rcfiend

iTrader: (42)

Has anyone been able to get this thing to work. I have sent 2 units back to Amain. They both have the same issue.

1. The unit will not calibrate per the instructions. Upon trying to calibrate I received a "Failure" message on both units.
2. Both units I sent back will not detect known tires that are out of balance, let alone allow me to balance them. I have watched one Youtube video where an individual said he experienced the same issue, but he was able to balance tires. ​​​​​​​

Mac The Knife

iTrader: (33)

The only issue I and a friend have is that an occasional rear 1/10th scale buggy tire won't spin up automatically, and we either have to give it a spin, or balance them with the 1/8th scale wheel setting.

rcfiend

iTrader: (42)

Thanks. Quick question, when your balancer arrived, did the screws marks line up when you tightened them up? Mine never did, and I’m suspecting that’s part of the issue. I’m just surprised that both had the same exact issue.

Mac The Knife

iTrader: (33)

No, they didn't line up with the marks.

Techno Duck

iTrader: (5)

No issues with mine, screws lined up with the marks on the bottom. Mine was one of the pre-orders from Amain... maybe a bad batch?

On a side note:
I did a bunch of testing with mine and compared the results with a DuBro prop balancer that ive been using for a couple years. I think the SkyRC balancer is a 'good enough' balance for TC tires. You can get a super accurate balance with the prop balancer if you want to spend forever on it. The SkyRC will get you to at-least that first balance you do with the prop balancer if that makes sense.

Some things i noticed though;
The calibration procedure is a must. Initially i was not impressed with the balancer. But once i did the calibration it was much better. My arbor was lighter than the preset value.
For TC tires, if you take the tire off and put it back on in a difference position i found it will not tell you to put weight in the same spot. What i do now is mark the hex on the arbor and the wheel so i always put the wheel back on in the same position.
I found it does a great job of balancing 1/10 buggy tires, with no change in balance if you reindex the wheel. And nearly perfect balance when checked with the prop balancer. I think TC tires are just harder to balance due to the smaller diameter and lower weight.
Overall i am happy with it because it saves me time.

STLNLST

iTrader: (32)

You don't find it a tad bit odd that TC tires are harder to balance yet all the promo pics posted show a TC tire.....LOL

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

I've not used one myself, but all the locals that have tried one have found it to be useless.

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

That means it's not actually balancing the wheel, you're balancing the wheel/arbor combination. It'll be unbalanced on the car.

Roelof

With inserts continuous moving they are hard to balance.

disaster999

iTrader: (1)

My unit seems to be working fine...ish. It would spin the tire to check balance, tell me how much weight i need and where. I put the exact weight at the exact location and have it check again. It would sometimes tell me to put more weight somewhere else which seemed weird. Putting more weight at the specified location just resulted in more weight to be added else where. At that point ill just take off all the weights and start over. Sometimes telling the balancer to check the wheel several times over and over again would result it saying balanced for one of the tries. I would sometimes take the wheel off and on again, and having it check the balance and would magically say its balanced. I would double check everything by spinning it up on a tire sander just to make sure its closed to balanced.

The car feels significantly smoother with all 4 tires before balancing and after. Cant say for sure if its useless or not on the track, but Im leaning more towards it helped than not.

rcfiend

iTrader: (42)

My problem is that I can't even get past the calibration. Also, my marks do not line up at all, not even close.

Techno Duck

iTrader: (5)

I checked the first 4 sets of tires i balanced with the prop balancer and on a tire sander, it does work. Like i said, it consistently gets to what i consider the first pass balancing when using a prop balancer. If the tire sander doesn't walk across my bench when i turn it on, i consider that good enough.

With that said most TC tires ive been checking don't require any balancing (Volante and Solaris). Maybe 1 out of 8. USGT treaded tires are a different story with consistently .4 to .7 grams needed. It's also when you see how out of round some of those tires are.

Bummer you can't get a good one. Maybe just return it and put the money towards a prop balancer or hand held balancer at 1/4 the price.

rcfiend

iTrader: (42)

Good to know. Yes, I've already sent it back and will look into the one you suggested. Thanks!

disaster999

iTrader: (1)

I think there are some issues with the first batch of units. My friend who also bought the balancer had to return his first unit because it cant even get past the calibration stage. He got a replacement unit directly from the distributor and the same thing happened too. I guess I was one of the lucky few that didnt have an issues.

rcfiend

iTrader: (42)

That sound about right. To bad, I really wanted this balancer to work.