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Extreme accuracy Prop/Rotor balancer This unit can balance most blades on a magnetically suspended axel, giving total friction free movement. For heavier large blades such as 24inch or larger and heli rotors you can use the quad bearing low friction rollers. The unit also includes an adaption for balancing tail rotors or rotor heads. Kit includes everything plus an in-built spirit level and heli-rotor adapter.
Length : 110mm
Width : 91mm
Height : Adjustable (Max 114mm) Balance almost any size propeller or helicopter blade.
*Propeller in photograph is slightly unbalanced and due to the friction free rotation of this unit a small weight inbalance becomes very obvious.
I have read the mention of proper assembly and of assembly instructions from old fart flyer several times in this discussion.Did yours come with assembly instuctions as mine only had an illustration of the parts and how they fit together and no instructions at all.
Average quality item. I bought this to find a washer missing, but the replacment policy of HK is another issue.
It can do basic prop balancing, however is unable to do rotor balancing on a 8" blade. It should have been designed taller by about 5 inches.
Mine shipped with only one hole for the pin in the heli blade attachment, so had to drill the second myself. Managed to get it perfect position using the first hole as a guide.
Still no complaints for the money paid.
I really did not like this prop balancer. It looks nice, but it was no help at balancing my props. The magnets on mine are not mounted straight, so that doesn't work. :(
I bought 1 today from LHS and obviously he got it from HK too, but at a slightly dearer price. I tested using a pair of 710mm V-Blades. Yes, the cone does the centring job on the 5mm mounting hole very neatly. It was just fine until I put on the other blade on the other side. Walla! This really shows how p**r the QA is. - typical Made in Ch*** stuffs..!! They are overlapping!! The 3mm threaded holes (the ones with black screws as shown in the picture) should be at the outer most simply because the longer the blade the longer the root will be... Ahhh... what more can I say..Just another waste of time n money 'inspired' by HK. Thank you HK for such a Grrrrreeaaatt product!
Even the instructions do not tell you what they are. But they should be 3mm, 2.5mm, 2mm. I have one and the biggest hole is 3mm and it comes with screws for it and the smaller balance bar nuts fit them, the smaller one fits Blades SR blade screws.
The 700 heli blade comes with 5mm mount hole. That's why I need to know. This is what I HATE about Hobby King. They left it to customers helping other customers. Is it that hard to put in some technical figures in the description?
These are the same ones SkyRC sales and they don't have it listed either so Hobbyking probably does not know what size they are. The end of the 3mm lock nut cone is measuring just under 5mm so it may center it or you might be able to shim it with brass bushings.
Yes, those are what I meant. Maybe they would center up for ya maybe not, just trying to help. I may be able to test it when I get home tonight, I'll see if I can find something 5mm.
Firstly I would check that the bar is straight. Roll on a piece of plate glass or suchlike. Then check that the 'points' are central. If not, it is as PITA to grind VERY carefully (so as not to shorten the bar too much) until they are. Once that is done, balance the nuts individually using the balance itself.
It really is a bit of a contradiction to have to 'balance' an 'Extreme accuracy' balancer ... hey ho!
im talking about quad propellors not heli..i just bought it..all of my props are showing balanced..ball bearings are bad..how to adjust height? my prop size is 8x6
Use the shaft that goes between the magnets. With that I got very little friction and therefore better results. You don't need additional height for these propellers. You balance propellers so they are perfectly horizontal, you don't turn them all way around.
really? unlimited?
from the photo of the product, it doesn't seem like you can balance "3 blade" props of any size, since the prop in the product photo is already hitting the bench/table
guys my deadline is one year. i have PRODUCT ID: Quadcopter frame. 1.i need esc, motor, battery, propeller combination to lift around 2 kg. 2)whch camera to mount n what all other things to buy to record the video in my comp? plz let me know even the less imp, parts also coz im new to it? thanks
Akshay, this part of the forum relates to the item pictured at the top of the page. Your question has nothing to do with a prop balancer. May I suggest you spend the first 3 months doing nothing but reading about quadcopters. This also gives you time to save the money you need. Then you should know all you need and more. There are 631,000 hits relating to quads so just use Google. Nobody could possibly answer your question due to it's complex nature.
