Who likes their 130 better than their 180?

[Pilotrob]

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002

I have a bunch of Quantums to install and I'm thinking of trying a Spin 8000? How does it compare to the a Quantum?

I don't know how it compares to a Quantum motor but the Spin 8000 is a lot more powerful than the stock motor. I noticed one thing and that is that it likes a battery with a higher C rating. It didn't like the stock batteries. I have been using the Nano techs 65-130C and it does good with thoses. I am sure that's not the true rating but they are better than the stock battery.

[ToddMcF2002]

I think I'll start with the EOX 1101 2S 8350 first. I hear it has similar power but longer flight times.

[donaldsneffe]

Hi,
I have EOX 2s and Spin 2s, Spin is a lot more powerful than the Lynx EOX 2s motor (and in fact my Spin 2s 130x is even stronger than my Lynx EOX 3s mCPx, and of course than my Lynx EOX 2s).
But some people seem to have troubles with the spin (shutoff, battery, mounting); I do not (but use external ESCs in all my 130x).

Cant compare to Quantum, but if Quantum is like EOX, the Spin will be more powerful.

Walter

[Inverted2112]

For whatever its worth, I much prefer the 180.

I liked my 130X a lot when I got it. Picked it up used with some of the "right" upgrades on it and it did fly great, until it didn't. Then problem after typical problem which weren't even crash related. I got frustrated enough to set it aside well before grabbing the 180.

The only things I have done to the 180 are a set of Zeal blades, and I did put an aftermarket canopy on for visibility as I've been flying it in low light a lot lately. I've done nothing else to it and have put more flights on than I care to count.

Stock servos, haven't even done the servo saver mod or upgraded from the original V1 firmware, and quite honestly its been flawless.

The 130 can be made to fly well, but it still lacks piro comp, and overall was just more maintenance than I care to spend on a micro.

[ToddMcF2002]

I think I'm just fundamentally incompatible with heli's that require headspeed to overcome high disk loading like the 180. To me (and I emphasize "to me" because I know they are loved by many) the 180's fly like bricks. I crashed one if mine yesterday and grounded #2 after about 2 minutes of flight because it felt unstable. The 180's have tons of pop but no float whatsoever and drop like a rock if I'm not quick on collective. I feel like I'm trying to catch a dropping rock. The tail bobs around and the collective is very wobbly. They may be tic toc monsters but they fly nothing like my 300's and nothing like my 450's which have hang time. The 130's may have their issues but at least the disk feels light.

My 180's are off to eBay.

[ToddMcF2002]

Pulled the trigger on an EOX. So I'll them different initially to compare (EOX, Quantum, Stock) as they are otherwise identically configured. If I have to try a spin I'll do that on the one left stock and compare that too. I am staying on 2S though...

[Pilotrob]

I think you will like the EOX motor. I had one a while back and I really liked it for about four months then it went up in smoke, then I switched to the Spin. I hope you will have better luck. The EOX motor has a little more power than stock and it is about 4 grams lighter plus its pink . You are going to have to modify the frame some and if I remember correctly it comes with a frame stiffener.

[ToddMcF2002]

I don't need a smack monster. My goal is get used to a stronger collective because the 130 is teaching my left thumb real bad habits. Apparently I fly the 130 so much my brain is completely tuned to it. This season it is making my 300's and 450's hard to fly aggressively because I'm hitting the pitch like a 130 and I'm all over the place. After a real shaky flight last week on my 300 I broke out a 130 and started wailing on it and had an "oh sh*t" moment.

I love my 130's but unless I plan to fly them forever I need to adapt them a bit for consistency.

[ToddMcF2002]

Installed the Quantum motor tonight. Sort of a pain in the stock frame. I did one on in an Xtreme frame last year and that was a piece of cake. A few gotchas on the stock frame install:
- the outrunner will rub the top of the frame if you don't clear enough material. Cutting enough to simply slide the motor in the frame isn't sufficient.
- the pinion diameter on the Quantum is a bit smaller than stock so the motor mounting holes have to be elongated towards the main gear. Problem with that is if you over do it and widen the holes too much in the process. The provided motor mount bolts have pretty small heads and will require some pretty small washers to keep them from passing through the frame as you tighten. I didn't have any on hand so I had to fashion washers out of a tin can.

Got lucky on the motor lead soldering at least. Had a 50/50 chance I was soldering the right sequence and it went in my favor.

[tribe123]

Just flew my 130x and 180CFX back to back. Both are all stock except for some reliability mods (heat sink on 130x and servo savers on 180CFX).

For a beginner/intermediate flyer like me just trying to learn, the 180CFX is easier to fly due to stability in the wind, once I mentally get over the high head speed. The cons are the short flight times and slight tail wag. Gotta spend some time to tune out the tail wag.

130x also flies well, but not as stable in the wind. The tail doesn't wag as much as the 180CFX and the longer flight times is an advantage.

[gunner007]

I used to fly with the "spin". It had a lot more power than the quantum. The motor you bought is overall better than the stock. I fly the stock motor direct soldered to the 3-n-1. I also shorten the stock canopy to shed weight. I find the stock one setup this way is right there with the quantum.

