Hi drambuidhe,

Have you decided what you are gong to do differently this time to avoid burning up the diode in the motor? I even tried reversing the leads in the motor with the blue/white wires, But that didn't help.

I've got new motors coming and a new 27 MHz pcb coming, They are supposed to be here Monday. I want to see if new electronics makes any difference on the S033G.

I continue to be a happy camper with the S33 and if the S033G can be made as reliable, I'll be a very happy camper.

Good luck with the conversion and trying out your floats.

J

Thanks Jim, when I went to fit the 27mhz pcb I was paranoid about getting the polaritys wrong because I've changed the wires due to burnt connectors in the past and they're now colour coded differently.SO- I used an old pcb that has a burnt out tailmotor transistor, and made sure the motors were wired correctly before risking the new one. I will make sure the polarity is 100% right this time.If its tried at all the wrong way(even for a second) I think by altering the polarity thereafter its too late!! When it FINALLY arrives I'll suck it and see!!

Originally Posted by drambuidhe

Well looks like I'll be back in the air tomorrow, weather depending. However,not on 2.4-YET! My 27mhz replacement pcb turned up today but still no signs of the long awaited 9118 2.4ghz pcb to replace the one I shorted out!! At least I can see if the floats I've made are going to work. I've tried them tonight indoors and the signs aren't good, looks like even at around 100g they are taking some lifting

Well got around 6 flights in today on the new 27mhz pcb with no glitches as yet. If I understood how I'd post a video of a bit of them, but can't seem to work out how!! Tried the floats,it's a no goeven at only 100g it hardly will get off the ground! Did lift off my pond but only just.Can your s033g or s33 lift 100g ok?

Originally Posted by drambuidhe

Well got around 6 flights in today on the new 27mhz pcb with no glitches as yet. If I understood how I'd post a video of a bit of them, but can't seem to work out how!! Tried the floats,it's a no goeven at only 100g it hardly will get off the ground! Did lift off my pond but only just.Can your s033g or s33 lift 100g ok?

I would think that they could, and I think that yours should also. If our weather holds. (we're in a high pressure system, I flew today and there wasn't any wind). I'll try putting 100g load on the S33 and see how it does.

I don't think that the DH 9118 would, It doesn't seem to have the power that the S33 does. The motors are smaller. I can't test the S033G, As it's out of service until I get some new parts for it, Which are supposed to be here Monday.

I've probably got some batteries that weigh around 100g. I'll put some of them on my digital scale and if I need to, I've got some stick on weights that I can use to get the correct weight.

I don't know how to post a video that I made to the thread either, But I know that you could go to the Electric Heli's Video Forum and someone would probably be able to walk you through the process.
http://www.rcgroups.com/helicopters-...ic-videos-275/

J

Hi drambuidhe,

I added 103g of extra weight to the S33 today. It lifted it without any problem, But I could tell it was taking more throttle to fly it. It shortened the flying time by about 1-1/2min. I was flying with my normal 7.4v 2s 20c 1800 mAh lipo. It only weighs 2g more than the stock battery.

I would only have 3-1/2 mins of flying time carrying the extra weight and stay within my 80% battery depletion goal.

I had entertained the notion of mounting a video camera on a helicopter, But after watching some video taken with a Heli mounted camera. I decided against it.

J

Thanks for doing that for me Jim. Mine seems very underpowered recently for some reason.The last time this developed changing the motors cured it but that wasn't long ago so can't believe theyr'e shot already. The first set lasted many more flights.I'm wondering now if its my batteries.I'm sure even though they can read good voltages their 'C' values drop and they can't kick it out quick enough. Strange all 3 are the same though? Well hopefully when sorted I can do some float flying. Still waiting for the 9118 pcb

Hi drambuidhe,

Glad to do it, It was interesting to see how the extra weight affected the flying.

When, or If I get the S033G going again, I'll do the same test on it.

I can think of a couple of other things that might be robbing some of the motor power. A loose hub on the outer shaft will let the lower blades slip. I had this happen to the DH9118 after I did the lower blade reversal. I put a drop of thin CA in the threads and haven't had a problem since. A motor pinion slipping on the shaft will also rob power, Ditto the large gears. Proper clearance between the gear and pinion is also very important. (I'm sure that you know all of this, Since you have many Heli's )

One way that I use to tell if my batteries are starting to go south, Is by monitering the amount of mAh used in flight. (I also facter in the wind conditions) I check my batteries after they've been recharged to see if the mAh used has increased substantially. Any puffing of the pack is a good indicator that the battery is not at full strength. Also I can tell by the way the battery is acting at the end of the timed flight.

