Preparatory steps for installing the XE conversion are to ensure there are
two flats on the motor's shaft where the pinion adapter set screws will
seat, that there will be clearance for the motor's wires, and to remove the
frame's forward mounting post (immediately above the cooling shroud), which will
interfere with the electric motor mounting plate.
I. Flats on the motor shaft
First, mark where the pinion adapter's set screw flats should be. Next,
because of the motor's powerful magnets, securely tape of the motor's
cooling holes to prevent steel particles, which are being ground or filed
off the motor's steel shaft from getting inside.
- Tape off the motor's cooling holes to keep metal particles away from
the magnets
Test fit the pinion adapter and lightly tighten the two set screw to ensure
they leave witness marks on the flats because electric motors apply near
instantaneous torque and you don't want this coming loose on you.
- After a test fit of the pinion adapter there should be light 'witness
marks' on the flats
II. Frame Preparation
First, using side cutters, a Dremel tool, or even 3/8" drill bit, remove
the frame mounting post immediately above the cooling shroud. The how
isn't important because you simply want it gone, e.g. out of the
way.
- Remove the mounting post, which interferes with the motor's mounting
plate
Next, using a Dremel with a cut of disk (at the lowest speed possible), cut
away a little of the cooling shroud to allow motor wires to clear for easy
removal. Failure to do this now will leave you cussing up a blue streak
later if don't . . . trust us!
- Trim the cooling shroud ahead of time for motor wire clearance
Using a rag and your hand, or a rubber strap wrench to secure the clutch
bell, unscrew the pinion. Next, screw it into the supplied pinion adapter. A
pair of 3 mm bolts will help give you the necessary leverage to get snug it
up. Of course, no thread locker is required because the direction of motor
rotation tightens the pinion gear into the adapter.
- Use a pair of 3 mm bolts and snug the pinion into the adapter
After mounting the motor to the mounting plate, snug the pinion adpater in
place. The idea is for the bearing at the end of the pinion gear to aid
alignment. A pair of M3 frame mounting bolts lightly tightened will
suffice. Another frame bolt or two will ensure the frames are together for
the bnext step.
- Lightly snug the set screw to secure the pinion adapter to the motor's
shaft
This next step is accomplished with a little 'feel' for the edges of the
mounting plate. They'll match up nicely to the bulges of the side
frames once the pinion gear bearing is snugged within the side frame with a pair
of M3 frame bolts. At most only slight alignment will be required.
- Feel for the edges to aid alignment - a deft touch is all it takes
The next step is to clamp the plate lightly to the side frames. We used a
pair of small Vice-Grip pliers. Ensure the plate alignment isn't lost. Take your
time and you'll find this step is really quite easy. To keep the pliers from
marring the surface finish, use small bits of masking tape,
which serves to protect it from the non-slip grooves in the face of the
pliers.
- Using a pair of small Vice-grip pliers, we clamp the mounting plate to the
side frames
Next we heat the tip of an awl until it glows. A piece of wire ground to a
point will serve just as well. Just remember, it's hot so take appropriate
precautions to prevent being burned.
- Heating the tip of an awl until it glows is for melting holes through the
frame's shroud
Work steadily but quickly, melt holes at the eight mounting locations of the
motor mounting plate. Reheat as needed until you are done. We could do two
or three at a go. The reason for melting the holes instead of drilling them is
to prevent damage to the M3 machine threads of the plate.
- Melting the holes pevents damage to the M3 threads of the plate
Removing the plate reveals some flashing where you melted through.
- Melted plastic flashing in eight locations is a sure sign you didn't forget
any
Next, trim the flashing using an X-Acto with a sharp #11 blade.
- Remove the flashing with a hobby knife in preparation for the next step
An extra long 1/8" diamter drill bit is the perfect tool. Preferably,
you want to use a bit with a compond tip (two faces on each of two
flutes), which is 12" long.
- Available at hardware stores and better hobby shops, compound tips drill
the cleanest holes
Take your time and drill the eight mounting holes with a long 1/8"
drill. These holes will be ever so slightly oversize compared to the M3
bolts to give a hair of adjustability to the mounting plate.
