Virpil collective base plus - had to increase friction after 2 weeks use

[sirrah]

I was wondering if anyone else noticed/experienced this:

 

After approximately 10 hours of use (recieved my Rotor TCS plus Base + ALPHA-L grip 2 weeks ago), I noticed today that my collective was slowly "falling" down when I released it.

At some point it even went from about 75% up, to all the way down, in the time that I needed to raise the Hind landing gear lever.. (resulting in me dying in a ball of flames)

 

So, after only about 10 hours of use, today I had to increase tension to the force adjustment screw:

 

 

It concerns me slightly, that this is already needed after such a small period of usage. Anyone else having similar experience with this?

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by sirrah

[AKA_Clutter]

I'll keep an eye out.  So far I probably only have about 1.5 hours of usage time.

 

And yes, that would be concerning.  Hopefully it is some type of break in phenomena

Edited August 29, 2021 by AKA_Clutter

[Apar]

@sirrah  You should post this of VPC forums

[sirrah]

23 minutes ago, Apar said:

@sirrah  You should post this of VPC forums

I did

 

only one reply so far, from someone that had to increase tension after only a few hours use.. 

[zcaa0g]

I wish the base was designed more like the K-51 collective.  The whole unit base needs a casing around it and where the collective pivot point is secured on both sides and the cables are connected to the casing instead of the collective itself. 

 

Hopefully we get more input from others to see if your problem is an anomaly or part of a bigger problem.  I'm sure we'll see multiple revisions like Virpil's past products, but that doesn't help the early adopters.

Edited August 29, 2021 by zcaa0g

[sirrah]

17 hours ago, zcaa0g said:

I wish the base was designed more like the K-51 collective.  The whole unit base needs a casing around it and where the collective pivot point is secured on both sides and the cables are connected to the casing instead of the collective itself. 

 

Hopefully we get more input from others to see if your problem is an anomaly or part of a bigger problem.  I'm sure we'll see multiple revisions like Virpil's past products, but that doesn't help the early adopters.

 

 

Well in case of a flawed design (which is really much to early to conclude now), I kinda assume VIRPIL will sent out free of charge  replacement/repair parts if really needed.

(I mean, this hardware is really expensive and should be in proportion with its life span)

[jalfrezi]

Not had this problem with mine and I'm probably over 20 hours use, it's possible I may have had a higher tension to start with though.

[The LT]

I have to retighten my CM2 stick all the time, every 5-7 hours of flight. So its probably "by design".

[sirrah]

9 hours ago, The LT said:

I have to retighten my CM2 stick all the time, every 5-7 hours of flight. So its probably "by design".

Ah ok

I haven't investigated how this friction screw works exactly, but as long as it can be tightened pretty much "indefinitely" there's no issue I guess 

[The LT]

Ah ok
I haven't investigated how this friction screw works exactly, but as long as it can be tightened pretty much "indefinitely" there's no issue I guess 

It most probably can, although I have no experience with the collective yet

[AKA_Clutter]

Stupid question.

 

I haven't tried to adjust the friction setting on the collective yet.  There are two screws; top and bottom.  Do you adjust both in the same directions (KI assume "rightly tighty, lefty loosey) and by the same amount (number of turns?

[HC_Official]

14 hours ago, AKA_Clutter said:

Stupid question.

 

I haven't tried to adjust the friction setting on the collective yet.  There are two screws; top and bottom.  Do you adjust both in the same directions (KI assume "rightly tighty, lefty loosey) and by the same amount (number of turns?

If you adjust it in turns you better have beefy arms, tweaking mine quarter turn was about right (on both)

[AKA_Clutter]

I'm up to about 12-14 hours use and so far (knocking on wood) have not had to readjust the friction settings.  I recently changed to the 40% cam so will see if that cahnges anything.  I wouldn't thing so but ,... ... ...

[98abaile]

I've had to adjust it once. I adjusted it when I first got it to be just on the point of falling down. Then a couple of days later when the temperature cooled it got loose and I had to tighten it again. Frankly I had expected this anyway and consider it a design limitation; it's why I went with virpil over VKB in the firstplace all those years ago: I hate dry clutches, they're a stupid design that introduce sticktion. Thankfully I have a 3D printer, so at some point I'll be looking to add a counter weight (probably a side plate replacement) to take some of the load off the clutch.

