whats the 1st things to do?

[stevek32]

Hi everyone,

just took the plunge and bought a 2nd hand trex 500 esp.
now I'm new to helis, so far learning on blade 130x I can do hovers nose in tail in etc turning right although left is still a prob for me....
anyway what should I do when heli arrives, I.e check points etc heres the specs....

Futaba GY401 Gyro

Align BL500L Brushless Outrunner Motor

Align BL60G Speed controller

3 x Align DS510 Servos

1 x Futaba digital 9257 Servo on the tail

Spektrum AR6200 receiver

Carbon blades

Torque tube driven tail.

I have a dx6i already.

If you were in my shoes as a noob what do you do first to get it into a hover without smashing it up 1st go?....

[AcidDrink]

RE: whats the 1st things to do?

Frankly? Disassemble whole thing and build it again unless you've seen it flying in person.
Michal

[trexamanic]

Frankly? Disassemble whole thing and build it again unless you've seen it flying in person.
Michal

That might be a bit difficult for a newcomer. Perhaps look for a local club to see if the guys can check the basics over for you.
check as much as you can yourself especially screws linkages and wires for any cuts etc.
above all be very careful

[450man]

I am a noob too having just built my first Trex 450 so if I say anything wrong I am sure some of the gang here will put me straight... but the thing about buying secondhand is that you don't know how it has been put together. It isn't whether it has been crashed that is important because all helis crash, it is how it was built in the first place and how it has been repaired. For example, are you certain that threadlock is applied to all the places it is needed? The only way you can be sure is to take it apart and reassemble yourself. If you bought it from a reliable seller that you know personally then this might not be necessary but I would think seriously about doing it if not.

I decided not to get a secondhand heli as my first one for this very reason. I wanted to know what I had from the start but I would certainly buy secondhand now but I would do as Michael says and disassemble and reassemble before I fly. If nothing else it gives you an opportunity to inspect everything for damage and wear and to allow you to replace suspect parts now. It would be fun too and you would then also be in a much better posion to know how to repair it when you do have a spill. That actually gives you more confidence when flying because you start out knowing that crashes are generally not the end of the world that they appear to be when starting out with a bigger heli.

I would also do a proper range check with the AR6200.

EDIT: Probably the best thing you can do is join a club and ask someone to help. It is fun to go it alone but help from someone else who knows can save you a lot of time and money.

[Guest]

If you dont feel confident in a complete rebuild, at least check the powertrain components, motor bolts, pinion, main shaft bolts (drive gear and head 'jesus bolt') and most importantly the feathering shaft components. Best to remove the blade grips and check and reassemble the whole thing, making sure to use loctite (blue) on the spindle bolts.

When i first started, i always got an experienced pilot to do the maiden flight, just in case there was something wrong, hopefully they would have a better chance of saving it than me!!

[450man]

That might be a bit difficult for a newcomer. Perhaps look for a local club to see if the guys can check the basics over for you.
check as much as you can yourself especially screws linkages and wires for any cuts etc.
above all be very careful

It is certainly daunting to consider a disassemble and reassemble but if you think about it then it is actually easier than a build from scratch. Everything is already in place and there is no identification of parts needed. With the original assembly instructions it should not be anything like as difficult as it seems.

I found building from scratch a daunting task but if I can do it (believe me, I am not particularly good at this kind of thing!) then a dis/reassemble should be easily possible for a newcomer.

I suppose if a full rebuild isn't what you want then perhaps you could remove a sample of the screws and see if they were threadlocked. That might give an indication as to whether threadlock was used throughout. If you find some of the more obvious screws not threadlocked then it is suspect but if all the screws you pull are threadlocked then there is a good chance that it was used throughout. Just a thought...

[tsangbou]

What would I do....

Not in order....

1. Check every possible screw. (need blue lock tight metal to metal)
2. Check all gears for any signs of wear.
3. Check blade balance.
4. Check feathering shaft, use a driver to turn the shaft and see if the grips wobbles, If so then its bent.
5. Take head off and spoil up and visually see if main shaft is straight.
6. Use a servo tester to check all servos, links, arms etc.
7. Check swash level
8. Check pitch, main and tail
9. Check any signs of frame cracks.
10. reset your esc
11. check esc connector o battery soldered correctly.
12. Thats all i can think of at the moment!

Good luck

[stevek32]

Wow thanx for all your replies guys, the heli is going to be partially disassembled for post anyway, after reading above comments and watching the finless bob videos I was going to attempt the head rebuild as I figured that might be a place that would be under most stress from hi speed and if crashed,
no I don't know the seller but he assured me its only been flown twice and never crashed but he likes bigger helis,
not sure tho as it did seem cheapish, throwing in 2 spare canopys and 2 lipos although said they will need cycling as not been used in 2yrs plus spare booms, and all for £240 posted?.
Sound about right?

[Planehazza]

Personally I will agree with aciddrink and vote a complete rebuild. You will really enjoy, and it will increase your familiarity with the model immensely. Even just seeing the moving parts upclose will increase your knowledge and understanding of it all.

If you don't want to, send it my way; I'm craving a build again haha.

[helimadness]

For sure the perfect thing to do is a full rebuild. That maybe totally over the top but. If you give some of the screws a bit of a tweak with a driver you will work out fairly quick if they have loctite or now. Check the drive chain out fairly well. Main pinion mesh etc. Take blades off and make sure all is running ture, a quick spin up should do it.
Off course you will have to go over the TX setup and make sure all the pitch etc is right.
I don't think a full rebuild is totally necessary but for sure you want to have a good look and tweak on the screws to make sure all is ok.

Enjoy

[AcidDrink]

no I don't know the seller but he assured me its only been flown twice and never crashed but he likes bigger helis,

Well, I can assure you that absolutely all helis which are for sale as second hand were only flown twice and never crashed (according to the seller).

If you don't want tear apart everything, check the head (as you said), power train - main gear, torque tube/belt and tail assembly. Check if there is any visible binding, common sense usually works, if something doesn't look/feel/sound right, it's most likely not right.
Go over all screws and check if they are not loose.
Definitely redo all electronics setup from scratch.

[stevek32]

Ok thanks for all your help people really apreciated, as this thing doesn't come with a manual is there any links to programming the ESC and what setting to put in. Also is the above mentioned motor ok?. I have looked around but can't find much info about weather its good or not?.

[450man]

Here is the manual

http://www.rtf-heli.com/files/Trex500ESPManual.pdf