J

Well at last the replacement 2.4 pcb arrived.This time I connected the battery to the new board and checked the polarity at each pcb motor output and marked which were the positives. I double checked the polarity to each motor while running on the 27mhz board . I then connected the new 2.4mhz pcb and could see that the polarity to the lefthand motor( upper blades) was going to be wrong.I unsoldered the red and black wire from the motor and switched them round then took the plunge and turned it on! This time all seemed well,both motor's ran and no smoke-HOWEVER!!- they both run sweetly until around half throttle when they both cut out and the red l.ed on the pcb starts flashing fast,( the same as it does when you first turn) then a moment later it goes steady red again and you can throttle up again then before you really open it up they cut again and you have to repeat it again. If you open and close the throttle rapidly you can get to full throttle and it'll stay there until you reduce power and the whole procedure starta again.Its like when my 107 runs out of power and cuts out. You can re-arm the pcb twirl the motors briefly and theycut again?? Now since I got the transmitter 2nd hand I am only guessing at the bonding procedure so please tell me if I'm missing something.Maybe its the tranny and thats why it was sold or i'm wondering if the pcb's sensing an overload due to the larger motors of the s033g and assuming the blades are obstacle jammed or something!! Any ideas guy's

Hi drambuidhe,

A while back, I saw a video on You-Tube that showed how to Mod the MOPS (Motor Overload Protection System) on the pcb. The Mod is to solder a bridge across the MOPS wire on the pcb. Don't remove the wire from the pcb, just solder a bridge across it.

It's the Red wire on the pcb that forms a loop. Its just beyond the battery wires.

I don't know if this would help you with the problem that you're having, But if you were to do the Mod, I wonder what you would do to the pcb and or motors?

According to the fellow that made the video, It stopped the motors from cutting out.

It's been my experience that when I change anything on a pcb, I run the risk of letting the Magic Smoke out. But that's me with a limited knowlege of the electronics involved.

J

Here's the Video. It's done with a DH9117, But the DH9118 uses the same MOPS.

J

Double Horse 9117 MOPS Bypass (5 min 42 sec)

What a star you are!!! Just done that mod and it appears to all be working great!Unfortunatly its dark,windy and p-s-ing down so will have to wait until tomorrow to thoughly test fly.Fingers crossed that this is finally the cure for the s033g gremlins hey!Thanks again for the prompt reply2.4

Originally Posted by drambuidhe

What a star you are!!! Just done that mod and it appears to all be working great!Unfortunatly its dark,windy and p-s-ing down so will have to wait until tomorrow to thoughly test fly.Fingers crossed that this is finally the cure for the s033g gremlins hey!Thanks again for the prompt reply2.4

RESULT!! Have just had a fly for around 7mins and no signal drops or twitches.Daren't try a range test co's its still very windy and wet. THINGS I've noticed are-- more sensitive steering(but not too bad) possibly slightly less power but not absolutely sure of that as yet , much smoother power take up from standstill ,motors hardly seemed to get warm and pcb seems cool too!I'm pretty sure the tailmotor is a little less powerful too but still made headway in the flukey winds around outside at the moment. IMPORTANT- if anyone does this mod please note I said I switched the wires round on the motor that does the top rotor- I meant the left motor (black and red wired) which does the bottom rotor-sorry.ALso the tailmotor wires have to be swapped round.

Originally Posted by drambuidhe

RESULT!! Have just had a fly for around 7mins and no signal drops or twitches.Daren't try a range test co's its still very windy and wet. THINGS I've noticed are-- more sensitive steering(but not too bad) possibly slightly less power but not absolutely sure of that as yet , much smoother power take up from standstill ,motors hardly seemed to get warm and pcb seems cool too!I'm pretty sure the tailmotor is a little less powerful too but still made headway in the flukey winds around outside at the moment. IMPORTANT- if anyone does this mod please note I said I switched the wires round on the motor that does the top rotor- I meant the left motor (black and red wired) which does the bottom rotor-sorry.ALso the tailmotor wires have to be swapped round.

Hi drambuidhe,

It sounds like you may be on the right track with the 2.4Ghz Mod. I'll keep my fingers crossed. If this turns out to be the answer to all the problems, I'm going to do the mod on my S033G also.

J

Had another two flights today in less wind. Decided to test the range and went low a good 100m then up as high as I've ever taken it before( hardly visible)and n ot one glitch at all!! Its looking very promising I'm pleased to say .The only negative it definitely lacks the same power to the tail rotor its somewhere between the original S033G low and high speed so I think I can live with that and have reliable signal reception.

Hi drambuidhe,

Sounds great. I'd like to recap what you did with the DH9118 pcb. Did you just change the red and black leads to the motor on the S033G? Are the same diode's and restisters still on the motor pcb? Do the motors plug into the same sockets as they are on the DH9118 pcb?

Did you also reverse the wires to the tail rotor motor? You say that it's not as powerful as it used to be, I wonder what might have caused that? Do you think that the tail rotor motor might be getting worn out from turning the oversized blades?

Have you flown it with the floats that you made out of RedBull cans?

J