[admiki]

19 hours ago, 98abaile said:

I've had to adjust it once. I adjusted it when I first got it to be just on the point of falling down. Then a couple of days later when the temperature cooled it got loose and I had to tighten it again. Frankly I had expected this anyway and consider it a design limitation; it's why I went with virpil over VKB in the firstplace all those years ago: I hate dry clutches, they're a stupid design that introduce sticktion. Thankfully I have a 3D printer, so at some point I'll be looking to add a counter weight (probably a side plate replacement) to take some of the load off the clutch.

Just out of interest, did you try VKB?

[98abaile]

On 9/13/2021 at 6:47 AM, admiki said:

Just out of interest, did you try VKB?

No, as I said I bought the virpil because the VKB because it had a dry clutch in it.

[admiki]

OK. Just saying that maybe you should have tried it first before dissing it out. With Nyogel 767A it is awesome. And BTW, you can loosen dry clutches completely

[nordoceltic]

$5 imaginary dollars says this is actually break in phenomena which is why they included the set screw to adjust it.  

Its completely normal for metal on metal parts to have higher friction when brand new before they wear the contact faces in to match with each other.  

keep an eye on things and contact Virpil if you have future problems.  

[HC_Official]

You will have to do this every so often as it will "work loose/wear" and start to flop a bit

[HC_Official]

On 9/18/2021 at 8:17 AM, admiki said:

OK. Just saying that maybe you should have tried it first before dissing it out. With Nyogel 767A it is awesome. And BTW, you can loosen dry clutches completely

IS this stuff safe to use on Nylon ?

[admiki]

32 minutes ago, HC_Official said:

IS this stuff safe to use on Nylon ?

IDK. I've been using it for 6 months or so, but people have been using it for years now with no bad effects. Even if it does increase wear and tear, clutches are expendable anyways.

[YoYo]

On 8/28/2021 at 4:50 PM, sirrah said:

I was wondering if anyone else noticed/experienced this:

 

After approximately 10 hours of use (recieved my Rotor TCS plus Base + ALPHA-L grip 2 weeks ago), I noticed today that my collective was slowly "falling" down when I released it.

At some point it even went from about 75% up, to all the way down, in the time that I needed to raise the Hind landing gear lever.. (resulting in me dying in a ball of flames)

 

So, after only about 10 hours of use, today I had to increase tension to the force adjustment screw:

 

It concerns me slightly, that this is already needed after such a small period of usage. Anyone else having similar experience with this?

 

 

Hi,

Yesterday I got the base and grip, I haven't mounted it yet, but I noticed exactly the same. The collective lever drops by itself under its own weight.

However, what I see in the manual is not only twisting this one screw, like you did in your post, but two, at the top and at the bottom, like on the picture below.

As you tighten the Grip it gets even heavier. 

https://support.virpil.com/en/support/solutions/articles/47001181950-vpc-rotor-tcs-base-user-manual

However, inmy opinion, there should be a sprocket there (inside), because in fact it can fall down on its own after some time. When flying a helicopter, the controls must be very precise and nothing can even twitch here!

Can you give a link where is your topic on the Virpil forum about it?

Edited December 10, 2021 by YoYo

[sirrah]

1 hour ago, YoYo said:

Hi,

Yesterday I got the base and grip, I haven't mounted it yet, but I noticed exactly the same. The collective lever drops by itself under its own weight.

However, what I see in the manual is not only twisting this one screw, like you did in your post, but two, at the top and at the bottom, like on the picture below.

As you tighten the Grip it gets even heavier. 

https://support.virpil.com/en/support/solutions/articles/47001181950-vpc-rotor-tcs-base-user-manual

However, inmy opinion, there should be a sprocket there (inside), because in fact it can fall down on its own after some time. When flying a helicopter, the controls must be very precise and nothing can even twitch here!

Can you give a link where is your topic on the Virpil forum about it?

 

Here's my post on the Virpil website

https://forum.virpil.com/index.php?/topic/4707-had-to-increase-tension-on-my-tcs-base-plus-after-just-10-hours-use/

 

I have to say though, that I haven't had to adjust tension ever since. So it might just have been a "new" thing

 

 

 

[YoYo]

9 minutes ago, sirrah said:

Here's my post on the Virpil website

https://forum.virpil.com/index.php?/topic/4707-had-to-increase-tension-on-my-tcs-base-plus-after-just-10-hours-use/

 

I have to say though, that I haven't had to adjust tension ever since. So it might just have been a "new" thing

 

 

 

This is good news, because I got a little scared. I also bought a UH-60 grip (for Apache ) so the whole end is quite heavy.

[HC_Official]

Owned one of these for 3 months now, you will be adjusting this every 2 weeks or so with daily use