New problem.  Got the new head assembly on and everything balanced.   But I'm getting this issue with the tail.  It's not centering.  You tap the stick and it keeps going for a bit.   I've tried the gyro at 25%, 50%, 65% and 70% with no luck.  (this is with TAGS turned off.)   Trying to get this thing all working with out the tags adding to the problem.

After much playing and checking -- the original photos I took really helped -- I decided to go back to the original NON-TAGS receiver/gyro board.   Plugged it in and it spun counter clockwise unless I had 75% on the stick.

After much beating my head against a wall I found that issue.  I put the tail servo in the rudd slot.  Turns out it should be in SX (what ever that means)  Good thing I took these pictures.

Brings up another question though...  is all this compatible with the new TAGS system?  Should I be looking at replacing something else?

Novus 125 CP and the missing parts

So the saga continues. Ordered parts and they arrived on Tuesday. Got everything fixed up. But then I decided to drive down to Streetsville to pick up a new receiver with the new Triple Axis Gyro Stabilization (TAGS).

Thought I'd get smart and went to Erindale park after the purchase. Sat at a picnic table and started to work on the helicopter. Idea was I could go back to the store to get any parts I needed. Well turns out the heli was completely out of balance and the instructions on the receiver are very miss-leading. Would have been nice to come with a manual. I got the heli airborne but the tail whipped around and I lost control. It landed in the bushes and I busted the flybar. -- in hindsight I realized I never tested after I fixed the tail -- So went to the store to get the parts. Spent probably an hour only to find the parts labeled on the manual are wrong. It says the flybar weights are in the HMXE8557 package. Turns out there not. There is a separate part number for it HMXE8556.

Got home with all the parts and was taking it apart. Got the head assembly off no problem. Took the paddles, weights, and ball carrier off no problem. But couldn't get the fly bar out of the pivot assembly. -- Turns out it's an unlabeled part in the manual HMXE8559, which since it's unlabeled I didn't get it. --Needless to say it broke, seems it was weakened by one of my crashes, or so I guess.

So now I'm back to a heli in pieces. I'm starting to think I'm cursed. I think what I'm going for now is HMXE7476 (Heli-Max Complt CNC Alum Rotor Head Conversion Novus CP) and I'm just going to replace the entire head!

Did find the manual for the new TAGS system... maybe a little late though: http://manuals.hobbico.com/hmx/hmxe0806-addendum.pdf

Novus 125 CP and Triple Axis Gyro Stabilization (T.A.G.S.)

I hear it's great.... wish I had it.  I purchased the Novus 125 CP when they first came to the store here in Canada.   Problem is they didn't include the T.A.G.S. in those models.  Finally found a picture so I could see if I really had T.A.G.S. or not.

With T.A.G.S

Mine without T.A.G.S.

Only task now is to drive to a hobby store that carries them so I can visually inspect if I'm getting the correct model or not.  (as it seems both are the same part number)

Finally the part I needed

Finally the warranty replacement parts I needed arrived. Well actually only needed one of them. Turns out the ESC was causing all my issues. I tried flying it for 2 minutes around the basement. Then took the cover off and the ESC and motor were warm, not burning hot like before.

I'll have to charge up the battery and try again. Just to make sure.

Edit: Well spoke too soon. The thing is still heating up just as bad as before. I emailed a guy who had the same problem. Seems this is normal. Guess I need to do the heatsink trick and possible shield the wires some how. (or lengthen them and move them to the other side of the servos.)

Nope the problem is NOT a problem as I was told from HeliMax. It's NORMAL. I did fix it myself as best I could by cutting a small hole in the canopy and also installing a very small heatsink on the motor. The motor gets hottest during a hover but I have found it's not too bad as long as you keep the heli moving.

Some parts Arrived

Well some of the parts arrived for my Novus 125 CP. Replaced the motor and adjusted the pitch as recommended by Heli-Max. But it's still heating up after a few minutes. (Even replaced the main rotor blades too)

Guess I'm waiting for the new ESC. It must be the cause of the problem. Bummer... won't have it by camping (unless they arrive in the next two days.)

CP Helicopter Down!

A week ago I was trying around the living room when I smelled something burning. So I landed. Went over and took the cover off. The ESC and Motor were so hot I couldn't touch them. You could ignite tissue paper it was so hot. The smell, I think, was the outer plastic of the wires.

So I contacted helihotline at hobbico dot com to see if there was something I could look at. Their first thought was that the pitch might be set too high. So they gave me the instructions to set it at 45%. However, this doesn't really explain the ESC.

Their next question was when did I purchase it, from where, and what my address was. Turns out the motor and ESC are covered under warranty. Their shipping me new ones. There's light at the end of this dark tunnel. I thought I was going to have to spend the $90 to replace them.

Now we just have to invent transporters, replicators or ID Portals so I can keep flying...

Since I'm in the usual -- waiting for response -- mode I thought I'd update on yesterdays experience. I was flying the Novus 125 CP and kept eyeing the flight mode switch. When flying in wind, if the wind picks up the helicopter I can't get enough downward thrust to keep the helicopter where it is. I need the V shaped curve of the 3D flight mode, or so I assume. The big question is how much of a jump will switching between modes have and can I control it. So I come up with a plan.

I was going to switch it in the living room where I had a nice soft carpet and nice soft -- well ok not so soft -- stucko. So I started to hover and every time I reached for the switch I would move the collective pitch and start to loose control. Not good. But my wife came to the rescue. I explained everything I was doing to her and asked if she could flip the switch and flip back if I started to lose it. (helicopter I mean) So all geared up we tried it.

First Attempt: Once the switch was thrown the helicopter immediately dropped and hit the floor. So I said "switch back switch back", and cut the throttle. Checked the helicopter over and no apparent damage.

Second Attempt: now semi-prepared for the sudden down we repeated the steps. This time in trying to regain control I nicked the tail on the futon. So we switched back to normal flight mode and I landed. But this time there was damage. When trying to bring the helicopter up again, the tail was fish tailing all over the place. After powering down I manually turned the gears. The tail stop moving at a spot, which means I have a stripped gear. No problem though the helicopter came with some gears.

So I proceeded to take the helicopter apart. Took the landing gear off. The tail support off. Then the instructions say "remove pin with a pair of needle nose pliers. Ya right! My pliers couldn't grip the damn thing. After 20 minutes I gave up. Went to the hardware store and purchased an actual pair of needle noes pliers. (seams mine are called long nose pliers). Then spent another 30 minutes trying to get the thing out. I was surprised I didn't bust something else while trying. Then took the rest of the parts off to get at the gear. Yep flat on one side. Replaced everything (another 10 minutes later) and started to fly again.

This time noticed the tracking was off a bit. Which was supper easy to fix. Just popped off part 5 from the swashplate, see chart to the right, and gave a couple of turns. Now the tracking appears dead on.