EXI shafts in Blueray head?

[MikeK1981]

OK so I'm using the EXI version of the feathering shaft in my BR like many others here.  I have noticed that when I use the spacers that come with the EXI shafts it causes some binding and the main holders don't rotate smoothly.  I used the spacers that came with the BR and I don't have the problem.  However, there seems to be a tiny bit of play in the whole blade grip assembly once it's together.  You can push on one grip or the other and it will move the feathering shaft about 1/2mm side-to-side.  There is also some vertical play in the grips as well.  Is this normal?  How much play is acceptable?  With the 335 main blades on the heli (in flight position), the holders barely move but, the outside tips of the blades can move up and down about 1/2" from resting position to top position when I lift up on the with my hands.  Is that much wiggle normal in the main blade grips?  Is there any trick I am missing to making the EXI spacers work without causing the binding?  I tried flipping them both ways and had the same issue.  They just take about 1mm too much in between the blade grips for them to work right.  I can't remember how much play was there before I made the changes.   Any advice?

[MikeK1981]

Other than that the heli is operating super smooth.  I have noticed that if you have that tiny bit of play to one side or the other it causes a small vibration on the floor but if it is centered it is very smooth.  I am probably just nitpicking but I was trying to see just how smooth I could get it.  The play in between the blade holders is really tiny and may be normal.  I just can't remember looking at everything as closely as I did this time cause I'm trying to see how "perfect" I can get it.  I threw on the 335's and a 13T pinion and got 3 new 2200mah 25C LiPo's.  Hopefully it won't be raining tomorrow so I can test this thing out.

[Gerard]

Mike, I had the same issue with the EXI shafts. However, apart from a little vibration at start up I don't see any ill effects when getting to 50% or more throttle - no vibration I can see. After I got my Futaba 10CHG I have the BR dialled in fine. The only problem I have is wind and I am playing around with higher head speed curves to take care of that.
It's hard to believe but I think I am outgrowing the BR 450 size. I want a bigger bird with more power. 

[MikeK1981]

Cool man, like I said I may be nitpicking but I was trying to see how perfect I could get it.  What about the play in the main blade grips, is a little bit like that normal?  I can't remember what it was like before I made the changes.

[Gerard]

Cool man, like I said I may be nitpicking but I was trying to see how perfect I could get it.  What about the play in the main blade grips, is a little bit like that normal?  I can't remember what it was like before I made the changes.

I run the 325mm CF blades and I think I have about 1/4" play at the blade tips, maybe slightly more. My tracking is near perfect so unless somebody with more experience tells me otherwise I am not worried.
 I would just keep a tab on the head and make sure it doesn't wobble over time. I constantly check my head for any sign of vibration as I spin up, especially when I get to 50% or more throttle.

[bad007]

MikeK1981, I found the same thing, side to side movement using the exi shafts with the br spacers, Get the align V2 damperss, they work great, the original br damper are too soft and the exi spacers have that lip that is up against the head and transmits vibration into it. The align dampers will take the slop out of the feathering shaft and it will run smoother. I have run the heli in the bench with the exi spacers with the br dampers and there is a bit of buzz felt in the heli when holding onto it.

[MikeK1981]

I did some more experimenting last night and I figured out why I couldn't use the EXI spacers and still have the feathering shaft go all the way through.  By "spacers" I mean the ones that go in between the head block and the main blade grips.  The BlueRay head had two VERY thin shims between the inner blade holder bearings and the thrust bearings.  Taking those out gave enough play for the feathering shaft to go through the thrust bearing on the second side perfectly.  Using the EXI spacers before wouldn't allow the feathering shaft to come through all the way by like 1mm and caused the thrust bearing on the second side to bind when I tightened the screw down.  On the other hand using the blueray spacers allowed about 1mm of play in the whole spindle assembly which was causing vibration because it wouldn't stay perfectly centered.  I had to take this thing apart so many freakin' times and I could not figure out what I was doing wrong.  I didn't figure it out until I took the bearings out of the middle of the blade grips.  The gold colored shims were so thin that they looked like they were part of the bearings themselves when they were down inside the blade holders and sice they didn't ever fall out on their own I didn't realize what they were.  So to all who use the exi spindles in a blueray head you may run across issues with spacing but that is what I did and they work perfectly now.  Got rid of the vibration and there is now a little less play in the blade grips.  The tips of my 335 blades move up and down about 1/4 of an inch now.  And there is absolutely no side-toside slop in between the grips.

[MikeK1981]

bad007- I flipped the exi spacers so that the larger "lip" is against the grip bearing and the small side is against the rubber o-ring just like with the BR spacers that have no lip.  It works great now.  I'm still a noob with some of the terminology, which piece is the damper?

[bad007]

The dampers are the rubber o-rings inside the head, kinda like motor mounts on a car insulating vibration from the chassis, and your right about the spacers being flipped with the lip towards and blades holders. But that lip will be bent the first time you have a decent crash. I'am still using those protec blades, w/align V2 dampers alond with exi's feathering shafts for now and thats the smoothest the heli was ever. My LHS seems to have a problem with stocking align V2 feathering shafts.

[dditch66]

The spacers I believe should be so that the larger diameter side is facing the center (hub w/ dampers) the smaller side should be contacting the inner part of the blade grip bearing. If you do it the other way then the bearing is not operating w/o rubbing.

I don't have it in front of me but I believe the flanged bearing is what is used on the $39 head/tail combo type head and some of the other 450's.  I"ve been using the EXI 450 feathering shafts in my bluerays for quite a while and just swap the shaft and use the existing spacer. My blade grips also move up/down as you say but I've not noticed any ill effects.  No issues for me that I know of. When I first started to use EXI feathering shafts, I used calipers to measure the 4mm and 3mm portions of the shaft and they matched the original blueray plus the align ones.  I don't use the align ones anymore because I feel they are too hard of a metal and I like the softer metal cause they absorb more of the impact. They can however from time to time distort the dampers. but to me, I'm already replacing the shaft so I don't care how much it bends and dampers are not expensive.  I figure I'm saving wear on other parts in the head if that stuff bends.

[MikeK1981]

I feel the same way about the align high carbon steel main shafts.  I bought a pair of them and when I went down (gently) they had very little give and it twisted up my feathering shaft and fly bar way worse than with a softer main shaft, but still was enough that the main shaft wasn't perfect either so they all had to be replaced.