Thanks Paul, I just realized I posted ocean rescue when in fact it's outback rescue. at those prices though I will fix it back up, now just have to figure out which one is compatable. Falcon the only differance between the 8C and 10C is the discharge rate they can handle. anyone know what the rate is on the stock pack? the 8C should be OK but the 10C would be safer. IMO the closer you run it to the C rating the more chance you have of ruining it. I always look for a buffer.


David

Originally Posted by Peregrine Falcon

Once again, thanks for the info Sparky!

I know I'm not the only one looking to get less expensive batteries for our CX2's. Looking on Common Sense's web site (http://www.commonsenserc.com/page.php?page=intro.htm), there are a couple of choices, so I'm not sure which one to go with.

They have an 8C one ($12.00) they state is perfect for the CX and CX2 (rated 7.4V - 800mAh):
http://www.commonsenserc.com/product...products_id=58

They also have a 10C ($13.95) rated the same (7.4V - 800mAh) but don't mention the CX or CX2 and won't be available until the beginning of January:
http://www.commonsenserc.com/product...products_id=42

My concern is getting the motors too hot, so I'm not sure if the 10C is a better choice. So, any suggestions would be appreciated. And I did pick up on the suggestion to purchase their charger as well.

On another note, I guess I've been very lucky--haven't had to replace any parts yet. Although the couch has grabbed the heli a couple of times, I hate it most when the floor seems to jump up out of no where to pluck the CX2 out of the air! I've had to rebend the flybar several times and checked the inner shaft to see if that got bent. Also, I haven't had to replace any blades, but one of the bottom ones got about a 1/2" knocked off. I smoothed the edge and although the heli shakes just a bit, it still flies okay for now. Not sure if that's okay for the heli -- any one have any comments on that? Maybe I could just add some tape as a weight to compensate?

And, I have tried it outside a few times -- it's nice to not have a ceiling to get in the way. But, I've noticed the forward/backward motion to be very, very slow -- usually in one direction. I'm sure it's fighting a very slight breeze that's tough for me to notice. I understand if I move the servo arm one hole, I'll get better motion. My fear is that it may be too much for indoor flights, since I'm still real new at this.

I do want to thank everyone who helps those of us that are new to this. It really makes flying so much more enjoyable.

Happy New Year to all!!!

Robert

These are the best batteries I have found for the BCX / BCX2 .. They are 7.4v 850 mAh and 15C ... And they have the advantage of working with the factory charger and actually fit in the stock battery tray, albeit al tad tight.

http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...oducts_id=2108

Good luck.

Nunu

Originally Posted by NuNuJet

These are the best batteries I have found for the BCX / BCX2 .. They are 7.4v 850 mAh and 15C ... And they have the advantage of working with the factory charger and actually fit in the stock battery tray, albeit al tad tight.

http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...oducts_id=2108

Good luck.

Nunu

.
Common Sense batteries have the balancing charge connector wired -backwards- from everyone else.
They won't work with any other brand charger unless you have the reversing pigtail... which Common Sense does provide with their chargers.
Seems to me it'd be less expensive to conform, than provide extra parts which wouldn't be needed if they got in step with the world.

Hi Guys,
I haven't flown RC anything in twenty years. I bought my 11 year old a Blade CX2 for Christmas and thanks to all the info in this thread I was able trim it to hover very well. Out of the box it was squirrely as could be.

Now it will lift off the ground and hover with minimal pilot input. I can't take my fingers off the sticks for long, but to me that's part of flying. I forgot how much fun RC flying can be and I can even this one in the house. Now I can start teaching my son the baby steps needed to fly this heli without turning it into a jig saw puzzle.

This thing is also much easier to fly than the helicopters I tried to fly 20 years ago. Last I recall hovering was like balancing the sharp point of a pin on the tip of my finger in the wind. I'm sure the coaxial rotors have a lot to do with it. I might have to get back into this hobby.

Thanks for the all the info guys.
Dave

Originally Posted by Sparky Paul

.
Common Sense batteries have the balancing charge connector wired -backwards- from everyone else.
They won't work with any other brand charger unless you have the reversing pigtail... which Common Sense does provide with their chargers.
Seems to me it'd be less expensive to conform, than provide extra parts which wouldn't be needed if they got in step with the world.

