Denis.. I was using the Dubro balancer for 2 years and decided to get the HK magnetic balancer 6 months ago to get better results. I found that because the magnetic balancer has much less friction that it should be more accurate but had inconsistencies that I also tracked down to the cheap unbalanced plastic cones of the HK balancer. To solve the problem I bought a complete spare Dubro balancing shaft complete with aluminum cones and cut the shaft down to the size of the HK magnetic balancer frame spacing. Now the propless shaft stays where I place it. You can also balance the out of balance cheep cones but you need to have a line up mark on the the 2 cones so that they are always aligned to each other after balancing. I use the Dubro for large wooden props for my planes and the magnetic balancer for my multi-rotors.
Great tip. Thanks for sharing and I'll have to look into this. I'm definitely going to keep my magnetic balancer around and revisit in the future. I appreciate it!
I jumped the gun and purchased a different balancer before I saw your video. I still haven't even received the one I bought first but have just ordered the dubro. Thanks for the very informative video. Merry Christmas
You can add a negative density filter on your gopro to lower the shutter speed so it won't be able to see the high frequency vibrations. I tried this and it made a huge improvement.
I have the Top Flite balancer and I found the same problem and figured out the shaft was not completely straight. I now have the Tru-Spin and it has a hardened ground shaft. I like the fact it has a locating face to make a solid mounting position
I have been using the DU-BRO since I started building quadcopters. I have found it to be excellent prop balancer and has helped me narrow down which on-line stores sell good or bad props. I have purchased a sample of props from multiple on-line stores and then used the DU-BRO. I have found some props are balanced right out of the package where as some need some serious weight on the main hub!
just did a test on my top flite balancer and it did not have this problem (glad). I didn't think my du-bro was as sensitive as the top flite for light props but it is a old one I have hade for 20 years app. I may cut down the shaft on the du-bro to fit the top flite to see if there is any difference. thanks for the video.
That's a good point. If you have really light props the Du-Bro may not be as sensitive as a magnetic balancer. But I know from testing 8" props and up the Du-Bro works great. Hope all is well!
I did a lot of reading before I picked up a balancer and found the DU-BRO to be one of the best out there. I have had this one for two years with no trouble at all. maybe not the best out there, but for the money it works great. nice video.
I just got my Du Bros in today and after a bit of testing, it seems the rod or cones are a bit imbalanced, since moving the cone around in different positions gives me different results in balance. Anyone else have this same issue? It's a pain trying to figure out if a prop is perfectly balanced when the prop balancer itself is giving me mixed results. :-/
There is an easy fix for the Top Flight balancer. The rubber centering cones have to be balanced before you start, because they are not as precisely made as the aluminum ones on the Du Bro. Start with only one cone on the shaft, find the heavy side and trim off very little rubber - it's easy to take too much. Do as you would for a prop until you can spin it and it never stops in the same position. Now balance the other cone. With both cones balanced, you can balance a prop. The flex in the base is easy to fix also. Take out the connecting rods from both sides and rough up the part on each end that goes in the plastic with coarse sandpaper. Scratch the holes in the plastic with a stiff wire to add texture. Put a drop of superglue in the two holes of one side, press in the rods, let harden. Put a drop in the other holes, align the rods with the holes and press together while holding down on a flat surface. The flex is caused by the rods turning in their holes. Glue fixes that.
As with any system, you have to start with it zeroed. Have you tried zeroing the DU−BRO cones without a prop? I've heard some say that they can be out of balance as well. Is it possible that the problem lies in an imbalance of the rubber cones that hold the prop? If these are out of balance, you can't possibly balance the prop. It might just be a matter of rotating one of them 90 degrees until they balance, and then marking them so they were always aligned in that balanced position. One could also balance them one at a time by shaving some rubber off the heavy side.
Good info on balancing the cones. Will definitely keep this in mind as I continue to break this balancer in. I could definitely see that becoming a problem over time. Thanks for the suggestion.
I bought the Top Flight about 3 months ago on a recommendation from Dick Gibson who is an FPVer. Found I had to put a sizing ring in the lager prop hubs to make them fit the hub holder better. The sizing rings came with the props.
I also have a dubro after using a hk magnetic one whose hubs were also out of balance. I love my dubro but don't think you won't have the same problems. My first was out of balance like that which I managed to fix with tape. I bought a replacement shaft and hubs and that one is perfect. Dead reliable and a necessity for multirotors
Hey Dennis. I also changed from a magnetic balancer over to the TruSpin balancer for the same reason as you. Could never seem to get my props balanced on the magnetic balancer but on the truspin it's very easy.
Hey Dennis, thanks for the comparison. The only suggestion I have is, it is more important to have the DuBro side rollers Level than the same height. Unless your table is level. I was doing mine on the kitchen table and didn't notice how out of level it was until I put level on table.