- Drilling the eight mounting holes is easy with a 12" bit
Once again trim the flashing. Use care and look over the frame for flashing
from the molding process while you're at it because while it's not critical for
use with an engine, with the motor plate it may interfere with it fitting
perfectly flat against the shroud. A trick is to use the tip of the blade to
lightly chamfer the holes in the underside to make guiding the mounting
bolts through the shroud easier.
- Trim the shroud surface to remove any flashing left from the molding
process too
Use a little dab of blue thread locker to mount the supplied button head M3
bolts and draw the motor securely to the motor mounting plate. Don't be a
gorilla when tightening to help preclude rounding off the Allen bolt faces.
- A little bit of blue thread locker and the motor is securely mounted
Next, grease every few teeth . . . yes, grease the gears! This ensures they
run cool and quiet and promote long life. Recall, these electric motors can
easily deliver 'more' horsepower than the nitro engines they replace.
- A little grease every 10 teeth will help longevity and keep them running
quiet
IV. Wrapping it up, tucking it away, and mounting the
batteries
Remember cutting the cooling shroud to give clearance for the motor
wires? This lets you drop a motor without disassembling the frame. If you
ever want to return to nitro, all you've sacrificed are a $30 set of side
frames, which compared to $150 for carbon side frames of competing model, isno
big deal!
- A little trimming of the fan shroud now makes life easier later when
removing the motor
A strategically placed hole for a zip tie helps keep the motor wires from
contacting the rotating motor and rubbing the pretty anodizing off. Please don't
ask how we know to do this, but you've been warned.
- A hole in the frame for a zip tie helps keeps the wires tucked out of the
way
Giving the long 1/8" drill bit a workout results in a few more
strategically placed holes as you can either use extra-long zip ties,
or double them up like we did to gain enough length and presto, the front of the
cooling shroud is the perfect place to mount the ESC. It's protectively
tucked away from expensive crash damage yet still expose for plenty of
cooling air flow. This is a nifty mounting location, eh?
- The ESC is protected against crash damage and exposed to plenty of cooling
air
We cannot predict what use you'll give your electric model so we leave
mounting the batteries up to you. For example, in a pod and boom
configuration, mounting the forward battery is easy; just use the
stock radio platform! The aft mount is trickier because the right
location depends on the weight of the batteries you select. We've used both
a high mount (tucked benath the tail boom) and an angled mount.
- Take your pick for aft battery mounting location; either beneath the boom,
or angled
For the high mount, simply measure the spacing for the existing mounting
platform holes and drill them as needed in the side frames. It's quite easy
to eyeball the location and not too critical, especially if you oversize them a
bit because there's a nice use for the aluminum dress washers, which used
with the stock engine mount. They're perfect for helping spread the loads where
this bolt goes through the side frame and into the secondary battery mounting
platform. In the backgeound model, note how we use a Velcro strap threaded
through the tail rotor servo and the frame to secure the battery and the
platform agaisnt the bottom of the side frame, which works perfectly,
especially if you also use sticky-back Velcro on the face of the mount and
the battery surface as we do. Note the platform in the foreground
model was up-side-down when we took this photo. When using stick-back Velcro,
you want the smooth surface facing the battery.
- The high aft mount is one of two choices used for balance depending on
battery weight
Optionally, an angled mouting location may be used as well. Simply lock the
two tabs in place. Next, just drill slightly oversize holes in the side frames
for the mounting bolts. An advantage of this method is the tabs may break away
in a crash, which enables the battery to separate from the side frames and
minimize damage.
- Wedge the tabs into the side frames for an angled mount before drilling for
mounting bolts
A close up view of the tabs wedged into the side frames reveals there are
actually two choices, the uppermost set and the middle set of three holes for
wedging the tabs (depending on motor length).
- Close up view of wedging action of the tabs into the side frames
- just insert and twist
Finally, if using a scale fuselage, you may want to use aluminum mounting
brackets for securing the batteries as detailed in this short video.