Originally Posted by clearprop88

...
What upgrades should I look at?

CF blades and for me that's about it! Good heli...

Originally Posted by erkq

I was flying today and the motor quit for about a second. Never did it again. I checked the battery connectors, battery status, motor connectors. All seemed good. Anyone experience this? It was surprisingly un-dramatic... the heli just gently sank a little. But... not a good thing to have happen in general!

Hi erkq,

I had the same issue two or three times now. I did some investigation on 300X forums - this seems to be a rare issue, not many incidents posted. But I got a good tip how to resolve this: just add a capacitor to the 7200bx - i.e. the Spektrum SPM1600 or similar from Futaba - according to other pilots who had the same issue this solved the problem as the capacitor is preventing voltage drops to the receiver. I also installed a capacitor and had no drop in motor power since then.

I'm thinking this will be the first bird I put lighting on! What should I be looking for in terms of light weight led lighting? What is the best way to set it up? And where on the heli do most lighting systems get installed? (particularly on this heli is anyone has already done it)

I'm thinking I would like it connected to the receiver so I can switch it through my transmitter!

Originally Posted by Billz_01

I'm thinking this will be the first bird I put lighting on! What should I be looking for in terms of light weight led lighting? What is the best way to set it up? And where on the heli do most lighting systems get installed? (particularly on this heli is anyone has already done it)

I'm thinking I would like it connected to the receiver so I can switch it through my transmitter!

It's a little small for night flying. Generally, we try to light up the blades - if you don't do that, a helicopter will be really hard to orient at night. A light under the canopy would work nice on this one, as well as on the landing gear, down the boom, and on the tail (shine an LED into the tail rotor). Setting up your LEDs is covered in this video... I would do a 300X with individual LEDs, but the LED strips are convenient. Thing is, I advise against using the motor battery to power LEDs - if you wire up your own, you can use a tiny micro battery, while the LED strips require 12 volts.

All About LEDs for RC Night Flying (23 min 52 sec)

Originally Posted by Jestin

Hi erkq,

I had the same issue two or three times now. I did some investigation on 300X forums - this seems to be a rare issue, not many incidents posted. But I got a good tip how to resolve this: just add a capacitor to the 7200bx - i.e. the Spektrum SPM1600 or similar from Futaba - according to other pilots who had the same issue this solved the problem as the capacitor is preventing voltage drops to the receiver. I also installed a capacitor and had no drop in motor power since then.

Thanks! I'll look into that. It is weird that is happened during hover and not during mad dashes and big-sky maneuvers which draw a lot more amps.

Originally Posted by erkq

Thanks! I'll look into that. It is weird that is happened during hover and not during mad dashes and big-sky maneuvers which draw a lot more amps.

But those maneuvers keep a lot of airflow going over the ESC. Hovering is the least efficient way to fly, and it's hard on the ESC. I cut the "intake" holes open in my canopy and I haven't had any more problems.

Originally Posted by erkq

CF blades and for me that's about it! Good heli...

Yup that is all this bird really needs, great heli

Though I also like those little colored tail blades, a few higher C batteries and maybe a frame brace if you get one that has flex.

Originally Posted by jasmine2501

But those maneuvers keep a lot of airflow going over the ESC. Hovering is the least efficient way to fly, and it's hard on the ESC. I cut the "intake" holes open in my canopy and I haven't had any more problems.

So you've had motor cut-out too? Are your intake holes set up to get air into the canopy when hovering or in FFF? Or, did you do it for both?

What cf blades should I get. I saw the HH blades for $30 but thats $10 more than the 500 blades I just got. So, I cheap,so. Should get my 300x today or Monday.
Thanks in advance, I know I'll have more questions.

Originally Posted by erkq

So you've had motor cut-out too? Are your intake holes set up to get air into the canopy when hovering or in FFF? Or, did you do it for both?

Well here's the thing - I had a complete failure of some kind, and I'm convinced it was the (expected) brown-out problem which is common when you use an E-flite ESC - I don't know why they can't get that right. I tried to add a BEC, but there's just no place to stick it really, and the only other thing you can do is cool down the ESC a bit. On the assumption that it's a 'borderline' issue, all you need to do is provide a tiny bit more cooling. A helicopter canopy without holes in it captures heat and that hot air swirls around inside and doesn't escape, causing a minor difference in the ability of the ESC to off-load heat, and it can be enough of a difference to cause a problem. The holes allow air to flow through the canopy instead of swirling around inside there.

It's because of how heating works... with fake numbers, here's what I think happens... The stock ESC and canopy setup can eliminate maybe 50 watts, but if the stock ESC is producing 55 watts, everything will heat up, slowly, but that heat build up will never stop (kinda)... so all you need to do in that situation is figure out a way to eliminate 5 more watts of energy. That's why little holes can make a huge difference.

I couldn't find any choice in that size of cf blades, only the $30. HH unfortunately

Originally Posted by emeraldc

I couldn't find any choice in that size of cf blades, only the $30. HH unfortunately

I found bladed for $26 somewhere... but they were black. Not much of a savings.

Originally Posted by jasmine2501

Well here's the thing - I had a complete failure of some kind, and I'm convinced it was the (expected) brown-out problem which is common when you use an E-flite ESC - I don't know why they can't get that right. I tried to add a BEC, but there's just no place to stick it really, and the only other thing you can do is cool down the ESC a bit. On the assumption that it's a 'borderline' issue, all you need to do is provide a tiny bit more cooling. A helicopter canopy without holes in it captures heat and that hot air swirls around inside and doesn't escape, causing a minor difference in the ability of the ESC to off-load heat, and it can be enough of a difference to cause a problem. The holes allow air to flow through the canopy instead of swirling around inside there.

It's because of how heating works... with fake numbers, here's what I think happens... The stock ESC and canopy setup can eliminate maybe 50 watts, but if the stock ESC is producing 55 watts, everything will heat up, slowly, but that heat build up will never stop (kinda)... so all you need to do in that situation is figure out a way to eliminate 5 more watts of energy. That's why little holes can make a huge difference.

Thanks, Jasmine. Makes sense.

I got carbon night blades for cheap, course the batteries are dead in them. They need a little light sanding at the root, bolt hole to edge is slightly to long.

I think they ended up being 10 a piece and the fly very nice. When my third 300x gets here I probably will mod them to work at night again.

Originally Posted by indoorheli

I got carbon night blades for cheap, course the batteries are dead in them. They need a little light sanding at the root, bolt hole to edge is slightly to long.

I think they ended up being 10 a piece and the fly very nice. When my third 300x gets here I probably will mod them to work at night again.

Where did you get these? Thanks in advance.