How do you balance your own motor arms
 

Just wondering how would i go about balancing my own motor armatures. What equipment do the tuners use and what is availible to us the racers.:cool:

if i recall from what ive seen at the japanese Nats...Echo had a HUGE balancing machine in the pits...not sure if theres anything smaller though..

Well, before someone comes on and says you can use an airplane prop balancer........let me say you can't.

As for static balancing, it's good for airplane props- not an armature that spins 40,000 RPM. Static balancing is for something that is a lot narrower than it is tall like a car tire. An RC armature is exactly the opposite. It is longer than it is tall by a good margin.

RC armatures need to be Dynamic balanced....which requires an extremely expensive machine. Even a used one will cost you thousands of dollars. The one Mike Reedy has is over 10k! Mine cost a little over $7,000........

So unless your willing to drop some serious dough....there isn't really a way to do it correctly.

Later EddieO

Eddie- You think you could get some pics on here to show what it looks like? Or a site where you got it? I would be interested to take a look at it.

WOW
 

That is very expensive. Sure makes me appreciate those guys that do tune motors a lot more now.

How long does it take to do a balance.

Can you give me an idea on the steps it goes through and what type on info it will give you back.

Thanx

Here is the company I got mine from. They don't really show the MP-1 which is what they make for RC motors, but the BT-1 looks VERY similar....


http://www.heins-balancing.com/

It doesn't take very long to balance a motor....you stick it on the balancer, spin it up and record the readings....then you drill or epoxy to correct....then spin it up again and record the readings....then drill or epoxy to correct.......you keep doing this until you reach your specified tolerances....some arms take longer than others, while some just need a slight correction and they are done.


Keep in mind, that MANY motor companies out there don't actually wind their own motors, they just tune them. They buy them prewound from a outside source and add their magic to them. Companies like Putnam actually wind their own stuff. I will be winding my stuff in house......

The balancer is usually among the most pricey pieces of equipment in the shop........but other things l like welders, lathes, etc all cost big bucks too!

Later EddieO

check out www.niftech.com ......

they offer a static arm balancig station.......250dollars....

It's junk.....save your money. I bought one and it worked like crap....its not the correct way to do it and if yer gonna do it the wrong way you could use a $30 prop balancer and get the same bad results for a tenth of the price....

I am not trying to be discouraging, just trying to let people know how it works and not waste money.

If you need arms balanced, some motor companies offer it. Keep in mind though, rebalancing a stock or spec motor could render it illegal in sanctioned racing.

Later EddieO