250 Blade 300X my thoughts.. right out the box.

[coolgabsi]

THis is place holder. some things I noticed. some good and bad things right out of the box. This bird was shipped to me by a friend straight from the shop, I opened the box first time, and was asked to do a full setup on it. So I decided to gove this bird a sho right out of the box, of flying it.. ofcourse I wouldnt do that without doing simple checks like pitch and all.. But after that.. I went flying..

stay tuned.. I will be updating this thread with some info. I know people already pwn and love this bird. Some do, some dont. I will be giving y'all my findings. and somethings that could help you not just with this bird but another blade bird also --- 450X

 

[xokia]

This heli doesnt get a fair shake. Its a cheap helicopter and cheap to crash.

There are a few things that are a must on that heli.
Get the lynx frame brace right away-> This stiffens up the frame and prevents the main shaft from snapping in flight.
CF blades are a must IMO -> lynx released some plastic blades that people like
I also got the lynx dampeners the stock ones are way to sloppy for me.
The metal tail shaft is a must -> plastic one will disintegrate

Nice to haves.
Slant cut main gear from lynx -> kinda spendy for a main gear though (noise drops significantly)
New ESC I have the cool 33A from astroid designs
Motor options
wicked motor from astroid design -> for me this motor didnt last longer then the stock motor but was more powerful it was fun while it lasted.
The scorpion 2213-14 this motor has been great and I run it flat out 100% throttle with a 13T pinion. I get 5 min flight time and way more power.

This helicopter will self disctruct if you aren't careful. The stock motor bearing starts to wear which will eventually cause the heli to have seriously bad vibes. If you are in the air when this happens it will cause the main shaft to snap in half at the jesus bolt. That's my $.02 This has been my beeter heli and I actually love this thing. I'm not afraid to do anything on it because crashes are so cheap.

Interested to hear what you think. I cant stress enough how important it is to get that lynx frame brace!!!

 

[pvolcko]

I agree on the lynx brace. If you do nothing else, get this. Though for me it was more about preventing the frame from cracking and having to do total rebuilds to replace it. The frame is relatively cheap but it was such a pain having to replace it after any moderate to serious crash. It did stop the mainshafts from snapping as frequently.

CF blades are good, though not a must IMO. The woodies are good enough unless you're trying some aggressive blade pitch stuff. That said, I found a source for relatively cheap CF blades that made it worth it to go to using them. The sticking point for me before that was price difference.

The combination of the CF blades with the frame brace has resulted in one bad thing for me: after almost every crash I have to replace the top jesus bolt. It shears very easily. It's to the point I may have to find a source for these bolts and nylon nuts separate from the main shaft sets. I've about burned through my supply from prior snapped main shafts that I had saved.

I have the lynx dampers but haven't installed them yet, using up my last set of stock red dampers first.

Metal tail shaft? You mean the metal tail box and pulley? I haven't tried that yet. Haven't had any problems with the tail shaft or belt/pulley. In fact through all the crashes and rebuilds and whatnot I've had with this heli, the tail shaft is the least replaced part. I think I replaced it once after a particularly bad tail down crash at high speed. Tail control arm once. Tail box has been replaced twice. Boom holds up well too in most crashes, only have replaced that three times. Being belt driven you can also fly with it slightly bent without issue. I go through main shafts, spindles, and servo gear sets like crazy. Main gears after that (though I've gotten better judging which situations I can get out of and which I need to TH and let it go in). Blade grips after that. Swash-grip links after that.

I'm still on my original motor. May be getting near replacement time, though. Or maybe an attempt at a bearing replacement. I find the power of it and the ESC to be just fine. I use this as a trainer/beater so I'm not looking for utmost performance. Rather keep it a bit docile both so I don't get into too much trouble and to teach better collective management through maneuvers.

 

[xokia]

I mean just the metal tail shaft with pulley. Not the tail box. I had the plastic one strip out on me from hard tail maneuvers.

The CF blades are a must for me I'v had a bad experience with those wooden blades. I had a set that balanced perfectly on a koll balancer but then refused to balance in the air. I don't know if something was shifting around inside the blade to make them do that. They just seemed really cheap to me and once I changed the blades my problem went away. I also purchase a bunch of CF blades for $10 each so that made the decision easy

I have the aluminum head and that seems to prevent the issue I had with the jesus bolt snapping too. I kept the plastic grips though.

On the motor its not really a bearing problem. Its the bushing on the motor shaft itself that wears out. So replacing the bearing wont fix the problem. If you go with the wicked motor you can keep the stock ESC. If you go with the scorpion then you will need to upgrade to a different ESC.

