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Midland Helicopters . HeliProz . ZoomsHobbies

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e-Century Hummingbird - Swift > Hummingbird Problem
 
 
moogster
Heliman
Location: California

Hi~
I just got my hummingbird yesterday and was very excited, till i couldn't fly the thing at all...heh. I was searching through the forum for hours trying to locate help on my problem, but couldn't find anything similar to it. I was hoping if anyone would be kind enough to provide some ideas as to what to do about my current situation.

Heres my current setup:

Hummingbird Helicopter
Laser 4 Hitec Controller
Replaced stock motor with a hp370

1. The problem that keeps arising is that when I throttle up slightly, it doesn't move...than a bit more, and then it goes to full power oddly enough.
2. Also, at times, the tail motor refuses to spin. othertimes, it works fine
3. Oh, and another observation is that when I give it throttle, after it spins extremely fast, it cuts off, no matter what I do. So bascially, it slight hops in random directions when I give it power.
4. The led lights turn red when throttle is completely low, when turned up, it turns green, and than cuts off after a couple seconds, turning red again
5. Sometimes, I would be able to keep the motor running constantly, without the need to lower the throttle completely, and than raising it again to start it up.
6. I have crashed it a couple times, but nothing appears damages, cept the tail, which I replaced.
7. Lastly, I'm not even sure if I did the servo's correctly, gr...sorry...If you were to look at the heli from the front, the servo attached to the left, moving the rear attachment up and down doesn't appear to do anything. It moves...the bar than moves...but the rotor doesn't tilt or anything...is that supposed to be like that?

Thanks for any help that anyone could provide. I'm so confused...i'm like an rc dolt, heh... Whatever help you could provide, would be greatly appreciated. If you need more information, just ask,

Please Help, sincerely,
John
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
kenchoco
Senior Heliman
Location: houston,texas

what kind of batt charger are u using?if

it is the stock charger,throw it out..it does not charge the batt.get a good charger for nimh(triton)is what i use,second,that tail motor could be shorted out,or u will need to watch the pinion gear as mine slips off...keep me posted...choco
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
wildstallionuk
Key Veteran
Location: ENGLAND, FOLKESTONE (NR FRANCE), KENT,

Sounds like your gear mesh on the main motor might be to tight also check the tail to. just if it suddenly gives when you give it throttle that might be the problem?
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
Marty
Senior Heliman
Location: Australia

Could it be something as simple as reversing the throttle??
In other words, if the ESC was trying to initialise when you had idle throttle (which would be full throttle until reversed) nothing would happen until the throttle was advanced (read reduced) to a setting where it will initialise then...WHAM, power up to whatever thrust setting that happens to be.
To be quite honest, I am not convinced that this is the issue but for simply reversing a channel it is worth a go.
Secondly, are you sure that you have the Throttle and Tail rotor plugged into the correct sockets on the HB board?
I don't know how much help the above will be but they are both easy things to try and then exclude if they don't fix the prob.
Cheers.
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
stevem
Senior Heliman
Location: Oklahoma

If you are using the Hummingboard, try swapping the main and tail motor plugs on it (plug tail into main on board and main into tail on the board). I recall that they were marked opposite.

Steve
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
moogster
Heliman
Location: California

Just checkin in

Thanks for the replys so far. I'm going to try each idea seperately, except for the one with getting a new battery charger, till my new charger arrives. Till than, I'll keep you all posted on how its coming. Also, if any new ideas pop into your head, keep me posted.
Thanks
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
eSmith
Veteran
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Try the reversing of the throttle first.

When you turn on the bird, the light on the speed control should blink three times and then go green if you are at low stick. If you are not, it will stay red and not work until it detects low stick, then it will go green and "Come to life" If at low stick you are getting red it's backwards.

I got a peak racing upgrade motor to replace the stock unit and made sure to match positive with positive and negitive with negative. Turns out it's backwards for this motor. I switched the direction of the controller and everything was fine after that.

I did find that the mew mail motor totally overpowered the tail motor so my HB kept turning in on me because the tail couldn't compensate for the tourque. Anyone know what the best replacement is for the tail motor?

-eSmith.

http://www.edmheli.ca
06-18-2003 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
cmairhofer
Heliman
Location: Austria

Same problem - solution is

Had the same problem with the throttle - reverse the throttle and you are fine - worked for me

Christian
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
moogster
Heliman
Location: California

okay, i've checked almost all of the connections, and there appears to be no error. The first thing I did was flip flop the wires to make sure it wasn't backwards or anything, than flipped the power (red black wires) to make sure that wasn't it either. But there is still something puzzling me. Even if it were connected wrong, why would it cut off power after say, 2-4 seconds. With the original stock motor, the higher I raised the throttle stick, the motor would respond with that much more power...continously. With my 370 motor, it appears as though there are only 3 degrees of power...off, medium, and high. And at the two powers in which the motor turns, it soon stops on the dot constantly, in which the motor won't start again till i lower throttle completely on my remote control, than raise it again.

Also, I wanted to loosen the gear mesh mentioned, but how would I go about doing so?
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
moogster
Heliman
Location: California

cmairhofer~
You are the second person to say "reverse the throttle" so perhaps mine is messed up...but when i up the throttle a bit...I hear the sound of the engine working slightly...than it works a bit more...and bam, full power. So if it is reverse throttle that is the problem, how would I go about reversign the reverse throttle? Just interchange the wires?
Thanks again,
JC
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
Gazoo
Veteran
Location: Maryland

The very first thing you need to do is make sure you get a green light on the Humming Board when the throttle is at minimum. Perhaps you have it plugged in backwards in your receiver. Make sure you have your servo's and gyro plugged in correctly as well. If you are not getting the green light, then something is not plugged in correctly. Your flybar paddles should correspond to the cyclic control when you move it on the transmitter. I am sure it is something simple.
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
moogster
Heliman
Location: California

the light on the hummingboard flashes red/green when I turn it on initially, which is ok according to the manual. Than, when the controller is turned on, the color changes to red. When I up the throttle just a bit, it turns green, and the motor begins to moves...than goes out of control, and soon stops, which than I would have to lower throttle, and raise it again to have the same affect occur. The flybar moves according to my controller motions perfectly. So I don't think that is the isue. The gyro is plugged in as according to the manual, which from the top to bottm is brown, red, orange, yellow, red brown. I will try and switch the plug a couple more times at random...but i'm getting sure that i've tryed almost every combination, heh.

