Servos Ball links- I hate them!

[ecruz64]

Anyone have some advice for screwing in plastic ball links into linkage rods? I'm lost and frustrated. I've tried clockwise/counter-clockwise. I'm read to take a drill to these crappy things!!!

 

[Westy]

yup ..... are you referring to the plastic servo arms?
I heat up a safety pin to glowing red hot and push it through and thread my ball on while it is still softish ... .and then CA glue the back side of it once it is seated home!

hope that helps.

- - - Updated - - -

whoops .... linkage rods..... and plastic ball joints.... usually go in pretty well.... you could try the above method to just flare the entrance to the ball joint.... then press hare and turn it clockwise onto the threaded linkage.

 

[corsair_pilot]

I've usually gone for brute force and ignorance!! It's worked so far, but not the best way of doing things!!
I'm liking Westy's idea and will probably be following his way from here on in

 

[Westy]

here is a short vid ... weather was poor ... so what else was I going to do right?? - Well there is the SIM!!!! haha


you could definitely open it up a with a hot tool to get your thread started.

Alternatively .... get a 2mm tap to get you started.

 

[Tony]

If you are using the cheap knock off balls that have a phillips head, throw them in the trash. They are not even worth being in the landfill, but it's better than being in your house.

Purchase a set of Align balls. They use the allen driver which is MUCH more stable to put in. And they have nuts that go on the back to hold them rather than just being screwed into plastic. Never did trust that.

To start them. take your exacto and put a slight chamfer on the leading edge for the threads to bite on to. This will give you the most threads when screwing it in.

 

[Westy]

well I never knew that .... about the align balls being longer and having nuts....

you could also go for the posh ball joints with ball in them and drill the hole out and put a hex screw and nut on it.

 

[Tony]

I think I was confusing the 600 with the smaller birds. I just did a search and could not find the balls with the nuts. However, you can see in the picture in the link below, the allen heads that make it MUCH more stable and less likely to stab yourself when putting them in. I could have sworn that I put nuts on the back of my 450 though. Might have to have Matt bring my old 450 back so I can look at it and verify.

Align Linkage Ball Set (15) [AGNH45048] | RC Helicopters - A Main Hobbies

 

[Karubah]

I find that by putting a small bevel on the end of your servo rod with a small file or if you don't have small jewellers file try using a sharpening stone. The plastic ballpoint will start very easily. Cheers A.

And Tony your right, my 450 has nuts on the back of the ball on the servo arms.

 

[Tony]

Oh wow, this whole time I thought we were talking about the balls. But we are talking about the links. My bad lmao.

If you have some vice grips, clamp the rods in them tight enough that they will not spin. Then use force to get the threads started. This is how I did it. You have to push pretty good to get the threads started. And, it's clockwise on all linkage rod ends.

 

[Lee]

If you have a set of ball link pliers, they have a perfect grove in them to hold the rod. Then I have a ball link tool that holds the link inside it that you can turn easily to screw it onto the rod.

 

[ecruz64]

UPDATE:
I think these DFC linkage rods are defective. I tried screwing one of my older Align linkage rods into the DFC ball links and they screwed in just fine.

I emailed A Main Hobbies, the greatest online hobby store in the world, and they ONCE AGAIN came through for me. They sent out a replacement pack (qty 4 rods/ball links) for free, no questions asked!! Seriously, I haven't had a bad experience with these guys. Awesome customer service, good prices, rewards points, and free shipping on qualified orders!!

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions!
Have a great weekend !
Ernie

 

[Tony]

Yes, AMain has some of the best CS out there. Just wished they provided better pictures on some of their items. Most of them are stock photo, then a photo of the box. Other than that, they are great!

 

[Westy]

I have used them too .... they rock!

 

[murankar]

I like lees idea. I have the same style ball that tony described on the Protos.

When I built the Protos I had the hardest time doing the linkages also. I had to open the opening a small bit to allow the rods to bite the plastic.