Fan Vibration
06-08-2009, 01:04 PM
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Fan Vibration
I have noticed on lower power settings on my Exceed F-35 that there is a bit of vibration, but when the motor is ran up the vibration seems to smooth out! I ran the EDF with the hatch off and noticed at those lower power settings it appears the fan or impeller seems out of round, you can actually see it not turning true on the motor shaft, not a whole lot but enough to make the vibration sound. Is this something I should live with or try and fix, the plane flies great and I go by the old school of thought of "if it aint broke dont fix it" Am I taking a chance of someday this will develope into a inflight castrophe and cause the fan unit to fail? Any help would be appreciated. Happy Landings............
PoppyDon</p>
06-08-2009, 02:09 PM
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RE: Fan Vibration
Your biggest concern is to make sure that the blades are not rubbing up against the fan shroud at high speed.
After that, to be sure that the fan spins centered on the shaft, and is balanced.
A truely out of round condition will not go away at higher speeds, if anything it should get far worst.
If the blades are not rubbing, leave it as is.
To determine if the blades are rubbing, put a drop of oil or WD-40 on a paper towel and wipe the inside of the shroud.
This will make the plastic darker because of the oil. Make sure that there is just a tiny bit of oil on the shroud.
Run the motor up to full for a few seconds.
Any rubbing will be much more apparent as a lighter scored area, thanks to the oil.
At the point of the scoring, insert some sandpaper and turn all the blades against the sandpaper, to grind off a little plastic.
Remove the sandpaper and repeat until no scoring occurs.
Balancing the prop is difficult without a dynamic balancer. Most prop balancers ( even the magnetic ones ) are not sensitive enough for these little EDF props.
After that, to be sure that the fan spins centered on the shaft, and is balanced.
A truely out of round condition will not go away at higher speeds, if anything it should get far worst.
If the blades are not rubbing, leave it as is.
To determine if the blades are rubbing, put a drop of oil or WD-40 on a paper towel and wipe the inside of the shroud.
This will make the plastic darker because of the oil. Make sure that there is just a tiny bit of oil on the shroud.
Run the motor up to full for a few seconds.
Any rubbing will be much more apparent as a lighter scored area, thanks to the oil.
At the point of the scoring, insert some sandpaper and turn all the blades against the sandpaper, to grind off a little plastic.
Remove the sandpaper and repeat until no scoring occurs.
Balancing the prop is difficult without a dynamic balancer. Most prop balancers ( even the magnetic ones ) are not sensitive enough for these little EDF props.
