tricopter propeller expense

klaus57

Junior Member
Hi,
I'm new to multirotors - flying a Hubsan X4 FPV and Dromida Ominus FPV for the last few months. I wanted to build something and bought a Titan tricopter kit. My build will user 16" carbon fiber arms with poplar inserts adhered to the inside of the tubes with Gorilla Glue, a KK2.1 flight controller (would like to upgrade to a Pixhawk, but everything I read convinced me to go simpler), and SunnySky X2212 KV980 II Brushless Motors with HobbyKing F-30A ESCs flashed with SimonK firmware. Although I am interested in a platform for aerial photography and FPV, I haven't yet considered cameras and transmitters. When I do add this, I expect it to weigh around 1000 grams. Perhaps GPS and telemetry, too.

Here is my problem. I used a propeller/motor combination that I saw on the Titan website. The recommendation was for Graupner 10x5 props (w/ pusher for yaw mechanism - but I don't really see why a pusher is necessary for a tricopter tail rotor on a servo - just trying to wrap my head around the theory - is it a torque thing?). I chose this combination before I knew how expensive Graupner props were - I expect to break a lot of propellers for quite some time. I need ideas for less expensive props while I continue learning. Also, I have no idea what the difference is between multirotor props and e-props - there appears to be different max rpms but the dimensions are similar - perhaps they vary in stiffness? Also, there is Slow Fly, which generally appears to be rated for very low RPMs. I would imagine that too many rpms on a blade that is not strong enough could be very dangerous.

BTW, this is my first post - really enjoy reading the forums and digesting the huge amount of info on the site.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
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PHugger

Church Meal Expert
Welcome to the forums. I just built and started flying a Fortis Titan as well.
Start simple (no cameras or FPV).
There will be crashes at first. The hybrid booms are great and are very strong.
My biggest issue is with the legs. The are attached like everything else with cable ties.
*Every* less than perfect landing will pop them off. I eventually put some 4" rubber rings on as training wheels.
Eventually I'll go back to the legs, but I got tired of reinstalling.

I started with 10x5 HQ props which are quite nice, but break easily. I switched to GemFans and am doing much better.
Again, I'll switch back when I stop crashing so much. I don't know what a pusher is.
I run 2xCCW and 1xCW. I think it helps balance torque effects.

Good luck.


Best regards,
PCH
 
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klaus57

Junior Member
Thanks for the advice and prop suggestion. I may have used the wrong term, but I think a "pusher" is the same as a prop made for CCW rotation (or maybe it's the other way around).
 
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PHugger

Church Meal Expert
I'm not too familiar with the KK or Pixhawk. I believe the KK uses one reversed prop.
I use a Naze controller and it uses this -
black_tri.jpg
Check your docs for the FC and see what they suggest.


Best regards,
PCH
 

C0d3M0nk3y

Posted a thousand or more times
Motor direction doesn't really matter on a tricopter like it does on other multirotors. I like to use one CW and one CCW prop on the front arms. You can use all CW or all CCW or any combination that you'd like though.