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CX-10 Microsoldering Job

I crashed my “racing” CX-10 and when I picked it up, it was dead. No spinning props, no lights, nothing. I checked the power from the battery to the board with a multitester and it’s fine. With a heavy heart, I decided to disassemble it for parts. I removed the props and was about to unsolder the motors and the battery when I noticed that the board seems to be missing a small part (see pic, not mine). I went back to the crash site (aka kitchen floor) and sure enough there was a tiny component lying there. It’s surface-mounted but since I didn’t have a heat gun or soldering paste or even flux, I had to make do with my soldering iron and soldering wire. I put tiny amounts of solder onto the tip and gradually pre-tinned the pads and the feet. Then I positioned the component using tweezers and pressed the tip in to melt the solder. It was the tiniest soldering I’ve ever tried and it wasn’t pretty. But once I was finally done, my CX-10 was alive once more!

UPDATE 4/4/2017: And it broke again. This time pulling a pad off. It’s the end for this board :(

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Furibee F36

It’s a bit of an understatement to say that the Cheerson CX-10 got me hooked into quadcopters. My browsing sites and watching videos eventually led me to the Furibee F36.

The F36 is a clone of a very popular [primarily] indoor quadcopter called the Blade Inductrix whose most distinct feature are the ducted fans (hence Inductrix). Of course, being very popular, it was just a matter of time before the clones came out. There’s the the Eachine H010, the Nihui NH010, JJRC H36, and the Furibee F36.

The F36 is a bit different in that it’s got a bit more power (or punch) than the others mentioned above. I’ve been flying this quad a lot lately and you certainly can feel it. It’s very stable and docile when you’re gentle with the sticks. But if you’re not careful, it becomes fast and furious (hence Furibee).

This is especially true in speed 2 where it pitches forward deeper, banks deeper and turns on a dime. You better be ready to handle it or you’re in for quite a few crashes. Luckily, the ducts act as prop guards so it’s quite a durable quadcopter. The ducts also limit damage or injury to whatever or whoever you crash into. This makes it probably the best quadcopter for indoors use.

Outdoors, the F36 struggles against the wind due to its light weight and the relatively large surface area of its ducts. But if there is little to no wind, you can definitely as have much fun outdoors as you have indoors.

Flight time is 4-5 minutes and batteries recharge in about 30 minutes. But they are removable so with a few batteries, you can fly for quite a while. Of course, as much as you won’t want to, you’ll have to let the motors cool down eventually.

If you’re interested in quadcopters or you want to try it out, I highly recommend getting the Furibee F36. Plus a few batteries.

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Cheerson CX-10 Racing Build

One of my CX-10’s motors died. When Idriz heard about it, he gave me his old CX-10 for parts. It came disassembled with the body shell off, and no props.

While testing, I found out that the battery seems fine and only one motor is dead. Closer inspection of the dead motor revealed that it’s just one of the wires. I soldered the wires together, added shrink tubing to the motors, zip-tied that battery, and added props. Definitely looks badass, especially with the pink props!

Thanks Idriz!

UPDATE 3/10/2017: The shrink tubing at the top couldn’t prevent the motors from twisting and eventually severing motor wires. So I replaced them with rubber motor grommets aka wiring grommets that I found at True Value.

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Medicine Cabinet Build

Michelle and I saw this nice-looking medicine cabinet so we had a recess built into the bathroom. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an quite expensive cabinet so I decided to build one instead.

  1. Cutting I started with a 3/4″ plank which i sawed and sanded to size.
  2. Assembly I then glued and nailed the pieces together. I used nails because the plank was a bit warped so I had to force the pieces into position. I added a 1/4″ plywood as backing. Also to further help force the pieces into position.
  3. Filling I filled the seams, pits, and imperfections with 2-part polyester bodyfiller. This stuff is awesome! It’s firm and easy to work with and dries fast and hard.
  4. Sanding I then sanded everything with 240-grit sandpaper. I test-mounted the cabinet into the recess. It fit more or less.
  5. Priming I then primed the wood with Boysen Flat Wall Enamel. I searched high and low for something that actually says “primer” but I couldn’t find any. So I got the flat wall enamel. Luckily, it turned out to be what Boysen recommends for use as primer for quick dry enamel. I applied 3 coats of primer, sanding with 240-grit sandpaper between coats. I press-fitted the cabinet into the recess.
  6. Grouting When I was happy with the fit, I filled the seams between the tiles and the cabinet with pre-mixed grout.
  7. Painting I then painted the cabinet with 2 coats of Davies Gloss-It quick dry enamel, wet sanding with 600 grit sandpaper between coats. But I didn’t like the off-white shade of Davies so for the top/final coat, I used Boysen Quick Dry Enamel.

Next up, the mirrored door.