Prop Savers.

RaiderPilotMT

Junior Member
Hey guys! Does anyone have any quick tips to keep the prop from vibrating a ton on higher power settings using a prop saver. Its basically a blue wonder with a 7x4 prop and a 3s battery. Its held on with the O-ring that came with the motor and it is rigged just like I've seen it on the videos. The problem I have is that it will vibrate past half power and cause the motor to seize up and squeal. Any help would be great!
 

eagle4

Member
hmm, thats odd, i've not had a problem with my propsavers before like this. im sure you've installed it correctly,but any chance you could post a photo, just so we're sure. Also how tight is your oring? was it tough to get on?
 

CrashRecovery

I'm a care bear...Really?
Mentor
What are you using the motor on? Also how thick is the o ring? The thicker the better. Yours might be too small allowing it to vibrate.
 

rcspaceflight

creator of virtual planes
Is the propeller balanced and is the propeller centered in the hub of the prop saver? Some of the props I have have a hole that's too small to fit snuggly into the hub and the prop doesn't stay straight or centered. If the hole is too big then similar issues can arise.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
RP,

three things that might help:

- make sure your prop fits on the adaptor without any play. a loose prop is an unbalanced prop, and a badly unbalanced prop vibrates and breaks things.

- Prop saver bands should be hard to put on/take off. If it's easy to mount, it's too easy for the band to let the prop pull away. a weak band will give you a loose prop (see above)

- Balance your props. Dont' need a fancy rig to do it (though it helps), but it'll cut a LOT of your vibration issues out. you can get it close using the motor (watch your fingers!):

once you've got the prop on tight, slowly throttle up and see if it starts to vibrate. whirr is good, buzz is bad.

throttle back, get a small piece of packing tape and put it on the middle of one blade. Throttle up slowly and see if it's better (less/no buzz or get higher throttle before it does). depending on what happened, move the tape and repeat. If it gets worse, move the tape to the other blade. If better, but still not good, move it in or out along the blade. If you get to the end and it keeps gettign better, but not whirring at full throttle yet, switch to a bigger piece of tape (I've had to switch to aluminum tape once before, but that was a *really* badly ballanced prop).

when everythings on tight and balanced you should have a nice whirr at WOT. If you're still having troubles getting there, let us know.


BTW, welcome to the forum.
 

RaiderPilotMT

Junior Member
Thanks for all the insight. the O-ring and the prop are both an issue. it is not a snug fit on the shaft or the O-ring. Its not super loose but there is some play. I will try all of these tips and see how it turns out. I have never once used a prop saver so I was very ignorant on the material. I can teach people how to fly real airplanes for a living but I cant get an electric rc motor and prop to work properly lol. BTW to the above poster, it is for my FT flyer. The spitfire I scratch built is great, but it has a fixed prop.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Most prop savers have a center cone of different size if you flip it over. Meaning, the cone on the side facing the motor is probably a different size than the one currently touching the prop. If the one facing the motor is larger, you can try flipping the prop saver over to use the larger cone. If not, a new prop with a smaller hub might work. If it's too small to fit over the cone so it's flush on the level part, you can ream the hub hole to match the cone. Go slow as a too big hole will send you back to wobbly prop land...

I often use 2 O-rings on mine since the last batch I got are kind of thin. Two work well and keep it centered and secure. That won't help you if the prop hub isn't matching the prop saver cone though.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
RP,

once you get used to flying from outside the plane it all translates, but models are different than the real thing -- for one thing you should expect to crash ;)

If you can find some latex exercise or surgical tubing, makes a great prop saver band when cut into 1/4 disks. personally use "Theraband" blue exercise tube. Picked up a piece from a local physical therapist with just a little begging. Got a 2 ft scrap that'll last me ages.

Good luck getting it trimmed and airborne!