DX helicopter repair..

Hello all,
I recieved a defective helicopter from DX today, so heres what I had to do to fix it:
Well, I just couldn't wait the month it would take for a replacement so I took apart the remote control and looked at the board. The first problem was that the IR light - wire was never even attempted to be soldered on to the place labelled - IR on the board, FIXED. Second problem, the company actually made the controller so that if the green LED light goes out that indicates if its charging, then it won't allow electricity to pass through the charger cable! How stupid! I replaced the green LED with a better one same voltage and now it works. However, it is very poor quality, the helicopter always spins clockwise no matter how much I trim it. I used weights to fix that. I can't believe this passed q.c. DX has dissapointed me. Any comments?
-Stephen

ask for refund or something lol.

chesterqw said:

ask for refund or something lol.

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+1 but I bet it was incredibly cheap... I have ordered quite a few items from DX and had very few problems - although never a helicopter!

I've ordered several of the "X-Smallest Copter" from DX; and yes, a couple of them were defective and had to be returned for replacement.

I have a review of this product on my website right here if anybody is interested.
Look in the "Updates" section toward the bottom of the web page to read about some of the trouble I've had with the product.

The_LED_Museum said:

I've ordered several of the "X-Smallest Copter" from DX; and yes, a couple of them were defective and had to be returned for replacement.

I have a review of this product on my website right here if anybody is interested.
Look in the "Updates" section toward the bottom of the web page to read about some of the trouble I've had with the product.

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Thanks, thats a good review. I practically mapped out the entire board of the controller, so if you need any help fixing some let me know. Do you have a hard time actually controlling it? Because mine seems to spin clockwise no matter what I do (trimming and all). Anyways, anyone know a good helicopter for around 40-50 bucks, I just want something with good control and decent battery time. Thanks,

Stephen

Every one I've had rotated (spun) in "hover" mode (only the throttle stick used) so that I have to press & release one of the "trim" buttons on the controller anywhere from 10 to 30 times every time I wanted to use it.

I attempted to correct this by gently twisting the tail rotor boom (the long "stem" at the rear of the helicopter), but have met with only limited success in this.

hmm. How well can you actually fly it? Could you make it go from one end of a room to another end?

i bought one from singapore (because i live in singapore LOL).

got it to hover and do some flying...

but hey hey, my RC tamiya has more fun in it

i love cars

You can't have supercheap prices and very good QC control.

I've ordered a lot of stuff from DX. Some of it was defective, one was DOA. I contacted them and they resent everything without even asking for the defective ones back.
I have no complaints.

As for the helicopters: I got one of the cheapest ones too (clone of the Picoo Z). Worked like a charm, even better than my original brand-name Picoo Z.

Yesterday it took a hit on the tail and the tail motor broke, though... *sigh*

I've got a few broken phones, pagers and such, so I hope to find a replacement.

Oh, and something I only discovered some time after getting the helicopters: the rotors have to be moving for the trim to work. So just power it up a little, enough for them to spin but not enough for it to take off, and then trim away. This helps greatly.

stephenmadpotato said:

hmm. How well can you actually fly it? Could you make it go from one end of a room to another end?

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Controllability is somewhat of an issue; though it is easy to make it hover, actually getting it to fly where you want is a bit more challenging.
It *CAN* be done mind you, it's just more difficult to accomplish than a simple hover.

For $9.00 more you can get the one by "Air Hogs" (looks identicle to the DX version) at just about any Meijer or Wal-Mart. I have one and it is OK, but not as good as a "real" mini heli. I've also noticed a larger version @ Wal-Mart for $63 that has counter rotating rotors and small "turbin" style rotors on the sides for turning (think mini-submarines). I might have to buy one just to see how it flies.

Roger

z96Cobra said:

For $9.00 more you can get the one by "Air Hogs" (looks identicle to the DX version) at just about any Meijer or Wal-Mart. I have one and it is OK, but not as good as a "real" mini heli. I've also noticed a larger version @ Wal-Mart for $63 that has counter rotating rotors and small "turbin" style rotors on the sides for turning (think mini-submarines). I might have to buy one just to see how it flies.

Roger

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Hey, thanks man. If you do get one be sure to let me know how it is. I'd definately be interested. Thanks,
Stephen

My brother bought one of the Air Hogs Reflex which is what Roger was refering to I believe. You can see a review at http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=831 They fly pretty well once you get them tuned.

I have one like the DX one that I got from radio shack. I found that when mine goes out of control spinning it is usually due to carpet fuzz stuck on the tail rotor shaft causing drag. Also if the tail rotor gets bent it can spin badly. As far as trimming these it is useful as a starting point but you will never find a place that will keep it hoving without at least a little spin. The problem is as the battery discharges the tail rotor speed decreases so you constantly have to adjust with the left stick to keep it straight. Also different levels of throttle cause more or less spin as the tail rotor and main rotors are not setup to automatically cancel each other out. With a little practice these can be pretty entertaining but you don't have anywhere near the control you would have with the airhog reflex or a real RC heli.

sad thing is that a RC car, plane or helicopter has it's own fun factor....