I hope its something simple too gazoo...that way i don't have to spend any more money.

P.S. Ouch...i just got my second cut from my helicopter...At first, I placed it at a safe distance, but soon, I got slightly lazy, because i had to set it up everytime it flopped...Soon, I placed it only 10 feet away, and the heli flew right at my leg...Gash...ouch, dang it...
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
Gazoo
Veteran
Location: Maryland

Sorry to hear about your accident. It could have happened to me when I was having the exact same problem you are describing, but fortunately I was standing behind a kitchen chair. The heli wrapped itself around the chair legs, which was better then my legs. Anyway, I always stand behind a chair when I am practicing inside.

Anyway, getting back to the problem, I wonder if your receiver is receiving a reversed signal from the transmitter for the throttle. This was the problem I was having, but I have a programmable transmitter so I was able to reverse the throttle in the transmitter. I am not sure if reversing the throttle connection to your receiver will work. If you have a function on your transmitter that you can reverse it, then I would give it a try.

Also, do you know that the rudder is working properly? On mine the connections are correct on the humming board, not reversed as someone else had suggested.

One more thing I would definitely do so you don't have another accident is to tie the heli down to something until you get the problem resolved. Make sure it is tied down tight to a weight like a heavy book or something, and that the legs won't pop out if it goes to full throttle on its own. Tie it down well. This is what I ended up doing to keep from getting frieked out and/or hurt.
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
cmairhofer
Heliman
Location: Austria

I had the same problem

and reversed the throttle -than it worked

Christian
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
stevem
Senior Heliman
Location: Oklahoma

Quote:
"But there is still something puzzling me. Even if it were connected wrong, why would it cut off power after say, 2-4 seconds."

Because the tail output is mixed with the main motor output. If the main motor is on the tail output, the main motor will begin to spin. If the gyro does not sense a change in tail, then it will apply more and more throttle until you are at full. When you lower the throttle, the tail output will also lower. This will give you the sudden jump to life you are seeing. The cut may be a low battery condition - I am not sure if the hummingboard has a cutoff as I never hit mine when I was using it.

Good luck with it though. You may want to consider setting everything up again from fresh.

Steve
06-18-2003 Over year old.
 
 
dennis_cica
Senior Heliman
Location: San Jose, CA

Dear Hummingbird owners

We would like to thank you all who have purchased the Hummingbird micro electric helicopter!

I'm aware that there are a number of you who have had a wide range of problems. Most of these problems can be handled over the phone but I've found a few bad apples that actually needed electronic components replaced. We want you to be happy with our product. We wish to address the problem ASAP for you, our customers, because it KILLS us to hear a customer say that they're going to put their model up on a shelf!

Please call customer service at Century as soon as you are aware of a problem and we will find a solution. A technitian will speak with you and review common setup problems or minor electronc component issues. If the problem persists and cannot be solved over the phone the technitian will request the merchandise be returned and anything found deffective will be replaced at no charge to you.

We want you to know that our customer service will continue to improve. We want happy customers flying helicopters and we will do what is right to make it happen. Again I wish to thank you for purchasing the Hummingbird helicopter and want you to give me a call if you have any trouble with it I will be sure that you walk away happy!


Dennis Cica
Century Helicopter Products
408-952-9521
06-19-2003 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Gazoo
Veteran
Location: Maryland

Hey Dennis! Good to see you post here. I am the one that e-mailed you about the missing landing gear that I was supposed to get with the crash kit. I was surprised and happy to receive a phone call from you within a half hour of sending the e-mail. I received the missing parts and am happy Just wanted to say thanks! I do believe that you are commited to great customer service.
06-19-2003 Over year old.
 
 
halo
Heliman
Location: Singapore

Quote 
the light on the hummingboard flashes red/green when I turn it on initially, which is ok according to the manual. Than, when the controller is turned on, the color changes to red.


Could it be the starting sequence when you start your heli? You should turn on the controller first, then turn on your heli second.
06-19-2003 Over year old.
 
 
stevem
Senior Heliman
Location: Oklahoma

Since Century is listening:

My opinion is NOT to call Century unless you have no other choice. I and many others have had bad dealings with them. Anyone considering purchasing one of these should do so through a distributor like Helihobby who actually gives service before and after the sale.

Century really needs to get their business and employees in order before they will get any more of my business. Not just my opinion but the opinion of many out there.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I wanted to give a heads-up to anyone considering a new purchase.

Steve
06-19-2003 Over year old.
 
 
dennis_cica
Senior Heliman
Location: San Jose, CA

stevem

I do hear you sir and I'm wondering why you feel that way? Maybe I if we speak I can help. But one of the most difficult things about this forum is that you know who I am but I don't lnow all of you and your individual situation. If I can know that info I can get at least a step forward in fixing any problem. We would like to hear about any problems or confusion related to our product or service.

moogster

I'm here and willing to get the heli in the air with you.
Don't let it get to you I want you to be happy with the bird. Plain and simple.

Dennis Cica
Century Helicopter Products
408-952-9521
06-19-2003 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
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e-Century Hummingbird - Swift > Hummingbird Problem
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