With the scorpion motor and other mods I listed it really makes the 300x fly pretty decent.

 

[coolgabsi]

I am having vibration issues right out the box folks. Mounted the beastx ON top on the tail boom box. changed the tail blade holders to Align . SO the vibrations from that side are almost GONE. I checked this on the bench.

This bird is BRAND NEW RIGHT OUT THE BOX. I opened the seal, and right out of the box it was vibrating like CRAZY. I am very dissappointed. I took the blades off and the tail shaft and tail blade holder assembly were the cause of vibrations. I basically changed it out right away to Align 450 grips (plastic ones) its a drop in fit. The vibrations calmed down. I thought the stock tail blades were balanced. bUt I dont know now


As soon as it wants to lift off, the sucker drops to the right and wants to tip. controls are all good. gyro is correcting the right way. Ofcourse repositiong the gyro, I had to repragram some settings ofcourse. But I only changed things related to how it was correcting.

Anywaz. I am puzzled to say the least. This bird looked nice, and I will suggest to my frined the carbon braces y'all talked about. But only AFTER the sucker lifts off

I did the motor bearing loctite mod to it too. Had heard a lot about Eflite motors burning in 300X and 450X and this mod seems to have given people a LOT of good results. Its just basically taking the motor apart, and putting a very little loctite inside the bearing where the shaft sits so that the shaft sits tight on the bearing. Apparently, the machining job on eflite motors for the shafts is not accurate enough (too small OD)

things like that defintely calmed this bird down. HUGE difference. but not enough obviously to not disturb the beastx.

Next I will test the tail blades on the bench, and if they cause the vibes, I will need recommendations on new ones.

 

[xokia]

This heli has vibration problems. If you dont purchase that lynx frame brace that heli will self destruct in the air. The main shaft snaps right at the jesus bolt by the main gear and that's all she wrote. That lynx frame brace helps emensly!

The vibration you are experiencing is likely from the tail box. Loosen the screw on the tail box see if that helps. If you watch the landing gear while its in the air if they are blurry the vibes are to high. To high of vibes is what causes the heli to tip to the right. Now you know what I was working with when I was trying to get the SL working on the Ikon lol. The HC handles these vibes with no problem. You should be able to get these vibes out though. I'm still running the stock tail box and grips. I was thinking of trying the aluminum tail box to see if that helps at all. I've never got around to it though.

Also check the belt main pulley. Sometimes people tighten the bolt to tight and it cracks right where the bolt is at. This causes it to rock back and fourth.

For parts Lynx pretty much is the best recomendation for just about everything. They really have created some quality products for the 300x.

This is what happens to the main shaft without the lynx frame brace.

 

[pvolcko]

I can't say I've ever seen one self-destruct in the air, but I was going through frames and main shaft cracks like crazy during crashes until I got the frame brace installed.

Another thing to look at, is the main shaft bent? Even out of the box (or out of the package for a new set of main shafts) they have been known to be bent and cause vibrations. And I second the suggestion to loosen the tail box screws (the three screws and the two holding the tail fin on) just a little bit just to the point they relieve some clamping pressure. I did this and it practically eliminated my high freq vibe problems after a rebuild.

 

[xokia]

My heli self distructed in air that is my main shaft in the picture. Luckily HH has awesome customer service and replaced every damaged part on the heli which was almost an entirely new heli. Watching the landing skids is a good indication of vibes. If the bottom of the skids become blurry then your vibes are to high.

Coolgabsi try the things we recomended. The tail box screws being #1

After you try all that if you can get your hands on a different set of main blades try them especially if you are running the woodies. I had a set of wooden blades that balanced perfectly on a koll balancer but as soon as you spun them up they went out of balance. I have never used a wooden blade since.

 

[coolgabsi]

I have a set of carbon blades for the sr. They are 20mm shorter. I never have liked woodies. Have flown woodies on the 600 before. They sucks.. Now those woodies hold my heli up on walls lol


I'll try the tail box. Also ill definitely check the main shaft and then ask that guy if he wants to spend 20 more to get that frame brace. To me it looks great, but I am not the owner lol

 

[pvolcko]

With the canopy on you can barely see the brace, if he's worried about the looks of it. It really is a must get upgrade, especially if you're going to be pulling any serious 3D or are likely to be crashing it.

 

[EyeStation]

So, I have a chance for a lightly used 300x with only 6 minor flights and no tips or spills. $200 w/ 3 batteries.
What do you think of the price, and am I opening up a can of never ending repairs and upgrades?

