Tired Of Breaking Fan Blades? Try This...

[Mr.Duke]

@Mr.Duke

How about changing out the top covers?

Putting an arrma BLX185 cover on the HW Max6.. Will that fit?

No, they are different in shape and size. Incompatible

***Note**** I’ve yet to break a fan blade since making this thread.

 

[SrC]

You don't need a cover. The fan screws into the ESC'S HS. Any cover just restricts CFM'S IMO.

 

[Dennis.W]

I can confirm after some very hard skatepark sessions, this helped me alot to just cut a tiny bit of the edge of the wings. Without have being able to brake anything beacuse of broken fanblades and esc thermal cutoff i now have broken very many other parts including bent JBIRC shock tower, rpm wing mount, wing, and cracked the rear diff casing. The fan is as good as new yet.

I also took a small roundfile and smoothed out the inside edges of the cover as it was obvious where the fanblades hit there too.

 

[Yas]

I can confirm after some very hard skatepark sessions, this helped me alot to just cut a tiny bit of the edge of the wings. Without have being able to brake anything beacuse of broken fanblades and esc thermal cutoff i now have broken very many other parts including bent JBIRC shock tower, rpm wing mount, wing, and cracked the rear diff casing. The fan is as good as new yet.

I also took a small roundfile and smoothed out the inside edges of the cover as it was obvious where the fanblades hit there too.

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You bent a JBI shock tower?! ? Just how high did you send it for you to manage that ?

 

[Dennis.W]

You bent a JBI shock tower?! ? Just how high did you send it for you to manage that ?

Full send? hammered it straight today, it bent down at the base where its attached to the diff case. Noticed my front body mounts didnt line upp anymore.
Also it was bent in the usual way up at the mounts for the shocks. Need to get the 8mm shock towers?
The skatparks are really rough on the poor thing! But fun as hell!

 

[bicketybam]

Full send? hammered it straight today, it bent down at the base where its attached to the diff case. Noticed my front body mounts didnt line upp anymore.
Also it was bent in the usual way up at the mounts for the shocks. Need to get the 8mm shock towers?
The skatparks are really rough on the poor thing! But fun as hell!
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Doesn't JBI make two versions of their shock towers? One is thicker and 6061 aluminum and the other is thinner but made of 7075. Which did you bend? I ask because I know someone who bent the thicker 6061 ones.

 

[Dennis.W]

Doesn't JBI make two versions of their shock towers? One is thicker and 6061 aluminum and the other is thinner but made of 7075. Which did you bend? I ask because I know someone who bent the thicker 6061 ones.

I checked now and it is the 8mm. Maybe the 6mm 7075 is better, beacuse this one was fairly easy to hammer straight also.

 

[SrC]

Always 7075 in general, if you have the choice IMHO.
I have no exp. with JBI however.

 

[bicketybam]

I checked now and it is the 8mm. Maybe the 6mm 7075 is better, beacuse this one was fairly easy to hammer straight also.
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The 7075 ones are stronger even though they are thinner. They also make it easier to get the diff bulkhead cover off. I had a terrible time when I ran the 8mm 6061 towers. I ended up replacing them with ones from M2C. Way better. I'm not sure why they even sell those 6061 towers. Plus they are more expensive than the 7075's!

Always 7075 in general, if you have the choice IMHO.
I have no exp. with JBI however.

Absolutely.

 

[SrC]

@bicketybam, I distinctly remember you showing me in person...the shock tower thickness issue at the Diff cover, posing a problem with removal. I believe it was on your Talion if my memory serves me right??

 

[Dennis.W]

The 7075 ones are stronger even though they are thinner. They also make it easier to get the diff bulkhead cover off. I had a terrible time when I ran the 8mm 6061 towers. I ended up replacing them with ones from M2C. Way better. I'm not sure why they even sell those 6061 towers. Plus they are more expensive than the 7075's!


Absolutely.

