What rotor blades should I buy

[xstatic]

I want to upgrade to get better videos with my Gopro and phantom Dji. What rotor blades should I get that will best eliminate the jello ( Bill Cosby) effect?

I hear Graupner are good. which do you guyss suggested? I can't search blades in the forum I get the message too many found!

 

[martcerv]

Any blades that are properly balanced will help along with a good anti jello mount and nd filter for shooting in bright conditions. The stock DJI props when well balanced can give good results, there are lots of different prop options and I think with other props you want to maintain maximum lift and a bit more stiffness will help reduce vibrations at speed. Get yourself a dubro balancer and look up some tutorial videos on how to use it properly. Also motor balance will have an effect but there is no magic prop unless you buy some pre balanced ones that will give instant results. Some badly made props may not be possible to balance but any decent props should be easy enough to do with a good balancer and a bit of time.

Different blade lengths and pitch profiles will have effects on flight and you dont want to use a prop that has much less lift then the stock dji as this will give shorter flight times and cause some issues in flight.

 

[xstatic]

I have the dubrobalancer and I balanced my stock blades. What is the largest length blade we can use? I will look into the nd filter as well. Any suggestions to what to get?

 

[martcerv]

I think I am currently testing the largest blades you can possibly fit onto a phantom 9050 tri blade lol. It turns the phantom into a rocketship but I haven't quite found a way to properly balance 3 blades. I did a rough job and got its ok but still showing vibrations mostly in a hover though not terrible but still worse then my 8045 carbons and dji stocks have. Bigger blades with more lift cause more turbulence and if the tips are closer to eachother then this likely wont help either spinning through the other blades prop wash.

I also got some 8040 triblades but havent flown them yet, I tried the 9 inch ones first not expecting much but got a pleasnt surprise and if I can tune them better they may be my go to blades. I think I am getting about 40% more lift and a couple minutes longer flight time out of them. Top speed is much higher too and compared the the worst props I have tried which were 8x5 carbon graupner clones these were well built but at 8 inches in the graupner profile it had about half the lift of the stock props. Balance ok but drops out of the sky easily with high speed forward in atti plus can barely lift my setup with cam and fpv gear. Flight time barely 4 minutes compared to 10 with the triblade or 8 on stock or stock clone carbons. I think a graupner prop could be ok at 9 inches but they are really designed for much higher rpm then the phantom has.

I wouldnt want any bigger then 9 inches on the prop and doubt 10's would clear each other and if they did would cause lots of turbulence.

I have a bunch of different props I want to try out and will put up my findings once done, so far the 8045 carbon props have been good but they break easily when hitting a tree. I have some stiffer 8045 plastic which I havent flown yet too.

 

[Gizmo3000]

I"m running APC 8x3.8 flow flyer props.. they needed reaming, but needed almost no balancing
and the results have been swell,. tho perhaps I've lost a little bit of flight time.
I might try out the 8x4.7's next just to see how they perform (they're not too expensive).

don't go with anything larger than 9, or they will hit the shell.

 

[martcerv]

Here are the props I am trying atm

http://www.multiwiicopter.com/products/sku-27

I have tiger motor mt 2216 props on which have a 5mm prop shaft and these came with 5mm inserts so very easy to fit. First Balance attempt I used the sanding method on the underside of the lightest blade I went back and used clear nail polish on the heavy blade. This is much more precise and I managed to easily get a perfect balance on these and latest flights have been very smooth. Though its all at close to sunset so need to have a good test in daytime, flight time going pretty much full throttle entire flight I got 10 minutes with stock battery and 11:30s with the 2700mah battery.

It takes off pretty quick and was completely stable in a hover with no jello or filter but about 10 min to sunset. If the sun ever comes out I will do some daylight testing with all my props after balancing them all properly.

 

[Driffill]

Here are the props I am trying atm

http://www.multiwiicopter.com/products/sku-27

I have tiger motor mt 2216 props on which have a 5mm prop shaft and these came with 5mm inserts so very easy to fit. First Balance attempt I used the sanding method on the underside of the lightest blade I went back and used clear nail polish on the heavy blade. This is much more precise and I managed to easily get a perfect balance on these and latest flights have been very smooth. Though its all at close to sunset so need to have a good test in daytime, flight time going pretty much full throttle entire flight I got 10 minutes with stock battery and 11:30s with the 2700mah battery.

It takes off pretty quick and was completely stable in a hover with no jello or filter but about 10 min to sunset. If the sun ever comes out I will do some daylight testing with all my props after balancing them all properly.

I'm interested to see how these perform

. . . I might just have to upgrade my motors and get a few sets, I like the idea of longer flight times, and less vibes!

I have a few theories on how they could be balanced, but I'd need to buy a set an trial it before I try and explain it.

 

[martcerv]

I did redo the balancing using clear nail polish and have got it fully balanced all the way around on all my 3 bladed props. First test flights were pretty good but its again late afternoon but hovering was 100% jello free as was all sorts of flying but need to test in good light to see how it goes. Its possible to use the same props on stock motors I think as they look to have 8mm internal diameter or pretty close so could be reamed out if 8mm versions aren't available.

I wonder how the smaller 8 inch triblades will go but forecast is real ugly the next few days with 40kn+ winds. I may be able to get a couple flights in early morning tomorrow before the wind goes nuts otherwise it will be mid next week.

Here is a pic of the 9 inch triblades on my phantom.

 

[CameraGuy]

I do use the graupners, but I have been told they are now out of business. I bought 2 sets from someplace in HongKong.

You still need to balance them. I use the scotch tape method, and with some practice and patience, I am getting better at it.

I have been told by my LHS that the APC's are pretty good.

