General Belt vs Torque Tube (Keep It Civil!)

Tony

Tony

Staff member
Here will will talk about the pros and cons of the tail belt and the tail TT. If you have an opinion, post it up. All that I ask is NO bashing someone else and keep it civil. If anything gets out of hand, this whole thread will go away as will the post count that you have in this thread.

All posts in this thread have been moved from another thread!
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

The funky tail boom probably makes it too difficult to fit a TT. But looking at the way people like Bert Kammerer throw them around, i can't see any disadvantage with belt.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

Lee said:
The funky tail boom probably makes it too difficult to fit a TT. But looking at the way people like Bert Kammerer throw them around, i can't see any disadvantage with belt.
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I know mechanically they are just as capable as a torque tube. But you have more moving parts since you need guides and a tensioner for the belt. Then there is also the belt that needs replacement. Its an odd engineering choice IMO and I wonder if there is more to it?

Beautiful looking helicopters and the machine work looks great. I would hesitate owning one just because of part availability though. I can't run to my local hobby store and get parts. Since this is there first year hopefully they get bigger and get more retailers.
 
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Re: wiring motor to esc help

I was just joking around with the above smiley lol.

If you read up on the Goblin, the tail gears are MUCH bigger than Align thus giving the tail way more authority and less chance of slipping which is a problem with Align and the small gears. As Lee said, they are smacking these things around and never once have I seen a tail go out.
 
For goblin its about design. The belt system is more reliable I'm the end. I can't imagine what it would cost if a tube went out on this kit.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

murankar said:
For goblin its about design. The belt system is more reliable I'm the end. I can't imagine what it would cost if a tube went out on this kit.
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I'm sorry I mentioned goblin now at the beginning of this thread seems to have set a lot of folks off into the land dreams. When I saw one in London a few weeks ago it was good I even picked it up, big, yes
but nothing that special (he lied) one thing the owner didn't like was the messing around to remove the front to get to battery etc. Dream on folks.
 
I think the goblin uses the same front load battery tray. I am not to versed in the ways of goblin.

P.s. I think this is a dream for all the heli guys on here. I know unless I get a huge promotion I can not afford one. I was barely able to get the Protos and I am loving it.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

Tony said:
If you read up on the Goblin, the tail gears are MUCH bigger than Align thus giving the tail way more authority and less chance of slipping which is a problem with Align and the small gears. As Lee said, they are smacking these things around and never once have I seen a tail go out.
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I'm not questioning the mechanical ability of belt drive. In that sense belt and torque tube are equavalent and are capable of pretty much the same performance. Belt drive uses more moving parts, with more moving parts comes more expense and more maintenance. I'm questioning the choice to use belt drive why was it prefered over torque tube?

I dont really expect anyone here to know the answer including myself but its fun to hear different people's opinions. It could be as simple as Lee stated the funky tail design and the quest to be different lead to it. I have no doubt Bert could fly just about anything better than 99.9999% of us could.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

I wouldn't say that belt has more moving parts.
TT : 2 Umbrella gears front, 2 front bearings, Torque tube and bearings, 2 rear bearings, umbrella gears rear.
BLT: 1 drive gear, belt, tail shaft gear. Some do have belt tensioners, but still more simple.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

Lee said:
I wouldn't say that belt has more moving parts.
TT : 2 Umbrella gears front, 2 front bearings, Torque tube and bearings, 2 rear bearings, umbrella gears rear.
BLT: 1 drive gear, belt, tail shaft gear. Some do have belt tensioners, but still more simple.
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The Belt drive also uses bearings :) The gears I'll give you but you have 2 pulleys in the front and rear that then drive gears that negate the gears in the torque tube. The goblin also uses a belt tensioner.

I think the belt would be more complex.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

I will see your 4 bearings an raise it to 6 bearings. Your move LOL :D
All i can say is a love my belt system on my Warp 360. A lot less to break in a crash, as normally the belt just shreds, no gears to worry about.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

What does the belt cost to replace? Is it any easier to replace than the gears? I have one helicopter with belt drive. I haven't had to replace anything yet though.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

Gears are much harder to replace than a belt. I'm thinking more of the Align range, as i have had all sizes except the 700. In 5 and 600, i've had belt and Torque. Replacing parts, the belt is easier. Getting them set up the torque is easier. No need to find the right tension. I started with belts then moved to Torque, and now i'm back to belt on the Warp 360. I don't see any flying difference at my level anyway..
Wow, we really have gone off topic here :D Maybe we should start a Belt v Torque thread.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

Yea just a bit off topic. I wouldn't have gone this far if the OP didn't already get his questioned answered in the first few replies.
Belt vs Torque tube thread might be a good thread. I don't think functionally there is a difference between the two. But it would be interesting to hear what different people prefer and why. I've only had torque tube and just recently got a belt drive. I haven't owned the belt drive long enough to form an opinion of which I prefer.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

I will say this, the TT, IMO, is much easier to setup after you get the gear mesh set. I mean, you can remove the tail boom and leave the tail block in the frame if you needed to just by loosening up the block and pulling the tail out. With a belt, you don't have a choice but to remove the block and separate it to remove the belt from the pulley.

TT is supposed to NOT take away as much power since there is less surface contact with the gears.

IMO, belt is MUCH more reliable, I agree that it's easier to setup (after you get it turned in the right direction lol) since all you have to do is pull on the tail until you get a bit of deflection. there is no shims or anything like that.

And a belt doesn't have the 1 or 2 bearings in the middle of the tail boom to hold the shaft straight.

And yes, the only reason we are doing this is because the OP got his original answer. But, at any time he can ask to have this cleaned up, and all of this will be deleted hahaha.

And belt vs TT is like Deans vs EC3 or what charger is best, what battery is best and so on. Everyone has an opinion.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

Tony said:
And belt vs TT is like Deans vs EC3 or what charger is best, what battery is best and so on. Everyone has an opinion.
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Having these discussion can usually reveal information that can take years,several crashes, and hours of repairs to form an opinion.
So as long as they stay positive they are good.

Is it possible for you to transfer all these posts in a new thread? TT vs Belt?

Myself I don't think TT is hard to setup at all. I only have the Align 450 and there is only one centering bearing in the TT shaft. Now the gears getting stripped easily. That is seriously annoying, and can be expensive. I stuck 500 landing gear on my 450 and solved that problem though.
 
Re: wiring motor to esc help

Yeah, I can move all of these into it's own thread. Won't quite look right, but I will do it. Can't hurt.

And I agree. As long as the post stays positive, there is no issue. But keeping every member on the "happy thought" train is pretty hard when the topic starts to get heated. But, RCH has some of the best members there are, so that should not be an issue.
 
Alright, this thread may not make sense to some, but it's in its own thread now. Play nice people :biggrin:
 
I have no experience with a belt drive so I can't comment on it. I can only say what I've read around the forms. Belt drives are for beginners. They take more abuse than a gear drive. Gear drives are more efficient! So for smack down 3D flying gear drives work better. Now that align is coming out with the black carbon gears stripping them shouldn't be a problem! It's all up to the individual has to what you prefer. I don't know much about vibes so, what ever happened to Marius's bird the other day or why he keeps stripping gears while off the ground I can't say. Could be an inherent defect in the vibe. GABA's bird on the other hand seams to fly great.
 
Just read Gabas thread and it has me worried. The metal end on the torque tube released from the carbon rod. He thinks this resulted in his second crash of the day. I'm getting more and more worried about flying the 600 lmao. AFter everything that I'm putting in the tank, I don't have money to put into a heli hahahah.
 
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