Hello, I've been using this balancer for a 14'' prop. Works fine. Guess you can use almost every size of prop for this balancer. It's very precise and accurate. Great product! :-)
No limits, however accuracy will be diminished each inch you add. This is made for bladed/props up to 12 inches with presision but can balance props 22" long.
I reckon you can balance anything you can fit on the shafts. The really large props will have hubs too large for the cones on the shaft to be effective in centralizing - unless you use an adapter ring arrangement. I have used it for 12" and smaller. Not needed to go larger yet. I'd be happy to do a 16" no problem but not sure about the hub size on larger props above that.
You should be able to balance the tail blades by sliding them on the balancing shaft and tightening the conical "nuts" around them. Make sure the blades are 180° apart and that the holes are centered on the shaft. You might need to use silicone hose or something if the holes in the blades are too small for the cones to center. You could also balance the entire tail rotor assembly as a package, just remember to tighten the blades to the blade holders so that they are 180° apart. I've used this ba
*Jonathan( A heavy prop will balance but I bought this to balance small probs, Spinners, EDFs and EDF-Hubs all of which are tiny... thats the reason why i bought the "ultra-precise" (as advertised) balancer. *OldFartFlyer It seems that there is much variation within the same product. *Kirill After you wrote that I had another look at it. It seems that the magnet on one of the side-parts is flush with both surfaces and the the magnet on the other side-part does stand out about 1/2 mm. I mounted the sides the other way round but it did not help. The Gap would have to be at least 3mm more to suspend the shaft in midair. I don't need a balanced shaft? Sorry but that's not consistent with logic. If the shaft is not balanced and I balance a prop / edf with it, said prop / edf will be of center when mounted on a motor by the same amount the shaft was of.
To continue ... I am able to balance 5 and 4 inch props on my set up. It is very sensitive. I think that more than one factor is coming in to play here. Firstly, it appears that some items are not supplied up to scratch. Secondly, there is no way we can confirm that all of the dissatisfied reports come from modellers who have correctly assembled the unit. If you put the thing together incorrectly, the tolerances are going to be out to varying amounts. My opinion is that if you get a pack of accurate parts AND you assemble them properly AND you use the assembled product the right way THEN its good. Mine is. So the issue comes to price. I suspect than given these variables, the unit needs to be priced more attractively and posted out at a fairer rate. Then I would personaly give it a TOP RATING.
Rats, I hit enter. To check your shaft's balance, first balance a prop to perfection and then loosen one nut and rotate the prop 180 degrees on the shaft. Then retighten the nut and see if the prop still shows balanced. If it doesn't the your shaft or nuts are out of balance. (sorry, I mean the nuts on the shaft). The nuts could be balanced if you had a know well balanced prop from a known well balanced balancer. It would involve using the balanced prop in your balancer and rebalance it but file the nuts until you rebalance the whole assembly. To find out which nut is unbalanced from the two roll the nut across a very flat and smooth surface. Mark the uppermost part of the nut when it stops rolling. Do this a number of times and if the same mark keep appearing at the top then the heavy part would be 180 degrees away from that mark or the bottom of the nut. That would be the area to file. Do this to both nuts and if one is OK it's obvious which is at fault. I must be lucky too. My props are spot on, as are my nuts, thank goodness
Since negative Reviews don't show up under Reviews:
1. The shaft is not balanced 2. The two seethrough parts that hold the magnets are so close together that the shaft has contact with the magnets on both sides. 3. The magnet bearings on the second balancer have to much resistance to be usefull for balancing anything but very large and heavy objects. 4. The Screw witch was supposed to attach the variable height bearing to one of the side plates is 5mm to long and useless for the purpose. => useless without modifications (like adding a spacer to keep the side plates from getting to close to the balancer shaft) Had to buy another one.
Hi Chouchui. Reading your experience with the item, it seems as though you must have received something very different from me. I had none of these problems with my item purchased over one year ago. I wonder if it is new production, bad batches or a single bad one. May I suggest contacting CS to see if they can fix you up. Wrong size parts is a real no no. Of course, I am assuming that you did put the thing together as per the instructions. All the best with this.
