dkshema
rrMaster
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
My Posts This: Topic Forum | It's been awhile since I've been over here. My EP 400 is still going strong, flies great, and I've had absolutely NO trouble with it.
I don't believe the Align 420 was ever considered a powerhouse, even in a T-Rex. And it, like its cousin the 400, ran very hot. As for smoking your ESC and bloating your LiPo -- you didn't say what amp rating your ESC was good for, nor did you state what discharge current your LiPos were capable of sustaining. If you run something like the Just Go Fly 400DH, or the Align 430L, or the motors that Dwight is referring to, I believe you need at least a 35 amp ESC, and your batteries must be at least capable of 15C continuous discharge, 20C+ would be even better.
I've settled for a Just Go Fly 400DH motor on my EP. It's rated somewhere near 4000 KV as I recall, and I believe I'm using a Robinson Racing Products 23 tooth pinion on it. The ESC I'm using is a Phoenix 35 from Castle Creations, and Thunder Power TP 2100 Pro Lites for juice. The RX is a Hitec Electron 6, with three Hitec HS-56 servos, a JR Sport SM-8 (same as an HS50), and a GY 401 gyro.
If you were to install an Align 430L, and use something like a 24-tooth pinion, I believe you'd have a machine that handles and flies pretty well.
The EP is rock solid, and yes, it feels much more like its 30 sized brethren in the air, unlike the twitchy T-Rex. It is not as aerobatic as the T-Rex, however. I modified mine to move the battery pack up front (as in the pics of the XP on that Jason.net photo) and that made a world of difference in the way the heli flies.
I did eliminate a LOT of the control system slop by whacking off the plastic balls from the swashplate and replacing them with metal balls from the Caliber 30. The biggest gain was made when I cut off the plastic ball of the pitch slider lever, and replaced it with a metal ball. Read about that mod several posts above.
If you take a close look at that picture, you can see that the balls on the swash have been changed out for metal ones.
The Robinson Racing pinions have an 1/8th inch bore, and are held onto the shaft by means of a set screw. Changing out pinions is relatively easy which allows easy and quick experiments.
I've seen pics of the new EP400 XP, and would someday like to swap out my current EP400 for the XP version. But until that happens, I'll just continue to fly the pants off the EP as is!
Dave |
Any advice? is the tail wag already fix and how about the pinions? do they have all the pinion sizes now?
