Discussion Submicro Walkera 4#3 FP - >> BRUSHLESS CONVERSIONS.

[micron5]

Originally Posted by Brontobyte

Hi All,

I thought I would share my tail boom bracing mod. As you can see from the
pics it just bolts on using the existing battery holder mounting screws.
I used two 30mm lengths of 1mm carbon rod (from original flybar) and made the couplings out of 0.016" aluminium sheet. The result is amazing! Zero tail wag and hovering seems to be more stable too. I highly recommend this mod.

Beautiful work! It's the best tail mod I've seen so far!

[winggee]

I just got the ICS50E/J ESC. Going to try it for the stock brushed tail with the Spektrum conversion. It weighs about 5.88g with all wires and heatshrink attached. I'll weight it again when I start the conversion.

I attached some pics.

[jasonjetski]

Originally Posted by Brontobyte

Hi All,

I thought I would share my tail boom bracing mod. As you can see from the
pics it just bolts on using the existing battery holder mounting screws.
I used two 30mm lengths of 1mm carbon rod (from original flybar) and made the couplings out of 0.016" aluminium sheet. The result is amazing! Zero tail wag and hovering seems to be more stable too. I highly recommend this mod.

Nice work Brontobyte.
Just a question about the ends of the rods.
Are the metal ends made from spade electrical connectors with the plastic insulation removed?
If not,do you think electrical connectors would work for this?
Regards Jason.

[Brontobyte]

Originally Posted by jasonjetski

Nice work Brontobyte.
Just a question about the ends of the rods.
Are the metal ends made from spade electrical connectors with the plastic insulation removed?
If not,do you think electrical connectors would work for this?
Regards Jason.

Hi Jason,

All the metal parts are made out of a 3mm wide strip of 0.016" aluminium sheet. The Rod fixings are 7mm long with a 1mm deep notch filed either side, 1mm in from the end. This forms the two tabs which I just bent up with some needle nose pliers. This gives the CA glue something extra to bond the carbon rod to.

I guess you could use spade conectors, but I don't recall ever coming across some small enough which would do the job.

I don't know the weight of it all as I don't have a precision scale. It wouldn't be much, although it may have changed the balancing of the heli slightly. I'm thinking I making some new rods only half the length to shift the boom fixing clamp back closer to the body.

[TheSteve]

I decided to perform the brushless mod on "Goodman's" 2.4ghz metal head v2 4#3 this evening. It went very well and I took lots of pictures along the way.
There are pictures to help with each step.

First off the stock ready to fly weight was 48.63 grams.

First step was to remove the stock brushed motor and remove the pinion. I used a pinion puller to ensure no damage to motor or pinion. I then reamed it to 1.5mm using a lexan body reamer(from RC cars). I use the reamer to get the hole started and some micro drill bits to finish it. I recommend you put the pinion on backwards so that it gets maximum bite on the splines of the motor shaft.

Next remove the stock 4in1 - carefully unplug the servos and tail motor.
The chassis will need to have a whee bit cut off to get the motor to mount flat. A sharp knife makes quick work of this step, only 0.2mm or so needs to be taken off either end of the frame to have the motor sitting in place flat to the frame. The points are circled in red in the picture. Once thats done enlarge the stock motor mount holes towards the outside of the frame using a dremel or something similar with a small bit on it. I recommend removing the main gear so there is no chance of nicking it in the process. I also removed the battery tray and folded the skids back. Once you can just see the mount holes through the frame you've done enough, pop the screws in and check the gear mesh - its tougher to do on the v2 because its such a fine pitch.

I recommend mounting the Losi motor wires exiting its case closest to the servos. This keeps the wires from having too sharp a bend. Before installing the motor you can form the wires into place by giving them a quick shot with a heat gun - this will soften the heatshrink thats protecting the wires.

With the motor mounted its time to rework the 2.4ghz 4in1.
Remove the plastic outer wrap. From there I decided to mount the brushless converter to the 4in1 with a tiny(and I mean tiny) drop of CA - this holds it nicely in place but it can still be removed without any hassle. The brushless converter gets mounted to the right side of the 4in1 on top of the big chip.
I used easy to access solder points for the converter as can be seen in the picture - I recommend anyone installing it use these points. You can solder it to the main battery wires but you already need to solder the brushless ESC wires to that point so using alternates just makes the install easier. Soldering two wires onto the same spot is also tougher.