[ToddMcF2002]

The Quantum weights 9.5g vs 15.4g for the stock in runner which will certainly help with cg. It does feel a bit nose heavy compared to the 180 but I find its wind performance almost on par. I jacked up the RPM's on my 180 and it certainly does well and it's stable. What I dislike is the need to be quick on pitch during a flip to keep it from dropping like a rock. I have to be well into negative on a half piro to be even remotely flat. It has zero float time because it's disk loading. I don't have any other helis like that.

[danb1974]

Originally Posted by tribe123

The tail doesn't wag as much as the 180CFX and the longer flight times is an advantage.

I though the 130x tail requires black magic to get it close to "not wagging around", how come your 180 (with real servo and adjustable p,i,d control loop) is worse?

[ToddMcF2002]

EDIT - nevermind I thought you were talking about my 180!

To be exact (1) of my 180's is worse. One flies perfect and the other is a problem. I'm going to swap in a spare DS76T. If that fails I'm going to have to assume the FBL is bad. Pretty sad considering I've flown that one less than a dozen times.

And the 130x tail is fine with a DS76T on the tail. The 130 gets a (I suppose deserved) bad rap for its tail because people insist on running the POS stock linear servo. It's garbage. Anyone running it is asking for trouble. I have (3) 130's and I fly them in rotation. They all have solid tails and I've not had a problem since converting. I should mention they also all have the TBSR, Lynx quad bearing tail, extended boom supports, Lynx tail blades, XTreme ABCD.

[tribe123]

Originally Posted by danb1974

I though the 130x tail requires black magic to get it close to "not wagging around", how come your 180 (with real servo and adjustable p,i,d control loop) is worse?

My 130x since new has been vibration free and without wag until a recent crash. After that it took a while to figure it out, but now again it's vibration and wag free.

I haven't been able to tune the wag out of my 180CFX with the gyro gain. Doesn't seem to be an uncommon problem. Haven't had time to play with the PID tuning.

[ToddMcF2002]

Put 3 packs through the EOX this morning but had a few issues. Last night I replaced a fractured main shaft but I was in a rush and left some vertical play I need to shim. I had a slight tail vibe before the EOX install which is now worse with the new motor power. With the EOX I'm getting periodic tail kick particularly flying backwards upright or inverted. I have metal ABCD and nothing seems rounded but I'm going to have to do a tear down. Maybe the FBL is getting confused by vibes.

At any rate it is more powerful than the Quantum but at 100% flat it has a jumpy RPM which is really strange. 2-3 times during each flight the EOX will punch out a spurt of power and depending where I am on the collective you can imagine the outcome. No crashes but not a good thing. I'll double check solder joints but I doubt it's that. I'll work on the vibes first and see what happens.

My final impression is that this somewhat frail by design airframe is at its limit for this level of power. There is a lot of stress on this rather non-rigid frame with this powerful collective. I think the Quantum is probably more suitable. But I may change my mind when I work out the issues. I might swap the EOX into my #3 for testing on another airframe.

[hofer07]

Experience-- I have owned up to 3 blade 130x for 2.5 years. I have only owned my blade 180 cfx since Christmas.

130x --+1 on flight time; 5-6 min
-- this thing bounces and come back for more
--- simple fixes but I am rather experienced with the 130x

180cfx-- first time crashed and had to replace 3 servos
--- flight time 3 min??????

I

[Bigbadken]

I dont have a 180cfx yet but this was a very nice and timely thread for me. Will probably pull trigger on 180cfx soon but now that my 130x is back up and running I am in love with it again! Put in 10 battery packs today and now that its not blowing out due to worn c and d gears its great! I'm only doing circuits but my confidence is starting to build. Thanks Freaks!

[tigger69]

ok so for me the jury is still out, I love my 130x, its pretty well blinged out and flies well, just got my 180cfx and im amazed at how well it flies. my 130x is stretched and running a quantum motor so its comparable in size to the 180cfx. really its a 2 cell vs 3 cell debate and disk loading differences. they both seem to fly fairly close other than the slight heavier feeling of the 180cfx. the 180cfx kinda reminds me of flying my blinged out 130x on a stock motor. but I dig them both.

[ToddMcF2002]

Actually its 42% heavier disk loading and drops like a stone unless you catch it with quick collective. I don't know why people don't find that to be an obvious problem with the 180. It doesn't fly anything like a 450 or even the 300CFX. There simply is no hang time.

But back to 130's....

I installed another Quantum last night in #3 along with some Lynx weighted blade grips and Lynx tail shaft. That completes my Lynx tail for #3 and it has a very smooth drivetrain now. Low and behold though - I still had a noticeable tail vibe when I spooled up with the Quantum. I couldn't find any vibes anywhere so I swapped my KDE mains to Lynx bullets. Smooth tail! Smooth as glass!

So the KDE's are a problem it seems. They are very tight in the Lynx blade grips which is part of the problem. So I sanded them down. They are much better now and vibes are much reduced but they are clearly unbalanced. I bought this prop balancer (primarily for my pain in the a*s 180's) but I haven't tried it yet. I'm going to assemble "test" 130 & 180 heads for blade balancing with this rig so I don't have to pull my main shaft every time.



Moral of the story: unbalanced mains can cause obvious tail vibes in the 130...