Balancing Blades - How/Why?

[dazzla777]

Guys,

Applogies for my Ignorance to this hobby - am new to all this, but what doe balancing you blades actually do!

I havent balanced my blades and have been reading on here its vital that this is done as part of set up!

Can someone explain what the benefits are?

I have been flying my 200 without balanced blades and have no vibrations/rattles etc. It seems to fly perfectly as is, what difference would balancing these blades make to the helis performance (I'm using plastic blades at mo but have a set of woodies which thinking of trying at weekend?)

Furthermore to this. I dont understand why blades (especially more expwensive carbon ones), arn't precision moulded and balanced during production, this would make more sense to me?

Regards

Darren

[papa.alpha]

Darren,

It is pretty much the same as balancing the tires on your car. It is a rotating mass that when out of balance will vibrate and a cause problems with bearings etc. The 200's blades are really light so unless they are way out of whack it isn't going to cause the problems you would see on a bigger heli. The woodies I've used on mine have been very close right out of the bag, so I didn't mess with them. Pretty much the same as your experience.

You will like the wood blades. They are stiffer then the plastic ones. The heli flies much "crisper" with the wood blades.

I imagine balancing the blades as part of production is simply a cost issue. To do a good job it takes a little time and a little talent which would go right into the cost of the blades and people would complain if they paid the premium and they weren't right on the money. I believe they do try to match the weights of the blades. My limited experience with 450's and 500's is that two blades packaged together are fairly close in weight (but not necessarily balanced). If you mix them with another package the weight can vary considerably. If you watch the Finless balancing video he explains the whole thing. (He did have a set of carbons that were way out of whack and wound up with a roll of tape on them, so my experience with weight may also be out of whack!)

Phil

[Buzzkill]

I got a set of Gaui woodies that where a gram out of balance. You wouldn't believe the amount of wobble/vibration it caused.

[Gr4yb3ard]

As before, do balance your blades before flying...

Finless's video is superb! You will need a balance tool, like an axle put through the mounting holes of the blades, that then rotates on some kind of support. The vid will show you, but you'll need the correct size axle for the hole in the 200 blades. Then you need a smooth, straight rod, good bet would be your spare mainshaft, don't try use a drillbit to replace the rod, btw.

I got a Helimax balancing device for my larger stuff, but it's pretty much worthless for blades as light as the 200, I'm looking for a 200 sized balancer, I'll holler if I find something.

Also, there is a rather excellent article in, *I think* the Jan or Feb issue of RC Heli on the subject. This is the way you do it if you're a real nutcase like us, but Finless's method is superior in several respects, as it relies on low tech, and is still very accurate.

Don't neglect this, it makes flying more fun, and you never know... I blew up a cppro with bad blades once.

Gr4yb3ard
" ...I'm beginning to think this was a stupid idea. ..Yessir, but it was yours....)

[rotorhead58d]

i struggled with control of the heli until i balanced my blades, and set the tracking right. largest improvement i've made so far.