I'm not a pro, but I use one of the generic cheap chinese boat prop balancers that can be found with a dozen different band names, modded with a piece of microscope slide glass over the magnets which freed it up a lot ( i think the neodymium magnets in these are too soft to be ideal for use, maybe copper then nickle plated rather than copper then chrome). I have used a few balancers and this is the best of them.
Neither of the 2 pros I know use static balancers at all, both ballance dynamically, 1 spinning the prop on a shaft in his well trained fingers, and 1 spinning the prop mechanically at 10,000 rpm with sensors. Both get a better result than I believe is possible with any static ballancer.
As an aside, while it is nice to have a well ballance vibration free driveline when you give it a blip of throttle to check things are working in the pits, I am not sure how much it matters or if it even matters at all on the water when we are driving hundreds if not thousands of Watts through the bottom blade when the top blade is basically doing nothing. That is something I don't hear being discussed and I would like to hear others opinions on it.
I'm not a pro, but I use one of the generic cheap chinese boat prop balancers that can be found with a dozen different band names, modded with a piece of microscope slide glass over the magnets which freed it up a lot ( i think the neodymium magnets in these are too soft to be ideal for use, maybe copper then nickle plated rather than copper then chrome). I have used a few balancers and this is the best of them.
This is great advice from Paul. The glass keeps from tearing up the magnets. It's also important to have the points on the shaft be center ground on each end. It keeps a consistent centerline down the shaft being used to balance.
As an aside, while it is nice to have a well ballance vibration free driveline when you give it a blip of throttle to check things are working in the pits, I am not sure how much it matters or if it even matters at all on the water when we are driving hundreds if not thousands of Watts through the bottom blade when the top blade is basically doing nothing. That is something I don't hear being discussed and I would like to hear others opinions on it.
I can't argue the hydro dynamics involved in this system. It's well above my cranium level. I can tell you with a great deal of confidence a properly sharpened and balanced propeller will provide better performance and handling than a prop out of the bag all other things being equal.
I'm not a pro, but I use one of the generic cheap chinese boat prop balancers that can be found with a dozen different band names, modded with a piece of microscope slide glass over the magnets which freed it up a lot ( i think the neodymium magnets in these are too soft to be ideal for use, maybe copper then nickle plated rather than copper then chrome). I have used a few balancers and this is the best of them.
Neither of the 2 pros I know use static balancers at all, both ballance dynamically, 1 spinning the prop on a shaft in his well trained fingers, and 1 spinning the prop mechanically at 10,000 rpm with sensors. Both get a better result than I believe is possible with any static ballancer.
As an aside, while it is nice to have a well ballance vibration free driveline when you give it a blip of throttle to check things are working in the pits, I am not sure how much it matters or if it even matters at all on the water when we are driving hundreds if not thousands of Watts through the bottom blade when the top blade is basically doing nothing. That is something I don't hear being discussed and I would like to hear others opinions on it.
curious to see the microscope glass you use , almost impossible to get every prop balanced perfectly
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