RunRyder - HDX300, continuing saga

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e-HeliDirect HDX 300 - 450 - 500 - 600 > HDX300, continuing saga

johnnychimpo
Senior Heliman
Location: Fort Rucker, AL

Here is my hdx300. I have been having some serious vibration issues and i have bent 2 main shafts all ready with the v2 head. I have removed the entire drive train except the main motor, main shaft and main gear and the vibe seems to still be present. I think the motor is causing all the issues. Anyone have vibe problems with the hdx300 motor?

01-31-2007 Over year old.

gmcullan
Veteran
Location: Southbridge, MA

I have that little motor running on three helis. It's an amazing little unit, plenty of power and runs very cool. Run the motor by itself. If it runs smoothly, then check out the main gear. If you still have the tail rotor drive pulley installed on the main shaft, also check out its runout. The possibility of main gear runout is all too common with molded gears.

Gerry Cullan,
Blade CP, HoneyBee CP2, T-Rex 450 SE & SA, HDX300, MicroHeli Monster

01-31-2007 Over year old.

lryansl
Senior Heliman
Location: Yuma, Arizona

check yoru main shaft i had a problem with vibes which was from my main shaft. i have two other main shaft that came bent, i tried straighting the first one and couldnt get it prefect until i flipped the main shaft around and nows it smooth.

01-31-2007 Over year old.

johnnychimpo
Senior Heliman
Location: Fort Rucker, AL

Main shaft brand new, i have gone thru many of them vibe is happening with out main gear hooked up as well. The motor is producing a high pitch squeal when about 60-70% as well. I just wonder if its common or not. never thought that a motor could cause soo much vibration.

01-31-2007 Over year old.

gmcullan
Veteran
Location: Southbridge, MA

check the timing used on your brushless ESC. Are you using the Sonic ESC with the brushless outrunner motor? I believe you want to use "medium" timing, but there can be variances with the motors. You might want to try the high timing option to see if the motor smooths out.

Gerry Cullan,
Blade CP, HoneyBee CP2, T-Rex 450 SE & SA, HDX300, MicroHeli Monster

01-31-2007 Over year old.

johnnychimpo
Senior Heliman
Location: Fort Rucker, AL

LOL, yep tried that as well. Med timing is what I have it set up on. Tried high timing too.
This vibration issue is new issue though, it worked just great for about 10 flights even with my v1 head. I started getting major vibrations that would eventually make the heli bounce on the ground then the main rotor would bend. I thought originally that it was the main shafts bending for no reason. Tail shafts started first until I got the new v2 shaft for the tail.
Frustrating heli but I WILL NOT GIVE UP!

01-31-2007 Over year old.

gmcullan
Veteran
Location: Southbridge, MA

Bouncing into the ground? Could you possibly be having a radio problem? Either cyclic, collective, or both from your CCPM? Quite the search, trying to find and rectify an obscure problem.

Continuing my own HDX300 saga, I swapped in the 40-tooth tail rotor drive pulley for the 32-tooth pulley that I've been using. Oh yes! This was the final piece in the puzzle. The tail control is now quick and crisp. Flys like a little T-Rex now for sure. Love it!

It's been a lot of tinkering to get to this point, but it's been fun and I've ended up with a great flying little heli.

Gerry Cullan,
Blade CP, HoneyBee CP2, T-Rex 450 SE & SA, HDX300, MicroHeli Monster

02-01-2007 Over year old.

Phxflyer
Heliman
Location: Phoenix Az

You might check the pinion gear on the motor too. Mine came loose one time an did some strange things. I have this same motor and it works really nice. Also put it on my HB King for a while, did fine there too with a slightly bigger/heavier heli.

02-01-2007 Over year old.

johnnychimpo
Senior Heliman
Location: Fort Rucker, AL

New motor in mail. I think i threw a bearing in it or something. Way too much shaking when it lifts off the ground. SUCKS HAVEING no helis to fly!! they are all on the bench waiting for parts.

