Esmart build (Working It Out) Pictures and video

Lookin good so far!!!

The wires from the servos and gyro came out pretty clean. Took some
work to get it out and around the servos without pinching the wires.

Still need to mount ESC and BEC/REG but the CG looks good so far.
ESC and BEC will mount under the batt. towards the back. Should
be balanced out good. If not might have to re-think batt. mount...






.

Rebuild is over....after putting another $300 into it and ton more time
It still has very bad vibrations and after 5 months with only 4 flights,
I vote the E-smart as the worst Heli experience I have had.

Dont get upset guys! This is my opinion and it kills me. I have put
everything into this heli. I have lost sleep, time and money on this
Heli that everyone said was so great.

Maybe karma I dont know but I am selling the E-smart and wont be
buying another thats for sure.

Buy the way....the battery mount worked but I didnt like the mess
of wires I ended up with inside the frame. It was to hard to get too.

I really hate that you have had such a bad time of it. Why not do just one more thing. Box it up and take Fatdaddy up on his offer. Ship it to him and let him have a look at it. If he can fix you up you won't be sorry, you will love the E-Smart.

Just a suggestion.

Good luck either way.

Donnie D

Just too much more money....

What do you think...about $60 more dollars and 1~2 more months to ship to FD.

If he lived closer Hell yah.....

If I cant sell it I might have no other choice.

Hey Sur, I would be happy to buy the "E" from you!!!! I also would be more than happy to have you send it my and I will look it over for you then return it after I'm thru with it..
Please don't take my remarks the wrong way cause I'm very sure you are more than capable of fixing it up.... However I really, really love to trouble shoot and find that littlest thing that has been overlooked!!! All you would need to do is to pay shipping. Buy if you have just had enough, I would be very interested in taking it off your hands as is!! BUT I really hope you will give my offer some serious thought before you make a rash decision about sale..!!
So Either way I will be the end of this saga for you!!!! I'll even offer this.... You send it to me to repair for you(no charge, only shippin, both ways) AND if I can't find your problem and fix it I will buy it from you!!! That makes it a WIN-WIN for you!!!!
I really hope you decide to let me have a shot at fixing you up this is the very exact thing I LOVE!!!!! I can ALMOST promise you will get it back flight ready!!!!!

If you just want to sell, give me the price, here or PM or call 856-417-3719!!!
OH and it was gonna cost 55 to ship one to Norway so I don't think it would be very much to ship to Jersey!!!

For what it's worth, input from another voice (mine) I would trust Fatdaddy with any of my helis. He loves flying helis, loves building helis, loves repairing helis and he is pretty darn good at all of these things. If I were in your position, I would JUMP at his offer.

But that's just me.

Donnie D

Ok Thanks DD, The check is in the mail!!!!LOL

Hey, I've gotta make helicopter money any way I can. yuk yuk

Donnie D

Well, looks like you're stuck with what you've got then. Good luck with it.

Donnie D

Have you tried to check for vibration as you were putting it back together? Like spin the motor without blades and without the boom. Make sure to move the cyclic all the way around while testing. Then add the boom and repeat. Maybe this way you can narrow it down on what the problem is.

Also Look for servos jitter.

If it starts to vibrate once you put the blades on then you got bad blades or tracking is way off.

Just trying to help.

Yah guys this is really getting out of hand. This matter has gotten personal and that's a bad sign.

FD, you should not even have to prove anything about your workmanship. I don't care how you build it up as long as it flies great is all that counts. I know some things can only be done right from experience and by feel and touch for example line tension on the belt.

Suriano, you are not required to send the heli out. First you want to find out the problem first hand and second you want to fix it yourself. So keep at it and you will get it at some point.

Let's end this and I would take this thread down as it's now no help to anyone.

yeahh thats about enough of this

Ok I cleaned up the thread, lets keep it civilized.

Thanks marc for unlocking this thread!!

So here is what We beleive to be the BIG problem on my heli.




With the help of Marc and George we have determined the hole inthe central hub
was to large for the mainshaft.

The machinist made a sleeve for the central holder and also found the hole wasnt
even centered.

So the picture shows a $40 sleeve that was made to correct the problem.
So far without the blades on and spinning it up, it shows major improvement.

Should be flight ready for the morning and will post pictures and videos of a
(finally) good fly'n E-smart.

I hope I didnt jinx myself

Are you freaking serious, we have to wait till the morning to know how it goes, you suck, lol

Just kidding, hope it works out.

I'm very happy that you guys have found the problem!!! I also will OPENLY ADMITT I WAS WRONG!!! I'm very sorry for suggesting that something other than that was the case.... I'd rather be wrong having TRYED to help than to do nothing to TRY to help. So again I WAS WRONG!!! Good luck with your morning test!!!

Sorry no good news from this mornings adventures

It was still shaking like it drank a six pack of redbull.

I have verified the mainshaft that came in the kit is not true.

The central hub that came in the kit was over drilled and not true.

The spare central hub I bought is not true and also is over drilled.

I thought it looked good but lesson learned dont trust your eyes!!!
I flew it anyway and after about a 4min. flight with it shaking it snapped
one of the boom brace's clean off.

So I tore it down again and brought out the dial indicator.



I used 400 grit sandpaper and spun the shaft in a drill to clean it up.
I verified the spareshaft I bought is true, but when I install that cute little
$40 sleeve it was not true and therefore the central hub is still not true.

So now we wait untill my 3rd central holder gets here.......

Untill then the EXI450 will get a work out.

By the way... Has anyone tried a mainshaft from a different heli???

.

WOW!! I guess I was REALLY,REALLY WRONG!!! I do apoligize for any dispariging remarks I made while trying to help solve your problem. I see you have it well in hand and are well on your way to having a sweet flying helicopter..

