Schambeck AFT 25XS help/advice please

[Ross Biggar]

I have just received a Paritech DG303 fitted with a Schambeck AFT 25XS.
I attached it to my receiver (to check the operation-no motor batteries) the unit raised to about 1/3rd from fully up, then retracted to about /3rd from fully retracted. I tried it again, same result. But then it stopped operating and there is now a small red LED on that small electronic boardin the middle of the receiver cable flashing.
Switching the receiver off and then on, the small green LED flashes once, then the red LED starts flashing again, and nothing happens, the unit does not respond to any signals from the receiver.

The Schambeck's manual that I have does not mention the electronic unit, so how do I get the unit operating again, and how do I get full up and down.

My TX is a Graupner MX24 and the receiver is a Weatronics 12-22R.

So advice please

Thanks
Ross

[Len]

Hi Ross,
Send a note to Paritech, ask them whats up. I searched through my manual also and can not find any indicators. I would assume you have a good battery and the transmitter parameters are set for the unit. I fly JR, so I can not comment on the setup for your radio.

Do you have it on a toggle switch?

I'm sure the unit was tested at the factory, so it must be something with the battery or radio?

Keep us informed.

LEN

[Ross Biggar]

Len,
Thanks for your comments, it is nice to have assistance, especially down here as I am probably the first to have one of these units in NZ. I have it going up and down again, I tried another position in the receiver, checked I was getting the full -100 to +100 and it seems to work OK.
However I notice that it stops not fully upright, looking at the large gear that can be seen through the doors, it is stopping at about 10 teeth from the top, is this normal??
It is retracting ok back to a closed position.

Regards
Ross

[Harm]

Ross,

Most probable the wooden frame, glued in the fuselage, in which the unit is housed is a wee bit too narrow or slightly twisted. If this is the case the pylon has some friction rubbing to the sides of the carbon housing.
For testing this you can help by hand moving the the pylon up and down ( no propulsion battery attached ofcourse). When reaching the end up position you should hear a servo unlocking the prop (you can see this happening from the side at the below of the spinner backplate)

The nescessary internal width of the wooden frame over its whole length should be stated in the manual. When removing material is nescessary do this only on the wood, not on the carbon side. Tightening the four fastening screws a bit more might do the trick too for the moment. Furthermore I found that with a four cell receiver battery the pylon comes out a lot slower and with less force compared to a five cell battery.

[Len]

Ross,
Harm makes a great point, I had this issue with mine. It came from the factory a little too tight. The pylon would come up, but very slow and you could hear the strain.. I did what Harm said, I removed the unit and sanded the wood frame a little so the unit would operate smooth.
I think they recommend a 5 cell pack for operation too.


LEN

[sjaa]

Hi,
I had the same problem with my DG1000 from paritech. Wooden frame installed from P, but AFT retrofitted. Sanding the wooden frame (quite a bit in my case) did the trick. I also received a new carbon housing for the AFT from Schambeck as the first one was too wide to fit the frame.

Mine retracted just fine, but didn't extract fully.

The teeth goes all the way forward in the housing, so you should check that the micro switch is activated and that the prop release is working ( the prop can be rotated in extracted position).

Good luck:)

Jo

[Ross Biggar]

Thanks to all of you for your advice, that's what makes this forum so useful. After sending my original query to this forum, I thought that an email to Schambeck may help,
I received an email back quite quickly, from Florian, giving exactly the same comments as you make---, check the width of the frame--
Interestingly enough I had an email from Susanne at Paritech, a few minutes ago saying they had checked the AFT and it worked fully, (it must have been all that packing in the box that distorted the fuz during the flight to NZ--yeah right!!!!)
I will investigate further in the morning, and check that frame very carefully.

Thanks to all of you for comments , that is what helps a lot.

Best wishes for the weekend.
Ross

[Ross Biggar]

Well, The AFT unit will have to go back to Paritech, I can see where the pylon has been rubbing on the side pieces and the gears have tried to destroy the cogs on the left side.
My next question is how in hell do I get the unit out of the fuz, if I try to lift it out, it hits the front door hinges and wont come any further. Do I have to cut the rubber cords so they are out of the way?
Is there a simple way to remove the complete unit?

Regards
Ross

[sjaa]

Hi Ross..

On my model there are two ways to get the unit ou.

1. Lower it into the fuse, and forward past the side of the rettact.
2. Up trough the AFT-opening. Doors are hinged with piano wire, so the doors are easily removable. I also ha to trim the front door stop lip a bit.

Best of luck,
Jo

[Ross Biggar]

Thanks Jo,
The hinges on my doors are quite significant, they are a square steel wire, so I will keep on trying, your first idea has some benefit.

Thanks
Ross

[Harm]

I almost can't immagine that the doors can't be removed. As far as I know it is a standard construction (and all parts with the kit) that both hinges on each side have one long 1 mm wire as an hinge pin which can be pulled out to free the door. This wire is led through a plastic tube, glued in a recess in the wooden frame, exept for the two 1,5 mm sections where the metal hinges sit.

When you stick your head, or a mirror, into the fuselage are there no signs on the front of the wooden AFT frame of these wires or at least the openings of the plastic tubes?

Even when the doors can be removed it can be difficult to remove the AFT through the opening. This is the case when the internal height of the fuselage at the back of the carbon shell is such that there is only a few cm room between the shell and bottom of the fuselage.
You then have to remove the two side screws at the back. After that you have to steer the pylon about half way up , give the command and interrupt receiver power when half-way out. Then you can take the front screws out and pivot the whole contraption out of the fuselage.

I did check the manual and the installation of the wooden frame with the bowden cable is described. The hinges are placed after the frame is glued into the fuselage, so you should be able to take them out again too.

[Len]

What HARM said,

There are plastic tubes under the lip. You can see them sometimes if you look just inside the canopy lip.
Mine came out from the top.

LEN