Got a dozen flights in on the trex 450 yesterday at the field, all went well despite there being gusty winds up to 15-20 MPH. she bounces around a little, tail wags a touch in the stronger winds but otherwise flies great, once again. I am leaving shortly for another morning at the field. I have an Extra MX from Precision Aerobatics that i am working with to finish a review so have to get some flights in on that this morning as well. so far it is in the 60's with calm winds so hopefully I can get some quality time on both aircraft before football this afternoon!
450 Setting up the Align 450 Pro
- Thread starter Tomhintz
- Start date
OK, it WAS running well. I started getting a wag of the tail and while we were trying to figure that out we discovered a blown bearing in the tail rotor grip. It literally had two balls fused to the inner race. So, no crash but it is down for repair. I might talk myself into a new motor and speed control on the same order....we'll see.
As for video, all I am doing is hovering around and even that can;t be done if I am making video also!
As for video, all I am doing is hovering around and even that can;t be done if I am making video also!
I had to replace mine a couple of months ago.... Align are doing a trade in. Take the old 450 and post it to an agent. they will only charge you 50%, mine cost me £17 instead of £34 so thats a good saving right there. If the heli was not on full power when it crashed I cant see how the motor could have gotten damaged , these motors are built like a brick S/House. it would really take somethin to break one.
I had a tail rotor prop shaft failure due to an e4arlier crash and that resulted in my landing the 45 on difrectly on the tail rotor, almost perfectly straight down , tail first. I ordered the parts for it and will replace it as I probably should have the first time around. I am learning, slowly but surely. Pre-flighting, weekly bolt checks, a drop of oil on the bearings every 10 flights or so.
I am putting in KDE direct 450XF motor and want to go to a better ESC at the same time so thought of the Castle.
if you had a tail on crash like i just had 2 weeks ago, check the mainshaft for true. I done the boom, tail rotor shaft, the umbrellas front end and back, the torque tube, front linkage gears, main gear, mainshaft,busted the main rotor housing,feathering shaft,one boom brace, 2 main blades and 2 tails, in the end I still had vibrations so I changed the whole main head ...ouch all because I was distracted for one second and lost my orientation. now shes great! its my sport Ive got some issues with but cant do anything till I get a test flight ... its way too windy here.
The heli is flying fine, I just don;t trust the motor after seeing inside of it. All elses is fine, humming right along, jsut going to replace the motor for a better one and wanted to do the ESC also.
Tony
Staff member
CC just came out with a new 35a ESC for the 450's. That is the size of the Align ESC. And, it can run up to a 6s setup if you wnat to go that way.
Castle Creation Talon 35, 25V 35 AMP ESC, W/Heavy Duty BEC (010-0122-00) - HeliDirect -- Best
Castle Creation Talon 35, 25V 35 AMP ESC, W/Heavy Duty BEC (010-0122-00) - HeliDirect -- Best
I am getting the castle Phoenix Edge 50 Lite. A few guys at our field have and like that one so hopefully I can get some real world assistance at the field if I run into something. another reason for going this route is that then I will have the original align motor and ESC as a "just in case" package. Of coursse if I do something big enough to kill the motor and ESC I doubt having a spare stock motor is going to mean much huh? Anyway, I used that to justify getting the castle
I know that I don;t need such a cool motor for hovering around but one of the guys at our field who is also still in hover mode installed one of these motors and is getting another 90 seconds out of his batteries. they say the 1 x KDE Direct 450XF-3500 High Performance Brushless 450 Class Motor (3500kV) is way more efficient and everybody I can find flying one seems to be in complete agreement with that. lots more poop also for when I get to that point. I do occasionally nail the collective to make my 450 fart a little and then zoom upward just to scare myself. the power will help then perhaps.
Slobberdog
Well-Known Member
If you have an issue with your Align motor this is interesting, have a read
» 50% off all MX motor Exchanges
» 50% off all MX motor Exchanges
Got the new motor and ESC in (Castle Phoenix Edge 50 Lite) and scared the crap outta myself when I did the first spool up as now it jumps right to full rpm. I had a consistent 85% throttle curve for the Align ESC but am going to try a linear throttle curve for the Castle. I suspect I have to set the throttle end points as well and will look at their video for doing that if the linear throttle curve doesn't do it.
Now, if I can find out how to do that! The insgtructions with the Castle stuff is garbage. I ordered the FREE USB jumper which is stupid as it shojld come with the dam unit but they know that and make you go through the whole purchase deal even though you aren't supposed to be charged anything. That is BS of the first order.
I'll look further and if nothing else maybe I will run into one of the castle guys at the field. I may be going out for a bit tonight to try some fixed wing stuff for a guy and hopefully for helis out there in the morning if the weather holds off.