One of the limitations to head speed is the feathering spindle. Its the part that is under the most stress. I upgraded to the Align H45021 because it's stronger and has better screws with it. The CopterX feathering spindle is made of softer metal and bends easier (Don't ask how I know. ). It's a direct fit to the CopterX 450SE V3 Flybarless Head. Im using 13t pinion now, and at calculated 3370 (probably 3200 actual) headspeed with (3500Kv motor), I have no worries using either Fiberglass or CF blades.
The 11t pinion gives around 2850 calculated rpm and is more manageable, but is noisier, and seems to wear the main gear faster.
As a general rule: if it's too noisy, then something probably isn't right.

 

I took your advice and thought about the weakness of the stock feathering shaft, and I bought some no name brand spindle. It's not the shouldered spindle like yours using 2mm screws(this is what came with my dfc head)? The one I ordered just now is the straight spindle using 2.5mm screws. Hopefully with the extra beef on the spindle and beef on the screw, they can do the job for my no name dfc head?

spindle bolt= 2.5mm x 6mm
spindle = 4mm x 51mm

also ordered some larger thrust bearings and shims etc to cater for this larger spindle setup

Thank you

 

If the straight-cut spindle is same as what's in your head, then it will work. I can't use a straight-cut spindle in mine because the shouldered ends are where the thrust bearings go, similar to this pic:

 

Yeah there's a few new batteries coming in the market, Turnigy Graphene, Lithium Ceramic. But as smackmeharder has said we are looking for ultralight weight batteries, a long lifespan(hundreds of cycles) with the safety features of lithium ceramics, and provide the best power delivery. We may be asking too much, but who knows that 20-30 minute flight might just be around the corner.

 

We can only live in hope @maingeer . Over three years i have been waiting for a new battery breakthrough. It has to happen soon! And when it does its gong to change alot of things - longer phone life, longer flight times for drones and helis, possibly more affordable electric cars.

 

Omg. I went back through the Kbar last night, and that stupid iCard had corrupted the setup more than I thought. I wiped the memory and did an entirely new setup from Vstabil. I'll fly on it today weather permitting.
The new servos didn't require but only minor trimming to get zeroed-in. Those other ones were a bit weird and required far more adjustment to get centered.
I found out that the "Bluetooth adapter" is actually a generic HC-06 RS232 Arduino module. I found one for $3.55 on EBay. It was cheaper with no cable, I can use the cable from the iCard. I will be able to use the V-bar app on my smartphone instead of having to plug into my laptop when I need to adjust the Kbar. Goodbye iCard.... well, I can still use the battery analysis function.

 

does it have an IR reading?

 

IR?

 

Internal Resistance

 

Oh.... The battery monitor.....
It reads individual cell voltage from the balance charging plug from the port on the side of the card. A bad cell would have lower voltage. Reads 2s to 9s I think. Nothing special.

 

.... It measures each cell, calculates deviation between cells, and % of charge... a useful little tool if nothing else.

 

IR is a direct measure of cell health. The lower the IR the greater the current that can be supplied. Good old ohms law - I = V/R which translates to current is equal to voltage over resistance..

Low cell voltage means that your cell cant provide the same current as the other cells. with the load being the same.

 

In other news...
Bird flies right again. It may need a couple of minor tweaks to the setup, I have a slight drift to the right that Tx trim wouldn't completely remove. Tail has a slight wobble as if gain is a touch too high.
I may need to adjust the ESC cutoff.
I hadn't flown on the 13t pinion much before, and I mean REALLY flown- inversions and all. Toward the end of the flight as power started to noticeably diminish and I was about to land anyway, ESC shut off about 1m above the ground. The Heli spooled down and soft landed in the grass easy enough. If the ESC shut-down cycle can't be adjusted to compensate, I may have to back down to 12t or 11t. It was cycling down just fine before without killing the pack.
Eventually I will go 6S.... the ESC is already capable.

 

I've been watching the voltage on this pack. So far, its holding its own with very little voltage deviation between cells.

 

Here is a handy tool for calculating IR and other battery KPIs... Check it out @Beaver...

http://www.jj604.com/LiPoTool/

 

I wasn't happy with the Main Blades I just recently received, so now I await for a different set.

 

Out of curiosity, where did they come from?

 

everything is from ebay

 

Cheap is good, I have to agree, but be careful buying.
I try to look for "name brand" parts like Align, CopterX, Kbar, Turnigy, LemonRx, and such. Some things on EBay and other online retailers will be listed as (enter part name here) "...for Align 450", but as it turns out will be a generic part of lower quality.
Example: I ordered two sets of blades from Wowhobbies.com last month. One set was specifically listed as replacements for the original blades for my CX450SE-V3, and they were exactly that, and of good quality, fit, and balance.
The other set of blades were generic "non branded", but they were painted a nice blue and white pattern, so I ordered them anyway. They looked nice alright, but the root end of the blade was too thick to fit in the grip and I had to remove the excess enamel paint with a file to make them fit. The balance was bad and I had to drill reliefs in the bottom side tip end of the "heavy" blade to get balanced.
The set of CF blades I bought in a "lot" of parts from an individual in the RCG forums were shown to be genuine "CopterX" packaged in a photo (as were the rest of the parts), and were good quality, fit and balance.
It doesn't matter what country you buy from, some retailers will buy cheap parts at bulk rates from overseas and try to unload them through online retail outlets or EBay.
Some things we learn the hard way.

 

yeah the blades looks fine, it's just I typed in the ebay search for "325mm carbon"and I kinda expected 325mm from bolt to tip, not 310mm. Also they flex a bit. I'm sure they would fly well for someone that has better collective management than me. Anyways I got some new ones on the way (pro blades) lets hope they are a bit better.