General Blade Balancing

Matt

Member
Any videos on this website about blade balancing? I need to balance my blades on my 450 but not sure how to do it. How important is blade balancing? I'm assuming if the blades aren't balanced then it could cause vibrations.. would it also cause unstable flight? What are those stickers that come with the blades for? What's recommended for balancing the blades? Would electrical tape work or is there something better?
 

Tony

Staff member
It is very important to balance your blades. Gyro issues, blade off tracking and yes, it will cause unstable flight. Below is the video on what balancer I use. It is fantastic and cheap.

I do have another video, but it has a HUGE error in it. I forgot all about "moment of force" and it killed that video. It does show another method of balancing though where you use a scale and the CoG of the blades to balance them. If you want to see it, I can post it, but just know, the see-saw (linked above) works perfectly because of "moment of force" and is much faster, but the method I show in the other video is actually the proper way to do it. Again, this is an old video and is not 100% accurate.
 

Matt

Member
Hi Tony, can you post the other video? I'd like to see as many of these ways as possible.. I'm a sponge right now and I'd like to soak up as much of this as possible before I have to go back to work on Monday (and don't have as much time for this as I do now) - Thanks..
 

Tony

Staff member
This post has been removed do to inaccuracies in the video posted. Don't want any confusion.
 
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Matt

Member
Hi Tony, the 2nd video method is what I've been finding on YouTube. It just seems everyone has a different method of doing it. I've never balanced blades before. I don't have a scale so I'll probably use the 1st video. Scotch tape seems to work fine. I'll let you know how I do..
 

Matt

Member
In the 1st video, if the blades didn't balance.. where would you add scotch tape? Like add scotch tape to the lighter blade so they would balance. The 1st video, the COG is determined and the weight of the blades is determined in one swoop?
 

Tony

Staff member
Yes and no. Yes, you will put the tape on the lighter blade, and you will move it up or down depending on where you need it. This is where that Moment Of Force comes into play. One of the blades can be heavier, but because the CoG is farther out on the lighter blade, they balance out when spinning. If you do it the way I showed in teh first video, get them to balance out, they will likely be good to go in the air.

Let me know when you are done with that second video, I will be removing it to keep from confusion in the future.
 

Tony

Staff member
Cool deal. The second way is way harder, but I do it sometimes when I have a vibration issue that I just can't find.
 

Cyclone 7

Member
My method is quite basic & probably open to criticism but it has worked well so far - I have been lucky I think in receiving consistently well balanced blades ex factory. I have to say that the 325mm Tarot CF blades are excellent in this regard.

1 Weigh them individually on a digital scale to make sure that they are the same weight
2 Roll each on a main shaft to find the point of balance and mark that point on each blade
3 Compare the blades sandwiched together by a mounting bolt or shaft, through the bolt holes
4 If the balance point marks coincide then they are good to go!
 

murankar

Staff member
I do like tony but I dont have a balancer. First I weigh the baldes, the lighter one is the one I add the weight to for the CG portion on the task. Next I run a nut and bolt through the root and snug it down. next i get two classes, jars or anything glass thats tall and the same size. I set the bolt on the edge of the glasses to make a sea saw. I slide the weight up and down till it balances. When your blades are dead on they will hold a 4 o'clock position, 10 o'clock position or and position you put them at with little to no drift.
 

Matt

Member
Just to let you guys know.. I've successfully balanced my blades.. :boldblue:

This website is an oasis for great advise and great help for the heli and general rc units..

Many thanks to all!!!

Basically, what I did was weight the blades on a digital scale.. found the lightest one.. added tape to the lightest one and balanced them with a blade balancer to find the right place on the lighter one to put the tape..

Quite a bit of tape was used.. scotch tape is a lot lighter than I expected..
 

Tony

Staff member
Glad you got her going! But if the blades are quite far off from each other, you may want to look into some better blades. I know the Align, SAB and Zeal blades that I have are perfectly balanced from the factory. Of course you pay for that luxury as well over the no name blades. Either way, sounds like you are about ready to put it in the air!
 

murankar

Staff member
i have used black electral tape for mine. It has weight and can blend in, unless you want to see that color as the blades spin.

For a 450 i would get Zeal 325mm blades, the most cost effective. SAB does not make a set of 325s. I also tried Rails 326mm blades and I loved them a lot. Unfortunately they do not make them in 570mm only in 550mm.
 
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