You have assembled the unit incorrectly. You must reverse/change sides of the plastic sides wich have magnets glued in - if you exhamine it carefully - you'll see that the magnets on one side are slightly "inside" the plastic. Theese "insides" on both sideplates should be where the shaft rotates, and then you get excellent one point contact.
and for the shaf issue... well - if i remember my university studies correctly - you do not noeed ideal balancing on the "closer" points. in this specific
(not a question)
I bought this from my LHS, the color box is branded "SKY RC".
There are 2 shafts,
Shaft #1: thinner and longer one for rolling on ball bearings.
Shaft #2: thicker and shorter one for between the magnets.
Some props have holes that are too small to use the thicker shaft, so you only get ball-bearing balancing.
The other problem I've had is the flaking off of the hard plating of the rare-earth magnets. Now the magnets have rough faces, and the magnetic shaft suspension is quite high-friction.
With glass microscope slides glued in front of the magnets, the thick shaft can now spin freely enough to detect its own imbalance, and the imbalance of the cones. Had to shim between the acrylic and the alu base to accommodate the thickness of the glass slides.
Does this balancer work with the AEO 55mm EDFs. My impeller has a 3mm shaft size but the opposite side has a screw hole slightly smaller so I can not get the balancing shaft through. Am I doing something wrong or do I need a different balancer?
I wrote a review a few days ago and stated my disapointment in the shaft provided not being balanced.Nothing offensive in it but not a completly positive review. Im yet to see it? Is this realy how The reviews are done? Very ***r if it is...
Your point is fair, MKazan, and it does provide a solution. But this does complicate the use of the item. That shaft should be true at the outset. After all, that's what the customer is expecting. The product can then be used straight up. Besides, when you need to install a prop onto the shaft with two cones, all the "balancing" has to be removed. Crickey, what then? I've been happy with mine and I would recommend this gear, but not if it seems to be a lottery whether or not you get two decent shafts supplied.
The shaft in my set was not balanced either, a big disappointment, the cones were drilled off-center. I solved the problem easily by filing off quite some material on the "heavy" side of the cones until it was balanced. The rest of the set is good, so now I am very happy with the product.
Looks nice and could have been good, however are shafts totaly unballanced and very hard to use on light props, like SF GWS props. Tryed to put negative feedback 4 times and every time it gets delated. HK is delating negative feedback on this ****py ballancer.
The balancer could be worse for $16 ... I tested it on Midi and other 90mm rotor and it can do a decent job. The bigger (heavier) the rotor the better the job. See the video I uploaded on youtube under 90mm fan balancing.
Empleo este equilibrador para las hélices de mis lanchas tres puntos de competición. Estoy mas que satisfecho con el resultado con las de acero desde diámetro 27 hasta 35. Para hélices mas grandes se hace necesario añadir unos imanes de neodimio por la parte exterior, así evitamos el balanceo del eje al girar con cierta fuerza la hélice.Otro truco interesante, sobretodo si se quieren equilibrar hélices de berilio con poco peso... poneruna gota de aceite de silicona en la parte interior del imán
This is a significant concern. Shaft problems again? Having owned and used one of these units for some time, I am happy to report that it is very good at its job. Mine has been great. I can use it with all sizes and my motors run much better as a result of balancing every prop before it is fitted and after any "ding". Problems with the shafts are unacceptable. They are the vital components. Quality Control should be checking much more thoroughly. Too many buyers are reporting problems. This is a sad situation because the product could be excellent value if the shafts could be reliably supplied. Since it is packed in bits and the buyer assembles the product, there is no way the shafts could be damaged in transit or through assembly. Aeromodellers aren't that hamfisted. So c'mon QC, all these complaints are telling you that there is an issue to be sorted out. To other buyers, all I can say is that if you get a good one and you read the instructions properly, you will be very pleased with what this can do.
I cannot write negative review so I write here - both shafts are bend - the rest is ok but the whole balancer is so useless. And I have to widen the plactic parts because they are too close and shaft is squeezed between magnets.