Right-on! Suggest mounting the Du-Bro on a wooden base, (3/4" Ply?) and fabricating 4 height screw gizmos, one at each corner . If your height screw bottoms are pointed, and fitting into 4 holes in a 3/4" ply sub-base, firmly mounted to your table/bench, you'd probably only have to level it once?? Mine is on the way, and that's what I'll be doing with it. Become "Un-balanced", and you'll fit right in with the "PC" crowd! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Gb bg
Thank you for the review. I received the Top Flight balance last week based on your review of it and it gave me fits! I'm going to switch immediately to this one. Thanks again for your honest reviews!
I think I may be wrong about the pitch difference being a "dynamic balance" issue. I think dynamic balance is when the shaft whole is off center or not straight. I have an interesting article from an old magazine about how they used to check the propellers on Full Scale aircraft, before all of the modern computer stuff. He explains why you have to check the balance both horizontally and vertically. And I have other articles on prop making that explain why not to sand on the back side of the propeller. He shows a homemade balancer that is essentially like the dubro unit, but without wheels. Lots of old model airplane magazines show how to make something similar using razor blades to support the balance shaft. Everything has to be level. I don't see why the du-bro balancer would have to be level though. Also blade tracking might be an issue?
Austin Nelson More good info :) It seems that many hobbyists have different approaches for prop balance. I'm by no means an expert, but reading this type of info always makes me rethink how I'm doing things....for the better. Thank you.
i have had exactly the same experience with the top flight balancer. those plastic cones are strangely out of balance and throw off the prop balance such that you can never really be sure when your done shaving or sanding the prop.
Hey Dennis hope all is well. Duro is a very nice balancer and have used it for years now. I have found that not all surfaces are level and can give false readings so it is a good idea to be sure the surface that you are using is level as well. I learned this the hard way. I have been using the small magnetic carbon fiber balancer lately off of eBay and is working well for me now. I actually use both now and test them on different surfaces to be sure I have a perfect balance. Hope to see some of your jello free fpv video soon.
That's a good tip. I had not considered that the table I'm balancing on may not be level! That could most definitely cause issues. Will add that as another item on the checklist :) Hope you're doing well and having a great 2014. Take care.
I'm so glad to see a medium priced prop balancer with a built in error. I recently went cheapo and bought a £3.99 one on Ebay and straight away could see that the shaft was unbalanced before I could even start. I'll buy myself a Du-Bro one for Xmas.
Hey Dennis! i saw this video when you uploaded it, and i making now the same change from the Top Flite to this Du-bro, it is working fine after all this time? cheers
David Lougedo It's great to hear from you and hope all is well. Yes the Du-Bro is still working great. I definitely recommend it. BTW I really enjoyed the aerial footage of the skateplaza. That park looks amazing!
You should actually sand the front of the prop, the airfoil side, to balance it. When you sand the flat side you can actually alter the pitch of the blade. This can cause a different type of balance/vibration issue when one blade is making more lift than the other. If I remember the correct term for this is "dynamic balance" and balancing the weight is "static balance", but I could definitely be wrong about that. The lift generated by the airfoil shape on a cross section this size is probably fairly insignificant. I don't have much of a comment on either balancer, I used to use a homemade magnetic balancer. And just speeking from my experience, my air conditiong vents would move the blade making you think it's out of balance. And no matter how close you get it, the friction is so low that if I leave it over night the blade will be somewhere else the next day, don't know if that is drafts or just gravity working ever-so-slowly. Now I pretty much only fly airplanes, and run relatively low rpms on 2 stroke engines. So I use one of the little du-bro finger balancer things, and that's close enough for what I do. Also, if you want to get real scientific, you need a pitch gauge anyway, because most available props won't measure the same from one side to the other, or from prop to prop for that matter. And for leveling your work table, most bubble levels you buy at the hardware store for construction aren't all that accurate at leveling something either. I'll shut up now. sorry
Austin Nelson No need to apologize. This is great information. It's this type of stuff that help us all from going insane. Like balancing over and over and getting different results :) I work hard to keep my props balanced, but there is always some little margin of error. Good to hear your perspective. Will definitely keep it in mind. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Dennis Thanks for the review. Have just purchased the Du-Bro and find that the base and sides are plastic. Rather surprised as I expected them to be Precision machined metal in order to ensure rigidity and stability. Rather disappointed and wonder whether I have purchased a cheap copy?
+Tony Starczewski I hear what you're saying. I too was surprised by the plastic base and sides. But they've held up really well and done a great job of balancing my props. I don't think you purchased a cheap copy. Let us know how you get along.
100 % agree!!!I have had Dubro true spin balancer for ages, money well spent!! However If I may suggest one thing to Dubro, that would be to supply an extra shaft pin of slightly less diameter to suit small 40mm and 50mm edf units. My 2cents.
