Some of these stock props are crazy out of balance (at the hub anyway)

[richnat]

I got my prop balancer today. The first two props balanced nicely. Once the blades were in balance I found the hubs were in balance without any work. I then moved on to my 3rd prop and again the blades balanced without much fuss. When I moved on to the hub balancing, I put weight, more weight and even more weight on the hub and it still wouldn't balance. I tossed it aside and grabbed another from my spares. It was just as bad. I went through 4 more props to find two more that would balance without much work. The blades all balanced without much work but boy are some of the hubs crazy out of balance! I went back and balanced a spare set, but that one prop will just have to remain out of balance and I'll toss it aside since I have many other spare props with which to work.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Probably 2/3 of my props have hot glue blobs on the hubs for balance. It's the nature of mass produced plastic props. Compared to some others in the DIY market, the solo ones aren't that bad actually.

 

[nikono]

Why "Some of these stock props are crazy out of balance (at the hub anyway)"?

a or b?

a. 3DR might be still manufacturing the Solo with their remaining plastic stock and produced bad props. The props that I had, all of them balanced.
b. Bad balancer. Compare your balancer to a ball point pen balancer.

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[Pedals2Paddles]

Why?
a or b?

a. 3DR might be still manufacturing the Solo with their remaining plastic stock and produced bad props. The props that I had, all of them balanced.
b. Bad balancer. Compare your balancer to a ball point pen balancer.

Neither.

C. It's the nature of inexpensive mass produced plastic props. The 3DR props are actually better than most.

 

[richnat]

I'm eager to fly again but now with balanced props. I went through two full sets to find those that had the best balance to begin with and just needed a little tweaking. Those that needed more work can just sit in my backpack as spares. I have more tucked away, when I have time I'll dig them out and balance them as well just so they are ready to go in the event I ever need them. Also toying with the idea of getting a set of APC or MAS props. I'd like to have a set of 11" props for that vacation we will likely take to the mountains.