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How to Repair Your Blade 400
Helicopter
The good
thing about ready to fly rc helicopters like the Blade 400 is you don’t
have to build them! The bad thing about ready to fly rc helicopters is
you don’t have to build them! This means, when it comes time to repair
crash damage, you don’t know what all of the parts do and where they
all go.
Although, the Blade 400 is fairly simple, it can be somewhat
intimidating to a new pilot, especially when you look in the manual at
the parts listing and see all of those parts.
Fear not! With a little help from this website, you will learn how to
take apart, put back together and repair your Blade 400.
The most common types of crash damages are:
- Blade strikes into something (ground, tree, car,
house, neighbor’s dog, etc...). This means replacing the Blades and
most probably the Feathering Shaft, Main Shaft, Servo Gears and
possibly the Main Gear.
- Blade strikes into the Boom (AKA Boom Strike). This
means replacing the above mentioned Blades, Feathering Shaft, Main
Shaft, Servo Gears, Main Gear, Boom and maybe even the Tail Rotor Belt.
- Tail Rotor strikes into something (ground, tree,
car, house, neighbor’s dog, girl friend / boy friend, etc...). This
means replacing the Tail Rotor Blades, Tail Rotor Shaft, possibly the
Servo Gears, one or both bearings and sleeping on the sofa.
I was just joking about
your neighbor’s dog. In any event (CRASH), you will notice that it’s
usually the same parts, more-or-less! So, here they are:
Main Blades
After a crash or "hard
landing", or even just as periodic maintenance, it’s a good idea to
inspect your Feathering Shaft, Main Shaft and Blade Grips.
In order to do this you must first remove the main blades.
Using the middle size wrench that came with your helicopter,
remove the Main Blade screws. (Reference Number 26 in your Blade 400
Parts List. EFLH1416)
By the way; I like to sit on the floor when working on my helicopter,
this way I don’t have to worry about dropping any of these SMALL screws
onto the floor and loosing them!
After the screws are out, remove the Blades. Be careful not to lose the
nuts!
Now that the Blades are off, we are going to remove the Feathering
Shaft, or as some like to call it, the Spindle.
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Feathering Shaft
Feathering – as in what
birds wear.
Shaft – as in you got the shaft. And I hope you did! If not, you can
buy it from your LHS (Local Hobby Shop) or online. For around $4.50 you
get 2 of them.
The Feathering Shaft runs through the Rotor Housing (Also known as the
Head Block. Reference Number 8 in your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1422).
It connects both Main Blades together and usually takes a lot of the
stress when a blade strike occurs. Therefore, after a blade stike, it
is very important to check and replace it if necessary.
You should remove the Push Rods from the Bell Mixer Arm first
(Reference Number 13 in your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1418) and then
remove both screws at each end of the shaft (Reference Number 28 in
your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1473).
Using the 2 small wrenches that came with your helicopter, remove the
screws at the same time.
Be careful not to lose any of the pieces.
Removing and reinstalling the Feathering Shaft is one of the more
difficult repairs. Not because it’s hard to do but because of the
number of pieces involved. The manual makes it really hard to identify
all of those pieces, so I will do it for you.
| Reference Number |
Description |
Item Number |
| 9 |
Feathering Shaft |
EFLH1421 |
| 15 |
Main Rotor Blade Grip |
EFLH1417 |
| 16 |
Bearing 3x6x2.5mm |
EFLH1115 |
| 17 |
Thrust Bearing 3x8x3.5mm |
EFLH1420 |
| 18 |
Washer 2x5x2.5mm |
EFLH1473 |
| 20 |
Step Washer 2x3x2mm |
EFLH1473 |
| 25 |
O-Ring |
EFLH1158 |
| 27 |
Washer/Shim 5x8x0.1mm |
EFLH1420 |
| 28 |
Socket Head Cap Screw M2x6mm |
EFLH1473 |
When inserting the Thrust Bearing, make sure that the indented sides of
the outer pieces (known as the Bearing Races) face the inner piece
(known as the bearing cage).
Build one Blade Grip first, attach it to the Feathering Shaft and
insert it into the Head Block.
When inserting the Step Washer, make sure that the step side (the
higher smaller side) faces the screw head and not the O-Ring. If the
step faces the O-Ring, it will wear it down.
While on the subject of the O-Ring, these function as dampeners and
wear out quite quickly. You should make it a part of your normal
maintenance to replace them.
Now complete the second Blade Grip and attach it to the Feathering
Shaft.
Don't forget to put the push rods back onto the Bell Mixer Arm.
