Mod for Picoo Z Mini Helicopter

This is a set of detailed instructions for a mod to the rotor shaft of the Picoo-Z mini-helicopter; replacing the original steel shaft with a carbon fiber shaft and installing ball bearings in place of the copper/brass bearing. This mod is based on a description from the website dedicated to Picoo-Z mods, it's under the Rotor Mods section.

Step 1 Parts list and Tools

You'll need the following parts;
1 - 1-9/16" length of .04" (or 1MM) carbon fiber rod
2 - 1x3x1 ball bearings (item Code m021 from http://www.precisionheli.com)
1 - Picoo-Z mini Helicopter

The tools required are;
X-acto knife
small dental pick
a standard (flat end) screwdriver
a pair of locking needle nose pliers
a pair of diagonal wire strippers
1/8" drill bit
a large flat washer (I cut a small 1/8" deep slot in it to help remove the rotor)
Foam Safe CA glue
and a good magnifying glass will help too

Comments

[knex luver234]

all right, i did this (it did wonders by the way) then take the sticker crap off the shaft to the tail rotor, but leave the ltlle triangle piece beneath the tail rotor. take some stiff paper or thin plastic, cut a 2" long by 1/2" wide strip fold it in half so its in a v shape. glue it 1/2 down the shaft with the v shape down, it will stabalize your copter like no other and between the two mods creates the ultimate micro copter. (i am not responsible for any accidents, i now my way around this and other copters, if planning on my mod, you should to, i cannot be blamed for a destroyed copter)

[indoor helicopter]

Great mod for this mini helicopter. I think the 2 channels are becoming obsolete to the newer 3 channel indoor helicopter. Does anyone know of any good mods for the newer 3 channel helicopter?

[tparnet]

Hi everyone. This mod looks cool. I got two questions though... 1. Has anyone tried to disable or remove the flashing blue LED thats their for "night flying" or flying in the dark? I suspect you can get more flight time with the LED either disabled (saving energy) and or removed (to make it lighter). 2. Is it possible to add a larger battery for longer flight time? Thanks.

[linuxthefish]

 use can use a higher amperage battery, the old one is 50 mAh

[fireballxl5]

I didn't try to remove the LED, but it would be fairly simple to do, splitting the case as shown in my mod instructions, but I'm not sure that you would get a noticeable gain in flight time, LEDs are very efficient, especially when blinking verses on steady. As for the bigger battery, that can effect the balance and weight of the heli. You might check the http://www.piccoztoolbox.no-ip.com/ site to see if anyone else has tried it.

[mowhawkman290]

i dont get what the washer does. im new to rcs

[fireballxl5]

I think you're referring to the step where the rotor/blade asm. gets removed, if so, the washer (with the slot cut into it) is used to protect the bottom of the rotor (plastic) when you insert the screwdriver between it and the pliers that are locked to the rotor shaft. The washer presses against the rotor but slides over the shaft allowing you to twist the screwdriver between the washer and pliers to remove the rotor/blade assembly. Hope that helps.

[the-ruler-of-craziness]

i got a picoo z insecta and it starts spinning anti clockwise and ive trimmed it and nothing seems to be happening. help me please if possible anyway thanks.

[fireballxl5]

It sounds like the tail rotor might be loose on the shaft or that it might be gummed up with lint or hair. Try removing the tail rotor from the motor shaft, remove any debris and replace it (maybe with a "fresh" rotor).

[gremlinz_man]

what does this do to the helicopter?

[funwithfire325]

hey, i need help my helicopter broke a blade i have another broken helicopter ( can i take off the blade ) can i like make it not look crapy thanks!

[Jr Hacking kid]

http://www.rctoys.com/rc-products-catalog/RC-PARTS-MINI-IR-HELIS.html

[daniel!]

I find it hilarious how a pack of 4 tail props cost $15, when at walmart you can buy a new havoc heli/picoo z for about $20

[shooby]

The rotors are pretty floppy anyways, I'd stick some tape (maybe transparent packing tape, something relatively adhesive) onto both sides (upper and lower), then cut off the excess in the shape of the piece that used to be there. Two layers of tape, adhesive sides facing eachother, should be strong and light enough.

[Showbiz0004]

Well my suggestion would be to use tape and put something stiff in it (that is if the chip affects flight)

[mastelios]

I have bought 2 full spare blades,both the main blade and the balancer,plus rear blade from ebay..now really worth the money since the full helicopter is cheap but I like like fixing things,plus I have 3 nano helis so spares are welcome..

[fireballxl5]

Should work, if both copters are Picoo-Z's. Take a look at step 3 of this Instructable for how I removed the main rotor blade assembly. If the main rotor blades are ok on the other copter, just pull the whole assembly off of both copters and press the good set of blades onto the one that had the broken blades. You'll need a good pair of vise-grip pliers to hold the rotor shaft when removing and re-installing the blade assembly. Good Luck.

