Help!! Little Power

[GusMac]

Hi,
I am new to flying and I recently bought the Super Cub LP. really liked it.

On my third flight I crashed it... nose first into the ground at some speed. The only damage was the following:

- Cowl broken at the bottom.
- Battery Pack popped slightly out.
- A small crack in the foam next to the battery pack.

I then fixed it all with glue and replaced the Cowl. I then took it out a couple of times, and was not too impressed. It was rather windy therefore I assumed that the Super Cub simply could not handle the wind.

I have now just taken it out in pretty much flat calm weather, and again there is a struggle with the power. Put it this way... getting height was a challenge and there was no change of a loop! Also the motor seemed to briefly cut out (not sure if this is the ACP)

Any ideas on what I should do?

Cheers
A

[duck]

First Of all, you should register in the forums. That way we can see where you are, etc.

Second make sure the batteries are fully charged and not damaged from the crash.

Third, check ALL the connections, you may want to look at ugrading those, the stock connectors aren't good,

Fourth, Disable or Remove the ACT sensors, ACT hurts more than it helps.

Fifth, Check that the gearbox isn't too tight. If the pinion gear is engaging too far into the large gear, it will drag down your motor.

Sixth, you may want to try breaking in your motor, It may help.

[gusmac]

Duck - thanks for your prompt reply. I have a few follow-ups.

Item 1 - done. :-)
Item 2 - Yep done. No visible damage
Item 3 - in progress
Item 4 - I disabled ACT in the transmitter and it still refused to climb to any height. Based on this, do you still see a need to cut the ACT.
Item 5 - in progress
Item 6 - how do I go about this? I assumed you did not need to break it in and started will full power straight when it came out of the box. Same with the battery.

Any further thoughts? Thanks again

[duck]

If everything checks out, I would reccomend trying a different charger, and checking the actual charged voltages on each cell, IIRC the cells should be at 4.2 volts each when fully charged.

As for the motor break in, most people don't bother, since it doesn't really help these cheap motors.

Make sure the firewall or motormount/gearbox aren't broken somewhere. With a nose in crash this is always a possibility.

And there is ALWAYS a need to cut the ACT, JMHO

[flydiver]

If you don't have the power you did before you crashed you likely did some damage you have not uncovered.

Triple check the power train for binding, bending and other issues.
Check the battery voltage. A fully charged lipo should be around 12.6v. You'll need a voltmeter for that.

Check the individual cells.
How do I check voltages of each of my lipo cells through the balance taps?
This is a simple process. If you have 4 wires it is as follows: Pin 1-2 = cell 1, Pin 2-3 = cell 2, Pin 3-4 = cell 3, if you have less or more wires the same procedure can be followed to figure the other cells voltages. It should be noted that pin 1 to the last pin on the connector would yield total pack voltage and should match the voltage from the main lead. You should be very careful when doing this. it is easy to short out a cell/cells.

You can mash the internal cells, break a balance tap wire, or even put a tiny hole or break the seal on the lipo cells and that will ruin them. It's hard to see this damage without taking the covering off. This type of stuff is one of the main issues of jumping right into lipos. 2 of my buddies skipped the NiMh stage. They ruined a bunch of lipos while learning to use them right and crashing their planes a lot. I'm afraid that's just a reality. 1st planes seldom survive learning, certainly not in pristine condition.

If the battery charge is not up to snuff the lipo could be bad or the charger could be bad. I've only seen a picture of the charger that comes with the LP and frankly it looks pathetic. None of the stock PZ chargers are very good or reliable. Expect to replace it regardless.


Here's another newbie with a similar problem:
supercubclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ts&action=display&thread=2355&page=1

ACT will not help or hinder power. IMO it WILL screw up your flying and I'd recommend not using it. ESPECIALLY do not use it close to the ground as it removes control right when you need it worst. Up high it's of little use anyway. So, it's kind of useless.

Don't worry about motor break-in. IF you do it that should have been when the motor was brand new. A bit late now. Makes some difference but not so a newbie could likely tell and mostly barely worth the trouble except as an exercise.
Not breaking it in will not lead to the kind of power decrease you are describing.

[ginginho]

Hello Gusmac, nice to see another UK SC owner popping up on here. All the above that Fly has listed is worth checking, however there is one thing that's not been mentioned regarding your low power and that is your prop. Have you changed it?
My squadron have seen similar symptoms to yours following a heafty lawn-dart. The prop looks OK but once changed it all worked as expected again. This won't account for your perceived cut out though...