When viewing the helicopter from the left side, the short side of the
Bell Mixer Arm should face the front of the helicopter.
This section of the helicopter is under a tremendous amount of stress,
with its turning, rotating and vibrating. Many pilots are worried about
the Feathering Shaft screws coming lose and the Blades flying off.
Indeed, if the screws did come lose the Blade Grips and everything
attached would fly off. Because of this, I have heard some pilots
suggest using a thread lock solution on these screws. Please don’t use
any thread lock on these screws. THAT MEANS DON’T DO IT! Putting thread
lock here could easily spread into the other parts causing the Washers,
Bearings, Shaft, etc… to lockup. Instead, I recommend that you
periodically check the tightness of the screws and tighten when needed.
I check mine before each day I fly. On long days you can check them
after a couple of batteries. It’s a good idea to inspect your
helicopter often anyway.
Well that’s it for the Feathering Shaft. Good Job! Now we will move
onto the Main Shaft.
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Main Shaft
After any crash it's a good
idea to remove and inspect your Main Shaft (Reference Number 50 in your
Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1447). Because of the high torque involved in
Main Blade rotation, there’s a very good chance that the shaft has
suffered damage and is bent to some degree.
A Main Shaft, even with the slightest bend can cause undesirable flight
characteristics and lead to further damage to the helicopter. It should
be replaced before your next flight.
Replacing the Main Shaft is relatively easy. To begin, remove the Main
Blades if you have not already done so.
Next, remove the 3 pushrods connecting the Swash Plate to the Servos
(Reference Numbers 56, 64 & 99 in your Blade 400 Parts List.
EFLH1438).
Now remove the screw that connects the Head Block to the top of the
Main Shaft.
If the screw has been damaged from the crash, replace it with a new
one.
Carefully remove the entire Head Block, Washout Base and Swash Plate
assembly.
Next remove the screw that connects the Main Shaft to the Main Tail
Drive Gear (Reference Number 74 in your Blade 400 Parts List.
EFLH1473).
Becareful not to lose the nut.
Pull the Main Shaft out from the top of the helicopter and remove the
Main Shaft Retaining Collar.
With the Retaining Collar off of the shaft, roll the Main Shaft on a
flat surface and check for any bends. If the shaft is not 100% strait,
it should be replaced.
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Main Gear and Main Tail
Drive Gear
Once the Main Shaft has
been removed, you can easily remove both the Main Gear and Main Tail
Drive Gear for inspection and replacement, should they be damaged
(Reference Number 72 & 75 in your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1451
& EFLH1453).
Simply remove the gears by pulling them out through the side of the
helicopter.
Inspect the gears for missing or damaged teeth.
Replace the bad gear and reconnect the Main Gear and the Main Tail
Drive Gear.
Carefully reinsert the Main Gear Set back into the helicopter.
Insert the Main Shaft into the helicopter. There are 2 holes in the
main shaft, insert the shaft with the hole farthest from the shaft edge
facing down and align the hole in the Main Tail Drive Gear with the
hole in the Main Shaft.
Replace the screw connecting the Main Shaft to the Main Tail Drive Gear
and tighten.
Getting the nut onto the screw can be a little tricky; the location is
too small for your fingers to fit, so I like to use the screw driver
that came with the helicopter to hold the nut. I just push the nut onto
the end of the screw partway in.
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Servo Gears
Servo Gears can be very
easily damaged even in the smallest of crashes or hard landings. The
Gears can also strip under aggressive 3D flying or over time under
normal flying. Therefore, it’s a good idea to perform a preflight check
on all of your servos each and every time you take to the air.
To check your servos, with your battery disconnected, gently move your
servo arm through all of its range of motion. Feel and listen for any
skipping of teeth on the gears. Also, make sure that there is no
binding of any of the pushrods.
If you detect any skipping of the teeth, you must either replace the
servo or the bad gear or gears inside the servo. I suggest replacing
the gear. It is considerably less expensive to replace the Gear Set
than it is to replace the entire servo.
Remove the servo and unscrew the 4 screws on the backside of the servo.
The servo housing is in 3 separate pieces. You do not have to remove
the screws entirely but only slide them out far enough to remove the
front section of the housing.
After removing the font housing, inspect each gear and remove any
damaged gears.
Replace the damaged gears with new gears.
Reinstall the front housing and tighten down. Reinstall the servo.
Alright, see repairing the servos isn’t as bad as you thought, is it?
Great job!
Well, that’s about it for the front half of the helicopter, now we are
going to tackle repairing the back half.
