Micro Flightless Blkade 200 SRX

[Tony]

+1 to what Keith just said!

 

[Heliman450]

I've been busy with some other stuff the last few days and my heli activity has been a bit left out. Now that it can at least lift off, it gives me a bit more incentive to bump it up my priorities. I need to go through the setting up procedures and hopefully find something to overcome the altitude limitations. I tried it under our outside BBQ area at the flying club so there was a lot more space than in the video. It also needs the battery charging, too so let's see how it goes.

Thanks for the tips on a possible replacement. I was pleasantly surprised how well the 230S flies, one of our guys has one and it impressed me very much.

 

[KLA]

For what the 230S is designed for it is a great helicopter. You're not gonna be able to smack it around like a X7 or a Trex 700, but it will do a lot of basic 3d and is a great 3d trainer.

Let us know how everything goes with the 200srx when you get a chance to get it in the air.

 

[Heliman450]

For what the 230S is designed for it is a great helicopter. You're not gonna be able to smack it around like a X7 or a Trex 700, but it will do a lot of basic 3d and is a great 3d trainer.

Let us know how everything goes with the 200srx when you get a chance to get it in the air.

Hey, now that's an idea....................... the 230S could be a good winter machine for me to practice with and join our other club members in the sports hall. I find the simulator a bit difficult to use for the real world. The depth (3rd dimension) is always a bit iffy probably because I've never been a computer game freak. Cheers Keith!

 

[Heliman450]

Hi again Keith,

I visited my local hobby shop's website to follow up on the prices for the 230S and noticed the photo selection for the 200SRX. I remembered your comment on the receiver in thread #34 about positioning. The two photos show how the Rx. and ESC are mounted, which is different to the website photo. I don't think that it's something to be too concerned about, however, it never hurts to ask someone more informed than yourself.



What do you think? As you can tell the ESC is underneath the heli, not on top of the Rx. That's how it came to me, I haven't changed anything there.

 

[KLA]

The ESC is ok wherever you wanna put it. The reciever is what matters. It should be mounted with the top facing up, not upside down, and the servo wires coming out of the back of the RX. If it is mounted any different it will mess up the gyro's direction of compensation and you will have to start reversing a bunch of different settings in the TX.

- - - Updated - - -

I just looked at the pictures a little closer and the way the RX is mounted is correct.

 

[Heliman450]

Thanks Keith.

 

[KLA]

No problem at all. Glad to help out. Thats why we are here.

 

[Heliman450]

Hi all,

I seem to be making progress on this one although it's quite painful. It will now fly but I've limited it to about shoulder height so at least that's promising . It's a very different process when the target heli is someone else's and you're trying to get it to a point of accessing what's wrong and in need of replacement. I suspect that the 'Spindle' is bent (Item #3 Part #BLH2003) and the 'Tail Motor' is very sticky (Item #22 Part #BLH2022).

The tail motor feels very 'notchy' when I move it by hand, certainly when compared to the main motor, which is very smooth. The heli can be controlled but the tail is very twitchy, adding to my suspicion that all's not well there. According to the instructions it needs a strip down to check out for damaged parts, which I'm already in agreement with.

I'll take the bad news to my friend tomorrow and see what he wants to do.

In the meantime, any feedback on the tail motor diagnosis will be much appreciated.

 

[KLA]

You said you limited it to shoulder height. Will it fly higher, or normal like it is supposed to?

The tail motor being notch isn't really a problem. My 230S has the same tail motor and it is notch also. It's not gonna be smooth like the main motor. Don't know why but that's how mine is.

A bent spindle will definitely cause the tail to twitch a bit. The easiest way to test for a bent spindle is to take one blade off, stretch out the other blade, then put an allen wrench or driver in to the empty blade grip, on to the spindle bolt or nut, whichever it has, then spin the bolt. If the stretched out blade wobbles at all then you definitely have a bent spindle. That can all be done without taking apart the whole head. If you do take the head apart, simply roll the spindle on something flat, such as a piece of glass and you can see if it is bent.

 

[Heliman450]

You said you limited it to shoulder height. Will it fly higher, or normal like it is supposed to?

The tail motor being notch isn't really a problem. My 230S has the same tail motor and it is notch also. It's not gonna be smooth like the main motor. Don't know why but that's how mine is.

