Kent - In response to your questions

[Solitaire]

I stuck this here as I didn't want to clutter up your HW Platinum thread.

So close, but yet so far. Canuckians don't have it easy.
I've been patiently waiting for the 500 to show up here. Usually stuff from XHeli takes about two weeks, so I thought I'd check the tracking number after your questions on the other thread.

Now, let me set this up a bit...Canucks have two ways to get stuff from XHeli. UPS Standard or USPS Global Express. UPS is $20 to ship a heli here. USPS is $72. Obviously I choose UPS. Unfortunately, UPS doesn't ship to box numbers (my mailing address), so I use my work address. Everytime I order something from XHeli and choose the cheaper UPS, they inturn ship it USPS, at no extra charge for me. No idea what they are thinking as it costs them a lot more to ship to me than I pay. But that's their problem.

Anyway, I checked the tracking and it says the heli was delivered on June 3rd. Well, nothing has shown up here (at work) yet, so now I need to call up Canada Post and find out where it went and/or who signed for it. That'll take a few hours of the phone clamped to my ear while being on hold.

OK, rant over.

I have a Scorpion HK3026-1000kv on it's way from RCSupersales. I read a number of 500 flyers that use that particular size Scorpion with great results. I am fearful of the high amp draw of some of the other 500 applicable Scorpions. The 1000kv draws 62a max with 1300 watts and weighs 199g. I just need to figure out which pinion will be best.

When considering servos, a little voice kept nagging in the background..."get the DS510's for cyclic and the DS520 for the tail". So I did. Just waiting for China to ship 'em. Of course, we all know who the "little voice" was...don't we Ernie? ;D

The HW Platinum 80A, like yours.

And I'm going to try the GY48V Dynam gyro from RCSupersales. Also read good things on that one. If nothing else, it's sure attractive in it's maroon coloured alum casing. Doozer's also using that on his E325 and that thing is absolutely solid.

I have a 2500 6S Hyperion coming from Kyle...he managed to find me one even though he's been out of stock for months. I may need to look at a different charger for that puppy, though. I don't think my 50 watter is going to handle it very well. (as you've already found out)

I've got extra AR6100E's in stock, but I may go for redundancy with the 6200

Also found a CNC head and tail for $90 shipped. Haven't ordered it yet.

So that's my plan. Now to get everything delivered and find the time to put it all together.

[akent]

I just don't understand why things going across up there are such a problem. There must be some kind of bad blood with the postal services or something... For them to say it was delivered is ludicrous.

Anyway, so you will be running a 1000kv Scorpion? That's really interesting. That will likely need a big ole pinion! I suspect that lower KV probably means higher torque, though. That sounds like a lot of current that it draws, but I guess the 1600kv draws a lot more, too. These Scorpions all have around double the horsepower of the Align 500L!!

I am really liking the DS510 servos. They are very smooth and respond very well. The rebuild kits are cheap, too.

I am running a Futaba S9257 on the tail. These work great. I have yet to figure out if the servo blew the stock ESC, or if the ESC blew the servo. I suspect the ESC blew the servo, as these can't handle high voltage well. If this one goes bad, I think I'll try the DS520. Ernie seems to really like them. I'm sure they are great.

I also suspect the G401B wasn't quite right the day mine lost tail authority.
Well, I don't have to worry about that any more. I bought a Sparton DS760 now!!!!
Wow, you talk about amazingly smooth. But these are as expensive than the whole heli!!!!
It is REALLY smooth, and even has adjustable piro rates and stopping force. I have it set to take a while to stop from a turn and it just greases into the spot!

I haven't looked into the Dynam gyro that you got. I'm sure that it will be amazing if you chose it!

I should be getting the Scorpion in the next day or two. I can't wait to install that. I hope it runs a lot cooler than the 500L.

I saw that head and tail on Ebay for $90, if that's what you found! It's really tempting!
I bought another kit from Xheli, as I really like to have all the spare parts, and you can't beat all of the CNC and carbon for that price.

I did faceplant mine a week or so ago. Dam locktite bit me again! The thin screw that goes through the anti rotation ball link came off. It had no locktite! Ack! I sure thought I did em all, but I obviously missed that one.
It went in hard.
It took out all the gears including the tail belt gear, all the shafts except for the tail belt shaft in the frame (which you have to replace anyway when the gear gets hosed!), the tail blade holders, and something else in the head. I installed the spare head and tail from the new Exi and it's fine. The old head with a new shaft has a strange wobble to it. I need to fix that.

