450 Hiding wires

[D.O.G.]

I received some today in the mail box. 4=KST DS215mg, Tarot TL 450MX-3500 motor and a new HW50a ESC that will be here soon. I've been hearing that most of uses like your wires be hidden and neat/tidy. Well I try to hide the wires as best as I can. I didn't do so well. It's late and I'll try again later on to finisher the 450 up.

 

[Derek]

To be honest...I think it's harder to hide the wires on a 450 class helicopter. There just isn't enough real estate to tuck the wires...especially with the esc and flybarless controller on the outsides of the frame. If you have new servo connectors and a crimping tool, you could actually cut the servo wires to the desired length then add a new servo connector. I've done that many times...especially on my quads.

 

[D.O.G.]

To be honest...I think it's harder to hide the wires on a 450 class helicopter. There just isn't enough real estate to tuck the wires...especially with the esc and flybarless controller on the outsides of the frame. If you have new servo connectors and a crimping tool, you could actually cut the servo wires to the desired length then add a new servo connector. I've done that many times...especially on my quads.

You are absolutely right Derek about no real estate. I don't have the tools or qualify to do such a procedure on the wires either Lol. I did thought of a different way to hide the wires while trying to experiment last night. I'm also going to mount my ESC underneath the heliI instead of the side. I'm going to Give that a try. I'm planning to have the 450 done by this afternoon just in time for the thunder showers. That's OK because after it rain and the storm moves away the weather will be nice and calm to fly. I should be done by then.

 

[Derek]

Sounds good buddy! Best of luck to you! I just got home from work, so I'm off to bed.

 

[D.O.G.]

First I would like to say to Tony and any other guys that likes to spend the time to tuck their wires away and make it look real nice, well.... GOD BLESS YOU! I wont do that again Lol. I will do a better job in hiding my wires in the future but nothing like this . I finished making the wires on the 450 look neat & tidy. Looks OK I guess but to much time for me.

 

[Admiral]

Hi D.O.G. to me that looks neat, it's not that I like to hide all the wires, I just hate seeing a helicopter with a birds nest of wires, when I can't conceal mine I often use spiral wrap but have used the same woven sleeve that you have used.

The time I used the woven sleeve I also cut the cables down to minimal length, looked great, but I came to regret it when I went to reuse the components it another build.

 

[trainrider06]

If I spent less time hiding wires and such, and spent more time flying like you I might be a better flier like you are Ivan!
But I am a freak and it bugs me when my heli's have stuff hanging outside them and such, doesn't bother me or do I think less of other pilots, that don't mess with worry over wire placement, thats just my own anal thing for my heli's I reckon....
In fact I have been thinking I am going to try and use a little less sleeving and try and hide my wires still but in a different way so I don't sit for hours looking at the dang thing mentally routing wires in my head...LOL
The 450 is a real pain to try and hide wires on, but here are some of my idea's I've come up with to make em a little less pain in the rear to get to and replace components....I am actually very unsatisfied with this wire job, especially how I ended up routing the ESC on it and the wires.....I don't mind the sleeved wire running along there I just hate how the motor wires run. With the 450 you have to watch where you run your power plug to the ESC because the battery doesn't always fit if you have too long or leads

 

[Tony]

You are right, it's a pain in the ass to hide all of those wires. In fact, I'm about to do it on a new helicopter that I'm working on. I will be sure to show my results when I have it ready for the air.

But all of that work pays off!

And just IMO, I only use wire loom on larger helicopters. It looks too bulky on smaller heli's. In fact, I took it off my 600 and just let the wires show where they go into the gyro. I wont' be putting any wire loom on this new(ish) helicopter.

 

[trainrider06]

As soon as I can afford a HW ESC for my 450, that's what I'll be putting on it!
As far as wire sleeving, I'm only going to use that for exposed wires, or wiring running in a critical area, next to a motor or something like that.
I have a few Ideas for this 450 Pro DFC, but I think I am going to put these servo plug crimpers to more use by shortening some leads.

 

[D.O.G.]

