Blade 400 - Greasing and Lubrication

[Holst]

thanks silly question is the feather shaft a standard size for all helis this size or is every make/model different

p.s who thinks she will never fly again after i've had a go at it

Although some helis may use a shaft of the same size and diamiter (so you can swap between models) this is usually a specific size for every helicopter so you need to buy the correct part for your heli.

Im sure it will fly again after your repairs, for how long will depend on your thumbs

One thing to think about is that most of these helis are built in china by people who have never flow a heli, or most likely dont entirey understand what they are building.
This may explain why sometimes washers and shims are incorrectly fitted from the factory, or step washers are backwards
If you were getting paid very little to built feathering shafts over and over again every day you would probably make mistakes as well!

[anyw]

just been on the sussex site and will order some feather shafts in a minute, can anyone recomend any other spares it might be worth getting at the same time,(don't want to spend a fortune) but would like to get some essiential spares while ordering

[dam74]

thanks silly question is the feather shaft a standard size for all helis this size or is every make/model different

p.s who thinks she will never fly again after i've had a go at it

Always buy genuine, don't try to bodge it. I have a Century Hawk Pro that the previous owner bodged and tried to palm it off as all genuine but had some pushrods with unthreaded ends. Seriously the small cost to buy genuine ain't worth the hassle in the long run. Sure thing you can probably get away with a bodge job for some things if it's a short term thing and you ain't doing anything too strenuous but make sure you get them replaced with the right part ASAP.

Yes you will fly again. This is all part of the learning curve from what I've read of other peoples experiences. You will ground it eventually and I know what I've done so far is nothing to what will come if I want to go all the way and do full 3D. It kind of reminds me of Star Wars....LET GO OF YOUR FEAR........either that or it's the drink

[anyw]

Always buy genuine, don't try to bodge it. I have a Century Hawk Pro that the previous owner bodged and tried to palm it off as all genuine but had some pushrods with unthreaded ends. Seriously the small cost to buy genuine ain't worth the hassle in the long run. Sure thing you can probably get away with a bodge job for some things if it's a short term thing and you ain't doing anything too strenuous but make sure you get them replaced with the right part ASAP.

Yes you will fly again. This is all part of the learning curve from what I've read of other peoples experiences. You will ground it eventually and I know what I've done so far is nothing to what will come if I want to go all the way and do full 3D. It kind of reminds me of Star Wars....LET GO OF YOUR FEAR........either that or it's the drink

thanks the reason i asked is i was wondering if my local shop would have something in that would fit,because i got tomorrow off so would of been good if i could of got the part but he don't stock eflite. as you say i don't want to bodge or cut corners, i know from expirience it always cost's more in the long run

[Holst]

just been on the sussex site and will order some feather shafts in a minute, can anyone recomend any other spares it might be worth getting at the same time,(don't want to spend a fortune) but would like to get some essiential spares while ordering

If you dont have some already get some ball link pliers. This will keep your links nice and tight when you remove them.
If you just pull them off they can go oval and will get some play in them.

A swashplate leveling tool is handy when setting up the heli.

If your heli is propperly setup its easyer to fly and less likely to crash (in theory)

As for spares...

You might need.

Blades.
Feathering shafts
Mainshafts
Tailboom
Skids
Flybar

But I think its better to just wait for the next crash and buy what you need.
It only takes a couple of days to get things from fastlads and they almost always have B400 bits in stock.

Unless you buy every possible spare you will almost always break something you dont have and need to order anyway. And if you buy loads of spares you may never need them

[dam74]

I agree with Holst completely. I've been using my cheapy tool kit (mini pliers, sidecutters, long nose, angled long nose, etc) to remove ball links and after a while the ends become worn and I've cracked one. So I've ordered a set of 20 ball links from sussex helis and ripmax ball link pliers. Not the most expensive pliers but I'm sure they'll do the job to remove them with out wearing them down.

As for spares from a local hobby store. Unless it's marked E-flite I wouldn't buy it unless you're 100% confident it will do the job without failing in flight. I know when I went to Hobbystores in Southampton with some Century parts they pretty much said to me go to the Century UK website and buy parts. They said they could source them for me but they'd whack on a premium to cover their efforts and said it'd be cheaper and more convenient for me to go direct.

[Grant85]

It maybe worth noting that the Twister Storm spares are identical to the Blade 400 the only difference is the main frame and the location of the lipo,although I wouldn't recommend using the twister feathering shafts as these tend to snap as opposed to bending which means you can lose all the bearings and washers etc in a miscalculated landing here are some Twister spares to look at if you ever have trouble obtaining the Eflite parts.
Cheers Grant.
Model Shop Leeds - Specialists in radio controlled models

[anyw]

parts ordered , hopefully be here tomorrow and attempt my first repair then, will let you know the result

[Holst]

parts ordered , hopefully be here tomorrow and attempt my first repair then, will let you know the result

If you get stuck take some pics and somebody here will help you out.

Just remember to threadlock everything and dont overtighten the screws when you put it back together

[dam74]

Holst I haven't thread locked everything some members recommend certain things not to be threadlocked such as the blade grips as threadlock can get onto the shims and o-ring and cause them not to function as desired.

So far I've only threadlocked the motor mount as it's into a metal frame. Metal screws into plastic threads do have a tendency to grip a bit better than metal to metal. The only other places I'd probably threadlock are the jesus bolts as Boggy calls them (eg. top and bottom main shaft bolt). The others are the grub screw on the flybar paddle weights/holders. The rest I'd just make sure you retighten pre and after flight I guess.

Any other suggestions from Blade 400 owners?

[Dan1982]

i only therad locked the motor. i never do the top/bottom of the main shaft as they should be lock nuts (the blue bit in the top of the nut, cant remember the proper name) i have had my blade apart loads of times and never found any screw missing.

[dam74]

Lock or Locking nuts is the correct term and yes they are and that's probably why I haven't bothered to do them. Seems like you've done what I've done then and just threadlocked the motor. What grade of threadlock did you use, standard or permanent (requires heating to remove - probably not a good idea with a plastic body)

[dam74]

thanks silly question is the feather shaft a standard size for all helis this size or is every make/model different

p.s who thinks she will never fly again after i've had a go at it

Anyw, just so you know you might of bought a load of spares to repair your heli that you think will do the job. What you'll find is later that you need more I've been ordering over the past week and have spent easy 40gbp (incl ball link pliers) and now need another 20gbp of spares to repair the tail gearbox and shaft.

When you do get it repaired and take it out make sure you observe everything and tell more experienced people such as those found on this forum. It might help isolate other problems you didn't notice before

[Holst]

Anyw, just so you know you might of bought a load of spares to repair your heli that you think will do the job. What you'll find is later that you need more I've been ordering over the past week and have spent easy 40gbp (incl ball link pliers) and now need another 20gbp of spares to repair the tail gearbox and shaft.

When you do get it repaired and take it out make sure you observe everything and tell more experienced people such as those found on this forum. It might help isolate other problems you didn't notice before

Its a good idea to take everything to bits to inspect it all before you order.

Once you have done one repair it gets alot easuer the second time as you know what you are looking for. Especially if you break lots of things the first time
By the tenth repair you can do it much more easily
hehe

[dam74]

Nods, while I didn't think I'd damaged the tail rotor when I went in hot I must of clipped the blades and I'm guessing it doesn't take much to throw them out of whack at the RPMs they're rotating at.