600/700 Tail play

[stunks]

Am going to try and write this so that u can understand, u know on align 550,600 and 700 models the tail rotor has a little bit of play in it, its the blad holder grips if am correct that has the play is there anyway of getting the play out if so how and i do notice it on all them models even other people at the club also it seems like its normal but i was just wondering if we can get rid of it. i hope this make sense to u

[Sao]

If you mean the grips wobble a bit, then it's normal, when they are spinning the play is taken out

[del19_82]

There is play in the tail grips of my 600 as well. As far as i'm aware, the thrust bearings tighten this up in flight and this removes the play. If you pull the blade grips apart by hand this should significantly reduce the amount of play that you see and is apparently perfectly normal

[Aidi]

The KDE tail upgrade kit includes a bearing which sits on top of the thrust brearing and a longer bolt to secure it. This will remove the the slop in the tail.

[Made2Fade]

Slop in the tail blade grips is normal and dissapears under centifugal force so dont worry about it

[jasoncook]

I had a brand new 550 tail with lateral play in the tail output shaft I swapped the output shaft and that got rid of most of it ,but it could still do with a shim behind the bearing to tighten it up.

[Si_B]

The problem is that play will get transmitted into side loads on the head of the bolt. After a few flights with the metal grips on a 700, if you strip the tail you are likely to see the washer under the retaining bolt is actually deformed. Personally, on a 700 I would swap back to the plastic grips or upgrade the tail.

You could reduce the slop by adding a shim or slightly reducing the length of the bearing shafts on the tail hub (need to be very carefull)

Lots of people use the tail in standard form with no trouble at all, whilst others (myself included) have written off or smashed models because of lost tail blades. Difficult to decide whether its down to luck or bad design.