Apache AH-64

[ripface]

Hi All,

I bought my son an Apache AH-64 for his birthday, got it at a good price from eBay shipping from Hong Kong. It's a 3-Channel 'copter with contra rotating blades.

Once we got it charged up and sussed out how to get the transmitter to recognise the heli, we gave it a go, but no matter what we do with the trimming, the damn thing just spins on the ground in a clockwise direction, and will not lift off the ground.

Can anyone help out here, not sure what I should be adjusting to sort this out!! Both top and bottom blades appear to be spinning fine, and the tail rotor works when you move the control for forw/back.

We're very new to this stuff, so any help gratefully received.

Cheers,
Ripface.

[ApachePilotUK]

Hi All,

I bought my son an Apache AH-64 for his birthday, got it at a good price from eBay shipping from Hong Kong. It's a 3-Channel 'copter with contra rotating blades.

Once we got it charged up and sussed out how to get the transmitter to recognise the heli, we gave it a go, but no matter what we do with the trimming, the damn thing just spins on the ground in a clockwise direction, and will not lift off the ground.

Can anyone help out here, not sure what I should be adjusting to sort this out!! Both top and bottom blades appear to be spinning fine, and the tail rotor works when you move the control for forw/back.

We're very new to this stuff, so any help gratefully received.

Cheers,
Ripface.

I had a 4 channal apache "giant version" although its still a baby compared to the heli's these guys own and it was great out of the box, it sounds like either something binding in the shafts or the motors are dying out, report it to the seller, also if its from ebay check the frequency as you dont want an illegal frequency alot of heli's from hong kong are 72mhz and i think this is illegal here,

my advice is to report it to the seller , send it back and get one from modelzone for £99.99 then if you have any issues the store will help you out, i made the mistake of getting my GL450 cheap off ebay and its flew once....

alternitavly you could try swapping out the shafts and also the motors? I would think its the motors as even with binding you still get some lift.

Martin

[Made2Fade]

Heres mine:-

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/showth...t=10701&page=2

they are pretty much all the same helis... the principles of setting them up are the same. Centre your Trims and use a small screwdriver to adjust the mixer Pro pot. After you have made the adjustment then pull the battery. Reconnect and then fly too see what the adjustments done. If it has slowed the spin down then you know your going the right way. You'll never get the tail to hold perfect on these particular models though. Make sure you dont knock the model and have it on a level surface when you connect the battery. Also give it 5-10 seconds to initialise properly. Dont touch the transmitter also when its doing this. Read the above thread and the same things apply to this model also.
Cheers
Lee

[rombonie]

Heres mine:-

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/showth...t=10701&page=2

they are pretty much all the same helis... the principles of setting them up are the same. Centre your Trims and use a small screwdriver to adjust the mixer Pro pot. After you have made the adjustment then pull the battery. Reconnect and then fly too see what the adjustments done. If it has slowed the spin down then you know your going the right way. You'll never get the tail to hold perfect on these particular models though. Make sure you dont knock the model and have it on a level surface when you connect the battery. Also give it 5-10 seconds to initialise properly. Dont touch the transmitter also when its doing this. Read the above thread and the same things apply to this model also.
Cheers
Lee

spot on!

[cambs flyer]

I had a 4 channal apache "giant version" although its still a baby compared to the heli's these guys own and it was great out of the box, it sounds like either something binding in the shafts or the motors are dying out, report it to the seller, also if its from ebay check the frequency as you dont want an illegal frequency alot of heli's from hong kong are 72mhz and i think this is illegal here,

my advice is to report it to the seller , send it back and get one from modelzone for £99.99 then if you have any issues the store will help you out, i made the mistake of getting my GL450 cheap off ebay and its flew once....

alternitavly you could try swapping out the shafts and also the motors? I would think its the motors as even with binding you still get some lift.

Martin

Hey mate, have you seen this Ad, might just get you out of your TX fix.

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/classi...1&limit=recent

[Made2Fade]

you could also take a vid of your heli so we can see exactly what is going on.
Lee

[ripface]

Mucho Apreciatedness ....

