450 EXI 450 Problems

[coolgabsi]

here's a post that i read from RCgroups. and it makes total sense, my tail was still binding so i left the screw just a little loose to not bind... this is the problem i found there

"So for those of you who said they couldn't tighten their tail grip screws all of the way without binding, here is your problem. EXI is assembling some, if not all of their tail grips wrong. My tail grips were as follows: screw, bearing, spacer, spacer, grip, bearing, tail rotor hub. According to the Align manual it should be as follows: screw, spacer, bearing, grip, bearing, tail rotor hub. Once I fixed my grips, I was able to tighten my screws down all of the way without any binding."

i am going to do it.. i suggest any one who reads this does too..

i am getting +-8degrees pitch on my heli... now should i leave it at that until i train... or should i increase it? i have heard there is way to increase pitch by swahmix... or something... TONY.. please can you make a video about this???

Thanks a lot!!!

 

[Tony]

8* is a little low, but will work for just hovering. If you want to raise it, then go into your swash mix, and take your Pitch from +60 to +70 or 80 or however much pitch you want. If you are in the negatives, just go lower (ie -60 to -70 or 80) and that will again, give you more movement on yoru swash with your throttle. I would not mess with the ail and elev though. It will be twitchy enough for you as is.

 

[coolgabsi]

I had a maiden flight!!!! Yaaaay!! It had tail issues. I was on hh 65perc.. Had to trim the tail a little bit. It was stable on cyclic.. Almost, throttle was responsive after 50perc I was gaining height fast. Still have 8deg pitch.

Tail wanted to go left, I trimmed, it kinda stayed.

Also here was wind on top of this garage.. 4th floor... Here is a bad bad video! Please see what you can...
Lol

 

[Tony]

If you trim the tail, you have to unplug the battery, then plug it back in so the gyro will initialize again. I couldn't see the blade tracking, so can't comment. Wish I could have seen more of the maiden. Maybe have a friend hold the phone sideways (so it's not a long vertical image lol) and so it's in view. Congrats on getting it up, then back down though. I did my flight with my 250 today as well.

 

[coolgabsi]

"every flight is a test, and every crash is a lesson" :|

had my first crash today... reason : my addiction and itch to fly.... in wind... 20mph.. :| , a park tree, those little thin tree monsters that can come from no where in your flight path.., and just stupidity on my part.. lol

well, bumped my tail on the grass, broke my tail fin (which i will just CA back, )
then i think that changed the belt tension because it started sounding more loud on the tail... well, still i was flying.. ( i know i should have stopped).. but u know that itch... nooooo.. it can go more... its not that bad... :|

well, i was trying to walk it in the park.. and all of a sudden, crash! the tree brach got chopped, my flybar bent ( suprise!! lol) , one of the long linkages are bent, one blade opened from the center, and the other has a ding in the back part, havent checked the feathering shaft and the main shaft.. but i am guessing, the main shaft should be ok!

anywaz.. sad day... means its gonna be on the shelf for a while until i get the time to fix it.. :|

I am worried about my tail belt tension to change, does that happen to y'all? or was it a mistake on my part? any specific screws or something to check in pre flight check? please recommend!!

thanks
happy flying!

 

[Tony]

Sucks about the crash, but as they say, it's not if you crash, it's when. As for the tail, I hope you are talking about CA'ing the vert stab together, and not a blade. Just remember how fast those blades are spinning. And, if you hit the tail to break that off, you very well could have bent, or pushed in the tail boom. So, it does need to be rechecked and adjusted.

 

[coolgabsi]

hello

some one here? i had a question.. whats the difference between 325mm 450 blades and 335 mm FRP blades?

fyi 335 are for the 450 size too.. difference of 50 cents... more for the 335mm

one more question: is the belt on the heli something thats needs changing very often ? deciding if i should get two blades or one blade and one belt... please lemme know!

I am also gonna get the sim hopefully

 

[coolgabsi]

Hey guys... Gaba here...

OK ... trouble... lol.. this time I am not even understanding whats causing it, cause its just wierd. :|

So after the last crash, I tried to get my heli back in shape. tried to bend the main gear and the reduction gear as suggested by lee and tony to get rid of the warp. honestly it worked for the main gear but reduction not so much.. anywa.. not the probelm.. i got the head to set right.. 4 bucks of parts and my heli was all setup again ready to fly!

now.. I had a fully charged battery, i spool it up, and as soon as i get around mid throttle, instead of gaining power, i start loosing power, sounding like my battery is low, I go again.. same issue.. again and again... same issue. I thought battery died oe something and thought Ok should replace it with another fully charged one.

The same issue in this one, but this time, instead of cutting throttle, i let it rotate (it was still sounding like loosing power) and all of a sudden like a switch got flipped, it picked up throttle again!!! :O it scared the heck out of me, and i cut the throttle then. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN!!!????

Now i tried to get it in the air, it went, but i saw the tail fin had rotated anticlockwise about 45 degrees.. i was like WHAAA!

