Blade 400 - Greasing and Lubrication

[dam74]

ive just stripped out mine and it has two of the shims per side also a spare head i have is the same . the step in the washer goes towards the rubber damper

sorry its a bit blurred it was done quicly

You sure about that Boggy? As How to Repair and fix Your Blade 400 Helicopter
says that the flat side is suppose to face the rubber o-ring and the ridged side outwards. Makes sense if you ask me aswell as they said the stepped/ridged side would wear the o-ring.

[Boggy]

its the way ive always had mine. and im on my second dampers in about 18 months of flying it!! so thats nearly 3 whole flights

[dam74]

Grant have you got any input on the orientation of the step washer that sits next to the o-ring. Which way do you have the step facing?

[Grant85]

Grant have you got any input on the orientation of the step washer that sits next to the o-ring. Which way do you have the step facing?

Just uploading the pictures now mate.

[Grant85]

The first picture is where i have taken the feathering shaft bolt out that has a small washer on.

Then in the second picture I screwed an old flybar into where the bolt goes so that I could slide all the pieces along the flybar without losing anything

The third picture shows the old flybar screwed into where the feathering shaft bolt was.

The fourth picture shows the blade grip and what goes on the outside of it,There is the bearing a very thin washer,then the thrust bearing which consists of the two bigger washers with the bearing cap (gold) in the middle of them.

The fifth picture shows what goes after the rotor head,before the blade grip.There is the rubber o-ring (damper) then four shims,a washer then a bearing.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Grant.

[dam74]

It does so yours has the 4x 3mm shims next to the o-ring and then the step washer after that? Which way is your step washer facing?

[Dan1982]

The step always faces the bearing.

[dam74]

Dan, that is what I thought but I'm sure Boggy said that his is facing the o-ring.

Dan do you know anything about the shims. Should it be bearing, step washer, 4 x 3mm (inner diam) shims, o-ring?

Update:

Will you be going to the Calshot meet by any chance? Will bring it along there and you can have a look over it and a fly. Trying to get it back up together and out for a flight in a minute if I can get it done before sunset.

[xygax]

Ok technical reason for the step washer.

The step washer is there to ensure only the center part of the bearing is in mechanical contact with the feathering spindle. The outside must stay in contact with the blade grip only. So the step side must always face the bearing this ensures the contact area is the balls inside the bearing and not the bearing shell.

The shims behind the step washer ensure the corect preload pressure on the bearing to make it work and remove manufacturing tolerances.

Steve

(never onwed a blade by the way)

[dam74]

Cheers steve. I'm pretty sure my Century Hawk Pro doesn't have any shims, don't even remember o-rings when I was stripping either. Might of been a different shape cylindrical instead of toroid.

[Dan1982]

Dan, that is what I thought but I'm sure Boggy said that his is facing the o-ring.

Dan do you know anything about the shims. Should it be bearing, step washer, 4 x 3mm (inner diam) shims, o-ring?

Update:

Will you be going to the Calshot meet by any chance? Will bring it along there and you can have a look over it and a fly. Trying to get it back up together and out for a flight in a minute if I can get it done before sunset.

Well that is the way I have put it back together, that was the way it first come apart. But I have just been looking at the exploded diagram in the back of the manual and bogey seems to be right. Before I joined this web site I was with helifreak and everyone puts the head together the way mine is. To be honest I can’t really see that it would make a difference which side of the blade grip you put them as long as there is the same amount of shims. This will be something I will be looking into more.

I will be at Calshot on the 7th then I’ll have a look.

Good luck getting it back together for another fly.

[dam74]

The 7th, there is a meet on the 7th? I thought it was the 9th???

The exploded diagram doesn't show enough detail to show which direction the step washer is facing.

[Dan1982]

LOL, my bad. it is the 9th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dam74]

What pitch settings would you recommend. From the factory mine seem to be around the following:

+12-14, +4-5, -4 to -5

I thought center collective stick should be roughly 0 pitch and not +4 or am I wrong?


Darryl

[Boggy]

Ok technical reason for the step washer.

The step washer is there to ensure only the center part of the bearing is in mechanical contact with the feathering spindle. The outside must stay in contact with the blade grip only. So the step side must always face the bearing this ensures the contact area is the balls inside the bearing and not the bearing shell.

The shims behind the step washer ensure the corect preload pressure on the bearing to make it work and remove manufacturing tolerances.

Steve

(never onwed a blade by the way)

well cheers steve ive learnt something today aswell. mine has been the otherway since my first crash which was about a day after i got it whoops