Chinese weights arrived!!

[myxiplx]

Ok, no Talon 15 yet, but look what arrived today. I'm not going to use the spacer set yet, but the Chinese weights are going straight on!

[myxiplx]

And wow, these weigh almost nothing!!

[myxiplx]

Fitted already, waiting for the threadlock to set before I give them a quick coat of oil to prevent them rusting.

[Miracle Boy]

I'm sure you'll keep us updated on what you think about the Chinese weights. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts about these.

MB

[skunkworx]

Hmm...so these are in addition to the already weighted grips? I'm interested to know how well they work too. I find the ones on the 450 to be more than sufficient and I have a lot less tail problems at higher speeds compared to my original SE so I'm sure these might help. I'd just be worried they'd add a lot of drag on the tail rotor and servo.

[myxiplx]

Yup, the fella who makes them tested the weighted grips when they were released and found they made little difference.

He now offers two sets of weights, he re-tested and found that Chinese weights for the weighted grips still needed to be 90% of the weight of the originals.

[Miracle Boy]

Originally Posted by skunkworx

I'd just be worried they'd add a lot of drag on the tail rotor and servo.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that the whole point of chinese weights is to relieve the stress on the servo, and thus make it's job a little easier.

[ahahn]

Originally Posted by Miracle Boy

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that the whole point of chinese weights is to relieve the stress on the servo, and thus make it's job a little easier.

+1

[skunkworx]

Yes, but it adds weight and more force on the servo itself. The 250 already apparently suffers from tail wag issues so I would be worried that it might not be as effective as hoped.

[Harbormaster]

Originally Posted by skunkworx

Yes, but it adds weight and more force on the servo itself. .

Not so, it makes it much easier on the servo. Less force required to move the blades and much less power consumed. (I measured that myself.) Watch the videos and read the thread if you're interested.

This is how EVERY Chinese weights thread goes. Those who don't understand them and haven't learned how they work just seem to think they can intuitively negate their worth. That's the great thing about Robin's work on this--that he actually did the measurements.

[Harbormaster]

Originally Posted by myxiplx

Ok, no Talon 15 yet, but look what arrived today. I'm not going to use the spacer set yet, but the Chinese weights are going straight on!

Put the preload spacers in! You won't believe the difference!

[myxiplx]

If you watch the YouTube video, you'll see the force measurements before and after the Chinese weights are installed, you get to see the readings for yourself while the blades are spinning. They make a massive difference, dropping the forces on the servo to a fraction of the original values.

[myxiplx]

Ok, being lazy I thought I'd try them with the carbon tail blades I'm currently flying. Bad idea lol. Tail wagging like crazy, and it couldn't hold a solid heading at any head speed.

... which was probably due to the massive amount of vibration I could see on the tail.

So I switched in the thin plastic 'batman' style blades which these are designed for and my tail is butter smooth again, no visible vibration and its holding well. Its only had a quick flight in the garden, I'll get out to the park at lunchtime to see what it really flies like.

[mba83]

Chinese weights made my tail hold much better. Without them, my ds76t didn't have enough torque on windy days.

[skunkworx]

Originally Posted by Harbormaster

This is how EVERY Chinese weights thread goes. Those who don't understand them and haven't learned how they work just seem to think they can intuitively negate their worth.

Probably because experience tells them otherwise.

If I added weight to the blades themselves doesn't it make the heli react slower? Does my current draw go up on the RX pack? Yes to both. So why wouldn't I assume the same of adding weights to the tail grips?

I don't doubt that it works somehow or else it probably wouldn't still be around. But that doesn't automatically make it easy to understand, so having a healthy level of doubt isn't such a bad thing. I've never seen any of the videos and I've never had a heli that needed the mod done to it in order to fly correctly. It's not that I'm looking for an excuse to write it off, I'm looking to see if it's a valid point. If you're willing to drink the kool-aid doesn't that mean I'm going to do the same without some convincing.

[MGPTWEGB]

Probably because experience tells them otherwise.

If I added weight to the blades themselves doesn't it make the heli react slower? Does my current draw go up on the RX pack? Yes to both. So why wouldn't I assume the same of adding weights to the tail grips?

I don't doubt that it works somehow or else it probably wouldn't still be around. But that doesn't automatically make it easy to understand, so having a healthy level of doubt isn't such a bad thing. I've never seen any of the videos and I've never had a heli that needed the mod done to it in order to fly correctly. It's not that I'm looking for an excuse to write it off, I'm looking to see if it's a valid point. If you're willing to drink the kool-aid doesn't that mean I'm going to do the same without some convincing.

Tim ,
Did you see them on my 500??? I have Hemi-Joints weight's installed on the tail. With a Align DS650 servo......When my 500 started life it was an 500EP Tarot. It had problems with the tail hubs and tail hub screws. I upgraded to the Align Pro tail hubs and installed the chinese weights. I haven't had any problems with the tail with this setup. It maybe over kill with the DS650 but its rock solid. Mine are so old they are discolored now.... all most looks like there rusting.... LOL

[myxiplx]

Originally Posted by skunkworx

If I added weight to the blades themselves doesn't it make the heli react slower? Does my current draw go up on the RX pack? Yes to both. So why wouldn't I assume the same of adding weights to the tail grips?

You're making assumptions without knowledge to back them up. Chinese weights are a known solution to a genuine engineering problem.

Yes, they add a little weight to the tail, 0.6g on the 250. That might add a little more load on the battery, but its so small to be unnoticeable.

However what they do is provide a measurable and significant reduction in the load on the servo. You said you've never watched the videos, please take a few minutes to watch them. They show servo forces across the whole range of motion dropping to around a tenth of the previous levels.

That's the benefit. If you have a tail assembly that hasn't been engineered with this in mind your servo has to work harder than it needs. Chinese weights prolong the life of your servo, and allow it it react faster as its not fighting the blades any more.

[Harbormaster]

Originally Posted by skunkworx

If you're willing to drink the kool-aid doesn't that mean I'm going to do the same without some convincing:

If you get curious and want to find out, have a look at Heim Joint's videos (and my current measurements in the the thread). They're pretty convincing.

[Miracle Boy]

Originally Posted by Harbormaster

If you get curious and want to find out, have a look at Heim Joint's videos (and my current measurements in the the thread). They're pretty convincing.

I was going to take that one step further and post a link to a video, but for some reason Youtube is being blocked by my work's filters today.

I've only got a DS76t on my tail. The Chinese weight's wouldn't be a bad idea.

Myx, How much did they cost and where did you get them from?

MB

[myxiplx]

Just send an email to robrenz@frontiernet.net and he'll come back to you with the prices. They're around $16.50 for the weights, and $5.99 for the tail spacers.

The videos are all in the 250 after market upgrades section on helifreak.