I got to fly the hdx300 v1 head quite a few times, before the vibe issues, but this gyro http://www.cnchelicopter.com/servle...450-size/Detail
rocks IMO. Dont have to be concerened about temp differences from in the house to the outside. The gyro holds really good. I sold my piezo gyros and got 2 more for my other micro heli's. Its no 401 but blows a piezo out the door. Plus its wicked cheap!

02-01-2007 Over year old.

Phxflyer
Heliman
Location: Phoenix Az

That's not a HH gyro, though is is? It doesn't say that anyway...

02-02-2007 Over year old.

Tonic
Senior Heliman
Location: Des Moines

johnnychimpo,

I want to buy that gyro. I keep asking and waiting for some one to tell me that it will plug and play on a CP Pro. I need 2, one for a Pro and one for a HDX300 kit project.

02-03-2007 Over year old.

gmcullan
Veteran
Location: Southbridge, MA

I have the E-Flite HH gyro in my HDX300. It's OK. Not like the Futaba 401 that's in my T-Rex 450SE. But OK for what it is and does. One significant thing is changing from the 32-tooth tail rotor drive pulley to the 40-tooth drive pully. Significant difference in the crispness and accuracy of the tail control.

Gerry Cullan,
Blade CP, HoneyBee CP2, T-Rex 450 SE & SA, HDX300, MicroHeli Monster

02-03-2007 Over year old.

Tonic
Senior Heliman
Location: Des Moines

gmcullan,

I got a 401 in my TrexSE too and got the 300 on the way. So you know the differene between the gyros. Is it worth the extra $ for the 401? Heck going to have a small bundle rapped up in the 300. These little heli's are not a very good value (Trex inclued) but sure do like'em

I remember you, your the Dude with the wife that thinks like a boy ...she's a keeper.

Tonic

02-03-2007 Over year old.

lryansl
Senior Heliman
Location: Yuma, Arizona

I went with a 401 on mine after i tried to save some bucks by buying an align gyro which crapped out and caused two crashes.( Second crash was to determine if it was indeed the gyro, I and found out it was.)

02-03-2007 Over year old.

gmcullan
Veteran
Location: Southbridge, MA

OK, I've always stated that I'd post both the good and the bad. So now, after close to 100 flights on my HDX300/V2 head combo, I'd like to offer the following observations.

Strong Points:
No problems with the basic airframe to date.

The V2 head is very responsive. Outside it's very maneuverable. Indoors, with reasonable expo/dual-rate settings, it's stable and fun.

The 40-tooth tail rotor drive pulley is definitely the way to go. Much better control than the kit's 32-tooth drive pulley.

A pleasure to fly once you get through initial setup and adjustment.

Weak Points:
The short plastic ball links that connect the main rotor blade grips to the flybar pitch mixing arms are prone to cracking where the threaded rod enters the link. It's a good thing that the head kit comes with some extra links. All the split links were discovered in post/preflight inspections. Unfortunately, the most recent link failure occurred while hovering waist-high and resulted in a lost of control impact with a kitchen chair and floor. Other than the cracked link, the only other damage was a bend main shaft. This seems to indicate a good level of durability.

I had made my HDX-related purchases from HeliDirect. As their web site did not list the required main shaft and linkage set, I put in a tech-support request for part numbers of the required parts. On two different answers, the HeliDirect tech-support people recommended parts appropriate for the original HDX300 head. This was quite wrong!

The main shaft as used with the V2 head is significantly longer than the original HDX300 main shaft. This extra length is required to accommodate the feathering block. Additionally, the top of the V2 head shaft is cross drilled to accept the cross-bolt that is used to secure the V2 head to the main shaft. This hole is more than double the diameter of the small hole that is in the original HDX300 head. Same issue with the control links. The original HDX300 links are not properly sized for use with the V2 head.

While I prefer to purchase from HeliDirect as they are right here in Massachusetts, in was a no-go in this case. The parts I needed were readily listed on the XMSeller site. The purchase was made Friday evening and I received confirmation of shipping on Saturday morning.

