Getting started... ( All done! )

[RyanW]

Cute pliers, can you put a link to the ones you ordered? I like having some in my field box, but the ones at the house are too big and bulky.

One more thing to do with the frame that is nice- take a dremel sanding drum and open up the front battery access. It doesn't take any strength away and makes getting 5000mAh packs in and out a breeze. Somewhere on here Dave Dahl shows this, but you can see the lip I am talking about and just remove some of it. I will snap a shot later if needed.

Looking good!

[mkovalcson]

I've heard about sanding the battery opening before, but don't know the specifics.

These are the little snap ring pliers I got.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002STREU/..._M3T1_ST1_dp_1

[trickybit]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

I've heard about sanding the battery opening before, but don't know the specifics.

+1, but I think it was more like "grinding" than sanding... for one of my pack sets I took a lot of material off.

You can easily do it post-assembly, once you fit your packs, or even later when you buy new packs that have an odd dimension. Good to keep the option in mind, when you're deciding which side of new packs to stick the velcro on.

[mkovalcson]

Whoops! I should have looked at my shims before I started. I thought I had the right shim for this and I didn't. I could have ordered it with all my other stuff that arrived today.

I needed a 6x9x0.2
What I have is a 6x8x0.4mm ( too thick) and a 6x12x0.2mm (too wide)

[RyanW]

Sent you a message about shims.

As for the landing gear screws... you MUST use nylon screws. Botched autos or crashes can easily result in broken frames. I have used many combinations and the best I have found is to use slot head instead of phillips screws (they don't strip easy like the phillips) with nylock nuts. You need to run a steel screw through the nylock a few times. If not, the nylon screw will break or strip. The reason for this is I haven't had any luck using the nylon nuts with the nylon screws. They strip and loosen too easily, even with a dab of glue.

Once I went to the nylon screws with the steel nylock nuts, no more issues. As a coincidence I ordered 100 of those screws so I have plenty to share!!!

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Sent you a message about shims.

As for the landing gear screws... you MUST use nylon screws. Botched autos or crashes can easily result in broken frames. I have used many combinations and the best I have found is to use slot head instead of phillips screws (they don't strip easy like the phillips) with nylock nuts. You need to run a steel screw through the nylock a few times. If not, the nylon screw will break or strip. The reason for this is I haven't had any luck using the nylon nuts with the nylon screws. They strip and loosen too easily, even with a dab of glue.

Once I went to the nylon screws with the steel nylock nuts, no more issues. As a coincidence I ordered 100 of those screws so I have plenty to share!!!

I've got some M3x10mm Nylon screws on the way for next to nothing, but they may not arrive for a few weeks.

I can put off the autos until they show up.

I think that 6x8x0.4mm shim may be a good fit. It completely covers the inner bearing hub and the inner lip on the pinion. The extra mm in diameter wouldn't be touching anything. The question is whether I can get the main gear meshed properly if the pinion is 0.2mm higher.

[sl4ppy]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

Whoops! I should have looked at my shims before I started. I thought I had the right shim for this and I didn't. I could have ordered it with all my other stuff that arrived today.

I needed a 6x9x0.2
What I have is a 6x8x0.4mm ( too thick) and a 6x12x0.2mm (too wide)

Been in this hobby a long time; first time I've ever heard of anyone greasing their gears and soaking their belt in silicon..

Interesting...

[mkovalcson]

Spraying a belt with silicone improves the belt's wear and some say reduces static.
Lubricant on gears has a minor efficiency improvement and lowers heat. This is more of an issue with closed canopy helis like a TDR.

[mkovalcson]

I've got enough of this test fit now, that I just I need to solder up the motor bullets and get my ESC connected and make sure my servo arms are as close to centered as they can be before I bolt the chassis together.

[el guapo]

IMHO, the logo frame is really durable when used on a logo500 size-ed configuration, I've skipped off the ground a bunch of times, in comparison the 600 and 600SE have a lot more battery weight, thus frame damage is much more common with most mishaps because of the increase in weight (F=MA)...I’ve been really impressed with the increase in durability of the logo500 compared to my logo600s.