A bent spindle will definitely cause the tail to twitch a bit. The easiest way to test for a bent spindle is to take one blade off, stretch out the other blade, then put an allen wrench or driver in to the empty blade grip, on to the spindle bolt or nut, whichever it has, then spin the bolt. If the stretched out blade wobbles at all then you definitely have a bent spindle. That can all be done without taking apart the whole head. If you do take the head apart, simply roll the spindle on something flat, such as a piece of glass and you can see if it is bent.

Hi Keith, I have to confess that since getting deeper into this investigation my attitude towards the 200SRX has changed. When I first got the 'thing' as I called it, I wanted to have nothing to do with it. However, now I can say it's becoming an interesting challenge. I'm quite well versed with stripping and rebuilding helis so the processes for checking parts are well known to me but I'm sure that at least some of the over 400 viewers will appreciate reading our exchanges. My only problem is that it's keeping me away from my winter project here My New T-Rex 700X Build - Page 4

I'm sure that it could fly higher, but until it responds better to inputs and performs more like Blade's description in their literature, I don't see any point in trying it. My last test yesterday, was a quick run in our grill area at my flying club, which is covered and gives a perfectly sheltered area. My reason for mentioning the tail motor is that its response seems to fall nicely into the description of excessive vibration, it's very twitchy. It's good to hear your feedback on it not being unusual for the motor to feel notchy when turned by hand. That helps me talk to my friend without mentioning the 45.50 CHF for a replacement. I'll only be asking him to cough up for a spindle and the new blades.

My target is to get it to a point where I can successfully complete the trim flight procedure as described and hold it in a reasonably steady hover myself whilst doing it. I started a re-write of the procedures to make them more user-friendly.

Up to now, I've increased the motor power to 150% and adjusted the servo link length to give the trim sliders a chance, which seems to have worked fine as it will stay reasonably in one place now when run up on our wooden floor at home

Bye for now.

 

[KLA]

Sounds like you got it all under control now. That's Great!!! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Heliman450]

Hi all, I got the go-ahead for the new spindle and the blades I bought. My friend tells me that he put a new tail motor on a short while back...................."but it's never been the same since" ....................... Oh dear! I said. I won't be able to do anything tomorrow with it but hopefully on Thursday.

P.S. I wish I could edit my typo in the heading

 

[KLA]

Make sure your friend put the tail rotor on correctly. The shiny side should be facing out. A lot of people make the mistake of installing the tail rotor backwards then complain the the tail doesn't act the same.

 

[Heliman450]

Make sure your friend put the tail rotor on correctly. The shiny side should be facing out. A lot of people make the mistake of installing the tail rotor backwards then complain the the tail doesn't act the same.

Wow Keith! That sounds like a really good insider tip. I'll look closely at what the current situation is at my workshop tomorrow morning.

Incidentally, is there a way to check the tail rotor direction? I disconnected the main motor and held it in my hand but it didn't work at all until the throttle was at about 50%. I'd had enough of it by that time and wanted to check it at the club before dark, so didn't try again. However, it does work in the direction you'd expect when sitting on our wooden floor but again only when the main rotor is spinning and without much power.

My thinking is that it should spin if you hold it in your hand and turn the nose left or right but it does probably need the main rotor turning at the same time.

 

[KLA]

Never had to check the direction, or gyro compensation is what you are referring to, on my 230S. It has always worked as it should. But I do know that with the tail rotor installed shiny side out that the tail motor should spin counterclockwise.

 

[Heliman450]

Hi Keith,

I just got back from the field and can tell you that the 200SRX is flying ok. The tail rotor was indeed fitted the wrong way round. I fitted the new spindle and you can see by the picture below what was wrong there.



Whilst not bent, the spindle was badly scuffed and one of the thrust washers was missing so allowing the slop in the rotor.

My friend gave me the thumbs up for the new frame so I'll get that to change everything over. With the new blades it will be just like new.

Thanks for your support and tips during the process to date, much appreciated

 

[KLA]

Woohoo!!!!! It flies again. Glad to hear that you got it all working correctly. Also glad to help you out. THATS why we are here. If you have any other questions or concerns don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Heliman450]

Hi all,

A quick update on this one with a couple of photos. The old frame was actually broken in three places as I looked closer during the dismantling process as you can see below.

It's a bit difficult to see in the left hand photo so here's some white paper to help out

This was in addition to the split in the left hand side frame where I did the temporary repair, which helped enough to get the heli in the air to test it out. I'm expecting a big improvement in vibrations when it's all assembled. I'll put together a series of photos when I finish.

 

[Tony]

Yea, I would imagine that would cause some serious issues.