Honey Bee fp Tail motor help

[DaveMe]

HI,

Finally got my Honey Bee up and running properly this week, thanks to helpful advice from this forum (thanks guys).

As a newbie I'm spending most of my time practicing the hover. The new high authority tail motor has burnt out in a day ...... reckon I had about 3 hours out of it.

I've heard about various mods, twin tail motors heat sinks and so on and was wondering if anyone had tried any of these and how much the life of the tial motor can be extended by.

Thanks guys.


Dave.

[Pipistrelli]

Dave,

I have never seen that happen before. Sometimes they can give shortish lives, but I run mine on a 3 cell lipo, at 11 volts, but I get 5 hours solid flying minimum, with an average of 6 minute flights that is 50 flights, enough for a couple of months, minimum!

Something must be wrong, what prop did you use? Is it on the right way, it is very easy to fit it the wrong way which makes it very inefficient?

[DaveMe]

Cheers Pip,

The motor is still working a bit, but keeps cutting in and out the way the old one did just before it packed up.

Ordered Microfly props from Midland Helicopters at the same time I ordered the motor. (There's a box to tick just under where the motor is shown)Also, the old motor had what looked like a small capacitor soldered across the connections. Should I perhaps have transferred this to the new motor?

The props only seem to go on one way, shiny side facing the motor, rough side facing outwards.

Grateful for any advice you can give.

Thanks.


Dave.

[Gav]

Hi Dave,

I learnt to fly helis on a Walkera Dragonfly 4 FP which is similar to the honey bee and uses the same motors.

I have been through about 4/5 rear motors and they do burn out quicker if the rear rotor is jammed when power is applied or stops when it clips the ground during a dodgy take off when you're training etc. But it should last many flights when not forcefully stopped.

First of all I suggest a heat sink either a shop bought one with heat sink transfere compound or you can solder strips of copper solder braid to the motor case. I did this once but ended up buying propper heatsinks in the end.

Secondly make sure the motor is meshing nicely with the rear rotor gear with a tiny amount of 'play'. If the motor is notchy when you rotate the rear rotor then it is motor is mounted to tightly.

I would not bother with a twin motor mod even if you are using the highest lipo for this type heli i.e. 11V 1200mah Lipo.

I have hammered my DF4 with a 11V 1200mah lipo. You can cook the motors if pushed hard, but fly it smooth and not on max throttle for long periods it will hold together for quite a while before you have to replace motors.

Hope this helps?

cheers
Gav

[Pipistrelli]

Cheers Pip,

The motor is still working a bit, but keeps cutting in and out the way the old one did just before it packed up.

Ordered Microfly props from Midland Helicopters at the same time I ordered the motor. (There's a box to tick just under where the motor is shown)Also, the old motor had what looked like a small capacitor soldered across the connections. Should I perhaps have transferred this to the new motor?

The props only seem to go on one way, shiny side facing the motor, rough side facing outwards.

Grateful for any advice you can give.

Thanks.


Dave.

Dave,

Any brushed motor should have a capacitor fitted, so fit the old one if it doesn't have one fitted already.

The prop is a 3 inch diameter with a square profile, the curve should face towards the direction of main blade antirotation. I'll try and post some pics of mine soon. That should be a lot clearer.

[Pipistrelli]

Photo's as promised!

[DaveMe]

Pip,

Thanks for the info mate, sounds as if I cooked the motor because I didn't use the capacitor.

Also, have been using the lipo from my colco Lama and running it for about 20 minutes at a time. ..... might try keeping it down to about 5 minutes then taking a break to give the motors a chance to cool down.

Thanks again for all your help. Very much appreciated.

Cheers.

Dave.

[Pipistrelli]

Dave,

20 minutes is a long time for one run, 5-7 minutes for a flight then let the motors cool for a few minutes will add to the life of the motors.