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Gyro Hobbies . E-flite . Next D

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e-New & Emerging Electrics > EP 400 Build Thread
 
 
RCHeliWorks
Veteran
Location: RCHeliWorks

thanks for the kind words dave

chris
06-03-2006 Over year old.
 
 
RCHeliWorks
Veteran
Location: RCHeliWorks

the blades are tough!!!!
06-03-2006 Over year old.
 
 
dkshema
rrProfessor
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

This is not the first time this set of blades has eaten turf and lived to tell about it.

The first time, right after I got the bird, I had a rough landing and smacked the concrete driveway with them. A little scuff on the underside of the tips, and the plastic heat shrink splintered. I removed all the plastic covering, sanded the underside of the tips smooth, and recovered the blades with some self-adhesive laminating film I found at the local grocery store.

The second time they tasted turf, was on a flight where I was still running what turned out to be a bad battery pack. It ran out of juice before the timer on my TX went beep beep beep. I smacked the ground skids first, the heli bounced about 25 feet and came to rest on its skids. Bent a MR shaft, broke a tail rotor grip, and bent a spindle shaft.

This last time, full bore into the ground. I expected a pile of bits and pieces, but as stated above, the entire repair bill is less than $30!

And the blades are still in one piece.

Maybe the EP 400 is like a cat, and it now has six lives left. Who knows, it will be back in action soon.

Dave
06-04-2006 Over year old.
 
 
shesha
Veteran
Location: Kuwait

dave the dpr software from bnbproducts is compatible with all kinds of brushless esc ? via the usb cable ? or you need the bnb esc's ?

Zero bubble....
06-07-2006 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
dkshema
rrProfessor
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

The BnB Products DPR thingy simply connects between the battery and the rest of the system. It doesn't care what kind of motor you are using, or what kind of ESC. It measures current through it, and voltage across it. The software takes care of calculating and plotting power, efficiency, etc. The DPR also will accept a couple of temp probes that you can buy from BnB, and will monitor temps, as well.

The unit gathers its data, and you then download that data using a PC and a USB cable. As long as you have a PC with a USB port, you install their software and you're ready to roll.

Dave
06-07-2006 Over year old.
 
 
shesha
Veteran
Location: Kuwait

Any news of the release date for the ep400xp ?

Another quick question the align 430L is how many poles ?

Zero bubble....
06-07-2006 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
dkshema
rrProfessor
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

July 2006 is all the Kyosho web site says...

From the Align web site:

Quote 
3550KV high efficiency, high torque, 9holes, 6 poles outrunner brushless motor.


Putting that on an EP 400? Ought to work pretty good. I think a 22 or 23 tooth pinion would go well with it. Look at Robinson Racing products...they make 1/8th inch bore pinions for RC electric cars. 64 pitch.

Maybe even a 24 tooth for the 3550 KV motor. I'm using the Just Go Fly 400DH which is supposed to be a 4000 KV motor, and I believe I have a 23 tooth pinion on it. Seems to fly well with that combo.

Dave
06-07-2006 Over year old.
 
 
dkshema
rrProfessor
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

My EP is back together thanks to the fast RC Heliworks turn around for orders.

After putting it back together, I took it out front in the driveway and fired it up. The EP lifted off and hovered just fine. Amazingly, even the MR blades were still perfectly in track. This is a very easy heli to work on and repair. I like it.

Dave
06-10-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Tomie
Veteran
Location: OC CA

Hi Guys,

Am one day away in purchasing my Caliber 400EP Any advice? is the tail wag already fix and how about the pinions? do they have all the pinion sizes now?

Thank You,
Tomie
07-27-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Xtremshowrc
Heliman
Location: France

Hi,
I'm French and i discovered here the only forum about the caliber 400. I bought an Align Motor 420 and put a 26 tooth gear as i read on this forum. My heli was ok but 5 minutes later a smoke came from my motor.
The speed controller burned too and i explosed my 2000 mA lipo bateery !!!! My question is what i can do now ? Sell my heli for few euros or try again with a smaller gear. What do you think about it ?
Many thanks
Sad Christophe
PS : I got a Graupner Lipo battery 200 mA - BL 420 LF Align Motor with BL25G speed controller
07-28-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Tomie
Veteran
Location: OC CA

Xtremshowrc,

Follow these set-up..

Radio: Futaba 9C Super
Receiver: R146iP
Servos: x3 Futaba S3103
Tail servo: Futaba Digital S9650 (mounted to frame with double sided tape)
Gyro: Futaba GY401 at (64% delay)
AON 3500KV brushless motor
Robinson racing 23t 64P pinion
ESC: Castle Creations Phoenix 45 for brushless motor

** I got this set-up from a test pilot in Kyosho USA**
You dont need to buy the same product just the same spec

And also Caliber 400 has a similar characteristics as a .30 Heli
07-28-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Dwight
Senior Heliman
Location: West Chicago, IL

Christophe,

Based on the speed controller you were using it appears to be too low of amperage. You need to use between a 30 to 35 minimum to handle the current draw. I am sure you burned out the speed control which in turn fried the motor. I had a very similar problem using a 25 amp controller in the early stages of testing.

I have been using the new Hacker A20-6XL with excellent results. I am using a 37 tooth pinion as the motor is a 2500kv outrunner. This gives about 2500 head speed. I can run a 39 tooth which gives about 2800 but the run time goes down too much. The power is the best I have used so far and I also have the AON 2815-3500 motor. The Hacker runs much cooler which is a concern with the electric stuff. The motor is $69 retail. Hacker is selling a package with this motor and matching speed control for around $130 I think.