Anyway, the point of that was to say that it might be a great idea to get a spare head and tail. Then all the gears and shafts.

The dampers are also worn out in my original head. I can tell this as the blade tracking would change all the time and the feathering shaft was new Align. You can actually bend the blades up and down and it would stay there. I have new Align dampers on the way.
I also had that problem with the T450. The dampers wore out. New Align ones are still working fine.

Anyway, your build sounds great! I hope you get all your stuff SOON!

Please do a build report on it! I know, I haven't yet for the 500. I hope to after I get the Scorpion installed and happy.

Now, surely you have your 450 flying by now???

Take care,
Kent

[Solitaire]

Just a quick add.

I called Canada Post today, after checking with each and everyone of our receptionists (they receive all packages), and surprisingly was only on hold for a few minutes. They confirmed delivery so I asked them for a fax of the signature. As soon as the fax came through, one of the receptionists said..."oh, I remember that now, I put it in the supply room 'cause my area was getting messy"

God love 'em. But, at least it's in my clammy little paws.

On your toasted Futaba tail servo...I could be mistaken, but I'm sure I've read they are very voltage sensitive. I suppose a burp with the ESC could easily take it out (as yours did). The Aligns appear to be a bit more robust.

On the Scorpion 1000kv, some of the guys are using this motor, a 4S LiPo and high T pinions and getting excellent results. Makes sense, really. A much lighter LiPo, a motor with tons of torque and a high tooth pinion for headspeed. I'm going to have to experiment a bit with the 6S, I suppose, but have a good selection of pinions to play with.

I'm surprised the dampers are wearing out that quickly. Kind of a PITA to have to change them out regularly.

Nice going on the Spartan, should be a dream...I'm not quite ready to rob any banks yet for heli parts, so I'll have to make due with the cheaper varieties.

[akent]

Sol, what do you think of the 500 so far?

It's impressive compared to the 450, isn't it?!?

============

The dampers on mine had probably 25+ hovers/flights on them. So they did have some miles on them. And several of those were 8+ minutes with the big battery.

I went ahead and bought an Align head that was pulled from an ESP kit. I want to see what, if any, differences there are in them. It's in pieces, so I'll build it up and fly it. Then I'll post of any differences seen or felt.
Kent

[Solitaire]

Very impressive, Kent. Finally got something that my big mitts can work on without dragging out the magnifyer. Nicely finished, too.

I got my Scorpion today. Thought I'd post a pic of it and the Alpha 400 some use on the 450's. Plus a comparitive pic of the two head assemblies.

[akent]

Hey, you haven't fired up that Alpha yet!!
How do I know? It has the sticker still on it that will SCREAM REALLY LOUD for at least an instant before it flies off. I hope when it does that to you, you don't freak out while it's in the air!!

Every time I sit down to just eyeball the 500, it makes me smile! The T450 does to, but it's just not as massive.

Hey, I built up the Align 500 head tonight. It cost me $149, shipping included.

The difference is pretty much what I expected, from Mckrackin's posts before. They are fairly major.

First up is the quality. The bearings, the bolts, all of the parts are very high quality. After building the head (took about an hour), it is WAY SMOOTHER than the Exi. I also have a new Exi from the second kit that I bought (which BTW was hardly more expensive than the Align head alone!).

My new Exi head has not been used yet. I rebuilt the smacked in head and it's better than ever, since I used Align parts to rebuild it with.

The new Align head in your hand moving it around is like there is no friction at all.

From what I can tell so far:
Align excels at, and you should use Align parts for:
1. Bearings (there are even better third party bearings, I have read)
2. Gears. (All of them) Exi gears suck.
3. Shafts. (All of them) Exi shafts can come pre-bent. I have a LOT of examples of this. The shaft material is junk.
4. Carbon fiber main blades. I bought some aftermarket ones from our Xbuddies that sucked. I bought a pair that were ok from HK, but they needed a lot of balancing. The Align white CF blades that have the angled CF exposed area (P/N H50069T) ROCK! These are perfectly balanced and don't even need to be tracked, if the head is setup all zeroed!
I have used two sets of these (smacked one set) and the new set is just as perfect!

