Starter shaft OWB failure on 3rd flight?!

[kennyd1gital]

I finally had the opportunity to maiden my N5c today. I'm still breaking in the O.S. .55 HZ-R, so on the first flight, all I did was hover. Did some gentle circuits on the second flight. More circuits on the third. Heard a nasty grinding rattle when I landed at the end of the third flight. I discovered the noise was coming from the starter shaft. I've just finished pulling the motor. The OWB is seized to the starter shaft. I had to pull the motor out along with the starter shaft bearing block because I couldn't get the 6mm coupler to come off the shaft either.

I followed the manual closely during the build and I'm sure that the clutch stack was aligned properly. I checked to make sure the bottom of the clutch was parallel to the bottom of the clutch bell. There was no binding of the starter shaft and it was rotating freely. Is there something I could have over looked?

Has anyone else had this happen? From the looks of it, I'll be needing a new clutch assembly, starter shaft, and 6mm coupler. I think I can salvage the rest.

Very frustrated and very disappointed. 

[flyalan]

The only time I have ever had starter shaft issues on a Synergy was on anN5 last year. I had bought it used and it turned out that the prior owner had neglected to install the spacers between the engine and engines mount. This small misalignment caused a continual eating of started shafts.
Ate you sure nothing loosened up during flight?

Alan


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chris Sexton]

As Alan said, the only time I have seen this was when the engine and start shaft weren't aligned properly.

One easy way to tell is try stopping the starter hex while the engine is running. It should not kill the motor. If the starter hex won't stop then something is binding.

[RyanW]

Which starter are you using?

[kennyd1gital]

All bolts were still tight when I disassembled everything to pull the motor out. I had the motor mount shims in as well. I'm using a TorqMaster 180 starter.

[RyanW]

Strange indeed. I only asked about the starter because the Align units have been known to jack-hammer things apart.

[kennyd1gital]

Strange indeed. I only asked about the starter because the Align units have been known to jack-hammer things apart.

Yeah, I had read about that in another thread.

[Tommy Wagner]

when setting The pinion on the N5c make sure to leave the 8 bolts loose on the motor mount thats on the side frame and tighten the 4 that go to the motor. set the pinion and then you should have some adjustment with the 8 bolts loose. Make sure that the start shaft spins freely and that there is very little drag when turning it by hand( the same way the blades rotate) when you start the motor you should be able to put your finger on the coupler and stop it with a little pressure.

[kennyd1gital]

when setting The pinion on the N5c make sure to leave the 8 bolts loose on the motor mount thats on the side frame and tighten the 4 that go to the motor. set the pinion and then you should have some adjustment with the 8 bolts loose. Make sure that the start shaft spins freely and that there is very little drag when turning it by hand( the same way the blades rotate) when you start the motor you should be able to put your finger on the coupler and stop it with a little pressure.

The new shaft arrived and I was extra careful when installing it this time. It rotates pretty smoothly and when the engine is running, it doesn't take much pressure to stop the shaft momentarily. Hopefully all is well now.