Dwight
07-28-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Tomie
Veteran
Location: OC CA

Dwight,

What brand of pinion are you using? Because Aon has a semi-flat tip which holds the pinion gear.. Hackers dont (i think), how do you install the pinions? Can you show me some pics? and hows the flight characteristics of the Caliber? is it true that it very stable like a .30Heli?

Thank You,
Tomie
07-28-2006 Over year old.
 
 
dkshema
rrProfessor
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

It's been awhile since I've been over here. My EP 400 is still going strong, flies great, and I've had absolutely NO trouble with it.

I don't believe the Align 420 was ever considered a powerhouse, even in a T-Rex. And it, like its cousin the 400, ran very hot. As for smoking your ESC and bloating your LiPo -- you didn't say what amp rating your ESC was good for, nor did you state what discharge current your LiPos were capable of sustaining. If you run something like the Just Go Fly 400DH, or the Align 430L, or the motors that Dwight is referring to, I believe you need at least a 35 amp ESC, and your batteries must be at least capable of 15C continuous discharge, 20C+ would be even better.

I've settled for a Just Go Fly 400DH motor on my EP. It's rated somewhere near 4000 KV as I recall, and I believe I'm using a Robinson Racing Products 23 tooth pinion on it. The ESC I'm using is a Phoenix 35 from Castle Creations, and Thunder Power TP 2100 Pro Lites for juice. The RX is a Hitec Electron 6, with three Hitec HS-56 servos, a JR Sport SM-8 (same as an HS50), and a GY 401 gyro.

If you were to install an Align 430L, and use something like a 24-tooth pinion, I believe you'd have a machine that handles and flies pretty well.


The EP is rock solid, and yes, it feels much more like its 30 sized brethren in the air, unlike the twitchy T-Rex. It is not as aerobatic as the T-Rex, however. I modified mine to move the battery pack up front (as in the pics of the XP on that Jason.net photo) and that made a world of difference in the way the heli flies.



I did eliminate a LOT of the control system slop by whacking off the plastic balls from the swashplate and replacing them with metal balls from the Caliber 30. The biggest gain was made when I cut off the plastic ball of the pitch slider lever, and replaced it with a metal ball. Read about that mod several posts above.

If you take a close look at that picture, you can see that the balls on the swash have been changed out for metal ones.

The Robinson Racing pinions have an 1/8th inch bore, and are held onto the shaft by means of a set screw. Changing out pinions is relatively easy which allows easy and quick experiments.

I've seen pics of the new EP400 XP, and would someday like to swap out my current EP400 for the XP version. But until that happens, I'll just continue to fly the pants off the EP as is!

Dave
07-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
dkshema
rrProfessor
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

Dwight -- what is the performance like on your EP? What, with your particular setup, is the EP capable of? I've only seen mine fly, so it would be nice to have another reference point to calibrate against.

Dave
07-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Dwight
Senior Heliman
Location: West Chicago, IL

Dave,

The last line in him post said it was a 25.

I will typically do anything but kaos as I don't know how. My style of 3D is a smoother graceful style as my flying style is F3C. In capable hands I am sure it will do anything you see the TRex do.

Tomie,

I am using a Robinson Racing pinion also. There are very good and I have not had any issues with coming loose. The 400 is a very smooth flying machine although it is difficult to compare to a much bigger and heavier 30 although if you compare to the similar size electrics it is much more stable. That is more the design of the head than the mechanics. If you make the machine more agressive it tends to become less stable.

Dwight
07-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
RCHeliWorks
Veteran
Location: RCHeliWorks

430l 3550 on the ep400 needs a 28-29 tooth pinion mine flys great i think i have the 29 on there now, no heat problems 7-10 minutes depending on which battery

hyperion 2100 10 minutes with good power all the way through
tp2100 great power but drops off fast after 3-4 minutes dead at 6 min
tanic 1760 great power 7 minutes of good flight and 2 gentle flight

chris
07-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
dkshema
rrProfessor
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

Quote 
The last line in him post said it was a 25.


You're right...I missed it, thinking it was part of his "signature". Guess I need to read all the way to the bottom!

I might need to add a couple teeth to my pinion to see what gains I get in performance. I've also got a JGF 450TH that was once in the heli, but taken out when I still owned crappy batteries. Maybe time for a new round of batteries and motors to see if I can stop saying "it's not as aerobatic as the T-Rex."

DWIGHT -- I watched Mark's RRTv footage of you and the FAI stuff. You and the Caliber are phenomenally smooth fliers. After watching that footage, it made me think that maybe helicopter FAI flying is something I should look into. Looks challenging, and fun.

Dave
07-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
dkshema
rrProfessor
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

I just got finished swapping out the 400DH (23 tooth pinion) for the 450TH I've had since last Christmas. I'm starting with 32 tooth pinion. Got one hovering flight in the front yard, about 11 minutes and 30 seconds of juice from the TP 2100S pro lites. It was 95 degrees out, the batteries were warm, but not as hot as they have been getting with the 400DH.

Now to get out and see how the different motor performs. I may have to tweak pinions, but that's pretty easy to do.

Dave
07-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Tomie
Veteran
Location: OC CA

Quote 
I watched Mark's RRTv footage of you and the FAI stuff. You and the Caliber are phenomenally smooth fliers. After watching that footage, it made me think that maybe helicopter FAI flying is something I should look into. Looks challenging, and fun.


Can i see the link? i gotta see this one
07-30-2006 Over year old.
 
 
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