Warranty?

[curmudgeon]

I recently purchased a second E5 kit.  I'm still building it, so no flights yet.  One of the 305-202 blade grips does not have a large enough inner hole to accommodate the innermost thrust bearing race (large OD/large ID) all the way in.  The thrust bearing race fits very tightly, and does not insert as fas as with the other blade grips.  I've even used a wooden dowel and a mallet to tap it in as best as possible.  Despite the best efforts, when I assemble the grip, it is very notchy; the opposing side blade grip feels smooth.

I discussed this issue with HeliDirect.  They told me to deal with Synergy directly with this issue.  However, I can't see any warranty support prompts in the website.

Any suggestions on how I should approach this?

[James Mineo]

Hi John,

I have seen this once in one of my rotor heads before... What my particular instance was, the thrust bearing race you are speaking of, had a few small pieces of metal behind the race, not allowing it to seat flush against the machined surface in the grip. Try removing the race and cleaning out behind it, then reinstall.

Let us know if this works for you.

James

Sent from my HTC Droid DNA

[curmudgeon]

Hello James.  Thanks for the reply.

I wish it were that easy.  I cleaned both the blade grip and the thrust bearing race with denatured alcohol.  I have tapped the thrust bearing race in and out of the blade grip multiple times.  Every time I tap out the race off the grip, I shave off more material from the blade grip.  I fully clean the metal shavings with denatured alcohol after every in/out tap session.  Again, I have no issues with the other three blade grips.

Is my only option to suck it up and purchase a new blade grip?

[Chris Sexton]

Hello James.  Thanks for the reply.

I wish it were that easy.  I cleaned both the blade grip and the thrust bearing race with denatured alcohol.  I have tapped the thrust bearing race in and out of the blade grip multiple times.  Every time I tap out the race off the grip, I shave off more material from the blade grip.  I fully clean the metal shavings with denatured alcohol after every in/out tap session.  Again, I have no issues with the other three blade grips.

Is my only option to suck it up and purchase a new blade grip?

Send an email to Matt. He is the only one who can determine is a replacement is needed. Email is easiest.

matt@mattbotos.com

sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 2

[flyalan]

Did you notice any notchiness before you pulled the bearings? Did the inner race come out easily the first time? Have you checked the radial bearings to see if one of those had been damaged?

Cheers
Alan

[curmudgeon]

I did not assess for notchiness prior to taking the head apart, so I don't know the answer to that.

I of course had to apply plenty of heat to take the feathering shaft screws off, and later had to apply heat to remove the radial bearings off the blade grips.  I had to tap out the thrust bearing inner race from the blade grip in question with a wooden dowel and a rubber mallet, as it would not come off even with heat from a butane torch.

[flyalan]

Have you checked the radial bearings? If everything is now seated in the grip and it is notchy then it is most likely a bearing. You need to determine which one and let Matt know. Have you emailed him?

Cheers
Alan


Alan Butler
Team Synergy

[curmudgeon]

Yes.  I emailed Matt yesterday about it.

All the bearings (thrust and radial) look and feel fine.  I also swapped all the bearings between blade grips.  Same blade grip, same issue with all bearings swapped.  The problem seems to be isolated to the blade grip.

I may just purchase another blade grip for $31 and move on.

Would anyone be interested in assessing and possibly servicing the "faulty" blade grip?

[Matt Botos]

John,

If you "tapped" the inner thrust race in with a wooden dowel, odds are you have driven aluminum forcefully inside of the grip. These are not aluminum shavings but more so aluminum that has been galled into place. This aluminum can not be removed unless you have a CNC lathe.
 
You should never tap bearings into an aluminum grip. The correct procedure is to lightly heat the grip with a propane torch or heat gun. After heating, the thrust race will literally fall into place. Synergy blade grips have very tight tolerances which are critical to giving you a perfectly connected feeling in the air.

The rest of the bearings should be installed with the same method.

Send the grip to me and I will attempt to fix it for you.

Thanks,

Matt

[curmudgeon]

Thank you Matt.

I sent you a PM.

John