General DFC vs. EFL

This may have been discussed but whats the diffencer? I think DFC is newer but regarding, flight, setup, tuning any input would be great
 

Smoggie

Well-Known Member
Actually it's gone full circle. Flybarless helis started out with 'conventional' heads that has separate radius arms to drive the swash and grip control links (with ball joints both ends) to control pitch. DFC came along which combined swash driving and pitch control all into one 'DFC' link, which on the face of it seems like a great idea because it's simpler and more compact.

Then people realised that the articulation of the feathering shaft in the head was limited by DFC so rock hard dampers had to be used which compromised lower head speed flight. There started a drift back to conventional heads. Most manufacturers have gone back to conventional heads, even Align have done so on all their new helis.

This page explains it: DFC Rotor Heads Demystified
 
That was a great article...im sold on the simplicity of it. Can anybody link me to a coversion kit that is good for my 500
 

Smoggie

Well-Known Member
You could fit the Align DFC head but you would also need the shorter DFC main shaft. To be honest i'd recommend not doing it, there is nothing drastically wrong with the DFC head but the standard flybarless is better in most respects. The new Trex 500L Dominator has gone back to a standard 'non-DFC' head.

The biggest problem i found with the DFC head on my Trex 600 Pro was that it wore out the ball links on the end of the DFC arm pretty quick, and if you let them get sloppy they can pop off with disastrous consequences. The standard head although it has more parts is less maintenance.

If you wanted to do it anyway the Align upgrade parts kit is part # H50181T. The special DFC swash is not included in the kit and is not strictly necessary but does help prevent the DFC links being thrown off the ball links due to centrifugal force if/when they get a bit loose. The DFC swash is part #H50194T
 
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murankar

Staff member
Plus DFC destroyed a number of servos of the few years of their reign. Goblin even went back to a standard head.
 

trainrider06

Active Member
I think one of the issues is the DFC head probably should be maintained more so than others. As Steve said the links getting sloppy, is a weakness in the metal to plastic connection there, also if your not a regular maintainer of your head dampener bushings when that grip starts getting any up and down movement on it because of the damper bushings wearing, it's gonna pull push a boat load of times up and down on those plastic links, leading to the eventual failure there. So the head, and bushings need to be always snug and tight...
 
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