[gusmac]

Thanks everyone for your help. It is very much apprecaited!!!

Found the issue. I pulled everything out and did a once over from top to bottom. The issue turned out to be with the prop. My UK friend was correct - the prop looked fine from the outside, but obviously there was something wrong with it.

It is now flying like a dream! Thanks again.

Cheers
A.

[ginginho]

Jun 22, 2009 15:45:13 GMT 1 gusmac said:

Thanks everyone for your help. It is very much apprecaited!!!

Found the issue. I pulled everything out and did a once over from top to bottom. The issue turned out to be with the prop. My UK friend was correct - the prop looked fine from the outside, but obviously there was something wrong with it.

It is now flying like a dream! Thanks again.

Cheers
A.

Glad to be of assistance

Noting where you live, I guess I'd better not start a thread on the Premiership

[nistrum]

thats harsh man
yeh the prop can cause alot of problems. something to look out for. i got a new prop.. didnt realise the shaft was too small for the prop.. took me a day to figure out why my plane was vibrating......

[admiralev]

didnt realise the shaft was too small for the prop.. took me a day to figure out why my plane was vibrating......

if the prop hole was oversize you wouldnt get it to move at all or very little at least as the shaft would spin in place and not take the prop with it unless you really cranked the nut on there...sounds odd to me?

admiral

[nistrum]

yeh i do have power problems... i cant seem to fix the vibrations. i think i need to get a different prop... can anyone reccomend a prop you have that works well?

btw i got lipos so its gotta b a 10 6

[flydiver]

Jun 29, 2009 16:08:05 GMT 1 nistrum said:

yeh i do have power problems... i cant seem to fix the vibrations. i think i need to get a different prop... can anyone reccomend a prop you have that works well?

btw i got lipos so its gotta b a 10 6

First-check for a bent shaft. No prop will help that.
Then do some reading here:
www.ampaviators.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=27
There are several prop tests in that site. Read them all.

FWIW the GWS 10x6HD and the APCe (thin electric-NOT slow fly) 10x5 are effectively identical in power/function.

[duck]

Jun 29, 2009 18:23:18 GMT 1 flydiver said:

Jun 29, 2009 16:08:05 GMT 1 nistrum said:

yeh i do have power problems... i cant seem to fix the vibrations. i think i need to get a different prop... can anyone reccomend a prop you have that works well?

btw i got lipos so its gotta b a 10 6

First-check for a bent shaft. No prop will help that.
Then do some reading here:
www.ampaviators.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=27
There are several prop tests in that site. Read them all.

FWIW the GWS 10x6HD and the APCe (thin electric-NOT slow fly) 10x5 are effectively identical in power/function.

What He said.

I Forgot that one, I've bent a lot of those, good thing they are cheap, You can buy a gearbox with shaft and bearings for a few bucks. save the old gearbox, it will come in handy later.

I fly APC, Master Airscrew, and GWS (whichever I can get) 10 x7 on my stock plane. The new upgrade will require new propping
A prop balancer is a neccessity, props are pretty much always off balance.

Male sure you take a real close look at your firewall. The factory glus is soft, and allows a lot of movement, it can also hide breaks in the plastic

[nistrum]

i can fit the stock prop on without the viration.. so im fairly confident... i ordered a gwd dd 10 6 so i should find out.

[flydiver]

After lipo battery taps one of THE most frustrating things in this sport is getting the HUGE proliferation of props to actually FIT correctly on the shaft with the mess of confusing collet and prop savers. It's a mess.
Not to mention some of the props are crap (many HC clones) AND people don't read the instructions on APC-you NEED the little plastic washer to center it. The drilled hole may NOT be the center.
Edit:
To add to the confusion there are metric AND British/American sizes in props, adapters, and collets.
The APC clone hubs are NOT made like APC so cannot be trusted to work the same.

And if you DO have to ream/drill a prop out if you don't do it carefully and in small steps you get the hole off center or too big and then nothing you can do will fix it right.

Don't forget to balance. Every single HC clone prop I've ever tried has horrible balance, some so bad they were not fixable.

Figure every prop is out of balance until checked. Most I've ever used are and need some touch up work.