Thunder Tiger Raptor 90

Sorry been a while since I posted anything due to lack of time.

But anyway, picked up a non working Thunder tiger Raptor 90.

Not played with Heli’s for some years now due to getting into electric quadcopters, but I did miss messing about with glow engines and thought its about time I had a go again.

Always wanted a 90 Raptor back in the day and when one came long cheap due to non working and also not much interest in Nitro craft these days.

Not been run for a few years and engine will now not start.

So first thing is to remove the engine and strip it down and see what’s up.

First hurdle was getting the exhaust and manifold off , screws were extremely seized solid, may be down to the amount of thread lock on them or just how many years they been on there. So after some heating , I eventually got both parts removed.

Then I removed the head and was surprised at the lack of build up on top of piston, I dont think this engine run that much before it was put in storage.

Once I removed the back plate, the inside did not look very well at all, it was covered in baked on old fuel or rust and looked very sad.

Got the piston liner out and removing the cod rod was tight due to the build up of crap, but got it out and removed the piston and could then see the ring had seized closed on piston with sign of score marks on one side.

 

What I think may of happened is heli been into storage for a while and ring almost seizedĀ  with old oil/fuel and then it was attempted to be run again and caused the damage as it was not cleaned out after long time not running? Or maybe last run was too lean?

The piston used on a later model of engine had holes in top which were I guess to feed piston ring and maybe a known issue on this model? maybe thats why it seized and scored up liner?

Issue is I could get a new piston ring and gasket parts, but the engine is now old and parts really hard to get hold of and even if I could get a new piston, not really worth the expense.

Think this engine/heli was new around 2006 and so I guess its a bit of a stretch hoping to get all parts in 2022, some 16 years later and think all thats left is just what son the shelf of some stores.

Be cheaper to obtain a used one or just replace with different engine.

The bearings are a mess and getting a new set from https://www.modelfixings.co.uk/

who do them for a good price.

So while I am waiting for parts, gives me the chance to clean all the parts up.

The crankshaft needed a really good clean and I used Autosol Solvol Chrome Polish

and using that on both crankshaft and piston and exhaust and brings them up really well.

Getting all parts whether for engine or heli itself will always be a challenge on a old model.

Still a few bits around , but for sure need to make sure I dont crash it or it will be history.

Was also thinking of maybe a 4 stroke engine in it or gasser conversion if parts still around or maybe just a OS 105HZ

I am not into 3d stuff so just to plod around.

Very enjoyable though to mess about with a glow aircraft again after many years with quadcopters.

I love my quads , but something nice about a craft with real engine in and being a heli its very mechanical which appeals to me.

There is a flying field not too far from me which I will have to join when I sort this out and want to fly it.

Anyway, waiting on parts now before I can go any further….

happy flying all šŸ™‚

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Apps gone Wingsland S6

Just a small update for the ole Wingsland S6.

It seems the wingsland app has now been removed from the apple store and the android store.

Seems like its the end of the road for this great looking but very flawed quad.

You can find the old Android app on some other backup sites around on web, and I have a few of them in the download area of wingsland on here.

Also I see places like Banggood no longer selling it and getting a new battery probably almost impossible now, along with original props etc.

These days you can pick up a cheap DJI mavic mini cheap or pay a bit more for the mini 2 and those are a far better bet in 2022 for a small quad, or one can also pick up a old DJI Spark for really cheap these days (Just make sure you get one with 3 batteries as the batteries areĀ  getting hard to get hold of at a decent price.)

Obviously the DJI Spark is over 250 grams, but then so was the Wingsland S6 and the Spark also only has a 1080p camera.

 

 

 

 

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DJI Mavic Mini 2 latest firmware

DJI has released its latest firmware update (v01.04.0000) for the mini 2 quad and BEWARE , as the latest version has anti rollback enabled!

That means you wont be able to downgrade the firmware to any earlier versions and I would guess this was done to stop some of the hacks available, although update states

the update was for safety šŸ˜‰

Have fun

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Faulty DJI Osmo Plus

Got hold of a DJI Osmo plus off ebay, was supposed to be working but on turn on the Yaw axis smashes full left and right and then whole gimbal goes limp with bleeping

 

 

, but theĀ camera itself works fine in the app.

The chip I am interested in first , is the one that senses what position the motor is in,

which on this model is a BCG 316BCG.

There is a small magnet positional nut under the board which I suspect the chip senses what position its in.

Because mine smashes left and right, I assume either chip is faulty or data from or to chip.

Looking at the chip it looks suspect?

Below is a photo from the second board in gimbal which uses same board

and which is working fine on tilt axis of camera.

Although looking at both boards, does seem these chips were added after the other chips etc

Because of the extra flux. Maybe they all done like this or these boards were refurbished ?

They are easy to get from china, but I think this chip has a eeprom inside and hence may well be programmed at DJI to the camera. So fitting a new one may well prove a waste, but they are cheap so might as well try.

Cant get the whole driver board and even if one could, probably need to be matched to camera.

Probably easier to get a working one as price of these cheap now due to the Osmo pocket’s.

Anyway , another project waiting with other bits I am waiting on parts from China for.

Update:-

I fitted a new chip (BCG 316BCG) to the pcb and to be honest, although it stopped smashing the gimbal from side to side on power up, it now just jitters left and right a bit and stops with very hot yaw motor after a few goes.

Could be not correct chip or motor windings are toast.

 

 

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Smashed DJI Mavic Mini 2

Just got hold of a crashed DJI Mavic mini 2.

Needs a bit of work after being crashed though.

The top and middle shell’s are cracked and the Flex cable that attaches the compass is ripped apart, so all manners of on screen errors.

The camera gimbal mounting rubbers are also ripped out.

Not checked the actual gimbal and camera yet, as waiting for a new flex cable to arrive from AliExpress.

Did have a look at repairing the flex cable, but the tracks are too small and risk of it breaking in flight or a short back to main board not worth the risk.

A needle in above photo to show how small and close these tracks were.

So just got to wait for AliExpress, which although they stock parts you cant get elsewhere they are always very slow.

Used JB Weld to glue back cracked apart middle and top shells until I get new ones for now.

So not much more I can do to this little quad until flex cable arrives from China.

 

 

 

 

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