Same thing here. I've had to balance the balancer before using it. One sharf was bent and un balanced. However after making some adjustments with the dremel I have been able to make some use of it.
Any problems with the shafts is critical. I hav e had one of these units for more than a year. I'm happy with its versatility and its price. But I was supplied two very good, straight, shafts. If the shafts are bent you should demand replacements. There is no excuse for bent product as the whole unit is well packed. Quality control should pick up the faults at packing. A major shame, because mine has been so good. Buyers should not have to rely on good luck, like this.
If you live in a reasonably sized town you should have a machine shop. Take your balancer to the boss and explain what it does and what the problem is. The parts are easy for an experienced person to manufacture. Tell him what the unit cost and ask for a quote to make a new shaft or nuts. A few minutes on a decent lathe would solve the nut problem and I'm sure the shaft can be turned from a long bolt. If you have a friend who works in a machine shop or have a really good looking wife/girlfiend/sister who can bat her eyelids at the boss you may get a freebie
Can anyone help- the extra arm (as seen to the top left of the photo) seems to be of no use. The instructions don’*t include how to use it. I assumed it was to hang larger props off the edge of a table for balancing? What is it used for and how do I use it? Anyone?
there are 2 prop shaft. longer for ball bearing. shorter for magnet. see saw is for heli blade balancing. if you are pointing to the extra piece that can shift up and down, its for balancing helicopter rotor head. you can balance entire rotor head assembly with it. good concept but my shaft come all bent.
I bought one of these and my conical prop holders were drilled off centre and useless.
The frame and design is good and they are made from good materials.
Can anyone tell me if the new batch is better?
I bought one of these and the quality is very bad. If you are serious about balancing props/edf blades and stuff google this one "Du-BRO TRU-SPIN Prop Balancer" it is expensive but it works no question, just might be tight to assemble.
HK seems to not post your review if you crown it with 1 star. Mine is totally useless as both shafts are bent and the conical nuts are not centered! This could have been a great product if only.... QC!!!!
This is absolutely bad luck for you AND it should not have happened with thorough checking prior to packing.
Mine is great and I have no regrets at the price paid. But my shafts were okay. It does a mighty job.
I suggest you keep the unit and ask for some new shafts to be sent out in your next posting or order. I had a problem with a motor accessory pack and after a little exchange of emails and photos etc I eventually received some additional parts. Mind you, patience is a must in this situation.
All the best. Do ask. The balancer is worth the effort.
Mine was delivered ok but i get many items broken. HK is so tight with their chinese money that they dont wrap items in bubble wrap to protect them CORRECTLY. HK use those airbags and only put them on top :) What idiots. Ever wondered why your items are all squashed and the AIR HAS BEEN SUCKED OUT OF ALL THE BAGS? Thats the amount of WEIGHT that is thrown on top of your precious hobby goods. Then when stuff breaks HK wants a photo and a return. I dont send them photos i send abuse. Also if you have a NEGATIVE to say about HK, you still have to give 4 or 5 stars or HK DELETE the NEGATIVE REVIEW. Dodgey Brothers selling stuff from China. Didnt you guys know all this?
While a bit more packaging may be better sometimes, I have never had any deflated bags even when one pakage went the long way through every country in the entire world and took 47 days. www.link
Most of us guys know that abusing people is the first thing to do if want to be ignored. I prefer the civilised way of being firm but polite. I never have any problems dealing with customer service since using that approach. It really works well, you should try it. I also understand that less expensive can at times mean cheap and as such problems with some items are bound to happen. Accept it and forget it is a hard lesson to learn but you'll find the happier customers have discovered this over time. If a problem is really major involving a lot of money, again being firm but polite works wonders. The people you contact are human beings and you should treat them as such. A little good manners works wonders. You don't have to crawl but a little please and thank you helps tremendously. I think I've saved more than enough money by buying through HK to be a little forgiving.
Does anyone know where to get perfectly straight 1.5mm, 2mm and 3mm rods suitable for this balancer?
My 3mm came bent which makes it useless and the other sizes I mentioned would be very handy for balancing my smaller EDF rotors.
