da Rock
Posts: 6132
Joined: 10/11/2005
From: western,
NC, USA
Status: online
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Hill202
I've been flying for going on 10 years now. I've run engines from 4 stroke 52, to twins, to gassers, to big Saito's. I have one Saito 65 thats been run so much throughout the years it amazes me how strong it still is and it has had countless props replaced. ( I learned how to fly a Cub with this one, many broken props)
I've never balanced one prop. I've never had any bearings go out in any of these engines. They all run great and have had many prop changes. I can not see how a " dab of fingernail polish" or a piece of velcro can make any difference at all.
Actually, those who have balanced props in their years in the hobby have no problem seeing how well painting the light blade works. We have seen props where paint wasn't enough. So we sanded the heavy side if we thought that would resolve the imbalance.
Props have gotten better and better and better over the years. The cast props have certainly gotten tremendously better over the years. And the big wooden props and big composites really are excellent. Price often tells quality. And with props, quality often means "balanced at the factory and then checked for rejects".
But props are being made by the same people that're making our ARFs. You ever found a gluejoint in an ARF that didn't have any glue? It's a sensible thing to check props for balance. Awhile back a run of VERY popular cast props showed up with their holes off center. One size, one brand, one type. Bad out of balance. Did the factory miss checking them with their "automated balance checking machines". Did the factory QA actually check them? Does the factory even have an automatic machine? Do they ever check them at all? Who knows. But they were sold to a number of us. Some of us caught them and took 'em back to the LHS. Some didn't.
One size, one pitch, one brand, one shape can be mfg'd badly and miss whatever QA is being used by that mfg. And you might or might not buy one of 'em.
It's really bad advice to tell everyone that they don't have to check props unless you use every brand, every size, every type, every day.
Some engines today don't need breakin.
< Message edited by da Rock -- 6/14/2008 11:34:31 AM >
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Prop: Balance or dont balance? - 