Yes, im about to order the M2C towers, and put these on my Outcast.
For some reason they don't take as much damage on the Outcast in
my experience.

They are a stupid design to open the diff case, i put the dremel to it to make it possible to open the diff case.

 

[SrC]

A Dremel to chamfer the shock tower edges around the diff cover...

 

[bicketybam]

@bicketybam, I distinctly remember you showing me in person...the shock tower thickness issue at the Diff cover, posing a problem with removal. I believe it was on your Talion if my memory serves me right??

That is correct. I gave the JBI towers away

 

[Dennis.W]

So, back again with another update with what the fan has outlived so far:
Today skateparks session, second RPM wingmount, a bent 3s lipo, the whole ESC came loose some time during the session and pulled a female motorconnector out of the esc and ripped out the cables from the motor. Also bashed one of the mudguards of the a-arm?
BUT the fan is still going STRONG!??

Plus the front diff was on its way out from the housing one time.
I would with great confidence now call this fanblade-mod from Mr.Duke bulletproof.

 

[FlyingDutchman1017]

I put a spacer in my max6 to prevent the blades from moving and it hasn't broken again.

Hey man what are you using for a spacer. And where are you putting it? On the top of the fan.

 

[ThinIan]

I HAD serious issues with ESC fans - no joke - another $10 out the door almost every weekend on these damn fans! I searched the internet and forums and found nothing to my satisfaction. So I ended up really looking at these fans closely one night and (actually) figuring this one out myself. I went from breaking fan blades every weekend or two (on a regular basis) to no more broken fans. I was so happy with myself (ha!), I really wanted to share this because there must be so many others out there. So I made this video. I'd be curious to know your thoughts! The approach has been 100% rock solid for me - no more broken fans.

Video link:

And a couple screen shots (highlights) from the video attached.

 

[Yonic]

I can share that after few months, these 13$ Rocket fans work great for me. they keep holding without any other modification.

 

[Velodromed]

For the last year or so, I’ve been experimenting with ways to resolve the issue of breaking fan blades in the ESC, whether it’s the BLX 185 or HW Max6.
What I’ve found is that on some hard impacts the tips of the blades will make contact with the underside of the guard above the fan. This seems to be much more of an issue with the Max6 but it applies to both.
This leads to the tips being chipped and eventually breaking the blade itself where it connects closer to the center of the fan.
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I went from breaking fan blades about every 3rd pack to only breaking 2 in the last 8 months. I’ve had a couple other fans fail but that was due to the wires coming loose at the fan itself.


There are 2 modifications that I make that in conjunction has helped the fans live much longer.

The 1st...
Take a small square of fiberglass screening, same as what’s on a window screen or a screened in porch, and cut 4 holes for the screws to poke through.
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This adds a soft but somewhat effective barrier between the fan blades and the housing above.
This can improve the life without modifying the fan blade itself, but I’ve found that doing both work very well together.

2nd - Clipping the Tips and Profiling
This may look like a pain but it’s really not.
What it accomplishes is that in the event the blade does come into contact with the fan guard, the revised profile keeps from breaking the blade off

First take a small pair of side cutters and clip the tip off an a triangle pattern on the side of the fan that faces up. Try to be as consistent as possible when removing any material as it can produce a slight imbalance if one weighs significantly more or less than the others.

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take a small file and profile the leading edge of the blade so that it’s round
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Do the same on each fan blade.

New fan on the left, modified one on the right
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Hopefully others will find this helpful in extending the life of their ESC fans.

This is great. I’m using the soft window screen (to my wife’s chagrin and kitchen windows loss) on my fans now in different ways and it helps much.

 

[slick2500]

I should have addressed this before I ran it. Bad thing is it was 100* out today and I didn't know anything was wrong until the esc thermaled on me.

 

[Edough13]

I should have addressed this before I ran it. Bad thing is it was 100* out today and I didn't know anything was wrong until the esc thermaled on me.

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Even with all the blades those fans don't do much of anything especially in higher heat.