Whats all this talk about...

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Why are people starting to purchase blade balancers? The way I see it the props get screwed on to a fixed motor, not like a helicopter working on a swivel or gyro system. I fly RC Helicopters and I 100 percent balance my blades. But on a Phantom?
 
In my experience the P3 propellers are usually fairly well balanced.

If you have jello-problems you could consider using an ND-filter to get the shutter speed down (that aggravates jello-problems). There are other benefits to using ND-filters in bright/sunny situations too.
 
Less vibration is always better. ;)
 
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Reduce vibration mainly. You can see it in a quad while hovering if any blades are out of balance. She does a little quivering.
 
Half of my props were a bit off balance. I used the SpeedyTM prop balancer to fix them. Prop balancers are inexpensive and easy to use. You can even use just a prop balancing rod if you want to save a few bucks. Here's a video that shows how it's done:

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Half of my props were a bit off balance. I used the SpeedyTM prop balancer to fix them. Prop balancers are inexpensive and easy to use. You can even use just a prop balancing rod if you want to save a few bucks. Here's a video that shows how it's done:

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Sorry but a rod and glass is the last thing you want to use to balance props. Mainly because your relying on a level table your glass is sitting on. You will never get a 100 percent level surface. There for it's useless.

As well if you chip props throw them out, don't try to balance them.
 
Sorry but a rod and glass is the last thing you want to use to balance props. Mainly because your relying on a level table your glass is sitting on. You will never get a 100 percent level surface. There for it's useless.

As well if you chip props throw them out, don't try to balance them.

You're looking for a lateral balance between the prop blades. A slight off-level in the azimuth of the balance rod will not make a measurable difference in the balance of the prop blades.

But, yes, any crash that removes any of the prop material should be discarded.

DJI must have a good QC on their props because I have only found one in eight that was unbalanced enough to adjust. On my 3DR Hex it would have been a surprise to find one in eight that were balanced. On the other hand the hex uses 12-inch props, so there's more mass to balance.
 
Sorry but a rod and glass is the last thing you want to use to balance props. Mainly because your relying on a level table your glass is sitting on.
It's no different than sitting a prop balancer on a table.

If the table is a bit off level, the worst that will happen is the rod will roll off the glass. That's why they make prop balancers though. All that I've seen have edges to prevent the rod from rolling off the balancer.
 
Half of my props were a bit off balance. I used the SpeedyTM prop balancer to fix them. Prop balancers are inexpensive and easy to use. You can even use just a prop balancing rod if you want to save a few bucks. Here's a video that shows how it's done:

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I believe you forgot to mention to make sure your table is balanced !......very important
 
Old school teaching was any thing that rotated or produced a gyro type effect needed to be within a certain tolerance of balance to reduce vibration and parts wear. In the case of the Phantom propeller a well balance prop helps reduce vibration and mainly bearing wear in the motors. Leave your tires on your vehicle unbalanced and you get uneven wear, hmm kinda like the bearing in the motor the wobble effect. You would be fine flying with some minor out of balanced props but for the long haul it extends the life of the motors and cuts vibration and that little shaking that can eventually vibrate some components loose. It just improves functionality. Of course any dinged or chipped props need immediate replacment. A little prevention is worth that pound of cure..
 
Old school teaching was any thing that rotated or produced a gyro type effect needed to be within a certain tolerance of balance to reduce vibration and parts wear. In the case of the Phantom propeller a well balance prop helps reduce vibration and mainly bearing wear in the motors. Leave your tires on your vehicle unbalanced and you get uneven wear, hmm kinda like the bearing in the motor the wobble effect. You would be fine flying with some minor out of balanced props but for the long haul it extends the life of the motors and cuts vibration and that little shaking that can eventually vibrate some components loose. It just improves functionality. Of course any dinged or chipped props need immediate replacment. A little prevention is worth that pound of cure..
Thanks for clearing that up for me. Makes sense. But I'm still not convinced with the glass and rod as this video demenstrated
 
Thanks for clearing that up for me. Makes sense. But I'm still not convinced with the glass and rod as this video demenstrated

It is definitely better than nothing :)

My experience is still that the DJI Phantom 3 (and the P2V+) props are usually quite well balanced. But there will be some variation for sure. Maybe I've just been lucky with my props. :)
 

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