[shooby]

Does the end result have rubber bands wrapped around it? It seems like this would probably add too much weight to make replacing the metal drive shaft worth it. I have a micro-flyer, same concept basically, but my body is plastic and doesn't totally enclose the electronics. With the picoo z, you might try, for a simpler, faster, and easy weight loss solution, drilling holes into the foam. You could even drill then all the way through, parallel to the forward direction, to decrease drag, considering these things don't move forward too easily.

[fireballxl5]

The rubber bands are just to secure the two halves till the glue tries, I should have mentioned that they need to be removed in the last step. The carbon fiber rod and bearings really do more for the stability of the rotor than for weight loss, but thanks for the tips. I did cut away some of the foam in the "landing wings" making them look more like landing gear.

[shooby]

Good to hear. Flying these things is really addictive, makes me want to go one step up, maybe a 4 channel, something under US$100.

[Jr Hacking kid]

wat do i do with the rest of the carbon fiber rod

[Greeny717]

keep it just in case you snap the one carbon rod then you can just snip some more off and put it back together

[Jr Hacking kid]

i was thinking i could make into traing supports

[Greeny717]

good idea or you could make some proper landing gear by bending thr garbon firba rod into landing gear like proper helicopter and the glue it one with POLERSTIRING SAFE GLUE but before that you might like you paint the rod its up to you HAPPY BILDING Greeny717

[Jr Hacking kid]

where did you buy ur carbon fiber rod

[DrSimons]

I got a couple RC choppers on woot.com for only $15 each, and this looks exactly like it. I'm gonna try the bearing upgrade, but hold off on the CF shaft since there are no hobby stores nearby. I hope the steel shaft fits in the bearing you specified?

[Ankush]

Cool i have 2 mini helicopters just like the pics

[endolith]

Why would you replace the rotor?

[mastelios]

Great mod,I have done the CF-shaft part,could not find ball bearings,it works better,I guess it will be even better with the bearings.By the way,any e-shop or ebay selling those?I can't seem to find any!-other than precisionheli- thanks. Any way, another mod I found really good was sprying the gears with solid grafite.Both the drive gear and the motor gear.it sounded faster and better..

[themysteriouslips]

hi i got given one of these about a year ago, and it worked fine until about 2 weeks ago, when it literally started shaking in mid air. this problem has persisted, but all other functions work fine. i hav checked all rotor blades for damage and hter is none visible. any ideas how i could fix it? thanks

[Nidrah4]

Excellent mod! Does it fly better or just less noise?
A little tip for new owners:
If your heli doesn't go forward enough just gently twist the tail CW (tail facing you)if it's going to fast do the opposite and tweek it CCW. Leave the weights off until you know how it will respond. I added one weight at a time, one slightly more forward then the other for a total of 2.
I've got over 240 flight minutes on mine and still going strong. Only problem was this morning I couldn't get it to trim out (spinning CCW). After checking for dirt/lint I wound up replacing the tail blade. I'm going to assume that the hole wore out and the blade was slipping cause it works just like new now.
To see my other heli's and less successful endeavors goto:
Nidshouse
Happy flying!

[LankanPicooZ]

Good tips, thanks. Mine started spinning crazily CCW after just 03 charging rounds. The tail blade rotates alright(not too sure whether its got sufficient revs) but doesn't seem to counter the torque created. Haven't tried out anything yet. Appreciate any tips. Thanks LankanPicooZ

[Mojojack]

I had the same problem. Used a teflon lubricant on the tail rotor and works like new.

[wobby]

My heli also worked great for a few flights, and after a subsequent few crashes, it began spinning counter clockwise, and trim could not correct it. I tried bending, pulling prodding, adding weights etc... Found this thread on teflon lubricant and it fixed the problem perfectly. I used tri-flow superior lubricant with teflon, $3 at my local hardware store. Thanks Mojojack! Wobby

[phoenix124]

I had the same problem (seems to be pretty common), no obvious hairs or rotor cracks... every other place i looked said the motor was burned out. anyways, lacking teflon lubricant I used silicone... it works like new! thx for the idea!

[ticklishhobo]

I have the same problem with the tail rotor, but I'm not sure how to apply the lubricant. Do I have to crack open the motor and apply it there? or the gap between the motor and the blade. Thanks. ticklishhobo

[phoenix124]

all that i did was spray the lubricant on the main shaft and where it enters the motor. my propeller was off anyways, but i don think you have to take it off (it may be easier though) After you lube it it may take a little bit of running to get it fully greased and working. just rev it up for a while, or if its vaguely flyable, fly it. its a relatively easy fix, no disassembly required... although tearing these little things apart is fun! good luck

[wemmick]

i also had the problem of it juz spinning under the main rotors after lift off. i discovered that it was due to a tiny crack on the tail rotor blade. i rectified the problem buy dabbing a tiny dash of rubber glue on the affected spot... the only glue i could find at the time. but remember to align the crack before u apply glue over it. its now flying again.

[fakcali]

Hi... I am still desperate about the spinning problem. After investigating the tail, i have found a crack as you mentioned. However neither glue nor changing the tail rotor worked. Since I am working abroad, I have lost my only fun. Any help is appreciated.

[BuilderP2K]

see if there is hair wrapped around the shaft, thats what happened to me