I have a 60 SE,just put a 401 servo combo in and im having a strange drift only in idle 1&2, normal mode theres no drift.Rpm settings are 1550,1750,1800 on governor,all ats mixing is at o% trims are at 0 in all modes,dont have any expo in rudder everything is tight and smooth linkages are the correct length, the drift is in hover, pretty damn bizzare if you ask me radio is jr 8103 any ideas would be great.
05-02-2002 Over year old.
gwright Senior Heliman Location: Melbourne, Fl
are you sure you're in AVCS mode (heading hold as it's commonly called in error) in all those flight conditions? If you have it switching to "standard" gyro mode, without tail comps, that could explain the problem.
mark fadely Senior Heliman Location: indianapolis, indiana
Hi,
Could be you just have a gyro that drifts. I've got several 401s and one of mine does the same thing. When switched to idle up it drifts pretty bad, but by the 2nd or third flight it's fine. If I trim it while it's drifting then it drifts back the other way by flight #2 or 3. So I just live with the problem.
Mark Fadely
05-04-2002 Over year old.
Naomi Elite Veteran Location: Ontario, Canada
idle up 1 gain..check your gain adjustment on idle up one i set mine up to 80% not a problem at all..
Don't tell me this stuff, just yesterday I got a new 401 and the 9235,,, man !! and tomorrow I will fly for the firt time in 5 months,,, Oh god the pressure, the pressure,,, man...
the Wasp
05-05-2002 Over year old.
Buzzin Brian Elite Veteran Location: College Station, Texas
Please tell me that you haven't flown in 5 months due to a bad crash, monsoon weather, never ending snow storms, or something else other than you just havent gotten out to the field. If I had to wait that long, I would go nuts. Here we are animals. We fly year round. Even if it is -10 degrees. Addicted? Yes! Nuts? Yes! Lovin it? Yeah babby!!!!!!!
On another note, I also don't want to hear about problems with the 401. I am about to get one for my Fury. I hope this is an isolated thing. We have severall at our field, and all of them have great characteristics. So I am wondering if there is a common factor with these problem units. By the by. Were these gyros purchased in the states? If you don't mind me asking. Just curriouse.
Build it, fly it, crash it. Repeat as often as needed.
05-05-2002 Over year old.
the Wasp rrProfessor Location: Vt
Buzzin,,, your repost was funny, LOL ,,, money was my problem here, that's why I didn't fly for 5 months,,, the 401 worked great,,, and I got it in Mass...
the Wasp
05-06-2002 Over year old.
seatown Heliman Location: Seattle WA
Thanks for the replys the 401 and 9253 combo is brand new,i had a csm 400 in it before and it didnt drift like this im pissed, the 401 flys killer in my raptor.I thought maby i had my rudder trims different in flight modes but i checked and there the same,funny thing is it wont drift in hover but when i switch to idle ups it drifts,to stop the drift i put two clicks two the right on rudder trim,but when i land and toggle my switch so the 401 will imput the new trim it freeken drifs the same again! Its got to be the gyro i wonder if futaba has a costomer service number besides japan.I love my se all be damed if that 401 will keep it grounded,all just get another it the best damn gyro around and i fly JR.
05-06-2002 Over year old.
FlyinBrian Veteran Location: USA
Hi,
Try some different types of mounting tape. I've had simular problems on the 401's on a xl se, pro2 and just recently another pro2. Seems like the rigid graphite frames may be transfering a little too much vibration, or just the wrong vibration.. But the 401 (out of the se) worked perfectly in a fury (g10 side frames).
These where two different gyros and three differnet helis I had the trouble with. I put a 502 in the se (last year) and a 601 in the pro2k (this weekend) and the drift problems dissapeared completely. Not sure if its a gyro problem though, after thinking about it I realized the 502 & 601 sensor is much lighter since a lot of the electronics are up front in a box and the all in one 401 weighs quite abit more. So all I did was change the frequency it vibrated at. Worth a try, it can only get worse..
With the gyro up front on the se or pro2's the problem was worse, any head speed change would cause some drift. But behind the main shaft it still wanted to drift right when inverted (consistent but kinda annoying when half your 60's do it and half dont)..
The 401 in the pro2k just came out of a jr vigor where it showed absolutely none of the problems and it was mounted up front on the plastic radio tray.
All three helis where fairly smooth, I started with a single piece of futaba's tape and finally tried two pieces with the metal plate. Problem existed either way, csm makes some pretty good soft tape that may be worth trying. I've had good luck on other hh gyros with kyosho's green gel.
05-06-2002 Over year old.
ZZ3Astro Senior Heliman Location: Panama City, Fl
Have you checked the light on the gyro while in each flight mode? Of course you would want to do this without the engine running.. but if you leave the rudder centered and you are in HH mode, the light should be steady on. If it starts flashing when you switch into idle-1 and/or 2, some mix or trim in the radio is affecting the rudder channel. If it stays steady in all flight modes, have fun figuring out what is causing the drift!