Beware of the sites that promise to sell balanced blades. I bought some on ebay, and they were far from anything balanced. I can't even get them to be balanced. They are mostly garbage. I complained and got my $$ back. Hint: He has a hand written note on the picture saying best balanced blades on ebay.

Also, get some sort of ISO mount. Either the small black ball mount, or the wire one. They are all over Amazon and ebay, sell for less than $30 and will help. I also use some moon Gel to mount the unit to the Phantom.

Darren

 

[Alex]

Here are the props I am trying atm

http://www.multiwiicopter.com/products/sku-27

I have tiger motor mt 2216 props on which have a 5mm prop shaft and these came with 5mm inserts so very easy to fit. First Balance attempt I used the sanding method on the underside of the lightest blade I went back and used clear nail polish on the heavy blade. This is much more precise and I managed to easily get a perfect balance on these and latest flights have been very smooth. Though its all at close to sunset so need to have a good test in daytime, flight time going pretty much full throttle entire flight I got 10 minutes with stock battery and 11:30s with the 2700mah battery.

It takes off pretty quick and was completely stable in a hover with no jello or filter but about 10 min to sunset. If the sun ever comes out I will do some daylight testing with all my props after balancing them all properly.

Interested, can they be mounted to stock motors?

 

[xstatic]

Martcerv, let us all know the results of a bright daytime flight. we are all curious!

Great picture. Like the evil black look. Very cool!

 

[xstatic]

just curious Martcerv, how did you attach the filter. I just bought one today that slips over the lens. hope mine will stay secure!

 

[martcerv]

I think you would need a prop reamer to install these on a stock motor, the center hole diamater is a little different with too and bottom looking to be around 8mm but the center is more like 6mm. They provide spacers at 6mm or 5mm which you put on both ends but if you reamed it out to 8mm then there is no reason for it to not work on the stock motors. Just a but more fiddling around, its already blowing 30 knots outside early morning so looks like forecasts were correct a d my flight testing is on hold for a few days.

The filters I use are attached to the SRP micro 52mm adapter you can screw on any 52mm filter and it just slips on. I have never had one come off and its a good fit on both my H3 BE cameras. They also make a clip on 55mm filter if you want to use the housing and I use those for my underwater videos but also tried nd filters with it. Using the housing is just adding a bit more weight so I fly the frame now and use the filter also to protect the lens. I scratched up a filter the other day when I got tangled up in some big grass doing some very low flying, Im sure if I didnt have the filter on my lens would have been ruined.

 

[martcerv]

Here is a quick video test I did as I have the day off today, it was sunny at least but the winds howling to 40kmh+ gusts and right now up over 80kmh so no more flying today as this one was sketchy enough as I stayed fairly low where wind was coming from all directions.

Doesnt show much other then its bashed around in the wind pretty bad but there isnt any real jello I can see even in strong winds and bright sun using these props after balancing and the ND filter. Though most jello I see flying slowly or hovering in camera conditions so one day I will get to try that with the sun out at the same time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z69MhlX1AE[/youtube]

 

[xstatic]

A prop reamer sounds a little intimidating. What if you don't perfectly center it? Wobble wobble wobble? Talk about jello!
A little scary.

 

[Alex]

I think you would need a prop reamer to install these on a stock motor, the center hole diamater is a little different with too and bottom looking to be around 8mm but the center is more like 6mm. They provide spacers at 6mm or 5mm which you put on both ends but if you reamed it out to 8mm then there is no reason for it to not work on the stock motors. Just a but more fiddling around, its already blowing 30 knots outside early morning so looks like forecasts were correct a d my flight testing is on hold for a few days.

The filters I use are attached to the SRP micro 52mm adapter you can screw on any 52mm filter and it just slips on. I have never had one come off and its a good fit on both my H3 BE cameras. They also make a clip on 55mm filter if you want to use the housing and I use those for my underwater videos but also tried nd filters with it. Using the housing is just adding a bit more weight so I fly the frame now and use the filter also to protect the lens. I scratched up a filter the other day when I got tangled up in some big grass doing some very low flying, Im sure if I didnt have the filter on my lens would have been ruined.

Ugh, you mean the only place that stocks these is in Aus???

 

[martcerv]

I am I Aus so I was glad to see some quality props stocked here, a bit of searching online should be able to find them but likely as with everything else they probably come from china. A bit of a change as most things I have bought were either from asia or the US with only some parts coming from local suppliers.

I still really want to try them out in lighter winds in daytime to see how they go but with the extra lift they are great flying a heavy phantom, my night flights showed some great flight performance and I also want to see how the 8 inch triblade's go in comparison.

I just got home today but wind is more then double yesterdays strength so no more flying. I could guarantee a flyaway as the phantom would never make it back into the wind.

 

[martcerv]

I found the same 9050 3 blade props at hobby king http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbycity/stor ... oduct=5248

Seem pretty popular with many other quads but havent seen them on a Phantom before, I don't know how they go with the stock motors but they work great with mine performance wise and I think they are very smooth too after proper balancing.

 

[Alex]

I found the same 9050 3 blade props at hobby king http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbycity/stor ... oduct=5248

Seem pretty popular with many other quads but havent seen them on a Phantom before, I don't know how they go with the stock motors but they work great with mine performance wise and I think they are very smooth too after proper balancing.

Ahh, headsmack. I didn't check the International Warehouse. They're backordered in the US.

Thanks!

 

[Driffill]

I'm thinking about buying a few sets of 3-blade props, can anyone tell me what I'd need to do to get them to fit the phantom motors?

. . . Sorry if it seams a basic question!

I would like to upgraded to anti gravity's, but money is a little tight for now!