converting 9104 3 ch to 4 ch with 9116 radio

magyarbacsi · Extreme 3D Joined: 04 Aug 2011 Posts: 99 Location: seattle

I have an 9104 that I have not used for a while since moving up towards 450 size ccps. Bought a double horse 9116 and tried it out for ease of flight to give to my grand son. It was very erradic and did not always respond to commands. I thought about platinums conversion of a 9104 to 4ch and got an idea.
I later found one of the servos on the 9116 was bad, would not center or respond. The chopper took some beating so I did not even try for a refund. I took the 4ch pc board and the 9116 radio and transfered it on to the 9104. The board is similar, but has the extra jack for the second servo, needed fo 4 ch function. The jacks on the 9116 board are smaller than the 9104 plugs so I cut and spliced to fit the new board. The 9116 uses a smaller 180 size motor where as the9104 use a 370 size. I was wondering if the board wold melt down with the demand of the 370. It did not, but I only tried it with out the blades. I replaced the servos with the $5 turnigy 9mg servos and still no melt down.
I spent the best part of Christmas day to fool around and then I realized the swash plate was not set up for the 9104's larger ball lincs or configuration and it was smaller, but same shaft size.. By now I also found the main gear had a crack and the shaft of the 9104 bent. Easy fix, but I did not pursue it far enough. The 9116 swash plate, I later realized is the same configuration as the 9104, but in reverse. So all I had to do was turn the 9104 swash plate around, file down the now forward ball to fit the anti spin bracket, connect the servos and fly it or try it.

Turning the 9104's swash 180 degrees would have allowed the use of the larger 9104's linc rods. I still had the HoneyBee CP3 to master and two 450's to build ( yes, I got addicted) so I just got tired of the project. Unfortunately, at 3 am is I became aware of the solution of reversing the 9104's swash after I just chucked the project in the garbage ( the garbage truck took it away by now) How close I may have come to solving the problem of a larger 4ch that can fly in slight breeze that my walkera wont, and gave up too soon. How's that poem about not quitting... never know how near you are.. just one more step to winn the golden cup..., sorry, still remember parts of that from high school over 50 yrs ago
If you have a 9104 that you want to convert to 4ch and have some mechanical aptitude you may want to try what I gave up on too soon. All you need is the tx and rx for the 9116=$65, and change the servos, by the way the two rear larger holes will fit the turnigy 9mg with a little filing to enlarge the opening and a 9104 that used to be $45-$55, but now $90, and you'll have a strdy 4 ch? Double Horse choppers are very durable but heavy. Yes, you can get a MadHawk 300 /walkera CB180D for just a few dollars more that is a smaller, more agile, but also more fragile copter. I had the 9104 for probably a year with the original main blades still and many not so perfect flights and still kept on ticking.
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tombo242 · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 4:37 am Post subject:

That's a great story magyarbacsi, and a moral for us all. Never junk anything unless you are 100% sure that it is dead. Confused

Come to think of it I've been doing that for years.

Tom.
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michaeldepeza · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:40 pm Post subject: hey

hey bro....i love that story cus i just got myself a 9104 and an older coworker(who's older than my father,i'm 36) also and we are similarly obsessed with converting the 9104 to 4ch. i actually was forwarded to a link here from another forum about the same topic.

http://www.electric-rc-helicopter.co...4ch-t3968.html

i've been told to give up on project but i can't by others i will see this through cus the 9104 from all reports is very tough and i honestly don't want a smaller Heli so advise away bro.

P.S sorry to hear you threw it away....i rather have a box full of dead helis than throw anything away.......we live and learn