Hi Dennis , just seen your balancing vid , I now you have one now but I got a carbon fibre from Ebay , it has carbon fibre sides red aluminium spacers and blue alloy blade clamps . it is made for Quadcoptors and FPV . think it was £4.00 so about $6.00 to $7.00 . I will do a video on it , still haven't done a flight video of my area as really bad weather here in UK , floods and high winds , but shouldn't be long now . I am building a new Hexacopter , a Tarot T810 . Will do some videos on that too , I have a hold up with the ESC at the moment . take care Scott
I'm a little skeptical of the DU-BRO because it appears to have a lot of resistance on the balancing motion as opposed to a mag-lev balancer. A good mag-lev should only contact one side with a tiny pin point for zero drag. I built my own balancer to accommodate the prop and motor bell at the same time. This way I get to use the imbalance of each to counter-act each other.
Dennis Baldwin I revisited this video after taking some Aerial footage that was almost ruined by vibes. I think the idea of zero drag is negated by the magnetic influence that several people mentioned. So I'm done with mag-lev, I'm going to try out the DU-Pro. Yay, but sadily a lot of wasted time =(.
I guess god of the quad wasnt enough! God of the prop too! Thanks Dennis. I was just having that same issue with my balancer and discovered that if the rod is not true and straight it will be affected by gravity. Now Im double checking all of my props. You da man!
KandJ Steward Hey! I hope you're doing well. Thanks for the feedback and glad to know that I wasn't the only person with this problem. Keep em well balanced :)
The height adjustment on the Tru-Spin is what I don't like about it. How hard would it have been for them to put in notches for it to sit at so you can make sure that both are the same? I would probably buy one if they somehow improve that.
Great point. I thought the exact same thing. Someone in the comments did point out that there may be cases where your surface is not exactly level so you'd need to have the height of each side offset a little bit. But now we're getting into minor details :) I would like to have those notches!
Dennis Baldwin The reason the height is adjustable is for balancing larger greater than 12" props. By adjusting the rear slider higher than the front slider... that is to say have the rear slide hole line up with the front slider top "V' and the Dubro balancer front base near the edge of a table you can now balance 30" props by having the props hang over the table to spin freely.
Good point about leveling, +Dennis Baldwin. So maybe the answer is to use a bubble level while setting the height, and to re-level it any time you change locations/surfaces or even the angle of the balancer.
Good point. I didn't even think about the rod being bent. If it is then it came that way because I've taken really good care of this balancer. Anyway, I'm learning a lot from all these comments and appreciate your feedback.
Dennis Baldwin I'll second this. I bought a Top Flite balancer a couple of months ago, and had the exact same problem - and as Irich1961 describes, the rod was bent ever so slightly. From watching the video, I'm pretty sure that the rod you use, is bent. Check at around 2:04 :) To be sure, take off the cones and roll the rod on a completely level surface. Shine a light on the rod/surface from one side, while looking for a gap between the surface and rod - when rolling it - from the other. The light makes it easier to see any gaps. I hope my explanation makes sense. Anyway; I contacted the supplier and got a (straight) replacement rod completely free of charge. You can try and straighten it by hand, but with the tolerances so small, I'm pretty sure it's close to impossible - at least with my level of abillites ;)
The Du-bro is a nice one, but I have found that there are manufacturing burs on the disks that make precise balancing difficult, but maybe its just mine
Hi there, I've got the top flight balancer and yes it's a lot of junk, I spent hours trying to balance a prop and noticed the same issue you pointed out, if you reposition the prop after balancing it falls to one side, they are just a total waste of money.
I'm by no means an airfoil expert, but let me share my thought on this. It's recommended to shave weight off the back (or bottom) of the prop. This shouldn't affect the airfoil on top. Hence it shouldn't affect the lift. Pretty basic answer, I know, but hopefully someone will chime in if I don't understand this correctly.
I was going to ask the same thing, seeing as its the back/bottom of the prop "moving" or "pushing" the air i thought that would affect it too. Interesting.
Top flite all the way. Not sure if you missed it but it states in the instructions to balance each cone one at a time when you set it up for the first time for a precision set up. I checked balance after with both cones on and if they were out a bit I just turned one till I was perfectly balanced and then scratched a line in both of them so that they would always be lined up in the same position when checking props. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.
Second that on balancing the balancer before use. Most things in the world of precision tools require adjustment and calibration before use after shipping from far off factories. Even if it arrives at your door unharmed by your favorite shipping company, there are many environmental variables to account for. Your shop environment is likey different than the factory. The flex in the top flite balancer is really a non issue, as you are balancing on a nearly frictionless axis between two points. There really isn't much to calibrate other than balancing the shaft itself. As nice as the Dubro machine is, there are more moving parts to fail. That's a huge negative in my eyes. If I were you, I'd take the magnets off the Top Flite and mount them on the Dubro. Shorten the shaft accordingly, use a drill and a file or sandpaper to put a new point on the end you cut, and balance it after the mods are done and compare again. If you don't like it then, you still can use the Dubro as designed.
