TheEYo]

You've inspired me to make the move.. That EXI frame looks identical to the CopterX one I was looking at - then again I guess their all Align clones?

As too your canopy issues, perhaps if you have any spare o-rings (or something of that nature) laying around, try putting them over the hooks when you have the canopy on, that should hopefully keep it on. I had the same issue with my Belt-CP when I got those exact canopy like rods/hook things.

For the ECS overheating possibility in the summer, from what I'm told it won't make much of a difference if you put heatsinks on it. I was suggested to get a BEC for it. Got one and I find it doesn't heat up as much anymore when I let the motor spin for a bit (now if that bloody main gear would come I can fly!).


Great looking heli! I'm Jealous =P

[CyprusDave]

Originally Posted by B2TheEYo

For the ECS overheating possibility in the summer, from what I'm told it won't make much of a difference if you put heatsinks on it. I was suggested to get a BEC for it. Got one and I find it doesn't heat up as much anymore when I let the motor spin for a bit (now if that bloody main gear would come I can fly!).

+1, the stock ESC will work OK if you disable the built-in BEC and hook up an external BEC instead. It seems to be the combination of ESC and BEC that causes the overheating problem. I've been using the stock ESC with a HobbyWing switch-mode BEC for several months, and the ESC barely gets warm

Good sticky here https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=72280 explains everything - thanks Gerd

[nasukaren]

I recently painted my esmart canopy which was white milk-jug plastic. I sanded it down and then started with spray plastic primer and then spray paint. Unfortunately, I'm not sure why but the top coat started crackling and so I have a bit of a crackle finish on my bird. I like it, but its a bit fragile and can rub off it I try hard.

I'm not sure what I did wrong. Maybe i should have used a thinner coat of primer and let it stay on longer. Or maybe I didn't sand / prep enough. In any case, painting the canopy seems like a black art, so don't get too invested in doing it.

Karen

[Ian 777]

You need to use a plastic primer with before you put the normal primer on Karen.
You should be able to get some from car-parts shops or even hardware stores, then you can use the conventional (and cheap) acryllic car paint aerosols. Im not sure what specialist modelers paints are available but they may be more expensive

Ian

[Heli Yea!]

2) use CA(super glue) on them.

3) The GY400 works great I just took mine out for it's maiden see post #89 vid 2 of this thread I just don't get it! .Well watch them both but in vid 2 Im using the GY400.

4) 12t or 13t is the way to go! To keep the same head speed as the Belt had you'll need an 11t(2475rpm) but the head speed on the Belt is kinda low. Once you see what a 12t(2700rpm) can do you'll want a 13t.(2924rpm) I run the Belt at 3293 rpm.(which you can also see in vid 2 as above)

[mgrande11]

This is exactly what I plan to do if I ever hit anything hard enough to break the frame. I'm glad to see that you were able to even use the stock TX with the EXI, I thought I was gonna have to switch over to a comp TX. Are you able to get +11 and -11 pitch in idle up with the stock TX?

[nasukaren]

Ian -

I did use plastic primer, I think I said so in my post. Still the paint had problems sticking. I think I either put the plastic primer on too thick at once or didn't given it enough time to dry (half a day).

Karen

[jmy2u]

Karen,
Was one of them enamel based and one a laquer based, that will cause the cracking.The paints for that they use for the lexan car bodies works great but it is a bit spendy.
Jim
Here is a pic of my EXI using the car body paint.

[Ian 777]

Originally Posted by nasukaren

Ian -

I did use plastic primer, I think I said so in my post. Still the paint had problems sticking. I think I either put the plastic primer on too thick at once or didn't given it enough time to dry (half a day).

Karen

Duh so you did. The plastic primer we get is clear and dries really quickly giving a very thin coat if you put it on thick it just runs. You have to put a conventional primer on top of the plastic primer.

What sort of top coat are you usng? It does sound like a reaction between diferent binders in the paint is causing the crackling. though the bad adhesion may just be because you need primer on top of the plastic primer.

[alan-31]

Cretues, thanks for the suggestion! Last night I tightened them and I felt the threads on one of them was starting to strip so I stopped. I'll try Superglue, that should do it.

B2TheEYo, glad I inspired you to make the move! If you have any questions about anything let us know! yea, people say the EXI is a copy of Align. I got some extra o-rings, I will try them on the canopy mounts. Thanks for the suggestion.

CyprusDave, thanks - I subscribed to that thread about the BEC for future reference.

nasuKaren, I've seen different websites about painting canopies. Hope you get it sorted out. You could sand it and start all over, not sure. I'll look for a plastic primer the next time I go out.

