Yellow Bee Question

[mapetty]

I've looked through all the threads that come up when I search for yellow bee and haven't found the answer to my question. :(

My son got a yellow bee for his birthday. He flew it twice and crashed both times, breaking the wings. We got new wings and having found this site, taped them up before he flew again. Much better - thanks for that!

Friday, he flew the plane and it crashed for no apparent reason. My dad looked at it and found that the computer chip looking thing in the body of the plane (he called it a card) had burned up. They took it back to Harbor Freight and exchanged it. It flew for about an hour (off and on, poor flights, crashes, etc) on Friday afternoon. Then about the same amount of time on Saturday. Again, it crashed midflight and the chip was burned up again, this time melting part of the side of the plane.

Any ideas on why this is happening? What can we do to stop it?

Thanks!

[Glacier Girl]

Well besides the obvious, (quit crashing it):D. Electronics tend to not like impacts, just drop your laptop and see what happens.:eek:

Secondly you are flying a shall we say CHEAP piece of equipment. It's cheap for a reason, low quality components and labor to build them.

Combined, things will go south on you pretty quick if they are abused.

That said with some experience under your belt you can sometimes make these less expensive components last a while. My CHEAP micro Havoc heli is going on 2 years now, and it's finally getting to the point the brushed main motor is loosing it's gumption, flights are getting shorter and she just doesn't have the power anymore. :blah:

You may want to look at something more proven for a plane. The GWS Slow Stick is prettty much the recommendation for a newbie. Easy to build, easy to repair, the factory supplied power system is decent, and it's so easy to mod with items like a brushless power system.

Crunch it to the point it can't be repaired, and for around 30 bucks you buy the sloper version and just transfer the guts from the old one and you're good to go.

With the Yellow Bee and such, you pretty much toss the whole thing if something goes wrong.

[idealhobbies]

Here you go Mapetty:

GWS Slowstick: $20.99
http://www.advantagehobby.com/product.php?productid=33492&cat=0&page=1

Motor: $9.95
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1418/2410-dsh-09Y-Outrunner-Brushless-Electric/Detail

ESC (the card thingy your father refered to): $16.95
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1413/20A-POWER-UP-Brushless/Detail

Servos (x2) $5.95 each
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1410/SERVO--dsh--9g-TP/Detail

Propellers: $9.50 for 5
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1446/GWS-EP1147-Propellers-FIVE/Detail

Not needed, but I recommend:
Prop Saver: $2.95 (Helps keep the prop from breaking when the prop hits the ground or other items)
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1466/Prop-Saver-for-3.0mm/Detail

Aluminum Motor Mount: $1.75 (Much easier to use than the plastic one)
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1494/Stick-Motor-Mount-for/Detail

That's the airplane itself ready to go. A great airplane that's easy to assemble, easy to fix, ($20.99 if you need to replace the whole thing), and if you son just loses interest, you're not out a whole lot, and it's not hard to sell it. It's a very popular plane. I fly mine from my lawn chair on a nice day. Very relaxing.

You will still need a battery, radio, and receiver to put it in the air. If you decide that may be a route that you want to go give us a hollar and we'll see where we can direct you from there.

Do yourself a favor, it's a great way to bond with a kid if you give it a shot yourself. Especially if the child is a teenager...they're hard for us parents to relate to as it is. A little common interest can go a long way.

[idealhobbies]

As far as why the ESC keeps buring up on the Yellow Bee, like Glacier Girl said, it's probably the impact that's causing the thing to burn up. If your son does not throttle down IMMEDIATELY upon impact, the ESC is still trying to spin a propeller that's stuck. This is causing a great deal of heat.

The ESC may be getting hot to begin with inside of the plane while it's flying. Check to see if there is a good channel of airflow on the ESC prior to flight. If not, try to make some. The more that your son pushes the motor (as in running with the throttle wide open) the hotter the motor and ESC will get. If there is no air flow across the ESC to cool it, it will over heat.