bigbuster

My Feedback: (12)

Guys I have been balancing some props and some of them need quite a bit of weight. How do you aall add weight other than painting and sanding the heavy side?



Thanks
Jeff

arobatx

check this out:

http://www.dodvideos.com/don3.wmv

Chad

bigbuster

My Feedback: (12)

THANKS Arobatx that is what i'm looking for.


Jeff

Dr1Driver

I take a small Dubro teeter balancer with me whenever I'm buying props. If the prop bangs down to one side, I dont buy it. If it swings down gently, it's ok to balance.

I do not recommend sanding a prop to balance it. A light spray of clear poly-u on the light blade will usually balance most props. If it needs more than that, don't use it.

Dr.1

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

My thoughts zactly. I use clear Luster coat and spray the light tip. I use 5 min epoxy on the light side of the hub. I never sand weight off a prop.

karolh

I now do it the Dr1Driver way which makes it a painless exercise. I once bought a Zinger wood that was just about impossible to balance.

Karol

Dr1Driver

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

I found that, even IF you can get a badly OOB prop to balance, it's no longer efficient and the weight inhibits a quick spin up and run down.

Sanding a wood prop removes the protective varnish and exposes the bare wood to the elements and fuel. Sanding a composite prop may create stress lines that will cause failure.

Dr.1

Bosch232

My Feedback: (1)

I also do it how they show in the video. (In fact, I didn't know about hub balancing until I saw that vid about a year ago.)
I did, however, have one piece of velcro come off the hub.
So I don't use velcro anymore.

I use a blob of 10 min epoxy instead, and that seems to stay on.
You can dab on a bit more than needed, and then gradually sand off the epoxy until it's where you want it.
It sounds time-consuming, but it's not bad.
And I take a bit of satisfaction out of balancing props anyway, I kind of enjoy doing it. [8D]

Jaketab

My Feedback: (2)

The DOD balance method works very well for me. My method is modified slightly in that I use fine gloss polyurethane to spray the tips for horizontal balance. To balance the heavy side of the hub, I drill a 1/16th or 3/32nd hole in the very top of the light side of the hub. The drill hole runs parallel to the bolts through the prop hub. Fill the hole with 2-56 or 4-40 rod depending on how much weight needed to balance the hub. One small drop of CA and it’s not going to move. I’ve had Velcro or weights glued to the hub come off before. This makes a much neater balance job and you can barely see that a small hole has been drilled in the hub.
Buff out the prop as needed to restore the gloss or remove the overspray. Props seem to always work their way out of balance after a dozen of so flights.
I recheck mine about once a month.

Jaketab

Captcrunch44

wow just whached the vido on how to balence prop. excepet for the velcro thats what i have been doing for years.

karolh

I use a similar method as Jaketab to hub balance, but I use #6 lead bird shot and a dab of epoxy.

Karol