You will need threaded rod. You can look up your local nut and bolt supplier. They will sell threaded rod in long lengths. Alternately you can get threaded rod from your local hobby shop.
Try a local engineering workshop that specialises in stainless steel fabrication. I have noticed that because of the high material cost, they tend to look after their stock fairly well, so it's more likely to be straight. 2mm and 3mm should be readily available, not so sure about 1.5mm. From a corrosion standpoint, stainless would be better over the long term than mild steel.
I agree, start with your local hardware store or hobby shop. Look for all thread that will fit the diameter you're looking for. May want to get a couple of nuts and rubber washers too.
Note that stainless steel is a NON- Magnetic metal, or more correctly less magnetic than carbon steels. Rather use a thin carbon steel rod or music wire, ensure straightness by rolling it on a piece of mirror. Use small orings that go in tight to keep prop or whatever in position, the small indiference will be neglible. Hope this helps.
Place the rod between two pieces of 1" X 2" woodwith the bend up and hit with hammer 1 or 2 times hard it will not damage thread but straightens it :) *) P.S. I will be placeing a video on HK soon showing how to fix any probs when you buy these balancers.
Get your stock locally if you do not have the capability to straighten your damaged shaft yourself. Ensure it will have sufficient magnetic conduction. Hard to suggest alternatives when you do not specify your location.
I'm in Melbourne Australia.
I've got relatives in Chchch NZ :)
I have really no idea about machine shops etc. What/where is a good place to start looking?
Check a hardware store. Maybe someplace that sells bolts of various sizes. You could even get a very long bolt, cut the head off, and thread two nuts on with rubber washers inbetween.
Here in NZ, steel suppliers will provide mild steel rods threaded to various common dimensions. You can purchase a length and trim it down. Problem is that this stock might itself get slightly bent in storage or transit. I would consider approaching a local steel merchant to recommend a local manufacturer or fabricator known for producing large and small batches who could look after your needs. They could then turn the points on the ends of the shafts etc.
As for replacement I live in Australia so look I look for 3mm rod that is pre threaded but like I said you can straighten the on you have by placeing between 2 pieces of wood and hit with hammer or use 1 piece of wood and a polyurethene www.link
I'll give the hammer method a go.
I have in the meantime bought another balancer which is even better. The new balancer has 2mm and 3mm shafts (as well as many others) and are all dead straight. The other bonus is that only one end touchs a magnet the other is suspended and held by the opposing magnet. It's only useful for small props and EDFs but is very nice.
It's a pity it doesn't come with 1mm and 1.5mm (actually 0.9mm and 1.4mm due to the press-fit nature of tiny EDFs) shafts to balance these.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone - though I'm still in the market for tiny shafts!
If you are in australia no probs goto local bolt dealer with the rod and they will do it for you plus I have ran an ebay search and found 3mm threaded rods and in different sizes with nuts, But try a local bolt&nut dealer first even repco can www.link
Club17 the pushbike spoke is a nice idea but you don have enough thread to replace the original the way it originaly worked but it would do a good job for mean time you would be better off with threaded rod from hobby store or from a nut and bolt specialist, but still nice use of the old bean there. : D
Yes you can provided the prop will fit on the balancing shaft(s). I do not like the bearing set up and prefer to use the magnetic balancer as there is very little friction. The bearings on mine stick and I view them to be unusable. The magnetic balancer however is great and works quite well.
Yes .You can check big propellers. Most important is dimension of shaft. You receive two dimension: 3 and 4 mm. If you need bigger it’s easy to make it.
Yes you can use, I recommend using the magnetic balancer because it has less friction. And for extra security the propeller rotates 180 degrees and re-balancing.
My suggestion is don't buy it because the Blue prop holders on my balancer are drilled at an angle which makes the prop off centre and impossible to balance youtube.com/watch?v=ugcQjLYruGY When i send the video to cust supp they say they can't see the video???????? or go to youtube
If you are trying to balance the prop with it horizontal only, then I would think it would work. You will not be able to stand the prop vertically and balance the hub area, which can be out of balance also.
Additionally, the quality of these units is suspect. after receiving one a week ago, with the magnetic shaft imporperly machined, it is useless, and because of that I would not recommend them to anyone.
