E7 belt tension

[Glenn Bennett]

G'day all I've been a member for a couple of wks now and have been looking over the posts while building my new E7 to get a few tips. I'm paying particular attention to tips in regards to the tail belt, but have not yet seen an all  around belt tension given. I have sprayed the belt with silicon spray to smooth out the the chunkyness of the belt as it rolled over the tail pully, which worked a treat......Cheers heaps
Today I maidened my E7 with the belt firm on the auto gear to pully which was firm with a little slack at the tail bottomside, She felt nice and locked in (ofcoarse a very different feeling to my 3G T550) But had a slight tail wobble in hoover, upon landing after about 4mins of hoover with a couple of long pitch pumps I noticed the belt had stretched quite a fair bit as to be expected and was wondering if any one can give me an idea of how I should gauge how tight to run the belt....!!  My flying style is light 3d.
Cheers for any advice or help.
Glenn

[steffgiguere]

Glenn, on E7 belt should be tighter than on E6, just enough so you can push it up, from the bottom of the boon, around 2mm. You are right after a few flights the belt does stretch and readjustment is needed.
Have fun flying your E7.

[mstlc03]

Question, do you guys have a good method for tightening and setting the belt on the E7?  For me, it's almost impossible to do this with just 2 hands.  I always need someone else to help me in order for me to apply enough force to tighten the belt, then one hand holding the screw driver and another holding the bolt.  Just looking for some pointers...

[seldred]

I adjust the tension by gently loosening the two bolts on the tail (enough to keep enough tension on the boom so the tail assembly does not slide forward) then I pull it back and check the belt tension from the bottom of the belt. When I am satisfied, I tighten the bolts back down.

Best,
-Steve

[steffgiguere]

+1, that's how I do it also.

[Glenn Bennett]

Thanks guys have readjusted tension, will let u know how it goes on saturday.
Cheers heaps

[Matt Botos]

Just don't get it too tight, you will snap the belt in flight.

Matt

[JVZ]

My kit should arrive Monday.. Can someone  direct me to matts link on belt tension please. Also, which silicone spray lube should I use?

thanks

[Matt Botos]

The best advice I can give you is to creep up on the tension. Do not try to get it guitar string tight. Start with a moderate tension and work your way up until you are happy with the performance.
The silicone spray I use is CRC brand. Usually can acquire it from any hardware or auto parts store, I think Walmart even has it on their shelves.
If you are building it as an E6 you don't have to worry about this as much, just pull it tight and fly!

Thanks,

Matt

[wicked_n_raw]

This could be wrong but this is how I tightened my belt.  I pushed the rear push rod guide up against the first boom clamp on the tail box to stop the tail box from sliding forward while adjusting my belt.  While shaking my boom (on the helicopter of course) I move the tail box and the push rod guide back until I do not hear the belt hitting the sides of the boom any more and just a tad bit further.  Once you have flown it repeat the process and that should help you ease up on belt tension.   Don't forget to move your push rod guide back into place.

I also use the CRC brand spray silicone from Walmart.

Regards,
Furron

[Racemwyatt]

Don't laugh, but I sit in the chair, take my shoes off, place the heli on the ground with the tail facing me, put my feet trough the skids, and voila extra hands!

+1 for not over tightening.

[QuantumPSI]

Don't laugh, but I sit in the chair, take my shoes off, place the heli on the ground with the tail facing me, put my feet trough the skids, and voila extra hands!

+1 for not over tightening.

+1

That's been my technique so far LOL

[Sjohn]

This could be wrong but this is how I tightened my belt.  I pushed the rear push rod guide up against the first boom clamp on the tail box to stop the tail box from sliding forward while adjusting my belt.  While shaking my boom (on the helicopter of course) I move the tail box and the push rod guide back until I do not hear the belt hitting the sides of the boom any more and just a tad bit further.  Once you have flown it repeat the process and that should help you ease up on belt tension.   Don't forget to move your push rod guide back into place.

Do you have to re-set the tail rod and rudder servo limits etc everytime you adjust the belt tension?

[wicked_n_raw]

Yes no matter which method you use you will most likely have to.  You are moving the tail box further away from the frames to get the correct tension on the belt.  So you may have come one to two turns on the control rod.  After making sure that it is setup mechanically, check your end points then fly.  Takes me less than 5 min.

regards,
Furron