The Exi/CopterX excels with:
Major components such as these that are very expensive from Align:
1. CNC main bearing holders.
2. CNC belt driven tail boom holder.
3. CNC belt driven tail.
4. Aluminum rear electronics tray.
5. Aluminum battery tray.
6. Aluminum boom clamped tail rod holders! These are nice.
7. Carbon fiber fins. Both.
8. Carbon fiber boom braces with CNC ends.
9. More, I'm sure.

The Exi/CopterX parts otherwise are quite serviceable, I think.
Kent

[Solitaire]

Good stuff, Kent. You should put up that info in the Builds section once you do your build thread

I dragged that little Alpha out of it's box for the pic. I bought two of these (one as spare) for the EXI 450 build, but decided to use a different motor. So, you're right, it's never been run. I thought it was damn strange that the shaft was 3mm and not 3.1mm as most of the others are. I didn't like the pinion slop and will likely put 'em up for sale at some point.

Most of the components for the 500 are here now. Just waiting on the tail servo. Had it ordered from China, but they started playing games, so I had to reorder from another supplier.

Didn't get CF blades for it, but found a deal on fibreglas. Just need to check them out balance/tracking wise. 100mm doesn't sound like much, but those 425's are sure big bastids. Could almost use them as paddles for the canoe.

Way ahead of you (a first, I'm sure) on the spare parts. Got some Align shafts on their way and some ABEC-3 bearings coming too. I didn't like the fit of the EXI shaft into the main bearings. Sounded scratchy and tolerances were sloppy, so I'll change them out when they get here. Also got some upgrade skids that have a wider stance just for a bit more stability.

[akent]

That's great news on the 500 parts, Sol!

You have to get 3mm pinions for the Alpha. The 3.1's are too big and will vibrate your heli to pieces! Those are around, but not as common as the 3.1's.

And yes, the blades are massive compared to the 325mm ones!!

I have had much less luck with blades for the 500 than for the 450's. I found some awesome fiberglass blades for the 450's for 6 bucks. They are the same blades that come with the Exi. Then I found an awesome supplier for CF blades. I would have to go back to look at receipts to remember where I found those. I have been through a LOT of 450 blades and trash canned quite a few too. There is a lot of junk out there.

I think the 500 has a more sensitive flying surface on the blades, too. I now have Align blades as mentioned above (awesome!), two sets of Xheli's CF blades (the ones with yellow on them), which are not very well balanced and also are fairly far off with tracking. I also have a set of fiberglass blades that are kind of sparkly looking. I can't remember where I found these. They are actually really funky feeling and bend really easily, like they were made from old hardened gummy bears or something. I threw those away, but I guess I should have tasted them first.

The Xheli CF blades are very loud. They growl constantly. Punches work, but they are not 'crisp'. The Align blades are very quiet. They growl only when they see some stress. Punches are incredible. The gummy bear blades were all over the place. I was afraid to spool them up.

Anyway, until I find some aftermarket blades that work as well as these Aligns, I think I'll stick with them. They are expensive, though. I found them for $50, but no less, yet.

I look forward to hearing more about yours and the parts you are using in it!

Best,
Kent

[akent]

Hey Sol, be sure to check EVERY screw on the heli for thread lock. I mean every one, including the feathering shafts, top hat, tail feathering screws, ball links on the swash and other parts of the head, etc.
I know you know that, but it's just a reminder. I have been bit more than once with this!
Kent

[akent]

Solitaire, what's the status of your 500?

[Solitaire]

Kent

You know how slow I am.
Been working on a few other smaller projects and not much on the 500. Still waiting for the DS520 and a few other minor parts. Cyclic servos are in, motor and ESC are in.

Haven't quite decided on which terminals I'm going to weld on this brick of a 6S LiPo. And I say weld, since the wires are so damm thick. I had difficulty soldering the Hyperion I got for the 450 and this one will be the same operation. I was pre-warned about this as BT had posted about the same ordeal with his Hyperion.

I'm taking heed of your suggestion to Loctite ALL the hex bolts. I used 2x10mm hex bolts and nylocks for the servos, so those won't be a problem. I've never been a fan of attaching servos with screws. Bolts just make a nicer job.

Found a great deal on 430 fibreglas blades. Same price as the 325's you got from Helidirect. Had to buy 5 pair, but couldn't pass it up. I weighed one pair individually and they weren't quite exact, but will have to see how they perform.

I've been taking pics as I go and will post them up when things get a bit further along.

[mightyxxwhitey]

I cant believe the size difference between the 450 and 500. Its like double the size.