Which CNC/Aluminum head?

[Buzzkill]

Having better luck with the head. Using two flybar weights now and the Microheli pitch linkage rods.

[Rhumba555]

I have the "Blade TX" head from HeliDirect. It works well after you resize all the plastic ball links (way too tight).
Pics of the head on my HDX300 are in the post called "HDX300 Pics" in this forum. Check 'em out!
:wink:

[slikrx]

I have the "Blade TX" head from HeliDirect. It works well after you resize all the plastic ball links (way too tight).
Pics of the head on my HDX300 are in the post called "HDX300 Pics" in this forum. Check 'em out!
:wink:
My HDX 300 head just arrived.

I'm not so sure I'm all that happy with it...

Yeah many of the plastic ball links are too tight (no biggie).

The swash plate is sticky. It slides up & down nicely, but it kind of sticks when rolling/tipping/pivoting it around.

And lastly, the blade grips are a bit "notchy" or "ratchety" when you rotate them on the spindle/feathering shaft. Probably means they're either too tight or too loose, but I'm not sure which.

I had hoped I'd get up early enough to go pester Finless in person, but sleep got the better of me! :arggg:

Hi hooo...
Hi hooo...
Off to the LHS I go...
:roll:

[slikrx]

Well, I took the head up to my LHS and had a couple folks look at it. The comments of both were that the swash plate was "so-so" and probably usable (but not great) and that the blade grips/feathering shaft was just really not good.

I spent 45 minutes or so taking the grips off. When completely unloaded, hthe bearings are fairly smooth. The moment you apply a side load (you assemble it) the notchy-ness returns.

Now, if it were just one portion of this that were bad, I'd probably suck it up and try to repaire/replace pieces/parts. As it is, I just submitted a request for an RMA from helidrect.com and a refund. I gave them the option of sending me replacement components, but I doubt that will happen.

Helidirect is great about answering pre-purchse questions, but they seem to never get around to closing out problem orders that have been shipped & received. Even when the matter is only for ~$0.75

[Rhumba555]

My blade grips were notchy as well until I added a couple of the damper shims. I seem to recall that there should be no load on the bearings along their axis of rotation. There should be only the slightest of end play when the bolts are tightened so that there is no longitudinal load on the bearings. That smoothed things out and the heli stabilzed a bit also.

[slikrx]

Yeah, these aren't thrust bearings, but I would actually need to remove stuff (shave the rubber dampers/bushings?) to reduce/eliminate the sideloads.

And since the swash is also acting up, I'd rather not mess with anything in case I am able to send it back.

If helidirect tells me to pound sand, I'll start tinkering and tweeking. But in the meantime, I'll leave the head pristine.

:dontknow
:(

[Rhumba555]

Sounds good. I like to tinker with stuff and if I have to disassemble something to modify it them I have a better understanding of how it works compared to how it is supposed to work. Good engineering doesn't always make all the way through final production and I get a kick out of finding the mistakes and fixing them.

Good Luck.

[Buzzkill]

Wow, sorry to hear about te bad luck. Maybe try the microheli head?

[djtedatlanta]

the head for the honey bee is a good bit cheaper. I have one coming this week and I'll let you know.