I'm kinda' bummed about the HDX300 being down. It's been proving itself to be a great little flier. While the end cost of building and setting up an HDX300 is very close to that of a T-Rex, the HDX300 is the better of the two to fly indoors. Yes, I do hover my T-Rex 450SE inside. But the HDX300 is much more comfortable to fly indoors.

Enough for now, as I'm off to fly my modified HoneyBee CP2.

Gerry Cullan,
Blade CP, HoneyBee CP2, T-Rex 450 SE & SA, HDX300, MicroHeli Monster

02-04-2007 Over year old.

gmcullan
Veteran
Location: Southbridge, MA

Tonic, answering your gyro question, I feel that the 401 is a better gyro than the E-Flite. But the E-Flite is smaller and lighter and I thought it would be more appropriate for use in the smaller HDX300. I've not tried the TeleBee or similar, but there are many with high opinions of them.

Yes, my wife is a "keeper". She both morally and financially supports my heli-hobby. She enjoys racing slot cars. We fish together. We both have motor scooters and ride together. She actively helped build our (actually, it's hers, I just claim it to be mine) award-winning '70 VW Baja Bug. Her diecast and slot car collection is even bigger than mine. And for Xmas she bought me a new Ovation 6-string guitar. And for my B'day coming in February she bought me a new Ovation 12-string guitar. She's my best friend. I could not imagine life without her.

Gerry Cullan,
Blade CP, HoneyBee CP2, T-Rex 450 SE & SA, HDX300, MicroHeli Monster

02-04-2007 Over year old.

johnnychimpo
Senior Heliman
Location: Fort Rucker, AL

I cant seem to get my blades to track. I have tried 3 sets of blades. Replaced almost everything in my drive train as well. When observing the heli from the side, at 0 pitch is looks like they are tracking kinda close, then i add some pitch and fly you can see they blades are not tracking. When i adjust one link it never brings the traking in. Alwasy brings the high blade too low and vice versa with the other. Any ideas?

THAT Gyro i have is a heading hold gyro btw. They are using AVCS like the 401. I dont know if its tru AVCS but it works much better than the telebee gyros/ align gyro.

What pinion and motor size are you using gmcullan?

02-05-2007 Over year old.

gmcullan
Veteran
Location: Southbridge, MA

johnnychimpo, I've had no issues with my blade tracking. I use the E-Flite carbon fiber blades on my HDX300 and they've been fine. I have had blades in the past that just would not track. It seemed like just a half turn was a half turn too much. I sure wish they had turnbuckles like those used in R/C cars. Anyway, the tracking was helped by being almost overly precise with blade balancing. This means balancing across both the span and chord of the blade.

My HDX300 uses the little outrunner that comes with the conversion kit. I have this little powerhouse on three helis, all controlled with the Sonic 18A ESC. This has been a reliable, light weight, and powerful combination. I'm currently using an 8-tooth pinion. This works very well. The only power-train change that I've made is to switch from the 32-tooth tail rotor drive pulley to the 40-tooth pulley. Definitely a good move for tail control.

As a closing thought, I've found that these little helis will handle a small amount of tracking differential. Sometimes tracking issues that appear on the bench or in your hand seem to dissappear in the air.

Gerry Cullan,
Blade CP, HoneyBee CP2, T-Rex 450 SE & SA, HDX300, MicroHeli Monster

02-05-2007 Over year old.

johnnychimpo
Senior Heliman
Location: Fort Rucker, AL

Maybe i need to switch to a 8t pinion then Im using a 9 right now and just seems like its going to explode before take off.

02-05-2007 Over year old.

Tonic
Senior Heliman
Location: Des Moines

Have HDX300 on the way. I've orded the Telebee gyro and the Sonic 18 ESC. I have not make my mind up yet on servos.

What servos have worked well for you guys?

02-05-2007 Over year old.

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e-HeliDirect HDX 300 - 450 - 500 - 600 > HDX300, continuing saga

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