Engine bearing disintegrated - ouch ouch

[Jotto]

My 6 month old engine quit the other day, and here you can see why... the engine bearing disintegrated. One of the balls came loose and wreaked havoc inside the engine :-( This is/was an Align 55HZ.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is this user error or bad luck?

[CFHeli1]

I had the same happen to me. I had a Magnum center glide bearing installed and will never run a rear bearing again. It is a sleeve not a bearing, lifetime warranty, 24 hour turn around time and only $80. I have had one installed in all my motors. Even my .91 when it was brand new before the first start.

http://www.magnumfuels.com/store/bearings.php

[mrivers]

I have had the same thing happen twice on the same Align 55. My internals weren't quite as damaged as yours, so I just put new bearings and a ring in it and called it a day.

[Cra-Z-1]

That bearing looks very rusty. If it looks like that on the outside, I can only imagine what your inner races look like. Only takes the smallest pit in those races, and the bearing will start to eat itself. I run a Centerglide now also, and it is proving to be the best way to go for me, as I had extensive bearing problems, but my bearings never had any trace of rust on them, as I would thorougly flush the engine with after run oil after each session. If your going to continue running conventional radial bearings there, then I would recommend running the engine dry on the last run of the day, by pinching the fuel inlet line, and then make sure you cycle some after run oil through it. It helped me to remove the backplate and flush the bearing directly, and it never had any rust, but thats more trouble than most people want to go to. Sitting with fuel in it is the worst thing for the bearing.

[Commodore8888]

+1 on what Cra-z mentions. I did that with nitro cars for 11 years before getting into helis and never had rust problems unless I failed to run an engine dry.

The Align motors are contracted out to OS aren't they? In which case I had heard the same kind of issues with the OS .55 engines with the bearings. Good running engines but you have to be mindful.

Pretty interested in this YS .60 that's supposed to come out. Might be enough to get me to go nitro in helis.

[Jotto]

I always run the engine dry, but I don't use after run oil. I heard that the fuel contains enough oil to provide the same effect as after run oil, but that may be wrong.

Do you remove the glow plug to inject oil?

[fastone93]

I totally toasted a 55 last summer, same thing... only thing left that was usable were the bolts and the carb

I have since also went with the centerglide with good results, I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooo sick and tired of worrying about the rear bearings in my 55's...

[Cra-Z-1]

Originally Posted by Jotto

I always run the engine dry, but I don't use after run oil. I heard that the fuel contains enough oil to provide the same effect as after run oil, but that may be wrong.

Do you remove the glow plug to inject oil?

I always removed both the back plate and the glow plug, and injected oil into the cylinder and the bearing both. Since I'd have both removed, it also made it easy to spin the crank to work it in. In helis, it can be pretty hard to inject the oil into the carb through the intake, so you almost have to remove the back plate to get oil directly into the bearing.

That may or may not be plausible, depending on the design of your heli. The Align 600N's are very easy to access the back plate.

The oil in the fuel isnt what attacks the bearing surfaces; its the other ingredients, and also the exhaust fumes. The bi-product of burnt nitro fuel, is very corrosive. I have always kind of wondered if you store your engine with the piston near top dead center, if the fumes that travel out of the exhaust pipe and back into the engine, arent partially to blame for rusty rear bearings. Shortly before I went with the centerglide bearing, I had started making sure to store my engine with the piston at the bottom of the cyl. bore to counter any exhaust gases, but had not performed the scenario long enough to know if it was helping to increase my bearing life. My fly buddy always leaves his back plate off his heli during the week's storage routine, and he seems to have some pretty good luck with his bearings...could have something to do with this I think, as the exhaust gases would now travel out of the engine, and not be trapped in the crank case.

If you notice also, in the handbook for the OS engines, that they tell you not to leave fuel residue in the engine.

[Jotto]

Where do you purchase the centerglide? The "where to buy" link doesn't work.

[Jafa]

THE 55HZ comes with a folded metal bearing cage in the rear bearing - these are known to fail
If you have a metal cage you want the riveted style - much less likely for them to fail
The bearings from RCBearings are great and well priced
(They don't use a metal cage so no cage failures)

[John Cook]

yeah the rc bearings with the plastic cage is what I run. Cheap and last a long time too. Sorry to say you are not the first, nor likely the last this has happened to.

[Jotto]

I guess these bearings are correct for the Align 55HZ: http://www.rcbearings.com/align-50-55-hyper-bearings/

But which options? R6-2RS and 6902?

[Jafa]

I know the cages look plastic but they are not - they can handle temperature and are pretty strong

Chrome is a bit harder, stainless resists corrosion

R6ZZ Shielded Stainless
6902 Stainless Steel

[Jim Hansen]

[boogie12]

I just installed the stainless steel bearings from rcbearings a week ago and they are pretty good it seems like my motor runs alot quieter and has noticeably less vibrations. I'm going to probably order another set and just change them out every 4 to 6 months just to prevent any issues.

[beans07]

I just had a bearing fail me on less than 25 flights. It was an OS one. Not real happy but as the engine was rebuilt and not a brand new one I really have no warranty.

I think I will try the stanless ones from rcbearings and hope for better results.

[RC-Bearings]

Originally Posted by Jafa

I know the cages look plastic but they are not - they can handle temperature and are pretty strong

Chrome is a bit harder, stainless resists corrosion

R6ZZ Shielded Stainless
6902 Stainless Steel

The cages ARE plastic, PEEK plastic that is good for up to 250C. Bearings don't get very hot in a running engine because the cool air and fuel are flowing through that area. I am the only dealer with the PEEK retainer in a stainless steel bearing.

[Jafa]

The older OS bearings and bearings from many manufacturers use a polyamide retainer
I had just assumed yours was the same thing...

[RC-Bearings]

Originally Posted by Jafa

The older OS bearings and bearings from many manufacturers use a polyamide retainer
I had just assumed yours was the same thing...

Polyamides and PEEK have very similar characteristics with PEEK having the edge in impact resistance.

[Punkin71]

I'm having good luck with the stainless rc-bearings. After a flying session I burn off excess fuel in the engine, then remove the glow plug and crank the engine a few seconds to remove all exhaust gasses. After that the heli is stored in an air conditioned room.