HeliYea, I saw your video. Do you feel the tail is very solid? I had seen some people praise the GY400 while others said it didnt work for them. I'll check the reviews again. I'm gonna order the 13T 2.3mm pinion then, thanks for that.

Mgrande11, I know nothing about the +/- 11 pitches as I can only do some forward flight right now so I never checked since its good enough for me. But, I can move the head all the way up and down in idle up mode - dont know if that helps? I dont have money for a good TX right now and will use the E-sky one for now.

[Heli Yea!]

The GY400 was rock solid I'm betting most that didn't like it had trouble setting it up. I know I did. I about gave up on it and nominated it crap until Psilo helped me!(thanks) Then I saw what it could really do. It is set up exactly like the Futaba GY401! Set the slider in rate and then forget about rate mode altogether rather than trying to hover it in rate first.

I hate to burst your bubble but you need to go and get a pitch guage, swash leveler, and blade balancer NOW! You will NEVER get good at flying without them. I know you don't have them cause when someone asks your pitch range(+/-11?) you should say yes or no not ever "I'm not sure." I can tell you that NO, it's not good enough you need to know this! I hope I don't sound too abrasive but this is super important don't buy another thing until you buy a pitch guage, swash leveler, and blade balancer!

[nasukaren]

Ahhh.... that might have been my mistake. I used plastic primer but I used spray paint from the general spray paint aisle (because I wanted fluorescent yellow) -- it could be that the plastic primer used a different base.

I'll have to check when I get home. That being said, I like the crackle finish, just wish it wasn't so fragile.

Karen

[alan-31]

HeliYea, thanks - yea I didnt even know what a swash leveler looked like. I've added these things to my wishlist. I'll see if I can buy them in the next buy. I'm gonna go with the GY400 then.

[helihathnofury]

A swash-leveller is so simple, but wow it makes a HUGE difference to your setup. On the day, once set, I don't touch the sub-trims and just take out any movement with the TX main trims.

[Ian 777]

Karen if you google crackle finish paint Im sure you'll find someone in the states who supplies aerosol paint to do it properly. Plastikote do some in the UK the only thing is the color range is pretty limited.

Chad and Mike, not wanting to undermine what's been said about the importance of perfect set up, I am not sure why a swash leveler is so essential, I can set mine by eye so it's within half a link's turn of spot on, If it moves when you hover give the relevent link half a turn, I never have to do more than twice till it sits there like a rock.

By eye you don't have to take the head off either, or am I missing something??

Agree about pitch gauge and blade balaner though Chad

[Heli Yea!]

Well Ian my eyes are really good too and your way can work but $10 for absolute reassurance that it's perfect every time with no fiddling around and less CCPM interactions from the start. In my eyes it is the best way to go. You and I have had a lot of practice and know what it should look like but someone who has not trained their eyes don't. Though I could get my swash level without one in a pinch I'll always use one. Another reason I feel it's important is once you have everything set up and you move one side of the swash up/down you are also changing the balance of the washout, flybar cage and so on. So you had it all perfect(so to speak) but it is no longer perfect if you make an adjustment to the swash because everything is leveled from the swash. So that is why it is an essential tool perfection is perfect not pretty close to perfect.

[Ian 777]

Quite so, but then you will need to put a slight right tilt on it to make it hover hands off to counteract the tail wash so perfect isnt really perfect.

That reminds me Karen said that her E Smart is big enough to use a bubble to level the swash, this is not a good Idea unless you jig the frame perfectly level with the same bubble ( dont trust the work table and UC to be right)

[sutty]

Hi Ian

Nice to see you again. I don't have a swash leveller either, and have never had any difficulty. That having been said, I hadn't wanted to say anything until now because I know it is important to be accurate, and it will probably help a lot of people. The thing is I am accurate using my mark one eyeball. I have what is known up here in the north as good rack o' th'eye. I swear I can get it to within a fraction of a degree just by looking at it.

Not only that, for a long time, I didn't even have a pitch guage. I set zero pitch, idle up engaged, by removing the blades and putting the blades in the holders, edge on, and half way along, so they balanced, and just eyeballed them. The harder bit was knowing how many degrees I had full +ve and full -ve, but if it looked the same, that would work for me, because at that stage I wasn't planning any inverted stuff. I do have one now, and it is a lot easier, but at first I was able to manage.

Some of my friends would be lucky to get it to within 5 degrees if they were to try, but I suffer slightly from an OCD, where things have to be lined up and true, or there is big trouble and I have spent a life time nudging things until they are square or in the middle. Hell I can even put the flybar in the middle of the head to within 2mm just by looking.

I know, I am a sad, sad man.

EDIT: Just before I get told off, I know 2mm isn't accurate enough, I just meant before I measure it. Wish I could get it nearer.