Well the E-paper weight is still a paper weight. Truely a bad experience
I am having with Esky.

The 3rd central hub I have received is oversized by .010" and nomatter
what I have tried I still get a run out of .005" at the top of the hub.

This is a major parts quality issue that I am stuck with. Sounds like
everyone else's kit's came with good parts.

I bought the kit from Helidirect and have contacted them today. They are
going to try and help me get a part that will work.

WE will see. So far the build of my Esmart isnt going as planned. I am stuck
with a heli that cant fly because of one part.

What is going to happen when the other esmart owners start to order and get
these bad parts? We will all be grounded because of it.

So the building of this Esmart is on hold might be a long time who knows
with the luck I am having with it might be awhile.

If anyone has a new hub that isnt overdrilled for sell let me know

Hi S,
Sorry to hear the new one is oversized as well.
If it makes you feel any better, I just developed a bad shake in mine as well after changing over to the new radio.
The skids are vibrating like crazy and the tail is vibrating up and down. The only thing I had off was the head so that I could adjust the swash for level with the new radio. I also put on new tail blades so in my case it is either in the tail blades or the main blades.
Before I changed over to the new radio, I had no vibration so I'm certain I'll find the problem. I did loosen up the tail grips a bit and that helped with some of the vibration in the tail but it hasn't totally gotten rid of it yet.
Helidirect are great people to deal with and I'm certain they will make things right.
George

Hey George, Sorry to hear about your troubles as well. Even worse the local hobby
shop is out of parts to fix my EXI so I am completely without ....

Check this out.. Helidirect said parts are all out for the Discontinued E-smart.
They are sending me a Gaui Hurricane 550 complete cnc head set to install
or try to install on the Esmart.



If that doesnt work wich I think it will they said they would take it all back including
the heli.
He actually said sending the $170 head was better for them than having me
return the heli.

Interesting

He did say he has heard of a Esmart V2 rumor...

GW wrote:

Hi S,
Sorry to hear the new one is oversized as well.
If it makes you feel any better, I just developed a bad shake in mine as well after changing over to the new radio.
The skids are vibrating like crazy and the tail is vibrating up and down. The only thing I had off was the head so that I could adjust the swash for level with the new radio. I also put on new tail blades so in my case it is either in the tail blades or the main blades.
Before I changed over to the new radio, I had no vibration so I'm certain I'll find the problem. I did loosen up the tail grips a bit and that helped with some of the vibration in the tail but it hasn't totally gotten rid of it yet.
Helidirect are great people to deal with and I'm certain they will make things right.
George

Let me know what you find. This is on your Esmart right? What swash leveler do you use? I just use Digital calipers. I use a swash leveler on the 450 though....

I was looking at the Esmart build thread over on RCG and there was a part in the post that said that the TREX 500 swash will fit the Esmart, I wonder if the head will also fit it.
As I said, the guys at Helidirect are great. I'm glad there getting you something that may work out for you. That head looks great.
I'm a cheap SOB so what I do to level the swash is to take a piece of .022 plain string end that I cut the excess off of when I change strings on my steel and loop it around the main shaft a few times and put a bend in it. I use the tip of the wire to look for a gap in the swash and the wire end.
You only need 1 point that is constant and won't move and the wire does this for me. So I get it set up on one prong and then rotate the main shaft and look for gaps in the other 2 prongs. It's cheap and it works very well.
I do this at mid, low and high stick and then put the head back on and then adjust my end points for high and low using a bubble level on the paddles. This insures no interaction with the ccpm.
I also use the pitch gauge on the blades and set for 0 on both blades at mid stick. Since I've been checking for 0 on both blades, I have yet to adjust tracking. It's always right on.
I also use a regular swash level tool on the 450 but only because I made one up at my shop, otherwise I would do the same thing with the wire for that.
I should make a swash tool for the Esmart. I have the time and material to do it but the wire just works and I haven't had to trim anything out as long as the CG is correct.

I do need to check the balance on the tail blades as I haven't done this yet and if the blades aren't balanced, they will induce vibration as well.

The wire Idea is awesome I never thought of that. I use something simular
when trueing motorcycle rims.

The trex 500 uses alot smaller blades 425mm. The swash might work if the
mainshaft is 8mm. I dont know about the rest of it if it will hold up to 550~600
blades.

If I am looking at the same thread you are at RCG isnt it 460 or so pages?
I have been try'n to find more info on crossing parts. If Esky doesnt do something
we all are going to have to find other parts to fit.

I hope all you have to do is balance your tail blades but seems odd that it would
shake such a big heli so bad.

Keep me posted.....

Hey guys, I will check the 500 head for fit on the ES600. Mine is an EXI 500 but it is the exact sizes as the Align parts. In fact I have the TREX wash out assy. on my EXI.
As far as holding up,, I'm not sure, it looks plenty strong, BUT its nowhere as stout as the ESKY head..
If your still in need, and it sounds as if your not, I do have a main rotor hub thats extra,
Its used, very lightly used, but it is good if it is still needed...
I've bought all my ESmarts from HeliDirect thru EBay, 4 total, 1 metal and 3 CFPro..
I fly a CF and have not flown the metal, but it is ready to fly. Its been for sale and I guess I better spin it up to see if it has the same hub problem as yours before I sell it..
But since my daughter wants to learn........

FD, I would at least check the runout on that metal edetion.
Could you possibly check the inner specs on the used hub you have.

You might need it yourself if the new ME esmart isnt good either.

Helidirect doesnt have any more and the ones I have been getting
are really bad.

So does your EXI500 have an 8mm mainshaft?