Tired of Notched Bearings? The Solution - KDE Direct Thrusted Bearing Blocks

[KDE Direct]

To finish off the TREX 500 line of upgrades from KDE Direct, I'm pleased to announce the release of the TREX Aluminum Metal Bearing Block Upgrade and the fully loaded TREX 500 SERIES X-KIT. Check it all out at http://www.kdedirect.com/500SeriesProducts.html and the product comes with all the necessary hardware to get a fully thrust-bearing supported, high-performance bearing setup for the 500. All of the bearings have been custom manufactured to precision tolerances, with ample clearance on all sides for the thrust bearing to work most efficiently and provide you with more power, less drag on the rotorhead, and improved autorotation capability; as well as preventing the rapid deterioration of the stock radial bearings due to high axial-loads common in today's hardcore 3D flying styles.

I hope you all enjoy this new upgrade and the aesthetics have been designed to improve upon the already great looks and sweeps of the rest of the KDE Direct line-up.

[jvthert]

It looks sweet! But how much is the weight increase approximately?

[snjbird]

Kevin,
love your stuff, thanks for all the hard work!

[mayawork]

Yes, I love products of KDE.

[Slyster]

REALLY cool. Just the bling factor is nice. I will invest in the whole works.. but it's going to wait a month or two.. just bought 8 lipos!

[Foster]

I would really like to know the weight of Align stock parts vs these? I want this set no matter what though because they eliminate nearly all phillips head screws

[KDE Direct]

I do not have detailed information on the weight of the Align Metal Main Shaft Bearing Blocks, but they are definitely heavy (no pocketing to remove material) and the new KDE Direct designs are extremely light and strong. I used Finite-Element Analysis to provide the height strength:weight ratio, so I'm confident they are very competitive on the market.

[LoveMyTrex]

the trex 500 has no philip head screws, maybe your thinking self tapping screws?

[Mike66]

How do you grease the bearings in the bearing block?

[KDE Direct]

The best option is to grease the bearings before installing them in the bearing block, either by hand or using "The Greaser", which is sold through various online vendors. The radial bearings shipped with the unit are greased at the factory, so the only items you'll need to grease are the thrust bearings and the silicon grease provided by Align works just fine for this. I prefer to use a synthetic bearing grease I purchased from an automotive store that is very sticky and won't fling out from the bearing races during use, but most greases will work just fine.

[JaggedEdge]

I have a 500ESP with all the KDE parts except for the thrusted bearing blocks and the heli AUW is 4lb 2.7oz or 1890grams.

KDE Bottom bracket
KDE Battery tray.
KDE RX plate.
KDE Antirotation bracket.

[xptical]

Originally Posted by kegerator

I do not have detailed information on the weight of the Align Metal Main Shaft Bearing Blocks, but they are definitely heavy (no pocketing to remove material) and the new KDE Direct designs are extremely light and strong. I used Finite-Element Analysis to provide the height strength:weight ratio, so I'm confident they are very competitive on the market.

Way to dodge the question there...

Grab a gram scale and the new parts and throw them on there. Give us some numbers.

[KDE Direct]

That's funny, I'm not trying to dodge the question, I truly don't have a gram scale at my office. I'm planning on going out to buy one this coming weekend, so I'll have more information for you soon. The reason I haven't been tracking this specifically is that I haven't witnessed any noticeable change in flight characteristics due to the slight increase in weight; even friends of mine who compete in 3D competitions cannot feel the difference. Overall, if I was to guess, Aluminum 6061-T6 is typically 2x the weight of the soft Nylon resin plastic Align is using.

[Chris7378]

Just received 3 sets of 500 blocks from kegerator.

They are awesome. I´ll put them together and install them in my rexes tonight.

BTW: on my kitchen scale they weight 18 grams.....but does it really matter? Do you guys fly that thing that good that you can tell the difference of a few grams????????

Once again many thanks to KDE Direct an Leslie for the outstanding product and service.

Chris

[Mike66]

I just ordered a set of blocks for my 500 kit. I have a set of blocks from Microheli, but the bearings cannot be removed for greasing (at least I cannot remove them). The thrust bearings are dry and when I asked Microheli how to remove the bearings, the reply was to send them back to Canada and they will lube them. Huh?

I am looking forward to putting a set of Patrick's bearing blocks in my heli. Until they arrive, my build is on hold

[HeatShrink]

The Align metal bearing blocks(no frame screws) weigh 13.35g apiece.

The Kasama metal bearing blocks weigh 18.54g apiece.

I used a gram scale with 0.01g resolution.

[BryMeister]

Is there a problem with the stock 500 ESP bearings that I am not aware of?

[KDE Direct]

Sorry about the delay, I just purchased a gram scale and here are the weight I measured (no bearings or screws):

Align Metal Bearing Blocks: 13.5 g
KDE Direct Bearing Blocks: 11.3 g

[Ludde]

hmm.. did I miss anything? I tried to mount a AT500-KIT kit on my ESP 500 and the battery tray and gyro mount is ONE mm less wider than the frame?
It says it for the ESP 500 version..

the main bearing block is 39mm and the battery tray and gyro mount is 38 mm.. ?

looks like crap..!!
dont wana pull the frame sides in on the battery tray and gyro/rx mount and then push it out on the bearing blocks and bottom plate!!!

[Mike66]

The MicroHeli bearing block weighs 15Kg. Most of that weight is likely the cinder block I tied to it to ensure it sinks to the bottom of the lake.

Seriously, one weighs 17.21g and the other weighs 17.38g, with bearings, but without grease (which is the problem).