I don't use the nylon screws and have never cracked a frame from an auto on my 500 or 600. I auto at the end of every flight. but, I have seen the nylon screws completely fail twice. The landing gears pop off and the heli bounces back up, and you get to land without gear. Landing on the tail fin and the frame, if you have the skill to react and keep it from tipping over, it’s not so bad... YMMV. Flip a coin. I won’t use them, but I know of very good pilots that use them.

[RyanW]

Awesome looking photos! Wish I still had my setup with macro lens!


I know it is 50/50 with the screws, but I like the results with the nylon screws a lot better. The big thing for me was to get away from the screws ReadyHeli sold. The top would pop off those if you looked at them wrong. I purchased some from McMaster Carr and there is more meat on the head. They are a lot better quality and if used with a nylock nut (pre-threaded) they don't come out.

BTW- I do near full speed skids on the asphalt runway along with my skid-bump flips (which are hard on the landing gear) and never had this set up come loose or fail in any way. I know the white phillips version RH used to sell would have a long time ago!

More Bump Flips (0 min 48 sec)

Bump Flip (0 min 31 sec)

[EEngineer]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

I've got enough of this test fit now, that I just I need to solder up the motor bullets and get my ESC connected and make sure my servo arms are as close to centered as they can be before I bolt the chassis together.

Looking good....you're getting there...

One extra thing I did was to add a touch of JB Quik Weld on top of where the tail belt idler pulleys pins snap into the frame sides(both sides).

To keep the pin from spinning in the frame if a bearing goes south.....the heat of friction of the pin spinning will melt the frame at those points....there's a pic floating around here showing that when it happened.

Also, you might want to groove the starboard side frame where the servo bay is....so that some wire cables can be brought along the side frame from the Jive SBEC to behind the servo.....if you're doing the wiring that way.

FWIW

[sl4ppy]

BTW, run your anti-static line from the tail root to the motor mount BEFORE you put the frames together.

[mkovalcson]

Servos are zero'd, arms secured.
Figuring out how to run the wires and stuff the electronics.
Running the ESC's BEC cables and telemetry cables are probably the key things left.

I'm not drilling holes in the frames and don't mind running cables on the outside of the frame. I want this to be easy to rebuild when it goes down since I expect to beat this heli pretty hard pretty regularly.

[RyanW]

Now would be a good time to see where you want to connect the ground strap to the motor mount. I didn't like going into the tiny openings for the screws that hold it in place, so when I had mine apart I drilled and tapped an M2.5 or M3 hold on the flat surface, then used a small button head screw to secure it. I made sure it was away from the motor.

Alternatively, you can use one of the screws that joins the counter bearing support to the third bearing support.

For the front of the tail boom, you want make sure it bites into the boom. Get your boom seated, then take a tiny drill and go through the BACK hole. The front hole doesn't penetrate the boom due to the slot. I know this seems like common sense, but when you come from using a 600 boom (larger dia), it doesn't have a slot and many people ground it through the first hole. I lost my 550SX due to this oversight and it reset the VBar due to massive static discharge.

I think the instructions show this, but on the tail go from the bolt that holds the idler to the boom.

When you are finished double and triple check continuity from the tail idler (the actual metal part) all the way to the motor mount.

[trickybit]

you can cram the wire end between the frame and the motor mount. On my 550SX I connected it to the counter bearing mount.

[mkovalcson]

My epoxy showed up yesterday, so I've got the tail rod and boom supports epoxied and drying.

The electronics test fit is complete. Yes, I made sure that with the servos in their lower most position that they did not touch the sheathing for my BEC & telemetry cables.

Time to drill the boom and attach the anti-static wires.

It looks like my Gens Ace 4400mah 6S 65C packs are the only ones I currently have that fit without widening the front. I'll need to shave about 2mm off to get my 5000mah Hyperions in there on their side so they don't touch the counter bearing support.

[mkovalcson]

Just need to set the mesh properly, adjust the JLog parameters and dial in the pitch and tail. Almost there....

[mkovalcson]

Anti-static check = 0.1 ohms between the tail and the motor mount.



No battery but everything else

• 2.37kg
• 5lb 3.6 oz

RTF

• 3.08 kg
• 6 lb 12.9oz

[trickybit]

What's that thing sticking out of the added boom strut bracket?

Did you do the servo spacers? I can't quite tell.