Hi All,

Thanks to all the members who have posted and tried to help. I really appreciate the support!!

Now ... adjust the mixer pro pot? Sounds good .... errr, where is it and how do I adjust it. Is it on the electric motors? Easily accessible?

Excellent suggestion the video. I'll get my son to have a play with the wee beast tonight and capture it for posterity ... and for diagnosis!!

Cheers,
Ripface.

[cambs flyer]

RF, hi mate the mixing pots are found under the main canopy in a box that has all the wires from the servos and motors plugged into it, essentially it's the Brain box of operations for the helicopter which makes everything fly.

Without knowing the make or model personally consult the manual carefully as moving the pot one way to the other will alter the motor speed between the two motors.

Check the way it''s "Nose" drifting, example if it's drifting to the right, you may need to turn the pot screw counter clockwise, but remember only make very fine adjustments less than a millimeter each time as only the slightest adjustment can make a huge difference.

Then after each adjustment bring her up say 12" and see what's happened to the problem, don't go any higher as if by chance you've turned the pot the wrong way a hard landing from that height won't hurt.

But do make sure this is performed on a 100% charged Batt. as when the Li Po starts to run out of juice the torque always changes a little and can cause the heli to spin slowly in the last few minutes of safe battery flight.

And make sure you firstly disconnect the batt, then turn off the controller make the pot adjustment, turn the TX back on then connect the helicopter power leads, wait five second or a few longer just to be safe for it to arm up after the adjustments then take her up, but do this each time you make an adjustment.

Make sure all the trims are centered on the TX then it's trial and error until you reach the perfect pitch.

[Made2Fade]

check out my little vids in the link in my first post, i point to the hole with the mixer pot in. Its normally in a similar place on all these types oh helicopter.
Lee

[ripface]

Yo!

Hi All,

Thanks for all the help so far. I pulled the heli apart this evening and looked for the "pots" on the circuit board. Hmmm!! Nothing. Nada. Nout!!

There are capacitors, resistors, chips galore, but nothing to adjust.

Popped it back together, and filmed the "attempt" to take off in me study!

Please have a look see and see if anyone can troubleshoot this!! In the video the 'copter never get's off the ground, although it looks like it raises up a few centimeters. It's an illusion!!

Cheers,
Ripface.

[cambs flyer]

Cricky mate I only wish you'd found this forum before your purchase.

I've only been in the game a short while so please don't rate me as an expert, but E-bay is full of these 3ch heli's, and if I can be honest there not really very good.

In all honesty, I may be wrong, but I'd sell it on E-bay sold as seen, and if you can purchase a Lama 4 or Blade CX2, which have all the back up you could possibly ask for, and the knowledge about there workings within the walls of this forum is unlimited.

Just my pennies worth mate, sorry it isn't better news, hopefully someone else may have a better alternative for you.

[ripface]

Update

Hey All!

Thought I'd post an update.

I sorted it!!

The bottom set of blades were not spinning up correctly, and I noticed that one of the mounting screws had come adrift. Actually the plastic collar where the screw fits into had cracked, so the blade collar was turning on the drive shaft. This caused the bottom set of blades to lack full power, and therefore caused the body of the helicopter to spin.

I dripped superglue down inside the collar, and this fixed the problem. Now the 'copter actually lifts off the ground!!

Thanks to all that posted with suggestions.

Cheers,
Ripface.

[cambs flyer]

Nice one.

[ripface]

Aaargh!

aaargh. Aaaargh! AAAARGH!!

Would you believe it. Now that I got the 'copter flying good, and my son was enjoying learning the ropes ... the motor for the bottom blades has burned out.

Hmmm, not sure if my "tweaking" did more harm than good!! Where can I source a replacement leccy motor. Any takers ....

Chaoli Motor: FK180SH-3240EV-42

Cheers,
Ripface.

P.S. It wouldn't be so bad ... but the motor burned out when *I* was playing with it .... OOPS! : (

[cambs flyer]

Does the motor look something like this?

http://www.elitemodelsonline.co.uk/P...m1763?startPos=

And you have two of these on your heli, if you can take some photos, & close ups, it would be helpful.