Blade 130x uncontrollable

[ajb019]

Hope someone can help. My Blade 130 seems fine when the rotors are not turning i.e all the stick inputs do exactly what they should. When I spool it up, inputs from the right stick don't do anything at all, then the swash moves on its own and stays in one position. When I take the power off the swash snaps back to level and the inputs work again. I've posted a video to illustrate the problem - when the powers on I was moving the right stick round but as you can see there's no movement at all.

Anybody know what's wrong? Thanks very much

[Raving Jim]

Looks like one of the servos is sticking at a certain position, check there are no tiny bits of dust on the gear that moves up an down, if you google 130x servo cleaning there are a few vids that show you the best way to clean them an reset them

[Grumpy]

Check that the cyclic gyro response directions are correct. It looks like the aileron (roll) response is reversed which would cause the swash to go all the way over, just like the video showed.

On the Blade 130 when you close the throttle the gyros are disabled which would explain why it works ok with throttle closed

[tomatwalden]

Looks to me like you've got the same problem that I had with my first ever 130x. So here's the thing you need to understand about the 130X, and in particular, the AS3X control board within it. When the motor is not turning, the gyros are turned off. So transmitter controls are replayed exactly by the servos. Once the motors start, the gyros become active and the servos respond to BOTH control inputs from the transmitter, AND gyro inputs to try to stabilise the helicopter in flight.

Trouble is, there was a known issue whereby the gyros on some early boards weren't calibrated properly. There were two fixes ..

1) Send the helicopter to Horizon Hobby in Essex to get it fixed.
2) Subtrim the 130X to remove the lean on take off. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z7W7CbLGnM)

To illustrate the point, here's a video I took of my 130X when I first got it. You can see the difference in swash response with power on, and power off.

[tomatwalden]

Check that the cyclic gyro response directions are correct. It looks like the aileron (roll) response is reversed which would cause the swash to go all the way over, just like the video showed.

On the Blade 130 when you close the throttle the gyros are disabled which would explain why it works ok with throttle closed

To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to change the gyro compensations on the AS3X of the 130X. They're fixed in firmware.

[Grumpy]

They're fixed in firmware.

Oh well, guess that we can rule that one out then!

Seems to me that it's got to be something related to the gyro because when the motor is off and the gyros disables it works fine.

It could be vibrations. If you have something bent (main shaft. feathering shaft etc) then the vibrations will knock out the gyros which can cause the servos to go to full deflection. Are the blade grips properly adjusted so that the blades can pivot in the grip?


EDIT,

Tom, i just say your earlier post, a problem with gyro calibration, looks like you nailed it! This just goes to reinforce my aversion to micro helis, nothing but trouble!

[tomatwalden]

Oh well, guess that we can rule that one out then!

It could be vibrations. If you have something bent (main shaft. feathering shaft etc) then the vibrations will knock out the gyros which can cause the servos to go to full deflection. Are the blade grip[s properly adjusted so that the blades can pivot in the grip?

It could be vibrations in this case. On mine, it was a real problem with the board. You can see this on the video of mine at about 20-22 seconds. If you watch VERY CLOSELY, you can see the swash starting to lean over even before the motor has actually kicked in! The gyros are giving a false input before the motor actually kicks into life.

[ajb019]

Thanks for your answers. I'll call Horizon on Monday and get their thoughts.

[stephenk]

defiately looks like servos sticking need a good clean

[Grumpy]

defiately looks like servos sticking need a good clean

But if sticky servo was to blame why would it always work perfectly when the motor was off, and why would a sticky servo cause the swash to move uncommanded to full travel?

I think Tom nailed it, failing that it might be vibrations.

[Guest]

....I think from the video you are missing something more obvious, why on earth are your blades at 90 degrees to the blade grips before and after you have spooled up....???

If you have got them tightened up like that then I'm surprised it flies at all, they should be loose enough to level out when spinning, from your video they are in that position start and finish......

[tomatwalden]

....I think from the video you are missing something more obvious, why on earth are your blades at 90 degrees to the blade grips before and after you have spooled up....???

If you have got them tightened up like that then I'm surprised it flies at all, they should be loose enough to level out when spinning, from your video they are in that position start and finish......

That's normal for micros. Out of the box, the blades are floppy loose. So they fall to 90deg off at rest, spin out very quickly to straight, then upon spool down, they quickly flop to 90deg out again. That looseness is supposed to be better for stability with micros as the blades are so light that if you tighten them, they sometimes can't swing out straight under centrifugal force.

FWIW, I tend to tighten mine slightly more than that, but not much more.

[ajb019]

It's definitely not vibration. I tried it with the motor unplugged and as soon as I increase throttle the swash starts tilting.

[tomatwalden]

Yup - watch my video carefully at about 20-22 seconds in. You can see the same thing.

Faulty board - contact HH for a replacement or attempt the trimming procedure in the other video I linked to.

FWIW, I'd contact HH in Essex for a replacement board.

[Peteski]

According to the Blade manual, if the swashplate drifts off centre when the gyros are active you are supposed to use sub-trim to counter the drift. Quote from
manual below:-

"Calibration Procedure - Only use sub-trim during the calibration procedure. It is normal for the servos to move slightly back and forth at neutral. 1. Unplug motor from the control board 2. Plug battery in and ensure model is motionless while arming 3. Move throttle stick above idle position to activate the gyros. Do not move the helicopter. 4. Watch for any drifting of the swashplate or tail linkage. Counter the drift on each axis with sub-trim. If the swashplate drifts to the right, add left aileron sub-trim. If the swashplate begins to drift left, you've added too much sub-trim. The goal is to add enough sub-trim to prevent any drifting. When the calibration procedure is complete the swashplate and tail linkage will remain in a neutral position when the gyro is active and the helicopter is motionless.