Early this afternoon I was flying my helicopter and adjusting the revo mix. I noticed the heli was shakier than normal and it was starting to annoy me. By the end of the flight the revo mix was working pretty well but my Eco was still shaking. After the flight I decided to balance the blades. A few hours later I was flying again but my heli was still shaking. However, the shaking did not seem to affect the heli. The heli wanted to turn clockwise for some reason during the second flight. I think the carbon-fiber tail pushrod may have slipped. But it was still controllable, so I decided to keep flying. I was mostly hovering. I decided to do a pirouette when IT HAPPENED. The damage wasn’t bad; the rotor blades are fine except the tips are scraped, one of the servo’s gears is stripped, the blade shaft is bent, a bearing came apart and the tail boom was struck and slightly bent.
02-22-2007 Over year old.
Rob_T Elite Veteran Location: Tualatin, OR - USA
But any idea why it was shaking to start with??? Sorry to say it, but the crash and the shaking are probably related...
Rob Eco8, Piccolo Fun, Shogun, HB Elite CP, Trex 450XL CDE, Swift
02-22-2007 Over year old.
jkempxx Senior Heliman Location: Tullahoma TN
Denver-It seems that I read that with the 401 gyro that revo mix needs to be set to inhibit- excessive gyro gain will also induce tail shake. I do not use mixing with my ECO8-just play with the gyro-you might want to look into these-jk
bearing brokeIf you look closly at the damage. I beat the broken bearing along with the tail control rod. caused the shaking to accure. I had a shake in mine and found it to be the bearing on the main shaft.
The bearing that broke is model #6569. It belongs to the rotor head. After closer inspection I found out that it did not actually break. The bearing has a dust shield on each side, and one of the dust shields had popped off during the crash. I managed to pop the dust shield back on and it’s as good as new. I noticed that the bearing underneath the swashplate assembly that holds the main shaft (#67570) sometimes makes a gritting noise. It has been like that since before the crash. That may be what is causing the vibrations. That was my first pirouette so I think that the cause of the crash was me . I will show a picture of the tail control rod. As you will see, I used plastic tiedowns to hold it together so that may explain why it slipped. The gyro I am currently using is a Circus MPG-6. I do not have a 401, but I have heard that they are good.
Eco-8 pilot
02-23-2007 Over year old.
halnwheels Heliman Location: Passaic Park, NJ USA
I doubt that the gritty bearing caused the vibration. Vibrations are causeed either by out-of-balance conditions or poor blade-tracking. Binding bearings in the blade grips or (if you have a metal head) flybar will cause the helicopter to be jumpy.
My Eco-8 has recently experienced a similar trauma and I flew it yesterday for the first time since. All is well again. I wish you the same.
02-24-2007 Over year old.
denver95648 Heliman Location: North Texas - USA
I got my new tail boom and rotor shaft today. I got them installed and the heli is almost ready to go. I am going to get 3 hs-85s tomorrow and I need to rebalance the rotor blades. I got a cool little surprise in the package. I was expecting the tail boom to be the normal silver color, but it was painted black. This is so cool !!! While I was taking the bent tail boom off the heli, I decided to cut it some so I could temporarily form the Mini-eco heli for amusement . I have included pictures.
Eco-8 pilot
02-27-2007 Over year old.
jkempxx Senior Heliman Location: Tullahoma TN
denver95648 I recently got the same surprise with the new black tail boom - I think it really makes the ECO8 look much better. In one of my other posts, I refered to turning revo off with the 401 - that info came from the 401 instruction manual under "mounting instructions" - good luck and have a nice day-jk
02-27-2007 Over year old.
denver95648 Heliman Location: North Texas - USA
My Eco8 has been operational since yesterday afternoon but I have not flown it yet because it has been too windy . This is quite annoying. I took advantage of the down time to personalize my heli. I put some black trim tape on the rotor blades and tail fin. I think the result is pretty cool but the orange canopy does not match. .
Eco-8 pilot
03-01-2007 Over year old.
denver95648 Heliman Location: North Texas - USA
I finally got the chance to fly and the heli was shaking worse then ever. I took the heli apart and found the problem. The mane shaft is bent. I checked fxaeromodels.com but they are out of hardened steel shafts. I would like to make my own shaft does anyone know where to get 6mm hardened steel rod? Any suggestions…
Eco-8 pilot
03-03-2007 Over year old.
jkempxx Senior Heliman Location: Tullahoma TN
Try www.helihobby.com for hardened shaft or www.heli-hobby.com for original shaft. the first one listed shows hardened shaft in stock but you may want to verify via phone- I have had good service from both. I have also straightened these with good results-jk
03-03-2007 Over year old.
denver95648 Heliman Location: North Texas - USA
Does the hardened shaft ever bend when you get in a crash? If the hardened shaft bends when in a crash, wouldn’t it be more reasonable to get two regular shafts for the same price? I might buy a length of rod to make my own shaft?
Eco-8 pilot
03-03-2007 Over year old.
jkempxx Senior Heliman Location: Tullahoma TN
Yes-the hardened shaft will also bend- but not as easily-
03-03-2007 Over year old.
Rob_T Elite Veteran Location: Tualatin, OR - USA
The hardened shaft is also a better surface for the 1-way bearing rollers to run against.
Rob Eco8, Piccolo Fun, Shogun, HB Elite CP, Trex 450XL CDE, Swift
03-03-2007 Over year old.
denver95648 Heliman Location: North Texas - USA
I've decided to get the hardened shaft. Thank you all for replying to my post.
. I will show a picture of the tail control rod. As you will see, I used plastic tiedowns to hold it together so that may explain why it slipped. The gyro I am currently using is a Circus MPG-6. I do not have a 401, but I have heard that they are good.
!!! While I was taking the bent tail boom off the heli, I decided to cut it some so I could temporarily form the Mini-eco heli for amusement 
. I have included pictures.
. This is quite annoying. I took advantage of the down time to personalize my heli. I put some black trim tape on the rotor blades and tail fin. I think the result is pretty cool but the orange canopy does not match. 
.