Actually, I have found that the two shafts supplied are sufficient to balance any prop that can be fitted into the balancer. I wonder if it is a question of how it is being used by various commentators?
There are 2 shafts, one to sit between the magnets and the other to sit on the bearings. Using the latter to balance heli blades it worked a treat, however using the magnet shaft for props I found the shaft itself was not balanced causing poor readings. The ends that are turned to a point do not seem central and therefore cause the imbalance. Other than that the rest of the unit appears nice and solid. No problem assembling.
Great balance and now comes with assembly instructions, so it is a snap to put together.
The magnetically suspended shaft is 3mm and the ball bearing one is 2mm. The heli balancing gadget suffers in that the centre of gravity ends up way above the balance axis, but it still works well.
5 comments. Reply..
Overall Rating
10nemo
449 likes
Value
UNRATED
Quality
UNRATED
13 thumbs up!
A puzzle indeed.. It's amazing how the magnets line up the heavier, shorter shaft exactly dead centre.. even with the 2 mm gap! Houdini would have loved a larger version of this.. No idea what the smaller end plate is for.. and even attached.. the knurled knob and the acorn nut that appears to go on the inside but there is no hole. The longer, thinner shaft is not magnet affected. Why the little yellow tip covers? If you really need to make the base adjustable you could drill 4 corner holes and glue a suitable blind nut in the use 4 smooth turning screws for adjustment. Really though, the first bloke to provide full answers and instructions/pics should be instantly awarded Jade status, agree? Two points off for being sneaky..
5 comments. Reply..
Overall Rating
Blue Angel
1313 likes
Value
UNRATED
Quality
UNRATED
11 thumbs up!
Very good Prop and Rotor balancer with great surprisal value. Its a puzzle. But not a very difficult one. Assemble all parts like in the pictures above and it will do its job. Accurate balancing of props and rotors. The inbuilt spirit level is not the best one, but it is easy to glue another more accurate spirit level on it. The magnetic solution has very less drag, but also the solution with the bearings works very good.
only 4 stars because there is no manual or better description how to use it.
5 comments. Reply..
Overall Rating
hdpartman
67 likes
Value
UNRATED
Quality
UNRATED
9 thumbs up!
Very Nice little unit. Very nice item for a very good price. I had no problems building this or understanding how it works. Any User, that can't figure out how to, just ask. I will try to address what most parts do. 1) smaller lexan part, users the extra bearing in the kit along with the knurled knob and nut. items allows the bearing balancer to sit on the top bearings. The slide is than the small lexan part is lowered in to place to trap the balance shaft. The adjustment is there to allow for other size shafts to be used between the bearings and trap what ever size shaft is used. This will help the shaft from falling off. 2) The bubble balance is to just give you an idea of the balance where your working. My table top was less than perfect, a bit of folded placed under part of the base worked great. 3) Yes you can make the base adjustable, but by adding not 4 but 3 base adjustment screws 1 should be on one side, while the other side should use 2. This will work the best due to the pitch and roll problems. 4) There is a balance bar attachment for copter blades, install the black screws in to the bar (mine are super glued to keep from backing out and losing them. The knurled knobs from the prop balancer can be used as a hold down to lock the blades to the shaft. 2 additional screws per side of the blade balance bar is for other object that you may need to static balance. Any other thoughts or questions may be addressed to me here or on RCU under hdpartman....... enjoy and fly
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Mine was delivered ok but i get many items broken. HK is so tight with their chinese money that they dont wrap items in bubble wrap to protect them CORRECTLY. HK use those airbags and only put them on top :) What idiots. Ever wondered why your items are all squashed and the AIR HAS BEEN SUCKED OUT OF ALL THE BAGS? Thats the amount of WEIGHT that is thrown on top of your precious hobby goods. Then when stuff breaks HK wants a photo and a return. I dont send them photos i send abuse. Also if you have a NEGATIVE to say about HK, you still have to give 4 or 5 stars or HK DELETE the NEGATIVE REVIEW. Dodgey Brothers selling stuff from China. Didnt you guys know all this? 