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Tail Rotor Blades
Replacing the Tail Rotor
Blades (Reference Number 119 in your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1471) is
very easy to do.
Just remove the screw and then the blade.
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Tail Rotor Shaft and Bearings
In the event of a tail
strike, you should inspect the Tail Rotor Shaft and Bearings (Reference
Number 126 and 128 in your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1465 and EFLH1464)
and replace if necessary.
To remove the Tail Rotor Shaft, begin by disconnecting the Tail pushrod
from the Tail Rotor Pitch Level.
Remove the 2 screws connecting the Vertical Stabilizer Fin (Reference
Number 133 and 134. EFLH1472Y and EFLH1473).
Remove the screws connecting the Tail Case to the Tail Boom.
Seperate the Right half of the Tail Case from the Left half, being
careful not to lose any of the pieces.
Tail Rotor Shaft Components.
| Reference Number |
Description |
Item Number |
| 126 |
Tail Rotor Shaft |
EFLH1465 |
| 129 |
Tail Rotor Shaft Drive Pulley |
EFLH1465 |
| 130 |
Tail Rotor Shaft Drive Pulley Cap |
EFLH1465 |
| 131 |
Spacer 3x4x3.5mm |
EFLH1465 |
Check the Tail Rotor Shaft components and replace as necessary.
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Tail Boom
Uh O! The dreaded Boom
Strike.
Don’t worry, now that you know how to remove the Tail Rotor components,
replacing the Boom is a piece of cake.
If you haven’t already removed the Tail Rotor Case, do so now.
Remove the Horizontal Stabilizer Fin (Reference Number 108 in your
Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1472).
Remove the Tail Servo Boom Mount (Reference Number 102 in your Blade
400 Parts List. EFLH1458).
Now remove the 4 screws that secure the Tail Boom to the helicopter
body.
Carefully remove the Tail Boom.
Now thread the Trail Drive Belt (Reference Number 104 in your Blade 400
Parts List. EFLH1456) through the Boom. I am using a steal fishing
leader to help thread the Belt.
Be sure you remember to slip on the Tail Pushrod Support Guides
(Reference Numbers 105 and 114 in your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1460).
Replace the Right side Tail Rotor Case and position the Drive Belt.
Replace the Left Rotor Case and insert and tighten down the rear screw.
Now pull back on the Tail Rotor Case until it locks into place and
tightens down the Drive Belt.
Reconnect the Horizontal Stabilizer, Vertical Stabilizer and Tail Servo
Boom Mount.
Reconnect the Tail Rotor Pushrod and insert it into the Pushrod Support
Guides.
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Tail Drive Belt and Pulley
Assembly
It is normal for the Tail
Drive Belt (Reference Number 104 in your Blade 400 Parts List.
EFLH1456) to wear out over time.
Abnormal wear can be caused if your belt tension is too lose by
allowing the belt to skip across the teeth of the Tail Drive Pulley
(Reference Number 092 in your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1455) or if
your belt is too tight by putting too much tension on the pulley teeth.
The latter can also severely damage the pulley.
In this section you will learn how to replace both, the Tail Drive Belt
and the Tail Drive Pulley assembly.
Not to scare you but this is the hardest repair of all. That said, if
you have successfully accomplished all of the previous repairs, you
will have no problems with this one. To perform this repair, you will
use the skills you gained in the previous topics.
To begin, here are the things you have to do first.
Remove the following:
After removing the above, remove the rudder servo.
Now remove the Tail Drive Shaft Lower Bearing Block (Reference Number
079 in your Blade 400 Parts List. EFLH1454).
There are 2 screws on each side of the helicopter.
Carefully remove the Tail Drive Shaft and Tail Drive Shaft Block.
Inspect the Tail Drive Shaft for worn or damaged teeth and replace if
necessary.
Now insert the new belt through the boom hole.
Reinsert the Tail Drive Shaft and Block through the rear of the main
frame.
Hold the belt so that there is a loop at the end and position the Tail
Drive Shaft through the loop.
Now gently position the top of the Tail Drive Shaft into its retaining
hole located at the top of the frame and replace the Tail Drive Shaft
Block retaining screws .
Thread the belt through the boom and adjust the belt tension in
accordance with the guidelines in manual. Once belt tension has been
properly adjusted, secure the boom.
That completes this Blade 400 Repair lessons. I hope you found the
information helpful.
Below you will find some of the more common parts you will need for the
above repairs.
To order a part, just click on the Buy Now.
If you did find this website helpful, please pass it on to others.
Blade 400 PARTS Back to the
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