Dynamic Propeller Balancing

[ergo1]

Hi 
After flying my new to me 2013 P2008T for about 50 hours, and getting acquainted with its flying characteristics, I noticed a perceptible vibration coming through the rudder pedal. Coming from the Cirrus world, I thought it could be a nose wheel shimmy in flight. But after tightening the nose wheel, no joy.
I thought maybe balancing the prop would be the solution. I looked for a specialist in my neck of the woods, Danbury CT, and luckily found someone on my home field who got rave reviews for his prop balancing skill. When I told him about the rudder vibration and my concerns, he seemed skeptical at first. However when he did his testing, my prop was so out of balance that he told me with balancing the improvement in smoothness of the aircraft would be quite noticeable. It turned out he was right and then some. My prop had never been balanced in 280 hours of flight. I had one prop that was a bit lighter than the other two propellers. 
My strong recommendation is to get your propellers balanced if you have any noticeable vibration in your airframe or rudder pedal. 
The mechanic who did the balancing is Kari at Tally Ho Aviation in Danbury, Connecticut. Highly recommended! 

[ronin5573]

Where did they install the counter weights? On the spinner screws with washers used as weight , or did they drill holes in the back plate?

[jetcat3]

My Dad had a new spinner backplate installed and the A&P didn’t have the equipment to balance the prop. When I jumped in the plane and I immediately asked my Dad, “do you feel that?” You could feel the added vibration through the doors in the fuselage from the prop being so out of balance with the counter weights removed after the new backplate was installed.

After finding someone local to balance the prop my Dad jumped back into the airplane and thought the difference was night and day.

He originally thought the carbs needed to balanced again after receiving the airplane from the A&P so it really is a huge deal!

[ergo1]

Nov 14, 2021 15:13:26 GMT ronin5573 said:

Where did they install the counter weights? On the spinner screws with washers used as weight , or did they drill holes in the back plate?

Back plate as per recommendation from Sensitech - the propeller manufacturer. 

[cole505]

Hi All,

Another good idea that helps with balance is making sure the prop pitch is exactly the same on all three blades ……… I had mine balanced paid $500.00 (Not needed and was balanced) and found out all I needed to do was re-pitch the prop just one of the blades was off three degrees once they were all zeroed in BEAUTIFUL NO VIBRATIONS AT ALL ….. This is what I use and it works amazing! Tells you to the degree the pitch of every blade …

smile.amazon.com/dp/B08G84Z7XB?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

Ray & Lucy ✅👍🏻😊🇺🇸🇺🇸😊😊😊😊🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[LSA Flyer]

That looks quite useful Ray. What are the steps you take to get the readings? I understand how to use a protractor. Any tips on how you are taking readings with this device?

[cole505]

E-LSA FLYER,

Yes, there is a bit of a learning curve to understand and use this measuring tool. Once you read the directions just place it at the angle you want to check. Just make sure that you place it on the exact same spot on all three props…… Make sure to use the aligning pins that come with the prop it will help you get it all zeroed.I have mine all set within one degree of each other O vibration …… it’s amazing how smooth the airplane becomes…….Hope this helps….

Ray & Lucy ✈️✅👍🏻😊🇺🇸