I have been noticing a decrease in power over the last several flights, I wasn't quite sure what was causing this or if there was any real difference at all.

I was about 4 minutes into my fourth flight today when the motor cut out on me. I thought it was strange for the battery to die this early in a flight. I throttled back then on again, the motor cut on for a couple seconds than stopped again. It wouldn't come back on again no matter what I tried so I brought her in dead stick. Thinking it might have been my battery, I switched it out and still no dice.

I tried spinning the prop by hand and there was a pretty rough grinding noise and it was definitely fried.

My question is.

What is an average life span for an EPS300-C running on 8 cell 700 AAA nimhs?

Todays session brought it up to 41 flights and just under 5 hours of flight time. I would say definetly less than 50% of the flight time at full throttle.

Is that normal?

Thanks for any help

Boz

Originally posted by bosley
Is that normal?

Quick answer: yup

Martin

Hey Dreamer i like your Frankness in the matter You had me laughin out loud.


I got another question for you.

Are both poles inside the motor supposed to have brushes on them?

I was pretty sure they were supposed to. At any rate this motor only has one now. The other is probably layin out in the ball field somewhere.

Would the motor locking up like it did fry my ESC too? The servos and stuff still respond and there was no smoke. I am thinking that maybe the motor not being able to turn would draw enough amps to fry the ESC. Does the Pixie 20P have an overload protection circuit? Or am I just completely off base here?

Last one.

Where is the cheapest place to get a couple more of these bad boys? I don't need the gearbox just a motor or four! Now I'll probably break the gear box next so I ought to get on of those while I'm at it!

Thanks guys

Boz

Boz,

I have a few replacement motors for $10 each. Shipping will be $3.85.

The Pixie 20 is pretty tough so I doubt you hurt it.

Doug

Thanks Doug I just sent you an email asking about the motors. I'll be placing an order very soon now that my wife has gone to bed.

Do they come with the pinion already installed? Does timing the motors help to prolong their life or just improve the performance while it is alive?

Can't wait to get it back in the air!!! I was so close to 50 flights too

FYI, going to 8 cell 600AE and 1100s your motor life is about ~25 flights. My Zero with a 7 cell is about ~45 flights . This was my experience before going brushless .

BTW the 'brush' you 'lost' is just wore off -- didn't fall off . Your ESC 'should' be fine-- I had 6 motors do this without any problems to the D20 ESC I was using (Now my heart, on the other hand, on panic deadsticks LOL may have some defibb problems -- seems always not in a 'good' spot for a good landing ) .

Hi Boz, same thing happened to me, check out this thread:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...threadid=36302

Near the end are directions how to adjust the timing so both brushes wear evenly. I don't know how much extra time it provide but might be worth a try.

BC

Hi
I have one you can have for free..PM me with your address

Mike

Thanks alot for your help. Just sent a PM. This kind of support can't be found in to many places these days. The people of this site make this hobby so much more enjoyable for me. Thanks again Sprinter and everyone else.


Boz

Originally posted by bosley
Would the motor locking up like it did fry my ESC too?

Interesting question, as I had a defective brand new motor take out my Pixielite 14 (Pixie 20 without the wires included) and two servos when the motor stopped in flight.

Martin

Got here today!! Awesome service!

Thanks Doug, I should be back in the air tomorrow. It has been windy for a couple days anyway, so I didn't miss too much.

I just orderd some of the cheapy 2/3 A 1000 mah cells from BYD.32 cells for $36.00.(we'll see if they are worth it) What is the best 8 cell configuration to fit in the SB sport with the new style canopy?

Thanks
Boz

I have some of those BYD cells. If you aren't trying to go vertical, they aren't bad. Make then as a staggered two rows of 4.

O O O O
O O O O <-- This row should be offset


Doug

(edited the battery diagram)

Doug,

How fast can you charge those 2/3 A cells? I am hoping they can handle more than 1C.


By the way I tried my ESC and all seems to be right in the world again. No problems at all.

I use the BYD 2/3A batteries all the time..I get about 11-12 minutes WOT with a stock GWS motor in GWS P-51..about the same run time with a MiniAC 20 turn brushless motor in a SB.I use a 9 cell pack in everything

I`ll get the motor out sat morn

Mike

Thanks again Mike. What are your charge rates on the 2/3 A cells. I have a couple packs of their AAA's and it takes over an hour to charge them. At least to charge them without venting some cells

If you don't mind telling, How is the performance with the mini AC. How much does it cost to get a setup with one.

Thanks

Boz