 

[cn63bug]

That sounds like a pretty fair price to me. Not sure on repairs and upgrades for it though. I haven't had a 300x yet, but I would pick one up at the price to be sure.

 

[EyeStation]

Thanks for the nod there Chris. I realize that I am getting a Beastx in this deal too, which makes me want to jump.
I probably would not be giving this a thought if my 130x was airworthy. lol


Locked in the deal. Picking it up on the way home tomorrow. Guess I should order that frame stiffener, eh?

 

[pvolcko]

Includes the 7200BX on it? For $200, it's a bargain, grab it. Even if you end up piling it into the ground you can probably recoup it all selling the batteries and FBL off of it. Not to mention ESC, motor, etc. which would likely survive.

As for upgrades and repairs... Depend what you want to do with it. I use mine as a beater. All new moves get flight tested on it first, usually several times and through a couple of crashes. I have enough parts to rebuild it twice over on hand. I repair it alot because I do a lot of stupid stuff with it. It's my real life simulator. I have done very few upgrades on it. I got the lynx frame stiffener (have not had to replace a frame since putting it on, whereas before I was replacing every three crashes or so, main shafts stopped snapping in crashes all the time too). Upgraded to CF blades. That's it. I did just get a set of AL main blade grips, but haven't installed yet.

Since I crash so often I've been hesitant to do many upgrades. Putting AL parts on it just transfers crash energy elsewhere which will cause something further down the line to break. If you plan to be crashing with it or doing 3D, I'd highly suggest the frame stiffener upgrade. It is must have IMO. Otherwise, upgrade at your discretion. If you plan to use it for anything more than sport flying, get CF main blades too.

If you're a decent pilot and will generally only be flying in your comfort zone, but not 3D, you can go stock and enjoy.

 

[EyeStation]

It's safe to post the link now.
http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=573237
He has the woodies mounted on it now and CF blades NIB.
This will be my confidence builder. The 130x has given me a lot of stick time inside and out, but the 450 still gets me nervous. And after seeing what damage the 450 can do, I feel uncomfortable flying it outside my patio door. I live in a multi-unit development and fear sending debris into my neighbors windows.
I think the 300x is gonna fill a nice spot in my hangar and my airspace.
I am hoping this heli will do some lo-key 3D for me someday, but stick time and the learning of the new Gyro should keep this mind at play for some time to come.

 

[pvolcko]

7200BX is pretty easy to setup and once setup there is little tweaking. It is one of the set it and forget it FBL units. You will almost certainly like it.

300X can do some damage, too. Left a few divots in my yard and took a chunk out of a shingle on my garage roof with mine.

I would say you still need some space with it. These are not 130X but a little bigger. It is more like it's a 450 but a bit smaller. It will take some abuse, but not a whole lot. Not like the 130X. Though the tail is much more sturdy on the 300X with it's belt drive and well supported boom.

If you can get it I'd say go for it. I paid $250 for mine, I think. That was without extra batteries. It was essentially brand new. If it was flown it was only once and it didn't so much as smack a bug during it. I originally bought it to get an extra 7200BX in case I didn't like the ikon I was putting on my 700E project at the time. Turned out I loved the ikon and I really enjoyed flying the 300X too.

 

[EyeStation]

Picking up the Heli tonight after work. Got the LX0318 Stiffener on order with the swash leveling tool from HeliDirect.
The seller is charging the batteries up.
Will I have to go through a full gyro setup or should I be able to Bind and Fly as the Blade package states?

 

[murankar]

Always check the setup. People claim they built it right, then the customer finds out they didn't. Even if that means thread locking the screws yourself.

An implied task of a rebuilt/used kit Is to tear it down and build it up yourself. Then you will know that everything is done. The plus side the electrics should be good to go. Double check those just prior to assembly.

 

[pvolcko]

In this case it comes totally pre-built from factory. I'd still do a quick run through on setup to make sure it all looks good since it is coming from a previous owner. Program a model on the Tx according to manual defaults. Unplug ESC from motor, bind it up, check hold mode pitch travel and pitch direction, cyclic in all directions makes the swash go the right way, rudder left and right to make sure endpoints are good (no binding or servo straining) and directions are good. Then pick up the model and tilt in all directions checking swash compensation direction and tail correction directions. If it all checks out, unplug battery, plug in motor to esc, take it outside and spin it up and give it a go.

 

[EyeStation]

You got me excited. 6 pm can't come soon enough. I do appreciate all the pre-help. Hopefully this will be a smooth transition.