prop balancing issue.

Mike H.

Mike H.

Toy Quad Builder
So, i bought one of those china specials of a prop balancer...the fancy carbon sides and anodized nuts....I bought it to balance the props on my X8C but im having major issues with something i cant figure out.

I watch a youtube video of a guy using the same balancer to balance his own x8c props....Looked straight forward and easy...I buy the same nylon string enforced packaging tape and mount the prop the same as he did his (watched video a few times to make sure)..Made sure to get the prop centered as much as possible on the balancing shaft between the 2 nuts.

I place the rod between the magnets and one side drops as one could expected the heavy side would...Now i add a small piece of tape to the light side about the center of the wide section of the blade and nothing...I peel it off and add a bigger piece..Still nothing..An even bigger piece and nothing....now i have this piece of tape from about 1/4 of the way down from the center of the prop mounting hole and extending past the tip of the blade..wow it dropped to that side now...I trim off any excess extending past the edges and tip and it balances out...WTF!!!! Why so much tape needed?...The guy in the video used maybe a 1/2" or maybe longer in the center of the blade and needed to trim very little to get his to balance...Nothing extending to the any of the edges and certainly not needing 3/4 of the prop covered to do it...Im no prop balancing expert but isnt tape near the edges a no no anyways?..Cant figure out why my props are needing so much tape.

Whats going on with this issue?

EDIT:..i tried 8 different props and they all needed about as much tape to get them to balance. :/
 
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Could be cheap props not cheap balancer, also you need to make sure the nuts on the spindle holding your props are balanced. If not it is time to start filing them. Tun of utubes out there watch some more.
 
The props are stock x8c props...they are cheap but all thats available for the x8c unless i want to modify some stock dji props.....The video i watched was of the same stock props using the same balancer so, the best i could pretty much find and really the only video on balancing x8c props..lol...I just find it hard to believe all 8 props are out of balance by that much...pretty much enough that they arent capable of a proper balance if that is in fact my problem...As far as the nuts being out of balance its possible but im going to have to trust its not by enough to cause my issue to be so far off.

I might try some aluminum tape instead so i dont need to use near as much tape...Im not sure having tape on the very edges is such a good thing.
 
The oter thing I've noticed(I'vegot te same typeof balancer) is that I don'tthink they're that sensitive to smaller lighter props. The wouldprobablywork better on 10-12 inch props. I rigged up a little unit with dental floss and it seemed to work better, but like said, these cheap props aren'tte tghtest of tolerances
 
Get you 2 drinking glasses same size and put your balance spindle on top in between, very sensitive. The prop hubs are often the major culprit in balancing issues using a drop or two of gel super glue on the light side of the hub will often do the trick.
 
Quest said:
Get you 2 drinking glasses same size and put your balance spindle on top in between, very sensitive. The prop hubs are often the major culprit in balancing issues using a drop or two of gel super glue on the light side of the hub will often do the trick.
Click to expand...
Also if he has an iphone or using Stevies firmware then you can balance the motor's hubs with the IMUs.
 
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On mine they were all heavy on the raised letter side. First thing a did was sand off the letters, after checking I sanded a bit more and also into the concave part of the prop. I then ended up adding a small strip of Scotch tape to the opposite side. I did wrap it around the leading edge. FWIW I don't have a balancer, just a finishing nail pounded into the side of my dest.
 
I may ditch the balancer and try something like that...I was thinking maybe a carbon shaft sanded to fit snug inside the prop so it stays level with the shaft and maybe use 2 glasses or the edge of a counter/table...Anything has to better than my results so far...Im not sure how my prop nuts could be that much out of balance but apparently it can be....Ill just eliminate them all together and see what happens.
Jackson said:
On mine they were all heavy on the raised letter side. First thing a did was sand off the letters, after checking I sanded a bit more and also into the concave part of the prop. I then ended up adding a small strip of Scotch tape to the opposite side. I did wrap it around the leading edge. FWIW I don't have a balancer, just a finishing nail pounded into the side of my dest.
Click to expand...
 
Quest said:
Get you 2 drinking glasses same size and put your balance spindle on top in between, very sensitive. The prop hubs are often the major culprit in balancing issues using a drop or two of gel super glue on the light side of the hub will often do the trick.
Click to expand...

So mount the hubs both nuts center of the spindle and use a glass to find the heavy side or one hub at a time in the center and do each one separate?

One side the cone faces in and the other side i was having to use the bigger flat side against the prop. (As i saw in the video)
 
Quest said:
Get you 2 drinking glasses same size and put your balance spindle on top in between, very sensitive. The prop hubs are often the major culprit in balancing issues using a drop or two of gel super glue on the light side of the hub will often do the trick.
Click to expand...

Just saw this before asking about hot glue. Super glue is a better idea. :)
 
The hubs on the spindle that you use to tighten your prop on to balance have to be balanced if they are not then the whole process is awaste of tme, put a mark on them and see if they remain in position, if
 
Quest said:
The hubs on the spindle that you use to tighten your prop on to balance have to be balanced if they are not then the whole process is awaste of tme, put a mark on them and see if they remain in position, if
Click to expand...

I never thought a out the machined hubs needing balancing. That would defeat the purpose if they are out of balance.
 
Depends on what you are doing and flying. On CF props you almost always have to balance no matter the price just about. On smaller plastic, or composite props you don't really bother balancing as the bearings aren't worth the time balancing a prop that might not last 2 minutes of flight.


Machined hubs may need less balancing, but I have not noticed too much a difference.
 
I guess i need to fly the quad already and see how the camera is working...most all of them have a very bad jello effect and only after a prop balance does it go away or some home made cushioning for the camera...Id prefer to have somewhat balanced props instead...The video seemed pretty straight forward using the same cheap balancer..just sucks its not turning out as easy as the video was.

I might just try aluminum tape so it takes alot less if all else fails.

Is it better to add the tape to the top or the underside of the prop?
 
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