EXI 450 El Cheapo Build Mk I

[shakycyclic]

alternate title: "I already had the Spektrum DX7, so...."

Like our fearless leader, this is going to be a slow and darned inexpensive build. Why? I've got some stuff leftover from a few crashes, and since I'm still gamey at this, I figure, if I get better, so will the copter, eh?

Kit: The lovely $26.70 Xheli EXI450. Same as the HK plastic V2, from what I can see of the photos. A work in progress. Gear's mounted, belt tension already set, and I did realign the flybar, as it wasn't properly centered, and even a faint milligram off can shake a copter apart.

At the moment, I'm waiting on some really cheap servos to arrive. Again, all goes well, I'll upgrade as needed, but right now, this is a get my tail back to CP flying attempt, so, it's not a rush job.

I'll post some snaps, too, provided the cat will explain where he put the camera. Cats are like that!

[shakycyclic]

Good news: The servos came in. Oh, yes, those cute blue kind, the Tower Pros. As I said, this is gonna be cheap.

I checked them out, as well as reprogrammed the xmtr. So far, so good. I also printed out the T-Rex SE V2 instructions, they seem pretty close. Also, watching MikeyRC's build stuff on You Tube for pointers. Taking loads of notes.

Bad news: No servo mounting hardware. Great. Now, it's off to Lowe's or Home Depot and see if either has dinky 2mm X 10mm cap heads.

Oh, well, Rome wasn't assembled and tested in a day!

[Dave]

shaky,
Might want to check these guys out if you can't locate at Lowe's or Home Depot. I ordered a set for the 450pro and they are great. Plus the shipping time to me was two days via USPS

highflyheli.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=27_79&products_id=621

Dave

[shakycyclic]

Dave- thanks for the tip, sir. Lowe's was a washout (OWCH!) as was HD. Figures. No appreciation for us modelers! Oh, well.

LHS has some stuff, then, they're wired for racing, and those guys go through the hardware, so, Friday, I'll pop over and stock up.

Too, I'm debating here. I've got two leftover Esky gyros from my doomed Belt CP. A recommendation on an inexpensive gyro, anyone?

Okay, time for the office....

[19000rpm]

Telebee makes a fairly good gyro for cheap.

[Solitaire]

From the second line in your opening post..."this is going to be a slow and darned inexpensive build", you'll certainly like this.

www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10113&Product_Name=Hobby_King_401B_AVCS_Digital_Head_Lock_Gyro_

[akent]

I certainly wish you the best of luck with your build, Shaky.

I have tried more than once to trim the budget of a build.

What I finally realized is: You really do get what you pay for, most of the time. There are many exceptions to that, once you know what is good and what is not with parts.

Best of luck,
Kent

[shakycyclic]

Thanks, Kent. Oy Gevalt time, eh?

Installed the servos and guess what? Upper most servo case cracked! I pushed on the servo arm to start the alignment and...two of the screws on the back came out! Tried to put them back. Uh-uh. No way.



As you said, you gets what ya pays for. Now I'm rethinking my choice of servos. Suggestions? Something that will hold up, but, well, if I have to go payday to payday, I know, TTLK. That's the way it works.

Back to the drawing board.....!

[akent]

I also had horrible luck with the TP servos in a heli. I tried them on a 450 and they would just go nuts at certain rotor RPM's. I never figured out why and I never flew those.

On my 450, I bit the bullet and I am running Hitec HS65HB's on the cyclic. These have the kryptonite gears or some such which are stronger than nylon and you can get spare gear sets for these servos. I have rebuilt mine a few times now. The servos themselves are well over a year old on my main Exi 450! They just keep going until I crash. Then I just replace the gears if needed. These are very good and fast servos.
But they run around 25 bucks each, or at least they used to.

You can get the metal geared version for 10 bucks or so more each. Those would likely even survive most crashes. I didn't go that route. I think what breaks moves up the food chain in some crashes! I would rather replace cheap gears in a servo. It's about a 5 minute job.

A lot of folks also swear by Align servos. The DS410's for cycle should be very good. I don't run those, but I do run Align cyclic servos on my Exi 500 (DS510's). They are awesome.

Best,
Kent

[shakycyclic]

Again, thanks. More I think about it, one servo going south so soon doesn't bode well. In the meantime, I'll all in, continue with the basic xmtr setup, and then, later, rip them out and rebuild accordingly.

I checked around, Tower has those servos for 21.95 each. And the buzz elsewhere is that the Hitec is a sweetie.

And once the winds lays, back to the CB180!

[19000rpm]

HiTec's HS65's have a "carbonite" gear. Superman wouldn't give them any kryptonite.

They are excellent servos. Almost up to a metal gear strength at the same cost as most nylon geared servos in their class.

[akent]

Oct 5, 2010 6:44:11 GMT -6 19000rpm said:

HiTec's HS65's have a "carbonite" gear. Superman wouldn't give them any kryptonite.

They are excellent servos. Almost up to a metal gear strength at the same cost as most nylon geared servos in their class.

Oops! I knew it was something with a super something connotation!

Isn't carbonite what they put Hans Solo in?

[19000rpm]

Yes, Han sold it to Hitec.

[Solitaire]

Shaky
How's the build coming along...it's been a while since any updates.

[Raygun]

Those kits are getting damn cheap

hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11446