Tail drift in stunt modeI got my SE flying in stunt mode this past weekend and made a high speed straight pass through and noticed my heli's tail drifting causing the heli to point to the left. I landed and checked all programming in my JR pcm10 to be correct. Took off again and had to program the STUNT MODE for rudder to correct the drift.
I was told that this gyro 401 heading hold would work the same no matter if it's in Normal or Idle up...........but why drift in idle up mode?????????
Got this problem solved!.............Turn on the radio first then turn on the helicopter.
05-06-2002 Over year old.
mark fadely Senior Heliman Location: indianapolis, indiana
Hi all,
I just bought a new 401 to replace the one that was drifting in my #1 fury. The new one is fine and does not drift. I don't think anyone should panic or think that there is a drifting issue with the 401. Most of the time you can just trim it out with some rudder trim. Every gyro you get will be slightly different anyhow. All piezo gyros will have some drift. So I wouldn't start making a mountain out of a mole hill on this one. I know of about (25) 401/9253s in use in my area and they are all working well. I love this gyro/servo and will be flying it for a long time.
Mark Fadely
05-06-2002 Over year old.
helitroll Senior Heliman Location: Southlake, TX
401sThe 401 is a great Gyro. I have 3 of them on different heli's. I thought I had a problem with one of them. It turns out that when you hit rudder trim, it changes the center resulting in a drift. The secret to the 401 is:
1)center everything and get rid of all trims, revo, etc. in all 3 modes to include throttle hold
2) Turn off the receiver, (Engine off please), Flip gyro switch on transmitter to HH, Turn on receiver.
3) Look for steady light in @ 2 seconds.
4) Turn off HH switch.
5) Start heli and mechanically center, slide servo on tail boom or change length of pushrod, so the tail holds at hover in normal mode. If you touch the rudder trim or sub-trim, you need to start over.
6) When the heli's flies in normal mode with no drift, you can go into HH and it will hold like a rock.
Good luck.
05-06-2002 Over year old.
FlyinBrian Veteran Location: USA
Hi,
I went through and checked all my 9z models, trims are all combined and all the rudder trims are at 0 in all conditions, no sub trim or anything else that offsets the rudder. Plus when I went from the gy401 to 502/601 I did'nt change anything but the gain setting and the problem dissappeared.
I would'nt really call my problem drift, just a trim change when you change head speeds or a pretty bad trim change when you hover inverted. If your motor's running a little rough it seems to aggrivate the problem.
I just dont see how you can mechanically adjust the center position for normal mode and still get full throw without binding since the gy401 only gives you a total throw adjustment. You could probably put some differential in the setup but how would the gy401 react to that?
Minor problem though, flew it in the se for 8 months and just held the stick wherever it needed to be. Trying to figure out whats causing it has been more of a challenge
05-07-2002 Over year old.
03fomoco Senior Heliman Location: Tucson AZ
Just curiousAre you using a 9z if you are revo mixing is setup by default on model in the idle ups. I am not sure about the WCII but on the regular world I always have to turn these off when setting up a new model. Also if it is a 9Z make sure your rudder trim is set to control all conditions in the trim menu. If you don't have a 9z I am sorry for wasting your time.
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05-07-2002 Over year old.
seatown Heliman Location: Seattle WA
Every thing that has to do with the rudder is ether at 0% or center trim in all flight modes, the steady light stays on in all flight modes so i know the gyro is centered,when im in ide up it drifs so bad if i were to let it go, it would do a 360 degree pirowette in 20 seconds only to the right,the csm 400 worked fine as far as not drifting in hover,its got to be the gyro.Like i said my raptor works great with the same set up,the 401 is definatly the gyro to have,plus every one i know uses it.I was looking to get a 601 for the se,thought it might be a better gyro for that heli but people use the 401 in the same ship and they have no problems plus it uses les power to boot.
05-08-2002 Over year old.
mark fadely Senior Heliman Location: indianapolis, indiana
hey seatown,
your 401 has the exact same symptoms as mine had. I don't think it's anything you have setup wrong, it's just a 401 that drifts. As soon as I changed to a new 401 mine no longer drifts. I have 4 401s now and some are better than others. My suggestion would be to trim it out. You can work around the problem. I have flown mine with the drift for about 1 yr and just trimmed it, although I fly in hh and idle up only. Don't think it will work well for you if you fly a lot in normal or if you want to use the gyro in hh and non hh modes. See if one of your buddies will let you use their 401 to make sure that is the problem.
Mark Fadely
05-08-2002 Over year old.
JasonF Senior Heliman Location: Northern VA
If you are mounting to carbon, make sure you are using the metal isolation square that you should have received with your gyro. There are some notes about this on the Futaba website.
Here we are animals. We fly year round. Even if it is -10 degrees.
Addicted? Yes! Nuts? Yes! Lovin it? Yeah babby!!!!!!!
