balanced motor coupler

[johnl6676]

Hello all
Does anybody know if there is such a thing as a balanced motor coupler? I have been running fe boats for a long time now and thought the noise was something you just have to deal with. By accident I discovered that alot of the noise is a 2 blade prop. I started experimenting with 3 blade props. That are much quieter because the blades are loaded more of the time and that results in less flex shafts vibration and in turn run much quieter. After that I changed the coupler and it got noticibly louder. I balanced the coupler as best I could without the proper tools. To my surprise it really got quiet. 50 feet away you can barely hear the boat at all.

My thoughts are if someone made a balanced coupler we could all quiet our boats considerably.

What are your thoughts?

JohnL

[ray schrauwen]

MBP makes them, buy them here: http://www.rocketcityracing.com/cart...ategory_id=245

I like the H&M ones and found them quite balanced with a reasonable price too...

[Fluid]

Some 2-bladed props are noticeably quieter than others. One club member switched from an Octura to an ABC and the difference in noise was remarkable! Vibration on the driveline contributes a lot to overall noise too, unbalanced parts can amplify noise..

[kfxguy]

I balance all my couplers. I just got through doing one about 29 minutes ago oddly enough. Lol

[ray schrauwen]

Soooo, are you going to keep it secret how you do this? lol... Inquiring minds want to know.

I balance all my couplers. I just got through doing one about 29 minutes ago oddly enough. Lol

[RCBoaterGuy]

Yeah no kidding - $32.81 a pop for couplers

Nice product.. but...

Soooo, are you going to keep it secret how you do this? lol... Inquiring minds want to know.

[kfxguy]

Soooo, are you going to keep it secret how you do this? lol... Inquiring minds want to know.

Easy. Prop balancer. Balance the nut part and part that goes on the motor shaft separately. If you balance them together, as soon as you tight it on your cable, balance will be out if they don't line up the same as they were when you balanced them. So, on the main part of the coupler, use a file to take a little material off at a time. On the nut, use a drill bit.

[johnl6676]

Thanks guys for your responses. I think I may try one of the balanced ones. The way kfxguy did it was the way I tried to do mine and as i said it was better but I think there is still room for improvenment. As we all know noise is a factor we need to all we can to quiet our boats down. Again thanks.

[Fella1340]

Balancing helps to a point, as soon as you couple it together with a flex shaft all bets are off for a balanced driveline.

[planezero]

Balancing helps to a point, as soon as you couple it together with a flex shaft all bets are off for a balanced driveline.

So reading that and agreeing with it wholeheartedly .. is there any merit at all to balancing the coupler or even the prop(s) ?
Whats the point if the balance goes out the window when using a flex drive ?

Or is this a case of "all bits to balance the whole" help ..
Was the example above where there was a noticeable noise reduction because the balance of the coupler was waaaaaaay off ?

Looking for reactions where people have noticed improvements to their boats performance by balancing the couplers and/or props..
(not talking about sharpening/polishing props just the balancing)

Thanks,
Berry