Swashplate Slop

[curmudgeon]

All three of my swashplates behave the same way.  There is slop between the inner and outer rings.  I tightened the swash by first tightening the 100-364 M3x4 set screw until I felt the resistance of the bearing, and then tightened the 100-316 M3x16 socket screw (page 44).

Not sure where to go from here.

Synergy E5 swashplate slop

[copenhagen]

If that was made into a zero fit, it probably would bind the servos.  If it did not, it would soon become a clearance fit due to normal wear.  I am no Synergy champ (getting parts together for my 1st build), but I am a mechanical engineering student in my 3rd year with experience in rotating equipment, and I have to say guy, I wouldn't be worried about that at all.

[curmudgeon]

The two E5's I've built fly very nicely, despite this slop in the swash.  However, setting up the head at the bench is a little more time consuming compared to other helicopters I've built mainly because i have to snap the swash rings together every time before measuring the pitch to keep the results consistent.  Again, the helicopters fly smoothly.  I just wanted to know if other Synergy owners have noticed this and/or done something about it. 

[Darren Lee]

It's absolutely not normal.  Just checked one of mine and it has zero slop.

[curmudgeon]

All three swashes have a similar slop, so it is likely that it is some sort of operator error from my part.  I just not know how to fix it.  I already tightened the swashes as best as I dare without stripping the threads.

Should I apply green or red Loctite where the inner and outer rings connect?

[Scott Anderson]

Yeah that's not good, checked mine and has no play.

[curmudgeon]

Scratch the Loctite idea.  The play seems to be between the inner and the outer bearing races.  So the slop is coming from the bearings.

[Mark Burberry]

This is what Matt had to say about it in an old post:

What you are experiencing is inner race of the bearing tolerance. This can be addressed by gently tightening the set screw. This set screw was placed here by design for removing ball race slop. Be careful with this because over tightening will cause your inner swash to rotate very roughly.

The socket trick is only for tightening the spherical ball after crash impact or something similar. To tighten the spherical ball / clam shell assembly, simply use a socket which matches the diameter of the aluminum ring to press the ring back into place. The aluminum ring is locate on the bottom side of the inner swash.

Thanks,

Matt

http://synergyrchelicopters.com/forum/index.php?topic=982.0

[Matt Botos]

This slop is usually adjusted by first tightening the M3 bolt which clamps the OD of the bearing. The set screw is for a finer adjustment. If you can not remove the slop by tightening the M3 bolt, please send the swash back to us and we will fix the swash plate.

Thanks,

Matt

[Jean-Luc Bolduc]

I fixed one of mine that had a lot of use and was a bit sloppy, by using green wicking Loctite between the center alu part and the inner bearing.

[Scott Anderson]

I did a little experimenting with my swash plate As I am waiting batteries for the e5. I loosen the set screw and then the 3mm cap bolt until I had about the same play that you demonstrated in your video. I started tightening the 3mm cap screw first to take away most of the play then tighten the set screw and it took away even more. Not satisfied I tightened the cap screw even tighter where there is only minimal play then tighten the set screw another half turn where there was 0 play.I highly recommend not using any kind of Loctite compound inside the swash plate! I do have to say it does feel like the bolt and the set screw are really tight but if you do 1/8 or 1/4 turns at a time you shouldn't strip it out and then achive almost or zero play.

[Scott Anderson]

Not using Loctite inside the swash plate is my personal opinion and building/maintenance techniques. It is now my understanding that experienced builders and pilots have used loctite in the swash plate with success over many flights.

[Barry Tilson]

This swash play can be remove using the technique described? Doup! video didn't load. Just caught the first video. Will give this a try.