What do you think about the stock Align rotor head for the Trex500L ?

[lahannsven]

Hi folks,

I assembled my new Trex500L and realized that the stock Align rotor head is very flexible in comparison to the Trex450 DFC.

I fear a bit that the linkages will jump off in high speed actions.

What do you think about the Trex500 DFC rotor head upgrade (ALH50181), which is much more fix and lowers the rotorhead ?


Sven

[Gladius]

I do not like the align heads, because they do not clamp to the main shaft - the Jesus bolt is all that is holding the head to the main shaft, and it's just not up to the task. You can get a tarot head for pretty cheap, and it's pretty decent quality. I would go that route.

[JaggedEdge]

How many of these helis with the stock head have flown without issues for years?
With proper setup and link sizing the stock head will be fine.

It's the lack of flexibility which has caused some DFC head designs to fail.

[HindandSeek]

Not to hijack the thread, but I bought a 500DFC upgrade kit, but everyone's advising me to go the Tarot non-DFC route instead. Would a 500L head fit a 500CF/GF/ESP?
I haven't found a standalone dominator head anywhere though.

[Gladius]

You can use any head on any of the 500's. You just need to choose the appropriate length main shaft, and verify that your links are the right length.

I have used the stock Align heads on both my 500 and my 600. The one on the 600 was too loose on the main shaft, and because you couldn't clamp it, there wasn't any adjustment that could be made. I tried wrapping something around the main shaft, but the gap wasn't big enough. I could tighten down on the jesus bolt, but that isn't really designed for such things, and after a few flights, the bolt would deform. I switched to a KDE head with proper clamping, and no more problems. The Align head that I had on my 500 was a lot better, but would still wiggle a little, and flight was not as smooth as it could be. That heli now has an i2rc head, which is simply amazing.

[MGPTWEGB]

The best combo...for the money....
Clamping Tarot FBL head block with Align or Tarot mixing arms and the Align DFC blade holders

RC-tek main block with thier mixing arms with the Align DFC blade holders would be the BOMB.... but cost more ....

KDE, RC-Tek, Tarot main blocks clamp to the main shaft....... There all great units

Next..... Another great unit is the Trac-X / Compass Atom 500 head..... Its what Align copied but didn't get right with the DFC. The Atom 500 head doesn't have the problems that the Align DFC has. Its easy on servo's unlike the DFC head.

[SumOFparts]

The KDE 500 head blocks are a direct change out - just swap the grips, pieces ect......guarantee no wobble on them....

They're on clearance for half price at their main site and its vendors....




http://www.kdedirect.com/collections...ts/at500-mrhfb

[lahannsven]

Hi folks,

thanks for all the replies. I saw there are some interesting parts on the U.S. WEB pages. Unfortunately I am located in Europe.


Very interesting seems on the RC-TEK page:

i2RC FBL500A-Pro 500 Class High Performance Flybarless Rotor Head

Do you know which provider ships to Europe ?
Also Tarot is not available in Europe.

Luxembourg is really the desert.


Sven

[mlp3028]

Originally Posted by lahannsven

Hi folks,

thanks for all the replies. I saw there are some interesting parts on the U.S. WEB pages. Unfortunately I am located in Europe.


Very interesting seems on the RC-TEK page:

i2RC FBL500A-Pro 500 Class High Performance Flybarless Rotor Head

Do you know which provider ships to Europe ?
Also Tarot is not available in Europe.

Luxembourg is really the desert.


Sven

I have one of these and they are a quality piece, but a little pricey. Contact Bob (the owner) directly at RC-TEK and he will get back to you with the information you need. His customer service is outstanding and very fast. Usually less than one day. Good luck!

[cedron]

The align head on my dominator has the bolt and it clamps to the main shaft

[Gladius]

Does the head have a split in it, so that when the bolt & nut is tightened, it pulls the 2 parts together? The Align heads that I have used had a split, but the Jesus bolt was above where the head was split, so it didn't do anything.

[tonys-heli]

thats what im looking for, but mine is the dfc. just want the headblock to clamp on the mainshaft and be able to use stock spindles and blade grips.

[Gladius]

I read somewhere else that the Tarot head block is almost identical to the KDE one. So if the KDE block allows you to use the stock Align spindle and grips, then the Tarot one should as well. (I have a KDE head on my 600, with stock spindle and grips.). Get yourself a Tarot DFC head, and go from there.

[tonys-heli]

i did buy just the dfc headblock from tarot, but its bigger for some reason. doesnt look like it will fit

[Gladius]

Bigger how? Is it wider? Or taller? How does the hole for the Jesus bolt line up with the stock Align head?

This is good stuff. Seems there isn't a lot of collective knowledge on these, so this is good info.

[tonys-heli]

I e-mailed the retailer where I bought it because I think what happened is somehow the headblock for a 600 got put in the bag for a 500 , it happens..the one I got is for a 10mm shaft . I have spare shafts and spindles for the dfc so I kinda want to stick with that and don't want to change to the longer shaft and fl arms. I have the i2rc swashplate dfc also.. I really like the compass/tracx head ..looks like a beast and really solid good thing I work a lot of ot...i'll keep ya posted

[danfornow1]

For what its worth, I have the Tarot head on two different 500's and it has been nothing but trouble. The head block tolerances are loose and when tightened down it puts the MR blades out of track.
I changed about every part and bearings on both heli's before I discovered that this was the problem. (Blades, gears, main shafts, bearings etc..)
You can pull the head to one side before clamping down but that doesn't hold as soon as you pick up to hover. You can set it back down and measure it and it has gone right back to its own center which is out of line again.
I'm going to give the KDE block a try. Looks like it should be a direct swap.

Edit - Talking about non-dfc here

[nabl74]

Originally Posted by cedron

The align head on my dominator has the bolt and it clamps to the main shaft

concur

[nabl74]

Originally Posted by Gladius

Does the head have a split in it, so that when the bolt & nut is tightened, it pulls the 2 parts together? The Align heads that I have used had a split, but the Jesus bolt was above where the head was split, so it didn't do anything.

undoing the Jesus bolt on the 500l doesnt allow you to remove rotor head. you have to loosen the swash arm follower bolts. these bolts clamp down around the shaft also i believe.

[Gladius]

I wasn't talking about the 500L head. I was referring to the old style heads on the 500 and 600 which did not have clamping bolts. Based on what people said in this thread, I went ahead and got a 500L head with the clamping bolts. My impression of the fit is that it is really nice, but I haven't gotten a chance to fly it yet, so I can't comment on its flight characteristics yet.