Governors - Talk to me

[Si Goodchild]

Guys,

I'm trying to get my head around governors. From what I've read they work a bit like cruise control in that the pilot effectively sets the desired RPM with the throttle/collective stick and the governor adjusts the throttle linkage as required to achieve this RPM adding more or less power to overcome the prevailing conditions eg climbing rapidy or descending)

Trouble is that when you read the text alongside the CSM rev lock 10 (for example) it seems to suggest that it simply locks the head at one speed which doesn't seem so sophisticated. Can any of you guys shed some light on this and advise what products do what and which, if any, are worth buying for someone still on the lurning curve?

Si

[moonmanflyer]

Basically yes and yes.
A govener will try to maintain a constnt head speed to what ever you have set it at.
i.e. if you have set it up at say 2000rpm head speed the govener will detect a drop, say when climing and increase the throttle to compensate, or reduce when decending to prevent over speeding and this is where a govener is of most good, you can almost fly around a reduce in power but the last thing you want is to overspeed, over rev the engine and it blows up (i should know happened to me before i fitted a gov).
I myself rate the align govs very highly, very simple and easy to set up and very consistant and they seem to react quicker than the rev-locks.
The need for a v-curve with a gov is not required, as this what a v-curve tries to do, give more throttle when you up the pitch, but a gov is alot better way of dealing with it.
Hope this helps

[Si Goodchild]

So do you dial in a headspeed by physically changing a setting on the govenor when the heli is on the ground or is this a constantly variable thing via the tx left stick? Sorry if I'm being a bit thick!

[Steve]

Depends if you've got a 6 channel radio or 7 (or more).

With a 6 channel you set the desired speed using a series of lights on the revlock and a reference chart.

With a 7 channel set, you can plug the Revlock into channel 7 and adjust the head speed remotely from your transmitter.

The Revlock does not engage until the throttle output is over 25%, so when you start the engine it won't immediately try to go to 2000rpm in your hands! When you're in idle up mode, your throttle output will always be over 25% so it will always be engaged. It can also be engaged and disengaged via a switch assigned to channel 7.

[moonmanflyer]

On the align gov it acts on the 7th channel, i.e. aux 2 on spektrum.
Then it is controlled by the percentage in the travel adjust screen, and this then relates to a chart you get with the govenner to work out the head speed. easybut is a bit confusing when you first do it and is best to get help from a club member first time, i did

[t-rex pedro]

Align or Revlocks work well and are easy to set up (once you get your head around it!)

[jamiem]

For beiginners I'm a very strong believer in learning to set up the throttle curves and cyclic mixes before going anywhere near a governor. Rememer that if the sensor fails it will revert to just your throttle curve so if it's not set up properly you could land yourself in a whole lot of trouble. I'd say until your flying fast 8's with climbing and descending at reasonable speeds, there is no need for one at all. Learn to set it up and understand what you doing first then when you start noticing a bit of overspeeding as your flying improves, then get one. I've always used rev lock 10's and love them.

[Sao]

How did we get around the problem of overspeeding before governors?
I've set up some curves at the moment on the T-700 and will be setting up the governor soon but just wondered what people did in the old days.

[Disc]

Always set an idle up V curve though because if it throws a magnet the gov will disengage and the heli will continue to fly okay and if you throw the magnet half way through a move at least the V curve will help you out...

[barney]

Opting for a governer like Align/Revmax/TJokey Pro/CSM all require you to Tach the rotorspeed.

The Multigov/Multigov pro can be bought with a programming card allowing you to set the various Headspeeds without needing a tach and someone to operate it.

It's also very good when working with a Radio like the DX7 where you have to fiddle with subtrims/endpoints in some cases to set different headspeeds.

Robs done a fine review here. http://www.50-tuning.com/reviews/ele...s/multigov.asp

[Steve]

How did we get around the problem of overspeeding before governors?

We learnt to tune engines properly.

Slightly rich on the low needle helps to reduce overspeed a lot.

[Sao]

We learnt to tune engines properly.

Slightly rich on the low needle helps to reduce overspeed a lot.

That counts me out then
Governor it is.

[barney]

How did we get around the problem of overspeeding before governors?

Even fine tuning curves can not fully compensate but you can get something that flies well but it needs patience to do properly.

We flew conservately..Used the Pitch to keep load on the motor. We did'nt use +/-14 Our servo's were slow, models were heavier, ran engines richer, used tuned pipes to 'contain' the RPM, Ran lower headspeeds. Flat lined the 30's at 100%..LOL

A good Governer system allows you extract maximium power without explodacating things. The top models have look ahead gain to increase the throttle beyond the immeadiate requirement, prevent loading, overspeeding, have Multi headspeed capability, programability.

[Andy from Sandy]

You don't need a tacho for the CSM revlocks.

Some governors look at what the throttle setting is coming from the rx and have the ability to pre-empt the opening of the throttle which is another reason for setting a throttle curve. The throttle curve should be set a little higher than is actually required for the forward looking feature to work properly.

[chemicalbro]

if you do decide to get a gov just make sure you read and FULLY understand the manual for before you do ANYTHING.

my knackered clutch was testament to that one (somehow I managed to reverse the throttle servo during setup... started her up..... wham full open throttle and a near broken wrist, pulled the fuel line and got covered in fuel )

then once i repaired the clutch... i tried setup again.... only to set the gov up with the throttle stick at 0 (when it should have been at around 20% position) the governor wouldn't disengage when i landed and i had to crawl under the blades with the shaft from my starter to pull the fuel line (quite scary i can tell you with blades spinning at close to 2000 rpm inches from your head)

sorted now tho
isn't hindsight a wonderful thing