Paul,

I agree with you 100%. Thats why I waited so long to buy aftermarket replacements for my BCX fleet ... When I first found the MegaPower batteries they were advertised as fitting the CX .. Thats great because I really didnt want to modify my battery support ... The original versions of their batteries were just like the Common Sense batts, meaning you had to reverse the connector ... After some customer feedback to them, they released the version they sell now that is compatible with the stock charger...

That sealed the deal for me ... and prolly for alot of people because they were frequently out of stock. It seems now they have enough to meet the demand. As a plus Helidirect.com is very easy to work with and has good customer service.

Take care .. Happy New Year!

Nunu

Originally Posted by Scarman

Hi Guys,
I haven't flown RC anything in twenty years. I bought my 11 year old a Blade CX2 for Christmas and thanks to all the info in this thread I was able trim it to hover very well. Out of the box it was squirrely as could be.

Now it will lift off the ground and hover with minimal pilot input. I can't take my fingers off the sticks for long, but to me that's part of flying. I forgot how much fun RC flying can be and I can even this one in the house. Now I can start teaching my son the baby steps needed to fly this heli without turning it into a jig saw puzzle.

This thing is also much easier to fly than the helicopters I tried to fly 20 years ago. Last I recall hovering was like balancing the sharp point of a pin on the tip of my finger in the wind. I'm sure the coaxial rotors have a lot to do with it. I might have to get back into this hobby.

Thanks for the all the info guys.
Dave

You are right about the coaxial rotors making the CX2 easier to fly, but the other new helis are easier to fly also. They are more like trying to balance a marble on a 1 square foot sheet of glass.

I've been on vacation for a few weeks, so I'm just catching up on the posts. Besides the helidirect batteries mentioned above, here a a few other CX replacement battery links I had, I've not tried any yet, but I'm sure some of you may want to:

**MEGA POWER LiPo Pack 850mAH 15C 7.4V Blade CX (Stock Charger)
http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...oducts_id=2108

DN Power 10C 900mAh 7.4v 2S, For Blade CX, XUS - DNP10C9002S
http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detai...p?ID=200469759
http://www.readyheli.com/DN_Power_2S...np10c9002s.htm

TrueRC 900mAh 7.4V 2S1P pack
UPGRADE BATTERY DESIGNED FOR EFLITE BLADE CX
http://home.comcast.net/~truerc/ready_pack/ready_packs.htm

Hi All:

Thanks for all the answers to my battery questions. It sounds like the higher the C rating, the better? I was just afraid I might burn out my motors with the higher rating?!

Should I also guess that the Common Sense batteries are either very tight or don't fit in the battery compartment? I wasn't sure what was being said. It sounds like the one from HeliDirect (Thanks NuNu) fit okay and I don't have to buy an extra charger.

I agree with Paul, sounds stupid for Common Sense to advertise their battery is the 'perfect fit' for the CX2 but force you to buy an adapter...Duh. I will also check out the three sites that Zephyros offered up.

Another question -- yea, I'm filled with them as a newbie. My father crashed his CX2 pretty good and the vibration was terrible. I got it stable again between straightening out the flybar and adjusting the flybar linkage. Here's the problem. When you yaw to the (nose) right, it spins real fast and when you yaw left, it's real slow. I have the proportional pots trimmed - the heli sits straight in a hover. I tried adjusting the gain pot and the heli started turning to the (nose) right, adjusted the proportional pot left (hoping it would help the left turn) -- now it still turns to the right real fast and to the left a little faster than before. One other thing I tried was adjusting the trim on the TX to the left. Of course the heli spun a bit to the left, but allowed it to spin fast when I used the joystick. Could this be damage to the 4-1 unit?

I tried turning the gain down all the way to start the proportional trim from scratch. Not much luck. So, the chopper turns to the right real fast and to the left not so fast. Any other suggestions on trying to get this fixed?

Thanks again!

Happy New Year to all.

Robert

Peregrine,

Did you eyeball the swashplate and verify whether it is still level and even? That happened to me once, and I would get great response one way but almost nothing the other way

I had to loosen the lower blade mounts and slide them up and down the shaft until I got the swashplate level again.