Now that the 4in1 has a brushless converter installed its time to get the ESC ready. The first thing I did was remove the shrink wrap and then all wires. Before removing all of the wires you might want to note how they all connect!
The ESC was then attached to the top of the 4in1 with double sided tape. Its installed slightly hanging off the back of the 4in1 with the motor connections facing up and closest to the motor. Once it was installed I soldered the remaining brushless converter wire(white wire) to the signal input of the brushless ESC.
Five more wires to go!
I used some nice servo wire to connect power to the brushless ESC. It runs from the backside of the original power wire solder points to the original solder points on the brushless ESC.
OK, your brushless 4in1 is ready to install into the heli! I once again used some good quality double sided tape to install the 4in1 back into the helicopter.
The last step is to trim and solder the wires from the brushless motor to the ESC - its delicate work but you can do it! I would have loved to connect the wires to the ESC in order but the motor ran backwards so swap the blue and black wires.

OK, we'll finish up in my next post.

[TheSteve]

OK, the last few things to do.

Before reinstalling the battery tray drill or ream an extra hole between the motor mount screw holes so it won't rub on the Losi motor shaft.

I have added a few extra pictures of the install.

Before flying I recommend checking that the tail motor isn't too loose in the holder - this one was. I pulled the motor out and added a tiny piece of thin tape the side of the can of the motor. This gave it a great wedge fit when I pushed it back in. I also added a small piece of tape to hold the tail motor wires tight to the can and out of the way - this makes sure the wires won't get ripped out in a crash.

Finally a picture of the weight of the completed 2.4ghz, metal head, brushless, v2 4#3. I am very pleased that its only 52.82 grams ready to fly with the upgrade!

So far it flies very nice - I do prefer the gearing of the v1 though when going brushless. The Losi motor has tons of power so the lower gearing of the v2 doesn't give quite the super power feel. I am sure it is way better on the life of the stock brushed motor though.

I hope this helps other people that want to upgrade the v2 version of the 4#3 to brushless. If anyone has any questions feel free to post or PM.

[Butters]

WOW Steve great job.

[TheSteve]

Originally Posted by Butters

WOW Steve great job.

Thanks Butters! I love converting stuff to brushless - its a sickness I tell ya!
Now I have to pack this up and send it back to Goodman who took me up on my offer to mod a v2 4#3 and include the brushless converter for no charge. I figured it would not only be fun but would allow me to see the metal head version of the 4#3 and would give me a great chance to take pictures to help others perform the install.

Having played with the metal head I'll stick with my plastic one for now. I might buy the metal rotor head when its available though.
I had an experienced heli pilot drop by today and he flew my brushless/Spektrum/head lock gyro 4#3 today and was blown away. He cruised it all over my backyard and was amazed that it was easier to fly and smoother then a Blade CP which is a lot larger. He instantly asked what it would cost to get one exactly like mine. It really seems if the heli is light enough the stock brushed tail motor works fine. I am still going to try converting my second one to a brushless tail but I know its going to be tough to beat the performance/price of the coreless pager motor.

There is also second trex600cf sitting here after my friend dropped by. I better sell one before my wife notices it!

[Butters]

Steve I sent you a pm in regards to the 5#5 solder points.

[baygenco]

Steve youve done a neat job as usual.
do you have any info on the motor pinion module/pitch? maybe we can find higher tooth pinions to get more power.

[egicar]

Great Steve !!!
very usefull!!!

Thank you

[Meshuggah]

Can anny kind soul tell me where to find the 4#3 v2?

[baygenco]

Originally Posted by Meshuggah

Can anny kind soul tell me where to find the 4#3 v2?

few people were able to get initial production v2s from forum member tterence. no online shop has them instock yet,next week maybe...

[jasonjetski]

Originally Posted by Meshuggah

Can anny kind soul tell me where to find the 4#3 v2?

You can try this website,but I can't read the language.
http://www.derspielstein.com/product...pter--neu.html
Jason

[microkites]

Originally Posted by TheSteve

OK, the last few things to do.

Before reinstalling the battery tray drill or ream an extra hole between the motor mount screw holes so it won't rub on the Losi motor shaft.

I have added a few extra pictures of the install.

Before flying I recommend checking that the tail motor isn't too loose in the holder - this one was. I pulled the motor out and added a tiny piece of thin tape the side of the can of the motor. This gave it a great wedge fit when I pushed it back in. I also added a small piece of tape to hold the tail motor wires tight to the can and out of the way - this makes sure the wires won't get ripped out in a crash.

Finally a picture of the weight of the completed 2.4ghz, metal head, brushless, v2 4#3. I am very pleased that its only 52.82 grams ready to fly with the upgrade!

So far it flies very nice - I do prefer the gearing of the v1 though when going brushless. The Losi motor has tons of power so the lower gearing of the v2 doesn't give quite the super power feel. I am sure it is way better on the life of the stock brushed motor though.

I hope this helps other people that want to upgrade the v2 version of the 4#3 to brushless. If anyone has any questions feel free to post or PM.

awesome thesteve!

that is just about how mine went together

I am so impressed with it

you like the plastic head better? I am suprised-v2 head is so much more stable! I am tempted to try metal head with old gearing!

still getting short flight times though

mk