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Dynamic Propeller Balancing

TXFlyGuy

Well Known Member
Can someone recommend a shop in the north central or eastern Ohio region that does dynamic propeller balancing?

My Whirlwind manual states that the prop MUST be dynamically balanced on the engine before the first flight.
 
Can someone recommend a shop in the north central or eastern Ohio region that does dynamic propeller balancing?
My Whirlwind manual states that the prop MUST be dynamically balanced on the engine before the first flight.

Doesn't Walt do this?
 
I have been looking too . . .

Ya know . . . we have the RV Hotel list, why not a listing of people who do this prop balancing around the country? RV friendly, of course. :D

I asked the Dynavibe people and they could not tell me anyone in my region. I am sure if I buy one they will come out of the woodwork.:eek:
 
Just spoke with them. They do not travel. And my warranty on the Whirlwind prop is voided if it is not dynamically balanced before the first flight.

When did they make that change?

This is from my WW200RV prop purchase just 5 years ago - "Your Whirl Wind Propeller System has been statically balanced
at the factory. However, it is recommended to have the
engine/propeller dynamically balanced before the first flight."

That's a recommendation, not a requirement. You might want to verify that...
 
When did they make that change?

This is from my WW200RV prop purchase just 5 years ago - "Your Whirl Wind Propeller System has been statically balanced
at the factory. However, it is recommended to have the
engine/propeller dynamically balanced before the first flight."

That's a recommendation, not a requirement. You might want to verify that...

My owner's manual / data sheet states:

The propeller and engine must be dynamically balanced prior to flight.


It was statically balanced at Whirlwind. And Winners Aviation in Youngstown will balance it for me.
 
My owner's manual / data sheet states:

The propeller and engine must be dynamically balanced prior to flight.


It was statically balanced at Whirlwind. And Winners Aviation in Youngstown will balance it for me.

I tell all my new airplane owners if they have a new engine to get thru the engine break-in prior to prop balancing, last thing you want to do to a new engine is run in hard and get it hot on the ground. Recommend at least 20 hrs to get thru the initial break in period.
 
Rental?

Can someone recommend a shop in the north central or eastern Ohio region that does dynamic propeller balancing?

My Whirlwind manual states that the prop MUST be dynamically balanced on the engine before the first flight.

You can rent them here for $150. https://www.vikingaircraftengines.com/new-products/dynavibe-classic-prop-balancer

I ended up buying a balancer recently. It made an enormous difference. The engine and prop really need to be balanced together.
 
Better listen to what Walt told you. A prop balance can involve several runs, and that’s with at least the top cowl off. Your engine can get hot. You don’t want to do this to a non-broken in engine. I’ve done several of these home built break-ins, and I’ve never done a prop balance prior to break in, and three of them were with Whirlwind 200RV’s. My chapter has a prop balancer, and we do prop balancing for neighboring chapters for a donation to our chapter, to help pay for the prop balance equipment, but you need to come here for it - KHAO in Ohio.
 
Scott is the man for prop balancing. Mine was balanced to .02 IPS and it only took 30 minutes total but I had my cowl off and was ready to go when he arrived. I could feel the before and after difference. I know we could have reached .00 IPS but I don't like that, I prefer to have a slight imbalance.
 
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I know we could have reached .00 IPS but I don't like that, I prefer to have a slight imbalance.

Steve, that makes me very curious! :) I’ll have mine balanced this winter. I know very little about this. Why do you prefer a very slight imbalance? Thanks.
 
If damping and load are not sufficient to suppress the cross-coupling force, the rotor may break violently into an uncontrolled whirl orbit, or rotor whip, with an amplitude closely matching the full internal clearance in the bearing.

there is a lot of lateral damping in a crank driven rotor so whirl in a journal bearing may not be a factor for these engines. it's just a pet peeve of mine. I prefer to keep the crank and journal in contact.
 
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I have a 200RV on my RV9A. The problem I had is was no way the new brakes would hold at cruise RPM on the ground even after I removed the paint from the rotors, getting them hold at 2300 RPM still might be dicey. The balance needs to be done at cruise RMP(2300), the prop guy said 4 runs of 15-20 seconds at cruise RPM. Also Lycoming specifically says do not do this on a new engine on the ground. 20 Hours into break-in now and plan to have it balanced soon. Kind of a catch 22. No issues in flight.
 
I too had trouble getting mine to hold at 2500 - until I put the prop control full forward for 2700 rpm - that way it maintains a flat pitch at 2500, consumes much less horsepower, and produces much less thrust. The brakes should be able to hold that.
 
We have found a shop at YNG, Winner Aviation, who balances everything from piston singles to turbine twins.

And they are only 31 nm south of where my plane is.

https://winner-aviation.com/

That is a terrific shop. Friend of mine takes his Mitsubishi there for annuals and they've always done right by him. They even let me commandeer their conference room one day when we were up there and I had a work-event I had to deal with. Super nice folks.
 
That is a terrific shop. Friend of mine takes his Mitsubishi there for annuals and they've always done right by him. They even let me commandeer their conference room one day when we were up there and I had a work-event I had to deal with. Super nice folks.

Good to know.
Thanks!
 
Want to Rent Prop Balancer

I have found one non-RV person that rents Dynamic Prop Balancer, before I go that direction, anyone here on the forums or EAA chapter that have a prop balancer to rent? I am located in Western North Carolina

Thx

Steve
 
Renting

So I just rented the prop balancer and my suggestion is to just have someone that has done this in the past help you or just have it done :D
 
So I just rented the prop balancer and my suggestion is to just have someone that has done this in the past help you or just have it done :D

Hi Amir

Can you comment why you would recommend not doing it yourself? Cost, complexity??? Would appreciate hearing more about your experience.

Thanks

Steve
 
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