As soon as I can afford a HW ESC for my 450, that's what I'll be putting on it!
As far as wire sleeving, I'm only going to use that for exposed wires, or wiring running in a critical area, next to a motor or something like that.
I have a few Ideas for this 450 Pro DFC, but I think I am going to put these servo plug crimpers to more use by shortening some leads.

That's what I need to do Rodney. Buy my self some crimpers and teach my self how to shorten wires.

 

[trainrider06]

These are what I use, very nice pliers! Crimps them like a pro! I think they have an instructional video on the web site too!
https://www.servocity.com/html/pin_crimpers.html#.V5QQ6r-DnCQ
Here are the plugs....
https://www.servocity.com/html/oem_hitec_male__gold_pin_.html#.V5QSXb-DnCQ

 

[Kingfish3r1]

If you guys wanna see some BAD wire hiding look at mine!!!! Haha the store didn't even have black zip ties so I had to go with the neon green ones :face palm:

Lmao all I care as of now is that it doesn't get caught up anywhere... Until I get my CF frame Im not even gonna bother with tidying wires lol.

 

[D.O.G.]

If you guys wanna see some BAD wire hiding look at mine!!!! Haha the store didn't even have black zip ties so I had to go with the neon green ones :face palm:

Lmao all I care as of now is that it doesn't get caught up anywhere... Until I get my CF frame Im not even gonna bother with tidying wires lol.


View attachment 16246

Now that's funny. Not your wring, maybe Lol but your heli on the kitchen table with a picture of my heli in the back ground

 

[PLANETGETLOW]

When thing i learned a long time ago is to be careful which wires you are stacking. Some get warm and other components get HOT. If you put them close to say a main motor, you will melt them. I just pulled apart this 500, and although it was put together right i found a melted, bare servo wire.

 

[trainrider06]

When thing i learned a long time ago is to be careful which wires you are stacking. Some get warm and other components get HOT. If you put them close to say a main motor, you will melt them. I just pulled apart this 500, and although it was put together right i found a melted, bare servo wire.

thats why even when someone says something flies good, and it just might too, another set of eyes can pick up on another potential issue that they missed, when buying someone's heli from them.
i always try and not zip tie the servo wires too tight or sometimes I'll put some heat shrink on the wire if it is running close to a critical area of heat or moving parts.

 

[Smoggie]

I'm less fussy about hiding wiring and sleeving than i used to be. While it may look nice to have all your wiring hidden away and sleeved can be a 'royal pain in the ass' when it comes to maintenance and changing components. It's for the same reason I'd be very hesitant to shorten servo wires. While it might make the installation a little neater it would make it difficult to use that servo in any other heli and it's always nice to have that flexibility because you never know what's around the corner.

I still make an effort to have my wiring reasonably neat and tidy but not at the expense of ease of maintenance.

 

[KLA]

I agree with Smoggie. I keep my wires neat to a certain point. I'm not gonna take the side of the frame off of my 450 just to hide wires. I just use a set of long and skinny needle nose pliers to fish my wires thru wherever I can and zip tie them as neat as possible. I don't have any wires just hanging all over the place, just wires popping out to get to the gyro, ESC or servos.

 

[D.O.G.]

I guess the 450 doesn't like it's wires neat & tidy Lol. She developed a forward bobbing problem right from the start. I made a short video to show the bobbing. I'm not sure if your able to see it but near the end you'll get a better look... it's there. MVI 0484 - YouTube

- - - Updated - - -

My blades finally came in yesterday. So the X3 flew a little better then the 450, Lol. I do like flying the the 362mm blades then the 325mm on the X3. MVI 0482 - YouTube

 

[trainrider06]

Check your servo, pitch servo that is, looks like you got one either sticking or jittering....

 

[D.O.G.]

Check your servo, pitch servo that is, looks like you got one either sticking or jittering....[/QUOTE

Thank you for your suggestion Rodney. It's not a sticky or jittering servo that's for sure. I just installed new KST servos all around. After further inspection of the 450, I've came to a conclusion that the tail bearings are worn out. Too much play in the center of the bearings. I changed them out and now the 450 is back to her self, I think Lol. I had the chance to do a test hover yesterday before it got to dark. Worked fine. This morning I will give it a real test flight and see what happens. If it's anything like the hover test, she'll do fine.