600E Tail Wag

[strat1960s]

I've got a 600E CF (about 5 yrs old) that I converted to a DFC FBL head using the AR7200BX controller/RX. I'm flying with an older DX 7.

I have got a tail wag! I've tried lowering the gain, increasing the gain, and moving the servo ball in one hole. Each seemed to have little or no effect on the tail wag. The wag occure when I give an input. The rest of the time, the tail is pretty locked in.
A friend asked "Are you using the heli governor mode of the ESC? If so, do not use this. Change to the "standard mode" and fly with throttle curve."

I looked at the manual for the AR7200BX and did not see anything about this. I also looked at the DX 7 manual and did not see anything there either. So where do I check this out?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Ted

[Ah Clem]

There is no governor in the AR7200BX.

Having seen multiple cases of tail wag caused by governor issues, I would definitely turn the governor off to eliminate that as a possibility.

Usually wag is attributable to binding in the linkage, servo ball distance, or gain (some of which you have already explored), or flapping wires leading into the AR7200BX

[strat1960s]

I didn't see anything in the RX either. I've got an old Align ESC. I dont think there is anything in it to turn on or turn off. Hmm??

Ted

[Ah Clem]

There may be no governor.

[strat1960s]

The governor is programmed during initial setup. Trick is how do i know if its turned on or not?

[Felix the cat]

Originally Posted by strat1960s

I've got a 600E CF (about 5 yrs old) that I converted to a DFC FBL head using the AR7200BX controller/RX. I'm flying with an older DX 7.

I have got a tail wag! I've tried lowering the gain, increasing the gain, and moving the servo ball in one hole. Each seemed to have little or no effect on the tail wag. The wag occure when I give an input. The rest of the time, the tail is pretty locked in.
A friend asked "Are you using the heli governor mode of the ESC? If so, do not use this. Change to the "standard mode" and fly with throttle curve."

I looked at the manual for the AR7200BX and did not see anything about this. I also looked at the DX 7 manual and did not see anything there either. So where do I check this out?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Ted

Do you have a pot. switch (radio knob) on your TX. If so, try switching the gyro to it and you can "dial-in" your gyro gain.

I have a Futaba 8J, on maiden flights I always use the pot for gyro gain and later move it to a switch. Funny thing is my GP 900 holds rock solid with the pot gain and goes totally berzerk with a switch, no matter if its 65% or whatever it's set to. Currently figuring it out.

[strat1960s]

I was able to determine that my governor was turned off by going through the setup beeps. It was explained that the governor can cause sudden changes in motor RPM which can cause tail wag.

Ted

[strat1960s]

Currently the gain in the RX is set to 65%. I still have a wag when I lower it to 62% and the tail feels sluggish. If I lower the gain down to 60% the tail begins to drift. I wander what kind of an effect a bad motor bearing would have on the tail. I've got a squeaker motor bearing, Hmmm?

Ted

[Felix the cat]

[QUOTE=strat1960s;4612819]I was able to determine that my governor was turned off by going through the setup beeps. It was explained that the governor can cause sudden changes in motor RPM which can cause tail wag.

Yes, any sudden RPM increase will cause tail wag because the tail cannot compensate properly / fast enough. A good digital tail servo is "supposed to" be able to handle the change in rpm. Or you can add Revo Mix % which increases the tail pitch according to the rpm change.

[QUOTE=strat1960s;4623538]Currently the gain in the RX is set to 65%. I still have a wag when I lower it to 62% and the tail feels sluggish. If I lower the gain down to 60% the tail begins to drift. I wander what kind of an effect a bad motor bearing would have on the tail. I've got a squeaker motor bearing, Hmmm?

What's your headspeed like, have you tried increasing your throttle curve or perhaps in idle 1 or 2 ? Low headspeed = slugish tail.

Just my two cents.

[strat1960s]

Felix,

Thank you for your comments. I have been stuck in my comfort zone far too long. I have recently begun flying in stunt mode 1 as opposed to hovering around in normal mode. The low head speed causing the tail to feel sluggish very well could be a factor. Increasing my head speed might help me with my tail way by allowing me to decrease the gain in the RX. I have programmed the RX stunt mode to 80%.

One of the guys at the flying field said he knew of a setting in the Beast X that would fix the wag. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him at the field the last couple of weekends.

Thank you again.

Ted