Originally Posted by rgoodwin

Peregrine,

Did you eyeball the swashplate and verify whether it is still level and even? That happened to me once, and I would get great response one way but almost nothing the other way

I had to loosen the lower blade mounts and slide them up and down the shaft until I got the swashplate level again.

Hi "R":

No, I didn't check that. I wasn't aware the swash plate could effect the turning of the heli. I thought that just controlled the pitching forward, backward, left and right. I will check that over as well as soon as I can.

Thanks for your quick response!

Robert

Originally Posted by Peregrine Falcon

Hi "R":

No, I didn't check that. I wasn't aware the swash plate could effect the turning of the heli. I thought that just controlled the pitching forward, backward, left and right. I will check that over as well as soon as I can.

Thanks for your quick response!

Robert

Woops, my bad. I somehow skipped right past you mentioning turning vs banking. You're right, the plate doesn't affect things there. Well, check it anyway, it can't hurt after a crash ;-)

And actually, the same crash that caused that misalignment on mine also cause the main shaft to become loose where it would slide up and down. When I would try to rudder one direction I had bad response and it was because the shaft was actually sliding down and not meeting the motor gear teeth.

If nothing else, hopefully this will help someone...

Has anyone bought a different charger for their CX2 Batteries? If so what did you get and what do like/dislike about it. I have a DN from XUS on the way, but just curious what everyone else is using.

Diggs

I use my Triton to charge my packs.

I usually put them on the eFlight balancing charger every 5th or 6th charge, just to be safe. But the Triton keeps them really close. I just checked one of my packs that I charged with the Triton six charges without balancing, and the cells were exactly the same voltage.


Bob

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum, and to RC Helis in general, but I had some questions/observations that maybe you could help me with. My CX2 was a Christmas gift, and I didn't have any flight time on helis (or any RC aircraft, really) prior to opening the box and firing mine up, so I'm not sure how I should expect it to perform/behave. I have a basic understanding of how a real helicopter stays in the air, but I guess some of those principles don't apply to dual rotor helis like these.

I've flown it about 10 times now, both inside my (small) apartment, and outside, in calm conditions. I've had to replace a few blades, one of the skids, and have had to straighten the flybar after a couple good spills. I had some toilet bowling, as well as some drift, but I've got things dialed in now such that I am getting fairly smooth hovering with all trims on the radio set to their midpoints.

I read through this whole thread, and some of my questions have been answered, but I do have a few of my own.

1) It seems like the heli will rotate (yaw) about twice as fast in one direction than the other, even when the proportional pot and trim is adjusted properly. (I can't remember which direction is faster.) Since this is controlled from the 4-in-1, I would have thought it would be balanced. Is this a function of the coaxial rotor design, and is normal?

2) I noticed that the servo linkages on the swashplate aren't at 90 and 180 degrees, where I would have expected. Any explaination on how tilting the swashplate towards a 45 degree heading causes the heli to move forward, and not at 45?

3) I can't seem to keep the thing moving forward. Even when I hold the right stick all the way forward, the chopper will accellerate forward, then a few seconds later, lose its momentum and slows to a drift, then as long as I keep holding the stick forward, it will pick up momentum and accellerate forward again. It will continue this cycle over and over. Is this a result of the stabilizing effect of the flybar? Am I the only one with this problem?

4) I think I noticed I could fly forward a lot faster if I also give it a little cyclic to the right along with my cyclic forward. Is this because of an additive effect on the swashplate and those two inputs together pitch the swashplate even more? I couldn't test it again since I promptly nosed the heli into the asphalt and shattered both upper rotors.

Overall I'm very happy with my new toy, and flying it is a lot of fun. I was eyeballing the bigger, single-rotor choppers in my LHS the other day... I can see this turning into quite an expensive hobby...

Any input on the questions above would be helpfull!

rwm01 / Bob,

Which Triton Charger do you have? How many packs will it charge at once and how long does it take? I am guessing 1 hour is about as quick as you can charge the lipo packs for the CX2 since you are limited to a charge rate of 1C.

Diggs