Questions Regarding Props and Gains Settings

[RenoReno]

Hi folks,

My Phantom 1 finally arrived by UPS today. Happy! Happy! Smile! Smile! Purchased off of ebay and the thing looks like it's brand new. Seller did a real nice job with the packing too, all but one thing. He apparently forgot to put the 2 sets of propellers in the box, that were part of the package.

While I'm waiting on resolution for that, I went ahead and purchased a set of 9443 carbon fiber props for the Phantom 2. They come with the CW and CCW blades and I understand they're compatible with the Phantom 1 and perform better than the stock Phantom 1 blades. I also purchased new 9" prop guards. Before props go on, they'll be double checked for balance, and balanced if need be. I'll also be cleaning and balancing the motors and replacing the bearings with boca bearings.

Here's my questions. Has anyone here done the same upgrade? For those that may have, what kind of improvements did you see? I understand better flight time can be expected. And last but not least. Did you adjust your gain settings after doing the upgrade? If so what settings did you find to be optimal?

Thanks in advance for any tips or advice.

 

[ElGuano]

Hi folks,

My Phantom 1 finally arrived by UPS today. Happy! Happy! Smile! Smile! Purchased off of ebay and the thing looks like it's brand new. Seller did a real nice job with the packing too, all but one thing. He apparently forgot to put the 2 sets of propellers in the box, that were part of the package.

While I'm waiting on resolution for that, I went ahead and purchased a set of 9443 carbon fiber props for the Phantom 2. They come with the CW and CCW blades and I understand they're compatible with the Phantom 1 and perform better than the stock Phantom 1 blades. I also purchased new 9" prop guards. Before props go on, they'll be double checked for balance, and balanced if need be. I'll also be cleaning and balancing the motors and replacing the bearings with boca bearings.

Here's my questions. Has anyone here done the same upgrade? For those that may have, what kind of improvements did you see? I understand better flight time can be expected. And last but not least. Did you adjust your gain settings after doing the upgrade? If so what settings did you find to be optimal?

Thanks in advance for any tips or advice.

Without a baseline (running standard props), you won't be able to tell what the improvement is. But those p2v props will give you 20% more flight time than 8" stock props. I rarely use my 8s now. However, your flight time increase will be almost entirely annulled by the weight of the prop guards.

You will need to balance the cf props, I can pretty much guarantee that.

No flight time impact with new bearings. They may be quieter and smoother, and more reliable, but don't expect a boost in airtime.

 

[RenoReno]

Without a baseline (running standard props), you won't be able to tell what the improvement is. But those p2v props will give you 20% more flight time than 8" stock props. I rarely use my 8s now. However, your flight time increase will be almost entirely annulled by the weight of the prop guards.

You will need to balance the cf props, I can pretty much guarantee that.

No flight time impact with new bearings. They may be quieter and smoother, and more reliable, but don't expect a boost in airtime.

Good info. Thanks! Prop balancing is planned. I've got the dubro balancer and it seems pretty good. Hoping to balance motors too. Just gotta find a shaft with the proper internal threads to screw onto the motor shaft. Someone has a great video on youtube for balancing the motors using the barrel from a disassembled procise automatic center punch. Can't seem to find that center punch anywhere yet. Put one of those seismograph apps on my phone and put phone on top of phantom with engines running without props. Seems to be a little vibration, but no baseline to compare it to.

 

[RenoReno]

The new Phantom 2 9443 props came. They look pretty nice and mounted to the motors without a hitch. I did a quick check for balance with one prop it wasn't too far off from being perfectly balanced. I'm planning on painting the tips of the props with fluorescent orange paint, then I'll go with the fingernail polish method for the final balance.

What do you guys think on painting the tips? Mask and spray, or just dip the tips in the paint? I'm just wanting to cover 1/4 to 1/2 inch of the tips. Six in one hand, half dozen in the other?