|
|
 |
| MS-Composit Raptor-50 E-Conversion Kit |
Average Rating: 8 |
Sep 17, 2006
|
Reviewed By: uTILLIty
|
Join Date: Sep 17, 2006
Location:
Total Reviews: 1
|
|
Rating: 8 out of 10
|
| |
| |
In my third year of flying IC machines I started to get interested in electrifying one of my raptors, as I hate fiddling with IC engines and having it all messy.
So after alot of research on the available kits I decided to order the Kit from MS-Composit (www.mscomposit.com) PS-R50.
As my local hobby-shop had it in stock I went there and bought it, 2 5S1P LiPos (instead of one 10S1P), 2 Lipo-Equalizers and all needed plugs and soldering stuff.
Back home I started to dismantle my IC machine (Raptor-50-V2-SE) per the manual. The only real modification you have to make to your machine is to cut away some of the plastic in the lower part of the machine. One word of advice here: make sure you cut it off all the way and there is nothing left where the lipo could get hurt afterwards during flight.
The conversion was quickly done - maybe 2-3 hours of work. I like to clean the machine as I dismantle it, as you won't have any of that nitro sticking on this machine again - ever - after conversion.
Now if you plan to insert the spacer between landing-gear and frame just be aware that if you use these, your (stock) canopy won't fit anymore. That's where I was glad I took 2 5S1P's instead of one large 10S1P, because these are themselves linked into series, but can be placed infront and behind the new e-motor. A 10S would need the full space so you must have to use spacers in that case. The other advantage of using 2 5S1Ps is that some chargers can't handle that many cells at once. Of course, as always, you must make sure the Voltage of both packs are always the same before using them! That's why it's recommended to charge them hooked up in series (ie as one 10S1P pack).
The ESC (electronic-speed-controller) included takes a bit getting used-to, as the documentation is very, ehm... unconventionally written. At first I avoided the govenor-mode, as the motor was not fluent during initial spin-up and before takeoff. It kept getting bursts of energy from the ESC and this affected the tail - not a nice thing, if you don't expect it. But playing around with it for a while I found that this only occurs during non-load periods of the rotor. So once spooled-up, fluently takeoff and you're fine. Switching to higher speeds in idle-up 1/2 is not a problem, but switching back down the same issue occurs - the ESC blocks currents to the motor until the rotor drops below the set speed and then sends bursts to the motor again to keep it close to the set speed. Until this has again been reached, be prepared for a 2-3 sudden jerks on the tail. Your gyro should be able to handle them fine so you should end up flying in the original direction.
At first I was flying a 85% straight (governed) gas-curve, but after reading an article on tail-loading I placed the blue hirobo-tailblades on the raptor and had to reduce the gas-curve to 65%! Wow!!
At 65% I still have a rotorspeed of approx 1850, which is just fine for my style of flying. Through the formula posted in the rc-heli mag the motor/lipo/gear/pinion combo is layed out for 2200 rpm - which is definitely too high for me - but it shows there is lots of reserve power in this configuration.
I use a multiplex synth receiver which experiences no interference whatsoever with the ESC and motor (which seems to be a common problem with E-helis). I mounted the ESC back on the outside of the left frame.
Temperature on the ESC and motor are usually just slightly raised after 9mins, so there also seems to be ample room for harder manouvers. I read the ESC and Lipos should always stay below 60°c. I believe the mounting-position of the ESC on the outsides (mounted on the ridge, so air can also flow behind it!) adds to the effect positively, as it cools the ESC down additionally during flight.
Today I had an auto-rotation - well, almost free fall - from 15 meters after a roll because ALL the teeth of the supplied main-rotor-gear had been stripped. The only damage taken was a broken landing-gear (and the stripped main-gear).
All I can say so far is that the pinion/motor has not moved toward/away from the gear and the gear-mesh was ok. Maybe a factory-problem? I hope to get answers from ms-composit within the next days...
Funny detail: just 2 days ago I checked the mesh-play and it seemed fine (you should be able to get a thin piece of paper between the gear and pinion, but not more). Also I thought about moving the motor away from the gear and use a belt, which would transfer enery much better.
Ah yes, one other thing: the motor stopped unexpectedly during a stall-turn and it turned out one factory soldering from the ESC was not holding and so the lipo's did not deliver any more power to the motor.
All in all I can only recommend this setup! Even though your raptor will end-up slightly heavier than with an IC engine, the power of the kit is just amazing! I reach approx 9mins of flying time, doing some F3C flying. I guess hard-code 3D would last for about 5-6mins.
Feel free to contact me for details.
regards, Tilli |
 |
 |
• ample power
• good price - especially with lipo-bundle
• easy setup
|
• bad manual
• canopy not thought of
|
| |
 |
|
|
Subscribing to RC Heli is easy! Just fill out the form below, and you will be invoiced for $24.99 for your first year.
Offer is valid for US residents only. |