The Du-Bro shaft won't work between magnets, as one or other of it's squared off ends would immediately grab on to one magnet. It's made from hardened steel and appears to have a collar already pressed on near one end. It would need points on it. If you could get the collar off, any points would probably have to be precision ground, just as it was by Du-Bro when it was made, because the hardened steel will blunt any ordinary lathe tools. Heh, it's ironic that I'll probably be buying one myself soon as I work in a precision machining shop.
lol,word; you grind the cone; you don´t cut it, that could BEND the thin shaft; ALL these balancers MUST have a STRAIGHT shaft; revolve it on a good,flat (check it by the reflections...) piece of glass; like ckecking a pool cue; that MUST be the FIRST thing to check,magnetic or not; the thing must be straight; now,why didn´t i think of that before! thanks
i found that problem 1 month after buying it, beck a year ago. what I did is playing with the rod for full day :) and found the spot it wants to go beck to everytime i then marked on the rod which way is "up" and then everytime I would place a prop I would make sure the marking is up and the prop sit 90 dgrees to it it helped a bit but its really a bad balancer . I don't use it for long time now , and looking forward to byuing dubro great video but 2 late :) by the way after found that I wen to an rc shop and made the seller crazy he showd me all kind of balancer and I had showed him that all of the had this problem. not just this top flite I never put my heands on dubro but looking at how its working I think it will be free from that problem
No matter what method balance you use be sure to balance the hub of your balancer before you use it for the first time. If you balanced the hubs of your Top Flite Powerpoint balancer I'm sure you'd enjoy using it again.
Definitely hard to balance a prop when the balancer it self is out of balance. I wish I had this info before buying the the top flite balancer. The top flite balancer is a pain to use and don't recomend it.
No lie! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with this problem. It took a while for me to figure out this was happening so I've decided to move on to the DuBro. I'm not saying that all Top Flite balancers are bad....just my experience has not been so good.
I just switched too..I was also not getting accurate results with the magnetic balancer...it would be balanced then unbalanced then back again..wasted so much time fooling with that thing and never really got a true balance at all..stick with your new one and so am I.. thumbs up.
Your top flight has many issues. The shaft is bent, get a replacement, The cone flat side is beat up (not flat, left one in the video) and possibly out of balance. The magnet should be perfectly perpendicular to the shaft, clearly your right magnet is out of alignment. You only need one magnet to touch the shaft. Once these are fixed, the top flight will balance much smaller props than the dubro do to less friction, good luck.
Ozzy3333333 Thanks for the close observations. This is great stuff to know. I'll see if I can make these adjustments and revisit my comparison. I appreciate the detailed response.
It's funny, i made opposite switching, i left my du-bro tru-spin for a magnetic balancer, but not the one you used for years but a very smaller one with metal parts. And i have better results with it >.
+Adam Wehner Yes. You sand the actual magnetic spindles to balance them as well. Look at Painless 360s video on it. You also can sand the hubs of the props.
+Adam Wehner Yes. You sand the actual magnetic spindles to balance them as well. Look at Painless 360s video on it. You also can sand the hubs of the props.
+Adam Wehner Yes. You sand the actual magnetic spindles to balance them as well. Look at Painless 360s video on it. You also can sand the hubs of the props.
uap Agree I have both balancers. The Dubro is definetly less sensitive so it is easier to" balance a prop. However take that same Dubro balanced prop and put it on the magnetic balancer the prop no longer balances. Way because it is more sensitive and requires balancing the prop and hub, it takes longer with the magnetic balancer to achieve the far more balanced prop with the magnetic balancer. The Dubro appears faster and easier to balance a prop because it is definetly less sensitive.
Hey All, The Top-Flite works just fine!@@ All you have to do is put the rod through the prop hole and, while not allowing it to to touch the rod so that it can move freely, let the 2 little cones that are "out of balance" just fall to their natural position, THEN push the 2 cones to secure the prop. By doing that you have effectively neutralized the out of balance issue because now that the cones are in their natural at-rest state, when the blade is balanced its balanced state aligns with the two cone's "balanced" state. Since the cone will naturally want to go to its at-rest state and the prop will also once it is balanced, the error will be effectively canceled... If you all have a Top-FLite, just give it a try and you will come away with perfectly balanced props every time!@@ Cheers, Bill
Why. I am using a Do it yourself Prop Balancing Assembly?. Because all those Balancer are just to take your money and make yourself look as a Pro...be a Pro and make one yourself....
