Vertical play in the 500M

[Larry227]

I'm not sure how worried I should be about this. I mentioned the vertical play in my 500M in a couple other threads but decided to start a new one instead of hijacking those any further. I don't have any lateral play, just up/down play and don't know if it's normal or not. Anyone else's have this? Last night when I checked it there was no noise when I moved it. I flew one pack an hour ago and decided to check it again before flying more and found it also starting to squeek when I move it. Granted this was right after a 6:00 flight. Here's a very short video. Sorry about the quality. My Xacti sucks indoors.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwKlaYvYbD4[/ame]

[JackdaWack]

edit

[g.ecker]

Larry227 go to the next page and read 500m warning

[Larry227]

I read the warning already and wondered if my issue pertained to it. I think mine will live, here's what I did. I pulled the motor out of the frame and removed the grub screw at the end. I could see the divet on the shaft was lined up enough to hold but could have been a bit more centered. I stood the motor up on the pinion and tapped twice on the back plate. That seemed to seat the shaft just a hair more in and the divet for the grub screw lined up perfect. That also took the slop out. I did measure it to start with and it was less than I thought, only 0.2mm before but now has 0.0mm slop.
I'm actually tempted to pull it back out and tap it back the other way just a hair so it doesn't have the bearing loaded up.

[g.ecker]

Larry you may have fixed it, or not I would watch out for play up and down and side to side thats the shaft being cut up at the top bearing. The pro at my feild total disasembled his and rebuild it top to bottom making sure it was loc tited properly.
All the previous posts and replies on the last several pages had shaft wear with minamal flight.

[outhouse]

Originally Posted by Larry227

I read the warning already and wondered if my issue pertained to it. I think mine will live, here's what I did. I pulled the motor out of the frame and removed the grub screw at the end. I could see the divet on the shaft was lined up enough to hold but could have been a bit more centered. I stood the motor up on the pinion and tapped twice on the back plate. That seemed to seat the shaft just a hair more in and the divet for the grub screw lined up perfect. That also took the slop out. I did measure it to start with and it was less than I thought, only 0.2mm before but now has 0.0mm slop.
I'm actually tempted to pull it back out and tap it back the other way just a hair so it doesn't have the bearing loaded up.

your on the right track and thats exactly what needs to be done.

scorpions are the same way and ive done that exact method with %100 success

[Larry227]

Originally Posted by outhouse

your on the right track and thats exactly what needs to be done.

scorpions are the same way and ive done that exact method with %100 success

Do you think I should leave it with zero play or add a bit back?

[outhouse]

I would only have enough play to ensure the balls in the bearings are riding in the center of the race.

this still translates to no play but not binding the bearing either. [if you follow me ]

[Felt]

Is this motor not holding up well? I've been thinking about buying one, but it seems alot of folks are having issues. Do I percieve things wrong here?

[outhouse]

Originally Posted by Felt

Is this motor not holding up well? I've been thinking about buying one, but it seems alot of folks are having issues. Do I percieve things wrong here?

yep

what issue are you talking about?

[T/CHunter2009]

Larry mine is the same way. sloppy up n' down play. What should I do just leave it , or dig in and see what I can to to stop it??

[SteelPE]

Originally Posted by T/CHunter2009

Larry mine is the same way. sloppy up n' down play. What should I do just leave it , or dig in and see what I can to to stop it??

I'm in the same boat you are. Kind of sad that you spend $600 for a decent kit only to find that something is fundamentally wrong with the parts. Probably would have been better off buying a clone.

[Felt]

So yes this motor sucks or is it worth buying?

[Kevhed01]

If you're worried about the play in the motor (as I was), the fix is quite easy. You can do as Larry227 did and try to tap the shaft in a bit, or you can do what I did and press the shaft in a little more. I thought about just beating in in there, but figured I could get a little more precision with the press method. You don't need any fancy presses etc. I simply took a C clamp large enough to fit around the entire motor and shaft plus a socket just large enough to fit on the outside of the raised portion on the bottom of the motor where the grub screw is located. Place the socket over the raised portion, and put the whole thing into the C clamp with the motor shaft on the solid part of the clamp, and the socket on the spinning/clamping part...make sure the motor and shaft are straight so you aren't pressing crooked and bend the shaft. Slowly and carefully start tightening the clamp with moderate pressure...release the pressure and check the motor for play and inspect the grub screw divot on the shaft to see how far you've gone....repeat if necessary.

Sorry for the long post.

EDIT: I cannot say that this fix is a solution to bearing/shaft wear issues as I have only ONE flight on this motor. I have no idea if this will prolong the life of my motor or not. I just know that it eliminated my motors slop and IMHO, gives it the best chance at a long and happy heli life.

[SteelPE]

What type of thread lock do you use on the grub screw? Will medium strength (blue) work or do I need to go stronger?

[Kevhed01]

I used the blue thread locker.

[Larry227]

I didn't beat mine in hard or anything. I put it pinion down on my table and set a small socket over the shaft on the back plate and just tapped it twice. With the grub screw out I could even see where it moved a hair.
I didn't think about using a c-clamp or I would have. The hammer was closer.

[Kevhed01]

Originally Posted by Larry227

The hammer was closer.

LOL....nothing wrong with the hammer method, I just have a tendency to get a little "slammy" with hammers.

Figured the clamp was "safer" for me.

[SteelPE]

When I opened my motor up I could only see ½ of the grub screw “seat”. I tapped/whacked mine with a rubber hammer. I didn’t think about using a socket. I move the shaft far enough so I could see the whole “seat” but it still wasn’t centered in the hole… it was better than when I started though. After everything was done I plugged the motor in and ran it away from the main gear. I’m not sure how it’s supposed to sound but it did spin up without much effort. I will not find out for a while because it’s suppose to rain for the next few days. I guess time will tell if I did any damage.

[Larry227]

Ok I tapped the shaft back out a little but ended up with the same amount of play as before, 0.2mm. So I pressed it back in again and there's zero play again. I guess it's 0.2mm of slop or no slop. I actually heard something click this time so I'm hoping it just "snapped" into place and didn't crack a bearing. My guess is there was a small lip on the divot where the grub screw goes and when it slid past that the collar under the pinion seated against the bearing and that was the noise I heard. Guess I'll find out on the next flight.

Here's a picture of how I did it this time with just a wood clamp and a socket and was able to do it without removing the motor. I'm not recommending doing it like this, it's just how I did it. <-----Disclaimer