I put it down. check it, the tail boom is warm and i try to rotate it with my hands, it takes a lot of force to rotate the tail, i tried and finally got it back in line with the body. THen again sppoled up, my tail fin again went 30 degrees off.. ITS BIZZARRE!!! i have never seen something like this! and my tail now sounds funny too... i bet the tension changed because of all this rotationa dn un-rotations... So i decided to also make a video, and if u notice in the video, the tail fin starts to go anticlockwise ... and keeps going.. I donno why though! before the flight I set the belt tension to "perfect" and u know set everything by the book... I dont know why this is happeing!! PLEASE HELP!!!!

I thought the tail would be easier to handle in this one from the HBFP being a belt driven, but its been a horror till now.. HELP ME!!!! :

 

[Paulster2]

Not knowing the extent of the original damage, are you sure you don't have the belt to the tail twisted?

 

[Keith]

Sounds like it might be the belt twisted to me....

With the power issue you may have a bad connection... When it reaches a certain amperage it can't take any more...

I would re-do the three wires from the ESC to the motor to eliminate them first... A bad connection will probably get warm as well...

 

[Tony]

Sounds just like the problem you had when you first built it. Take the tail off, verify and reverify that the belt is straight, then turn 90* clockwise and install the boom. If the boom is hot, then you will prolly need those other belts you ordered...

 

[Lee]

Also I'm not sure if its just the angle of the video. But something doesn't look quite right with your blades and grips. They look at a very odd angle and when you spool up they stay like that. Might just be nothing. My bad eyesight

 

[coolgabsi]

Yeah they do get stuck, I am prolly gonna have to put a shim, because the blades pitch goes too far one way and gets stuck. I move the rudder a bit and they come out and never get stuck gain. It a common issue with exi design.


And tiny I don't have extra belts, I have extra booms... Do u think I might need one?

 

[Lee]

Take a close up shot of your tail so i can see it.

 

[Rc-Help Member]

Gab can you post a closeup of the tail servo and the tailrotor from both sides?

 

[coolgabsi]

Hello guys! as u said, I am posting a new after setup video of my EXI 450's tail. Its Setup, not perfect, but as fasr as I go.. it is. well. found out that the tail rotating all anticlockwise was not my tail boom. it was the mount where the tail shaft sits, and is secured by only one nu and bolt. Well, I remember how it looked, and while setting up this tail again, I tried to move that shaft and not much force was required until the whole stupid thing was moving around on the tail boom. So I loctited the bolt and screw.

Now u are gonna say.. DUHH!! had told u a bajillion times before to loctite everything.. YES! lol.. but that time, all the screws and bolts on the tail were too tight and I was stripping everyone trying to open it without any luck. Well, when opening this tail now to check the tail belt and reassemble and all, the tail screws were smooth as silk. no torque required to open them. it was like a HUGE disaster waiting to happen! lol. But thank goodness that I caught it in time!

Anywaz.. I tightened the screw, got my belt tension to where I thought was good ( which may or may not be right but thats all i know lol.. ) , and then, the tail pitch linkage, I subtrimmed it to 90 on the servo, and then tried to tighten it all the way and make it as short as it could be before both the heads completely locked, I am still a little off on the tail pitch slider to linkage 90 degree angle. Well, the tail slider and still locks because the little pivot thing goes off center. I am not sure if the setup is right or not, Or should I compromise the 90 deg of the servo and bring the two (servo to linkage and linkage to tail pitch slider) in close to 90 position or leave it the way it is. The servo is all the way pushed into the boom support.

here is a video of this heli's tail in action. In the background you'll hear me make stupid comments, and my GF wanting to throw my heli away.. PLease ignore! lol... (she was mad that I spooled it up in the aptt.) lol. Please leave your comments and ideas, I'll greatly appreciate that. The picture shows the screw and bolt that were loose causing the tail to rotate clockwise.


Thanks for all your help! You guys are amazing!

 

[coolgabsi]

I Just realized. I have installed the servo on the opposite side of where it was. So I think it's inverted. Please tell me if it Is. I think it is... I might have to center it again... Lol m crazy! Let me know!!!

 

[Jolly-Swagman]

Hi Gabs you have two problems I can see in Videos, one I think you have realised already

1/What you need to do id take the servo of the boom mount and rotate it 180* so the servo cog is closer to front , not the rear as you have it now, this will mean that the servo then wont be butted up against the boom block

2/looking at the Boom and the tail assembly its not level with the heli loosen at rotate the boom slightly will fix this , easy way is to line it up with frame or canopy mount arm

 

[Rc-Help Member]

Notice that the top of the tail assembly is level with the top of the boom block.

View attachment 149

Notice that the tail servo armature is pointed toward the helicopter body.

View attachment 150

Hope this helps.

 

[Keith]

I had the same problem with mine... It was centered a bit better than yours but still locked the same as yours does...

I was going to put a washer on the slider to stop it traveling so far then adjust the endpoints once it stopped binding..

Anyway after I took it off I was so fed up with it I sent off for a metal tail.. I could see the plastic flexing...

Got the new tail and it can travel the full distance both ways without a hint of binding..

Haven't had time to fit it yet but it should stop the problem... I've also ordered a metal head now as well...