Swash - Rakonheli or Microheli and why

[jim_stoll]

FUNBOSS - well, my first one lasted 4 days... :-) It clearly had a bad bearing and had just about seized up by the 4th day (and I was only making a handful of flights each day). I got another and have had it 5 days now, and its still going strong. The construction itself seems plenty strong enough, and I haven't heard anyone on here complaining of longevity issues w/ the MH swashplate. There were some rumblings about the Rakon swashplate's pressed-in and/or rivited balls loosening up, but I think thread lock largely resolved that. The MH balls are threaded, so that might make it a bit sturdier long-term than the Rakon one, but that's just supposition - I don't think anyone has had either one long enough to make a definitive call on longevity. Obviously, metal balls (vs the molded plastic balls on the stock swash) are going to be sturdier over time. The improvement in how the heli handles w/ the cnc swash seems to be pretty much beyond argument though. (and in fact, w/ my brushless setup turning out somewhere between 5k-6k rpm, I wouldn't really be comfortable flying w/ the sloppier stock plastic swash...)

[FUNBOSS]

That's the thing, I'm really leaning towards the rakon heli swash and last thing I want to see is the "upgraded" swash fail on me. I guess at some point its expected, but would like to see ROI (ie. 2for1 stock) replacement value.

I'm going to push the buy now button and report back :)

[jim_stoll]

That's the spirit! :-)

[branflake12]

any update, Jim?

[jim_stoll]

The new one is holding up fine. I haven't had a chance to try to tear the old one apart yet, but its on my list. :-)

Interestingly, the 3mm CF rod I bought for my solid main shaft was a bit large to fit through the main bearings, so I had to take it down a teeny bit. It fits through the bearings now, but the MH swash has a little bit of play on it, and I'm getting a little bit of slop from that play. Its still way better than the stock swash though.

I've not yet received my replacement swash from HH (I bought another on my own while I was waiting for MH and HH to work things out in terms of the warranty replacement), but I trust that it'll just show up in the mail one of these days.

[brianp6621]

Interestingly, the 3mm CF rod I bought for my solid main shaft was a bit large to fit through the main bearings, so I had to take it down a teeny bit.

I JUST had that same experience. Got the holes drilled very nicely only to find out it wouldn't fit through the main frame bearings. How did you thin it down evenly?

[jim_stoll]

I started out taping a sheet of super-fine sandpaper (600 grit or so) to the floor, then taped more of the same to a very flat piece of MDF (wider than the rod is long), put the rod on the paper on the floor and just rolled it back and forth with the sandpaper-covered MDF over the floor patch over and over until it got closer to the right diameter. I then used an old bearing sort of as a die and repeatedly dragged the bearing down the shaft (with the bearing removing a little bit of material each pass) until it fit on smoothly. You have to get it pretty close with the sandpaper before trying to finish it w/ the bearing. It took probably 10+ minutes of rolling it on the paper to get it down to close to the right size. Undoubtedly, rougher paper would go more quickly, but I was afraid of getting the rod out of shape by going at it with something rougher.

Probably the best/easiest thing to do is to find some honest-to-gosh 3mm rod. :-)

[jeffpack1957]

I've got the RKH swash, and its now developed some rather noticeable play on the swash balls that attach to the collective. The heli now shudders badly sometimes goes from postive collective to neutral.

I've sent email to rKH, so we'll see what they say.

[jeffpack1957]

My RKH swash has a developed a noticeable play on the collective. Looking closely the arms into the swash (for collective) have noticeable slop now.

[Heli24]

I got my MH swash today, got it from Quantum and the balls for the grip links were to small. The link wont snap on at all. will call Quantum tomm. we will see!!

[Uncle Chop Chop]

I've got the RKH swash, and its now developed some rather noticeable play on the swash balls that attach to the collective. The heli now shudders badly sometimes goes from postive collective to neutral.

I've sent email to rKH, so we'll see what they say.
Keep us updated as I'm interested if this is a major problem, especially if one would convert to BL. Seems Paolo doesn't have any issues. How many flights has it done?

[brianp6621]

I got my MH swash today, got it from Quantum and the balls for the grip links were to small. The link wont snap on at all. will call Quantum tomm. we will see!!

Very odd, the MH swash is working well for so many people. Hopefully they get you a new one soon.

Are you sure your links aren't worn out? Did you try new ones?

[Heli24]

Yes i was doing a complete rebuild, i tryed 4 new links they snaped on just fine on one side, the other ball was just to small. i could set the heli on its side and the link would fall off. I called quantum and he is sending me a replacement no questions ask. For a hobbyshop run by him and his wife they have very fast shipping and great customer service what more can u ask for.

[brianp6621]

Yes i was doing a complete rebuild, i tryed 4 new links they snaped on just fine on one side, the other ball was just to small. i could set the heli on its side and the link would fall off. I called quantum and he is sending me a replacement no questions ask. For a hobbyshop run by him and his wife they have very fast shipping and great customer service what more can u ask for.

Definitely sounds like a one-off defective piece.

[profilefan]

So microheli is the better one to get? I am going to be in the market for one since I'm on my last two balls on my stock swash :)

[roguetrooperau]

Anyone tried the new v2 RKH swash?
Only info I know of is it has steel balls now(?), they still are push in but have some sort of clip at the back to hold them in(?).
Info was relayed to me, I haven't seen one up close.

[65L88]

Anyone tried the new v2 RKH swash?
Only info I know of is it has steel balls now(?), they still are push in but have some sort of clip at the back to hold them in(?).
Info was relayed to me, I haven't seen one up close.

I have a v2 on the way, I'm expecting it tomorrow. I'll let you know...

[65L88]

I have a v2 on the way, I'm expecting it tomorrow. I'll let you know...

My new v2 swash came in yesterday, I just got a chance to look at it. The balls are steel, they are threaded in. The lower balls appear to be loctited, the upper balls are NOT loctited, so if you get one be sure to check it out before installing it. I haven't installed it yet, so I don't now how it performs. I'm sure it will do very nicely...

[65L88]

My new v2 swash came in yesterday, I just got a chance to look at it. The balls are steel, they are threaded in. The lower balls appear to be loctited, the upper balls are NOT loctited, so if you get one be sure to check it out before installing it. I haven't installed it yet, so I don't now how it performs. I'm sure it will do very nicely...

Update: just installed the swash, used red loctite on the upper balls, the lower ones use a tiny hex driver that I didn't have to tighten, felt tight so I just applied a tiny bit of penetrating threadlocker (green) to the stud end of the ball where it slightly protrudes from the threaded hole, Definitely an improvement over the stock swash, the heli is more solid and responsive to input, easier to hold position with less stick input needed.

[Being]

Why would you need loctite on these?