impossible to keep blades in track, why is this?????

[dogbiscuit]

as the title says, it is totaly imposible to keep the blades in track on my 400. i have tried numerous new feathering spindles and dampers (both standard and trex 400 ones recomended by ron). the blades will be perfectly in track and will then just go out of track. this may be after one flight, or 5 flights, or one landing, then take off. if they are set again, then the same again. ok for a random amount of time, then they go out of track again.

i have put up with this for months now, and was wondering if anyone can shed any light on why this may be the case. i just cannot see any other obvious problems with the head. i have swapped a couple of worn links over time and the heli has had quite a lot of flighs now and you can feel some slop in the head, but its hard to determine exactly where it comes from and i think they feel like this when new from what i can remember.

[moonmanflyer]

The blade 400 has rubbish dampers, the best way to improve it is add a couple of extra spacers and compress the dampers more to take up the slack

[tiddler]

You could try checking the mixing arms. I've found sometimes the bearings are fine, but the bearing stops being a snug fit in the actual arm itself causing a fair bit of slack.

[bolders]

What blades are you running on your 400

[dogbiscuit]

thanks james. it currently has the trex 450 dampers fitted which are much stiffer, but it still does it with new ones (trex450) fitted. should these be compressed further also, or should i be looking somwhere else also?

it has standard wooden blades

[dogbiscuit]

how common is this, if you have a blade 400 is yours the same also, do they all do it after a while?

[anyw]

how common is this, if you have a blade 400 is yours the same also, do they all do it after a while?

i have a blade 400 and not noticed on mine

[bolders]

Never had a problem with my blade even with slightly worn eflite dampers although I had 2 washers either side to stiffen it up slightly.

Bearing in mind you have already fitted new dampers, spindle etc I would personally try mixing arms etc as per tiddlers post and also try running a set of carbon blades and see if that sorts the problem.

such as these

HD320B 325D PRO Carbon Fiber Blades

or these

335mm PRO 3D CF main blade - DY-3351

[Guest]

might be worth seeing if your feathering shaft is bent.check it by rolling on a sheet of glass
dont know if if this helps

[Guest]

sorry just seen top post..i call it feathering shaft you call it spindle lol too much wine again

[dogbiscuit]

will have a look at the mixing arms in the morning. if others dont get this then i need to find the problem. thanks so far for the replies

[Baldie]

Have you tried different blades ?

[dogbiscuit]

Have you tried different blades ?

not for quite a long time as i have not damaged them. i will try one of the cheaper align pairs as posted above by bolders though now. the reason i have stuck with the wooden blades is on the advise of the guys in the hoby hanger who said that there is really no need for anything other than wooden blades on the 400 and they should know i guess.

[Baldie]

Wooden ones are fine, I mean a different pair .... Good ones . Used to find the occasional pair of blade woodies that wouldn't behave.

[dogbiscuit]

i have quite a few odd e flite wooden blades from the start of the crashing/learning process that we all go through. i never got round to balancing them up into new pairs. time to give it a go i think.

with the align carbon blades posted above being so cheap (£14) and the wooden blades being about £9/10 is it worth sticking with wooden ones?