It's been a week since I flew my Nanos so I put them both through some hovering, orientation, and circuit drills.

One of my Nanos seems to have a lot more vibration than the other. I can hear it shuddering and there are some low-frequency "beats" that I can clearly hear (~2Hz?) in the vibration.

I've been gently poking/proding the grips, links, and servo linkages for a few minutes now and quite frankly, nothing appears to be looser than the other heli that sounds better. The noisy one seemed to be harder to control but quite honestly I don't know if that was just me being extra worried about it while flying it...

Anybody have any thoughts on what might be going on here?

EDIT : I've now got a pretty severe tail wiggle that definitely seems to make it harder to control. I pulled the boom out to look at it but don't see any cracks. I tried changing the tail blade but that didn't seem to help either. Not sure what's going on here.

I just got my second one today. It's head speed is audibly lower, which I expect will even up as the motor breaks in. It's also noticeably more stable and the tail wags less. It will be interesting to see how they compare as the motor breaks in. On #1, the wag is worse with a new battery and lessens as the voltage slowly drops.

@RoboHeli
I have been trying to chase down a shudder on decent. Some calls it the "Nano dance." I thought it was the result of unbalance blades or my Wild brushless. Those with issues said one thing to check is a bent main shaft. Huh? Is that even possible. But some swears by it and said a new one fixed it for them.

Anyways, I took the head off to check the main shaft for damages. And that was good. However, incidentally, with the swashplate off...I gave each arm some pressure...and I finally see it. A super, tiny crack on the front left arm. It was about 25% and only visible if you bend that arm. I checked for cracks before, while it was installed on the heli and never noticed it. On top of that, I noticed my swashplate halves click together when I pressed them together hard and firmly. So, apparently, they were slightly separated. Again, being a v911 and mSR owner, I did check for swashplate separation before, while the swashplate was installed. I guess I didn't press hard enough.

Anyways, I put everything back together and I can not get this heli to shudder anymore. The tail wag I was getting at the really low governor mode is completely gone. Pitch pumps...tail holds solid.

I don't know what fixed my problem. Additionally, I noticed I forgot to put the swashplate arm o-rings back on.

Forgot to mention. To fix the swashplate, I use CA and baking soda technique. You use thin CA. Get a small bubble on the tip of the CA bottle. Not too much. And touch it to the swashplate arm. It wicks and wets the arm. Now, slowly sprinkle baking soda on the wet CA until it won't take anymore. I do it like I am seasoning with kosher salt.

The CA reacts with the baking soda instantly to form a very hard surface. The swashplate arms are very rigid now. You can file slightly and paint over with matte black. Nice solid swashplate. I wonder if that has anything to do with my hover stability.

Originally Posted by Jovanx

Mmm yes I see what you mean. I don't have mine yet, but was making the assumption that the binding procedure would be the same as my other helis and micro planes. That is the first time hearing about holding the stick to the right.

I'm thinking that the rudder stick is in the REV setting position, after thinking about this . . . maybe?

Hey Daryoon, I had a shudder problem too and it turned out to be a bent main shaft. Didn't think it was possible either but it happened and this was straight out of the package from my local HS, called Horizon and they sent me two new ones! Good support.

Is anyone getting a ratcheting feel when rotating the blades grips up and down, by hand, after installing a new feathering shaft? All bearings and washers are in their correct place.

That's interesting, Daryoon. Thanks for the info. I have a feeling that I'm going to be buying a fair amount of spare parts for this heli so that I can start swapping things in and out to get things back in tune.

I noticed that the tightness of the blade grips on the blades has an effect on my Nano when I spool down after landing. After I kill the throttle, depending on how I may have set the tightness of the grips, my heli does a little shudder (dance?) as the head speed drops below a certain level. It only did it on one of my Nanos but now after I adjusted the blade grip tightness (still loose enough that they flop over under their own weight) on the other, it does it too.

My tail-wagging Nano was louder than the other one but the whine of the motor seemed to be lower (lower headspeed?) I think I might try calling HH tech support today to get their advice on the matter.


To add insult to injury, last night when I was getting ready to test my tail-wagging nano, I DROPPED my DX6i onto my concrete basement floor. Couldn't believe it. I was attaching my neckstrap and the darned thing just slipped out of my hand and bounced off the floor. Amazingly enough the only immediate damage was that the contacts in the battery compartment appeared to have shifted and I had to shift them back. Otherwise, everything else appeared to work. No broken switches or antenna. I think I spouted a handful of grey hair though. Let's hope that this was all it was!

Originally Posted by Sixinarow

Is anyone getting a ratcheting feel when moving the blades grips up and down, by hand, after installing a new feathering shaft? All bearings and washers are in their correct place.

You have installed your new feathering shaft too tight.

I've heard some folks adding rubber o-rings to their swash balls. Has anyone here done that? Which o-rings do you use? Would these be for the MCX canopy or the ones that come with the mSRX blade grips? Or something else?

Originally Posted by RoboHeli

I've heard some folks adding rubber o-rings to their swash balls. Has anyone here done that? Which o-rings do you use? Would these be for the MCX canopy or the ones that come with the mSRX blade grips? Or something else?

I read last night of someone using thin CA and Baking Soda on the swash of a V911 to stiffing it up. Anyone tried this on a Nano?

@Santley, Read my post. Six one above yours.

Originally Posted by Daryoon

@Santley, Read my post. Six one above yours.

Sorry, I'm an Idiot that is where I read it. Read to many threads, I'm going to try it on the V911 tonight. That is what I was thinking.

Thanks for Soda trick anyway.

Try it on something else first. To see the result. Even a scrap cardboard. Better is a broken parts. To see how well it bonds to the plastic. It's a very hard structure that occurs. And I find it very easy to do.

Just make sure you're not dropping the drop of CA onto the parts. A drop is likely too much. I usually hold the CA horizontal and squeeze lightly until I see a drop start to form. Then I touch the part and the CA will wick across and because it's the thin variety, it will spread very evenly. Then I pinch the baking soda and keep dropping it until the CA doesn't absorb the powder anymore. Then use a brush to brush off the excess. For the OCD, you can use a little file and shape to how you like it. Lastly, I usually have some matte black paint the bench and a little hobby brush. I just brush over and let dry. Looks great afterwards. Try it out.

Originally Posted by indoorheli

Send it back and dont worry about it. I have yet to be charged for any service work...even when they know the item is well out of the warranty period

indoorheli Thank you very much for the push. I got my Nano back from Horizon Hobby today! It was the main board that would let it squirt off in any direction. It flew well for a couple week then slowly I was unable to control it more and more. I’m just happy to know it wasn’t me.

I just got off the phone with HH. They recommended that the blade grips should have about 1mm of play on them when you tighten the feathering shaft. He also said that the swashplate comes with o-rings on the balls that connect it to the servos but that it's worth a try putting some o-rings on all of the other balls. I've got a few MSRX o-rings as well as a ton of MCX canopy o-rings that I can try out.