Simon Hall 2

Stock ESC is this: **LINK** Cheaper replacement I have purchased is this: **LINK** I wanted the 40a Turnigy Plush which is in my other Radian and has worked perfectly. This Radian also has the Spektrum TM1000 telemetry module. The 40a is out of stock everywhere unless I pay silly money or wait forever for UK stock from HK. I ended up buying the much cheaper again 30a Plush, but not from HK. It's going in a totally stock Radian (my son's). Below is a pic of both ESC's side by side now that I have put the connectors on the new 30a. The 40a is beefier, even the battery leads are thicker and it has a ferrite ring on it. I think the 40a is switching unlike the (linear?) 30a, although the stock 30a Eflite is also switching. I really don't know what this all means in real terms apart from possibly heat and reliability differences maybe? I don't even know if this is an issue on a small 3 channel foamie glider anyway!

Posted by FlyinBrian on 27/07/2015 20:19:43: Perhaps the Motor / ESC fried in the sky so no power to the radio. I did not think the motor/esc failure would stop control of the servos from the tx. I don't know, just guessing as this has never happened to me before....

The only other difference on this flight was that I was flying very close (right next to) a friend who has a fairly cheap quad rota drone and he was trying to follow me up to altitude. He lost range on me at about 300ft. I may have telemetry data on my DX6, I will look at this.

Had a spectacular crash on Saturday with my Radian. With nearly 1 year flying and very many flights with no issues, I totally lost control of my plane at about 600ft. It rolled over suddenly and went into a full throttle nose dive. I could not do anything, just watched in horror as a spectator. Luckily the plane came down close by. My velcroed Mobius camera broke loose at about 200ft but I luckily found it nearby and with no damage. The motor was burnt out and the ESC totally fried. The cockpit was a smouldering smokey mess and the fuse is WAY beyond gorilla glue! I disconnected the lipo right away, but was a bit nervous with all the smoke and sizzling! I have a spare new fuse anyway which is good and the wings survived untouched. I am hoping it's just a new motor and ESC. I just can't understand how I could not shut off the motor and control the plane. I chucked it in the boot in disgust and have not had chance to test lipo, RX, servos and other bits yet. They all look visually ok, but I'm worried about possible damage to them from the major motor/esc fail. I also have a TM1000 telemetry module and alti/variometer that were in there at the time, these are my major point of concern. The lipo was charged, not puffy and trusted, I try to look after my lipos! Only 2 things initially spring to mind to me to possibly explain. My DX6 TX (less than 1 year old) was repaired some time ago. It was dropped from a low height and broke a gimble and switch. It was repaired and tested by the manufacturers and has not caused any problems since repaired several months ago and has had at least 15 flights. Maybe it malfunctioned, unlikely? The other is the last time I flew the plane over a month ago, I landed it 3 times in long wet field grass. I had to wipe off the moisture from the wings and cockpit. Not good, but I wonder if this could have caused some kind of corrosion and a short? The flight video with one of these landings is posted on the forum as it was my first video recorded flight with a Mobius camera. Edited By Simon Hall 2 on 27/07/2015 18:53:09

Thanks, contacted BRC today. They may have an alternative, but it's heavier and more powerful. Waiting on details. Had a look around and maybe the items below could work. I have 2 Radians, so was thinking of buying 2 adapters and maybe 3 motors, so 2 as spares. The adapters are not cheap and from the US, but look good quality. Horizon hobby are waiting on stock of the more expensive Eflite units and all UK suppliers appear to be out of stock. Waiting on a reply from the eBay seller on compatibility and ease of fitting with this motor. **LINK** **LINK**

Standard UK Parkzone Radian motor maybe PKZ4716 or PKZ4416, not sure. Either way it's expensive at over £50 for the original. Hoping there is a cheaper decent alternative I can just buy and fit without having to take it apart and modify.

Looking for a possible alternative direct replacement to the standard eflite which is expensive and out of stock in the UK. It will be running with a Turnigy plush 40 ESC.Thx.

Thanks John, I will give it a try. This seems like the easiest option for me to start. I will try to put some padding on the pliers teeth as I don't want to damage the shaft.

So the best way to remove the adapter would be heat instead of brute force? If the shaft is worn, does that mean a new motor? I don't know anything about prop balancing, the props are standard and all I do is wipe any crud off them after flying.

Any idea why there would be play on the adapter?

Hi Martin, yes there is no opposite grub screw. I was pulling quite hard by hand and it did not budge. Could it have somehow grooved the shaft and lodged itself in there? There seems to be something else in there on the shaft. I tried pressing it gently with a screwdriver thinking it could be a sort of release bearing or something. I can't really make out how it attaches to the shaft as it's so tiny.

I have noticed on my oldest of 2 Radians that there was some play when you pull on the prop assembly. I only noticed as the prop assembly has become a bit noisy compared to the other plane. The newer Radian does not have any play. I took off the spinner cone and undid the prop nut. It's just the adapter in the pic that has play, but the shaft is static. I have a new prop adapter and was going to try fitting it. I removed the small grub screw with the tiny allan key head, but the adapter does not come off. Any ideas as to what the problem could be here, apart from me! Thanks.