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04-03-2011, 08:54 PM | #1 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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Tail control rod's threaded rod came off
Yesterday I had a near disaster at the field. First flight of the day with my Aurora nitro and doing aileron tic-tocs about 3 feet off the ground when the tail starts spinning wildly. The model was on the inverted side of the tic-toc with the disc tilted toward me. I was able to stick in a bunch of negative pitch and get it climbing up and away. As soon as it got about 30 feet up I hit throttle hold... it stopped spinning and I was able to roll it upright and set it down unharmed... very lucky.
So, upon inspection at the field, it looked like the front ball link had come off the threaded rod, which is hidden by the brass sleeve. But when I got it home, it turned out that the threaded rod had come out of the carbon tube. The threads on the rod were encased in a perfectly round cylinder of hard epoxy. So, I assume that the epoxy did not adhere properly to the inside of the carbon tube. Well, I started pulling on the ball link on the other end of the control rod, and sure enough, it pulled right out rather easily with the same epoxy cylinder on the threads. My first thought was, "what did I do wrong in the build". But I've gone back and looked in the manual and it would appear that I built the rod as described. I'm wondering if my carbon rod had some dust inside it that prevented the epoxy from adhering to the inner walls. Has anyone ever seen this before? Is there some special preparation (flush with alcohol) to be done to the tube before gluing in the threaded rod? John
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John Hall Tallahassee, FL |
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04-03-2011, 10:37 PM | #2 (permalink) |
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Hey John,
When working with carbon you want to clean the inside really good. I build alot of CF arrows and if the inside is not clean well the insert will pull right out... Same with heli stuff anytime you are gluing something into a CF tube ruff up the inside and clean it with Acetone. The way I clean mine is I get some 120-150 grit sand paper(good quality stuff) I tear a piece off and roll it up so it will fit inside the push rod get enough wrapped up so it's strong and wont tear off. I try to get as far in as I can and just twist it to scuff up the inside and remove any loose fibers in their. Once done I pour a bit of Acitone in a glass jar about an inch or 2 deep I have sitting here just put the end in and swish it around some then shake it off a bit... (I would do this outside). With larger CF tubes like the Boom supports I use a bore brush for cleaning guns and run it in and out a few times... Only about a deep as the brush. Then clean it like the push rods. Once thats done just glue it up and you should be good. Hope this helps.. Thats just my process of doing it but I'm sure their are others that do it different and gave great results.
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George I don't crash. I land with style. Bowtech and Hoyt |
04-04-2011, 12:30 AM | #3 (permalink) |
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George,
Thanks for the tips on cleaning the tube. John
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John Hall Tallahassee, FL |
04-04-2011, 05:58 AM | #4 (permalink) |
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Tradhunt has it. I build arrows as well and I use sandpaper/bore brush. The only thing I'd add is that I had the best luck with a 2-part epoxy for the glue. Some CA glue won't work quite as well. A lot of guys I know use gorilla glue and have had great results on their arrows as well. One guy at the local club got so mad at his tips pulling out of his arrows he started using JB weld.
ken |
04-04-2011, 06:49 PM | #5 (permalink) |
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Yes like Ken say's... Use 2 part epoxy or JB weld. I prefer 2 part epoxy because if need be you can still remove the threaded rod with a little heat. I do this often when I break an arrow and save the insert for extras.
It doesn't take much heat I use a little single burner camp stove I use to heat up glue for mounting points on wood shafts(I have the glue in a pot and heat it up.. save's time when building 4-5 dozen arrows for customers). Anyways just run it through the flame a little and test it with pliers it should pull right out if not just run it through the flame a couple more times and it should be good. Hey Ken, Yes I've used Gorilla glue several times for inserts it works very well. The Blue cap stuff.. the other gorilla glue expands so you don't want that. But good ole epoxy is my preferance.
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George I don't crash. I land with style. Bowtech and Hoyt |
04-06-2011, 08:02 PM | #6 (permalink) |
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Sanded and cleaned with Acetone as suggested. I thought I'd try Gorilla Glue since I've used it before on other models and have never had it fail. Based on me pulling on the threaded rods as hard as I can... they're NOT coming out again!
So, I got the rod back on the model and flight tested it today, worked fine. I noticed a ticking sound as the blades spooled down after the test flight. Walked up to the model and saw the shaft pin sticking partially out of the tail drive gear!!!! :-( It's like this model is jinxed for me or something. Just glad it didn't come out in flight. John
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John Hall Tallahassee, FL Last edited by flyanything; 04-08-2011 at 06:32 PM.. |
04-07-2011, 01:14 AM | #7 (permalink) |
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Glad you got it working again. I'd keep a good eye on the Gorilla rod though due to the vibes and workout from a 90 heli.
Good you found the pin before something bad happened... Not jinxed things just happen could have been something with the locktite. To bad about the post getting deleted. I don't know why they would take it as a negative towards Avant as it's more of a user error thing(sorry no offense intended) not a product failure.
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George I don't crash. I land with style. Bowtech and Hoyt |
04-07-2011, 12:39 PM | #8 (permalink) |
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I saw this thread the other day but I didn't put two and two together and realize it was you John! Silly me.
The only time that has happened to me was when I crashed in February. I've used two-part 30 min epoxy and it's worked fine until then but mine pulled out clean just like your picture. I chipped it all off and scored the inside of the tube with an allen driver real good before I put it back in. Gorilla glue should do just fine too I would think. I would have been out last weekend but the last thing I needed to do to get ready again was program a new model in my DX8 and I was on track to do that when I found I had the dreaded bad pot issue on aileron. Frank is hooking me up with a replacement radio today so hopefully I'll be in the air this weekend. Give me a call if you need anything bro. - Chris
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04-07-2011, 12:56 PM | #9 (permalink) |
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Hey Chris! We are both flying Aurora nitro/DX8 now... I'm loving the DX8 so far. The Aurora is the only model I have on it, all others are still on my DX7se. If I can fix the gear pin before Saturday maybe there'll be two Aurora's flying at the field this weekend. Updated the firmware in my Castle HV110 esc so I have to recalibrate the throttle channel on the TRex 700 Electric... it's been misbehaving in GOV mode with the new, more powerful lipos I started using last week. See you out there!
Thanks, John
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John Hall Tallahassee, FL |
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