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Repair

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Blade Nano CP X Canopy Post Reinforcement

I find that it’s easy to break the canopy mount on the Blade Nano CP X. So, I think reinforcing them is a wise preventative measure. I know some people like to use a carbon rod and spiral wrap thread around nice and tightly. Then wet the thread with CA glue. I find this method is effective, but the CA and thread mixture looks rough.

Here’s a similar idea, executed a different way.

I have a bunch of split hollow, square carbon tail boom used on the v911, 9958, Solo Pro and other FP Heli. I like using these broken pieces to splint broken parts to add strength to the repair.

Here, a square hollow boom split down the middle, has a nice groove. 29.74mm is a perfect length. Take your micro round file and a couple of passes in the middle create a nice recessed point for the RX mount.

Fits perfectly. Some CA glue to fill the filet between the carbon and canopy post will strengthen the entire assembly with negligible weight gain.

I like to slip on a shrink tube to make the entire mod look finished.

Here’s a look at the front canopy mounts. One continuous reinforced mount. You can feel it’s much more sturdy.

Similar concept should be done to the two rear canopy post to reinforce those too.

This mod is a good preventative measure. However, it’s also good for those of you, like me, who already broke their canopy post. Simply gluing the broken post back together usually doesn’t work too well without lots of epoxy. The best method is to glue and reinforce with carbon like shown in this mod. The broken piece will fare much better than just glue alone.

Categories: Blade nCPX, Repair
3 Comments on Blade Nano CP X Canopy Post Reinforcement

Magnet Wire Tips and Tricks

In almost all aspect of life, having the right tool makes the job much easier. When flying micro helicopters and quads, everything has to be micro sized in order to avoid adding unneeded weight that may robs the motor of it’s performance.

For wires, magnet wires, also known as enamel wires, are a must have in your tool kit. The bigger brand names such as Horizon Hobby with their Blade lineup of heli, uses magnet wires for their antennas and for the tail motor. Nine Eagles is another manufacturer that uses magnet wires to extend to the tail motor.

I find that a good gauge for these wires are about 30-32 AWG, measuring about 0.0085in or 0.02mm. You can find magnet wires if you search for them online. Locally, my Fry’s Electronics and Radio Shack have them in spools that will last you a long time.

Alternatively, you can find the right gauge magnet wire in small motors often used in toys. Also, fans used in computers is often another source, though I find they can sometimes be thinner than 32ga.

Perfect 32ga magnet wire for these small motors

Simply take apart the motor and unravel the wire. Taking care not to rub against the rough armature and accidentally nick the enamel coating of the wire. One motor yields a lot of wire. After taking them off, you’ll see they are wavy and kinked.

A trick I use is to simply hold a section of the wire between each hand and running them back and forth against the edge of a a cutting mat, metal rod, or any edge that will not nick the wires and will not get damage if the wire start to cut into it. This trick will quickly straighten out the wire with a couple of passes. See the photos below…

Rubbing the wires back and forth along the edge of a table, metal rod or cutting mat will straighten out the kinks of the wire

To solder these magnet wires, you have to remove the enamel that coats the copper of the wire. The enamel is to prevent the wires from shorting out while wound up in the motor. Some people may scrape the thin enamel coating off. The trick I learned is that the enamel coating can be quickly burned off and the wire tinned at the same time using solder.

I put a blob of solder on the tip of my iron and touch the end of the magnet wire to it.

Touch the end of the magnet wire to a solder blob for a second to strip the enamel and tin it at the same time

It takes but a second and you get a perfectly tinned tip, ready to be solder. Easy peasy. :)

Perfectly tinned magnet wire without any hassle

Another tip for you. If you want to lower the overall resistance and thicken up the gauge of the wires, you can twist a few strands of the magnet wires together. I do this by putting one end into the power drill and hold the opposite end. The hand held power drill will make a perfect twisted bundle of magnet wire.

Put a few strands or more of magnet wire to a power drill and it will create a perfect twist

Here, you can see that three 32ga magnet wire twisted together has more copper than the original stock wires that feeds through the v929 boom. Because each wire has the enamel coating, despite having more overall copper, the twisted bundle is equal to the thickness of the original wires with it’s insulation. Which means you can still feed a positive and negative pair through the carbon fiber boom.

Three strands of 32ga magnet wire to replace original stock v929 boom wire

I like to use the magnet wire because it’s cheap, lightweight and it’s coating looks like anodized metal.

One final trick, for aesthetics, I will use the same color for positive and negative. To keep track of the polarity, I simply mark the each ends of the negative wire with a black sharpie so I properly solder it to the negative terminal. Twisted togther, they looks like an performance “upgrade.” :D The cooler looking it is…the faster it goes. ;)

That’s all there is to it.  Hopefully this post helps you guys. Happy modding!!!

9 Comments on Magnet Wire Tips and Tricks

Repair non-connecting v911 5-in-1 RX

Every now and then, I see a flurry of post about v911 RX that refuses to reconnect or rebind to the transmitter. Often times, this occurs following a crash. The symptom is upon plugging in the battery, the RX LED immediately turns solid without blinking, or sometimes, it does a series of rapid blink and then turns solid much quicker than normal.

A number of us learn that the cylindrical crystal that is responsible for the timing of the circuit has gone bad. Replacing it usually fixes the issue. I’ve had this happen on three RX already, and solding on a new one have fixed the issue all three times. So it’s worth a shot instead of throwing the RX away.

For the repair, you need a working 16mhz crystal. You can purchase some on eBay or DigiKey. Or grab one from a non repairable, broken RX board.

The ones I got from Ebay is actually smaller than the original. Whether it’s more dedicate and prone to getting damage as a result, I can’t say yet. Time will tell.

Here’s the two side by side. The original on the left and the Ebay version on the right.

Comparision of the stock v911 16MHz crystal versus the replacement one.

It was easy for me to solder on the new crystal from EBay. And it works like a charm. Here it is soldered to the same location on the v911 RX. It doesn’t dangle past the RX edge like the original one. Just need to glue it down to secure it in place.

Replacement 16MHz cylindrical crystal soldered in the proper location on the v911 RX.

I purchased 50 of them, so let me know if you need one in a pinch.

Categories: Helicopter, Repair, v911
17 Comments on Repair non-connecting v911 5-in-1 RX