KDE Direct has added Multi-Rotor Heli motors to their lineup

glider

Member
I installed the HW XRotor 40A ESC's today. All I can say is, after trying 4 different ESC's, the HW's are the absolute best for my Y6 using KDE 2814XF-515 motors. No stuttering on takeoff, and the motors sound much smoother. Hover test gave 1.5 more minutes flight time in 43 degF 10-15 mph wind. I used high timing for the top props, intermediate for the bottom. The PWM grouping is much tighter now, but I haven't tried with all at the same so no conclusion should be drawn from that yet.

SimonK ESC's (the ones I tried) do not play nice with my setup.

Below is only motor 1 & 2 because being so windy the motors were doing a lot of adjusting. With the other ESC's the spread was consistently much higher.
Bv2A2de.png


All 6 motors:
HBqDj3j.png


If anyone is considering KDE motors (at least the 515's), the HW XRotor ESC's are the way to go.
 
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Carapau

Tek care, lambs ont road, MRF Moderator
Or indeed the KDE ESCs which have given the best performance I have seen having tried Hobbywing, Tiger and Jeti
 

glider

Member
No doubt the KDE ESC's are probably the best, but there is no room in the Spy to put them and KDE recommends against installing in the arms although the HW don't seem to get hot. There must be some inherent design in these 515 motors (I would assume other KDE models) that makes most SimonK incompatible.

The HW even with the top motors set on High Timing give consistently better flight times than the SimonK and the motors run quieter.

If/when Winter ever sets in here, it all might have to wait until Spring. I think this may be the last week of decent weather to fly.
 
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Av8Chuck

Member
I don't have a lot of time with the KDE ESC on the KDE 475's so I'm reluctant to add much to the conversation but using the KDE 35A ESC with the KDE 475KV motors and 15" props works well with the ESC's mounted in the frame close to the battery and at the end of the arms, although on my Hex,where the ESC are mounted on the end of the arm, I have one motor and ESC combo running quite a bit hotter than the others, its also the set that is drawing the least amount of power?
 


glider

Member
I don't have a lot of time with the KDE ESC on the KDE 475's so I'm reluctant to add much to the conversation but using the KDE 35A ESC with the KDE 475KV motors and 15" props works well with the ESC's mounted in the frame close to the battery and at the end of the arms, although on my Hex,where the ESC are mounted on the end of the arm, I have one motor and ESC combo running quite a bit hotter than the others, its also the set that is drawing the least amount of power?
The ones drawing the least power are the hottest? That seems odd. The ESC's on my Spy are in the arms (gag) about midway between the frame and motor; the motor mounts block convective heat flow so if keeping this Spy is the plan, different motor mounts are a must. The more I look at this design, the less I like it.

Anyway, it took some tinkering but finally got a pretty good PWM correlation between the motors (compare to above). Line 142-150 is hover. The rest is mixed flying in Loiter, and full throttle vertical test in stab mode, which led to battery FS land. It was 15 deg that day; batteries don't like that.
3FrzIEB.png
 


sk8brd

Member
bart-they make a 2350kv motors and another 2050kv motor. when ever i get around to a blackout build thats what i'm going with. probably the 2050 to squeeze out more flight time.
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
hmmm, i don't remember seeing smaller motors when I was at their site but it's been a while so i'll have to take another look...thanks for the info!
 


fltundra

Member
This morning's flight was the 100 hour mark for my KDE 515's and 111 hrs with the SuperX/Taranis.
OH.......the sweet sound of KDE's in the morning.
 

Pumpkinguy

Member
Not to discount your accomplishment but I have a P2 with over 100 hours on the original motors. 2 major crashes. More minor crashes. (All pilot error) She is on her 3rd shell. Probably 6th or 7th set of props and a few landing gears too.
I think motor life is directly proportional to how cool the motors run and on these small rigs and they do run ice cold.
The first 60 or so hours were with the stock TX. The last 40+ on the futaba 14sg.
 

fltundra

Member
Not to discount your accomplishment but I have a P2 with over 100 hours on the original motors. 2 major crashes. More minor crashes. (All pilot error) She is on her 3rd shell. Probably 6th or 7th set of props and a few landing gears too.
I think motor life is directly proportional to how cool the motors run and on these small rigs and they do run ice cold.
The first 60 or so hours were with the stock TX. The last 40+ on the futaba 14sg.
That's impressive. For me it's been a big accomplishment to build something from the ground up and end up after 15 months with a multi that fly's smooth as butter. I did come from 25 years fixed wing RC and full size single engine land /sea which makes things much easier.
By the way I was a diehard Futaba user until i discovered the Taranis.:)
 

Pumpkinguy

Member
I've never used Taranis but I just got a spectrum for the movi and it screams "cheap" vs the futaba. I'm not talking about function. I'm talking about the build quality.
 

fltundra

Member
I've never used Taranis but I just got a spectrum for the movi and it screams "cheap" vs the futaba. I'm not talking about function. I'm talking about the build quality.
Yes, then you would also be disappointed with the taranis it screams cheap in some ways. But it's form and function sets it apart from all others even at a higher price point. So far signal wise, plus reliability wise has beat out every $600+ 72mhz/1024pcm futaba I ever owned back in the day.
 

fltundra

Member
It's funny I don't see many using JR radios. When I was doing my research before purchasing a radio I put a call into BVM jet's to see what they were flying at the time. To my surprise, it was JR not futaba or say Jeti which are ugly as sin..
 


inf.third

New Member
I installed the HW XRotor 40A ESC's today. All I can say is, after trying 4 different ESC's, the HW's are the absolute best for my Y6 using KDE 2814XF-515 motors. No stuttering on takeoff, and the motors sound much smoother. Hover test gave 1.5 more minutes flight time in 43 degF 10-15 mph wind. I used high timing for the top props, intermediate for the bottom. The PWM grouping is much tighter now, but I haven't tried with all at the same so no conclusion should be drawn from that yet.

SimonK ESC's (the ones I tried) do not play nice with my setup.

Below is only motor 1 & 2 because being so windy the motors were doing a lot of adjusting. With the other ESC's the spread was consistently much higher.
Bv2A2de.png


All 6 motors:
HBqDj3j.png


If anyone is considering KDE motors (at least the 515's), the HW XRotor ESC's are the way to go.
Hi @glider , may I know what kind of sofware did you use to show that picture? Sorry, I new in this hobby.
thank you
 

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