Prop savers on quads?

I'm still not a great pilot so to protect my props I've attached some aluminium extensions to the end of each arm. These have worked great so far but are starting to get a little bent. To save weight I was thinking of using prop savers instead, is this advisable on quads? I imagine there's be a little bit of give in the rubber band holding the prop on, does this case any noticeable performance issues?

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  • I was using prop savers from the beginning and never had a problem, but you need to make sure they perfectly match the props (that they "snap" into their bottoms) and I always use two O-rings (had them snap a few times and this saved the day).

    But to be honest they don't save props but rather the motors...

  • Have used savers here quite a bit on a quad.

    It's flies like the rate_p values were turned down. Does twitch more and as everyone else said: the bands will break in flight sooner or later.

  • I am currently on the fence with use of prop savers on a quad.  I currently fly with 2 other quad pilots.  They both have prop savers, I don't.  I've had some harder crashes with no prop damage and they have had some crashes with prop damage.  My issues with the savers are as follows;

    1.  O-rings, the rubber rings which keep the prop on the motor.  They degrade with time, and snap.  I have seen a quad fall out of the sky when these fail, resulting in a broken prop.

    2.  Vibration, they tend to vibrate more, and flex under high stress, ie during high G turns.  I've seen them come off in these conditions.

    3.  Unless you have a grove in your motor shaft, you are relying on the friction to keep them on, I've come in after flights and seen them sliding up the motor shaft slowly.  You can notch the shaft so they don't move, and always pre-flight check them, which you should be doing anyways.

    4.  They don't always sit centered, and require messing with the prop to get them right.

    I personally don't see a major improvement with these, and have noticed the problems they add to flying your quad.  I personally am not sold, and I have not installed mine yet.  I doubt that I will.  Hope this helps,

    Rick

  • Distributor

    I can report that it's a bit less stable with the prop saver... I flew today with savers and with spinners... I could see a difference, more vibration on the savers.   That was very minimal but because I did balance all my props perfectly I guess the impact was maybe less than if you have unbalanced props...

     

    so I think it's quite safe to fly on prop savers with balanced props to give you all the chances to learn to fly then switch to spinners for comfort and super stability.

     

  • Thanks for the feedback. Rebuilding my quad frame at the moment but I'll give prop savers a go when I get the chance.
  • I'm flying with prop-savers, too

    but on a small quad, it works pretty well

  • Distributor

    I am flying with the o-ring prop savers, quite stable and all.  

    Did not break a prop despite some grass cutting landings... so I guess they do their job. I am currently in the process of switching to 2.0.24 and bolt on spinners to see if the drift issue is resolved.  

    I will do a report on how stable it is and try both configuration (prop savers / bolt on spinners) 

    so stay tuned (most likely will fly this weekend.) 

  • I've used prop savers and it was very successful until I lost a prop mid-flight when one of the o-rings perished and snapped. I'm sure it could have been avoided if I had checked the o-rings before the flight (the remianing savers were visibly in poor condition).

    I'm bolting them down now but considering going back to prop savers - the copter seemed more stable with savers and less prone to oscillations and I like to test that theory

    Paul
  • Hi Christopher

    I have had a few not so perfect flights also, so I resorted to helicopter trainers to save my props.

    See attached photo - I also made fibreglass landing gear after breaking the originals.

     

    IMG_1482 (2).jpg

  • I guess everyone bolts their props on?

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