Spektrum AR7000 Beware!

[leepord geko]

I got very lucky this past weekend when my receiver decided to break down on the ground rather than in the air. The rx would link and then unlink when I turned it on, not unbind but glitch as if were like it was losing signal. Basically you could move the ailerons and they would move correctly but then lock up in the last position then you would regain control of them (glitching whatever you want to call it). So the I looked at the receiver and found that the top case was falling off so I took the receiver out (btw I had try'ed to rebind the radio to the receiver only with the same results. When I was looking closer at the board of the receiver I saw that one of the antenna's was barley hanging on and what looked like it had short circuited, I will include some pics but just to let people know that I would not use this receiver in another giant scale airplane. Some history of the receiver; It was in a smaller glow plane, and than much later on the road transfered into my 50cc Aeroworks Extra 300. The receiver was mounted to a smart fly power system sport plus, and was also the original receiver that I received with my spektrum DX7 which was bought in June, 2008. On all my other planes I have a spektrum 6200 but those are only within the .60-1.20 size, from now on I will run the spektrum 9000 to hopefully see that its better.

[yakpilot]

I'm sure glad that did'nt cause a crash! BTW I use a short piece of Robart airline over my antennaes to keep them straight and also protect them from damage. It's just the right size to snugly fit on the little nub the sticks out of the RX case.
HH should hopefuly replace it for you in a timely manner.

[3D-Seth]

How was the receiver mounted? Any foam below it to prevent vibrations on the receiver?

[leepord geko]

It was just mounted to the smart fly unit via the stuff they give you but the smart fly is not solid mounted to the fuse its mounted with giant rubber groments on the screws, and yes I have herad of the problem with directly mounting your reciver to the smartfly and getting a separate mount helps, but its 6 ways one way and half a dozen the other. I'm going to send the receiver back to horizon but will not use it on any large scale plane anymore due to the fact another person at the field had 2 of the same AR7000 and they both were faulty over time. The plane also had 25 flights before this happened. Also I don't really see a way in which to put foam down without drilling into the smartfly board.

[jamesrxx951]

i think this can happen to any recieve not just a ar7000. ive used that servo for 3 or 4 years now and still have my original one. i like the idea of using the tubing over the antenna to help keep support on it so it cant get pulled.

[leepord geko]

Really when I opened up the receiver you can't see it in the pics but the one antenna is soldered on with a blob of solder which is incorrect already and its frosty as well which means it was cold solder joint, and i wouldn't post this if other people weren't having problems with the same receiver.

[JoeAirPort]

Jeeze if the cover blew off you'd think it had to have some vibrations shaking it off. Was the cover faulty or broken etc? Glad nothing happened to your plane that's for sure. I've been flying all year with these in two 50cc gassers. Very reliable so far.

[3D-Seth]

	Quote: Originally Posted by leepord geko
	It was just mounted to the smart fly unit via the stuff they give you but the smart fly is not solid mounted to the fuse its mounted with giant rubber groments on the screws, and yes I have herad of the problem with directly mounting your reciver to the smartfly and getting a separate mount helps, but its 6 ways one way and half a dozen the other. I'm going to send the receiver back to horizon but will not use it on any large scale plane anymore due to the fact another person at the field had 2 of the same AR7000 and they both were faulty over time. The plane also had 25 flights before this happened. Also I don't really see a way in which to put foam down without drilling into the smartfly board.

I don't recommend mounting ANY receiver without foam below it, no matter what surface its on. All of my receivers have 1/2" foam below them, velcro strapped to wherever they are mounted. If theres no way to add foam below the receiver and mount it to the Smartfly Expander, thats not a Spektrum receiver fault. I have a AR7000 myself, and have had 0 issues, with plenty of flights on it.

I don't use any type of power expander or anything. Waste of weight and money to me. But thats just my .02

Seth

[leepord geko]

Well once you have a power surge to you receiver and your surfaces lock up then you'll wish you had one, but beside that the vibration was not the problem its not solid mounted and I shouldn't have to wrap this thing in bubble wrap. lol and the cover didn't blow I just think its a bad design considering my friends futaba's lasts way longer but I'm not a big fan of futaba myself. Also guys at my field have AR9000 and they are lasting forever compared to the AR7000, I probably got a faulty receiver none the less I'll try sending it back to HH unless its going to cost me because I'm not going to use one on another plane. I have a AR6200 on a yak 54 with a mld 28 and that receiver is still working fine after over 100 flights so I don't know?

[JoeAirPort]

I have mine on 1/2" foam too. The instructions tell you to mount it on foam. Not saying that was the cause but it is in the instructions. The one tip I like is to put the Robart air line over the antenna to support it. I might look at my shop to see if I have anything. Maybe shrink tubing. I do see my antennas a little crooked after flying. Must be the snaps.

Here's my 88" EF Yak install. Both receivers are on 1/2" foam. I made a little box for the foam to sit in on the main receiver.

[3D-Seth]

	Quote: Originally Posted by leepord geko
	Well once you have a power surge to you receiver and your surfaces lock up then you'll wish you had one, but beside that the vibration was not the problem its not solid mounted and I shouldn't have to wrap this thing in bubble wrap. lol and the cover didn't blow I just think its a bad design considering my friends futaba's lasts way longer but I'm not a big fan of futaba myself. Also guys at my field have AR9000 and they are lasting forever compared to the AR7000, I probably got a faulty receiver none the less I'll try sending it back to HH unless its going to cost me because I'm not going to use one on another plane. I have a AR6200 on a yak 54 with a mld 28 and that receiver is still working fine after over 100 flights so I don't know?

Been flying Spektrum/JR DSM 2.4 for 2 years now. Never had an issue.

[leepord geko]

For like 3 bucks I know smartly fly makes a angle mount so the reciver isn't right on the board and that way I might be able to put some foam under it except why does futaba not fail and spektrum does lol, and the antenna's probably got bent from all the those harrier rolls. Plus Foam/rubber mounted same thing I just don't think a receiver should be that weak.

[3D-Seth]

	Quote: Originally Posted by leepord geko
	For like 3 bucks I know smartly fly makes a angle mount so the reciver isn't right on the board and that way I might be able to put some foam under it except why does futaba not fail and spektrum does lol, and the antenna's probably got bent from all the those harrier rolls. Plus Foam/rubber mounted same thing I just don't think a receiver should be that weak.

Like I said, I've never had an issue. Mounted on 1/2" foam unlike your setup. Waaaaay too much vibration going to the receiver for my likings.

Honestly, think of how bad the vertical fin on our airplanes shake with ANY engine. Imagine that going to your receiver. Or any electronics for that matter. I'll continue mounting my equipment on foam, and continue to fly without issues.

I believe Futaba has had issues as well. Like I said above, I would not mount ANY receiver (Hitec, Futaba, Airtronics, JR, Spektrum, ANY), without foam below it. I flew Futaba several years ago, and did the same as I do with my JR/Spektrum stuff. Just had other problems and dislikes about Futaba, which is why I switched to JR/Spektrum. Haven't had a single issue with ANY of my JR/Spektrum equipment.

Neither company will have 100% of their receivers work perfect. Both companies have ones that have issues every now and again. Just part of being mass produced.

Seth

[leepord geko]

Well I physically can't mount foam underneath the receiver unless someone has found a way to do so, but I'm going to try just some Velcro instead of that stuff smart fly supplies because that stuff is pretty tough stuff to mount to.

[Patrick H]

Havent had any problems with any of my spektrum antenna, but I believe the only thing more fragile was my ex wifes state of mind.