Screw stuck - I'm going mad

[Tumbledown]

Started to build my new Align 450 Pro, built the head no problems. Today I started to get the servo's at 90 and put them in. All three were in and the top main shaft bearing holder was on when I realised that the rear Elevator servo didn't quite fit. So I started to take of the top bearing holder and two of the screws wouldn't budge and started to strip!!!

I attempted to cut one of the screws to get a screw driver at it but it went to wide to quick, I have then attempted to solder an allen key to the screw but can't for the life of me get the bloody solder to take.

I am now desperate. Can anyone help or do I need a new frame already before I've even flown it!


IMAG0873.jpg

The mess so far!

[Tumbledown]

Just to be clear, the frame directly below the screw on the lower edge is intact, the light appears to have made it look like its melted?

[Pj1969]

Try putting some heat onto it, I use a soldering iron and place it directly onto the head of the screw, either use some small good vice grips or cut a groove into remaining bit and see if you can get a flat blade into it. The heat will help loosen the thread lock. If that doesn't work, I'd just carefully file the head off and using a dreamer or small drill, drill it out and run a tap down the block, hope you get it sorted

[dillwhacker]

You won't solder to stainless.
Yes use heat to soften loctite - a soldering iron is good.
You can try the 'next size up' imperial hex wrench i.e. a rounded out 1.5mm can sometimes be budged with a 1/16 inch hex, which is a tiny bit bigger.
Otherwise Dremel the head off flat, remove the others & the frame and see if you can grab the stub with mole grips.
Only use enough loctite to cover an ant TBH - about 1 or 2 turns of thread absolute max.

[Tumbledown]

The funny thing is I purposely didn't use any loctite as I was considering different servos. I only hand tightened it? I have half a frame on order but will try and cut the head off and take frame apart. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll let you know how I got on tomorrow.

[dillwhacker]

Good luck, and welcome to the horrid world of Align's 'soft as cheese' idea of stainless steel - you are not alone!!

[philipjdall]

Like others have said, heat is always a good idea but most importantly try not to overtighten the small screws or they'll be a nightmare to get out. A good quality hex driver helps a lot too - I use MIP drivers which are expensive, but superb.

[Tumbledown]

Well what a nightmare! Had to cut the head off and got the frame free but this has caused superficial damage to the frame. I then started to take the rest of the screws out and two more act as if they are made out of lead. After no joy with heat I used the cut a groove method and got another one out but the last one had to be cut out with more damage to the frame. I find it quite hard to believe that a product that is quite expensive can have these problems. I thought I was doing well by using my £20 hex driver and not the allen keys provided by Align.

I may vent my anger towards Align, I know it won't do any good but at least it will get it out of my system and save you all from a rant, lol

Thanks again for all advice.

[milly0812]

Like Phil I use MIP thorp drivers as they are well cut and hard as hell. It's too late now must you must have a gorillas strength to do that without any locktite lol. Most screws only need to be finger tight then a little ' nip' with the wrench. It's so common to see guys doing up the screws within an inch of their lives and it's simply not necessary. I used to do it all the time and blame it on the screws

[Tumbledown]

I forgot to add that when the frame was off the remaining part of the screws came out with no effort and that was with only about 1mm of steel to grip. I was mindful when tightening not to over tighten as I was thinking of changing the servos. Also I thought my modest unbranded hex set would have been better than the tools supplied. Surely if a manufacturer supplies tools and parts they should be up to the job and extra tools should not have to be purchased? Anyway I have asked Align that.

I am now at one with the world and shall continue the build.

Although I am considering better screws. Any recommendations?

[Grant85]

RC screws from Fastlads mate, quality hard stainless steel! Have a look on their website.
I've had nothing but trouble with Align helis costing me money before I've even got them off the ground lol!

[parksy]

Main problem usually is overtightened screws, finger tight is enough if you are using locky, you can go tighter on larger screws, on a 250 you'd better get a mouse to do em up. The other prob is not so much the screws are made out of cheap metal, but sizes vary from one screw to the next. A quality tool will help prolong screw heads but if they not nice tight fit you might be better off with a cheap tool that fits tightly. Unfortunately quantity over quality is the mantra today, and I suppose we are guilty of promoting it as we'd rather pay a pound for 1000 screws than a pound each.

[Tumbledown]

To true! Are there any problems with using carbon steel screws? I notice that the M2.5 x 5mm screws are quite common and you can get quite good quality for a reasonable price.

[philipjdall]

Rc screws are ok, but really you should invest in quality drivers and the supplied screws will be fine. Cheap drivers will massacre most screws.

Grant, that's a bit of a stretch. I've had hundreds of trouble free flights on my trex 450... Sure they're not the best quality but then they are affordable.

[tomatwalden]

The infamous Align cheese strikes again! I had similar problems with my Trex 500 EFL. You'd have thought by now that they'd have started putting some decent screws in their kits ...