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Taking the Helium Mod's further

P

PhilSch

Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2019
Messages
79
Location
Sacramento area
I got 6 Heliums a couple of days ago and cut 4 of them down to 22" per G2's instructions. Before installing the suction cups and posts I notice the only thing keeping the sticks from stacking cleanly was the nylock nuts on the U brackets so I eliminated them by installing M8 x 1.25 Helicoils. A 5/16 helicoil would work just as well but I happened to have the metric version on hand. With the nut eliminated the sticks nestle naturally and very close together, eliminating the need for the extra bulk and weight of suction cups and plastic posts that break way too easy; in fact the first box I opened had 3 posts broken right out of the box.

Also required for close stacking is a low homemade Versa button to be used with Amsteel daisy chain. I made short aluminum spacers for the M8 bolts along with a 1" fender washer. The top of the M8 button head bolt is ground down somewhat to provide clearance under the stick above.

The fit between sticks is so good that a couple of elastic straps around them results in a very solid, integrated unit without noise or movement. Overall 4 sticks weigh 8.4 lbs without the Amsteel which of course will be just a few ounces max.

I am going to keep one of the remaining sticks but have one available if anyone wants to buy one more. PM me if interested.Sticks.jpg
 
Yes, need to see/understand what you mean by helicoil.
 
A helicoil is made for thread repair. Basically if you were to strip the threads out of a piece of metal you would het a helicoil repair kit for that size bolt. It will come with a drill bit a tap and the helicoil. Your basically drilling the damaged hole oversized. Then tapping new threads which are larger than the original. The helicoil threads into the new threads and the inside of those threads are threads for the original bolt. Generally helicoil are not as strong as the original threads but given the aluminum standoff it may be even stronger.
 
Eric I think you are mistaken. Helicoil says the repair is decidedly stronger than the original threads. I used to race Top Fuel Harleys. When we needed to improve strength, especially for fasteners that were repeatedly removed and reassembled, Helicoil was used. A fastener will almost always snap before the helicoil thread gives way.

For those that don't know much about helicoil here's a link to how they work. I'm sure there are countless you tubes on it also.

http://knowhow.napaonline.com/know-how-notes-how-to-install-a-helicoil-insert/
 
EricS said:
A helicoil is made for thread repair. Basically if you were to strip the threads out of a piece of metal you would het a helicoil repair kit for that size bolt. It will come with a drill bit a tap and the helicoil. Your basically drilling the damaged hole oversized. Then tapping new threads which are larger than the original. The helicoil threads into the new threads and the inside of those threads are threads for the original bolt. Generally helicoil are not as strong as the original threads but given the aluminum standoff it may be even stronger.
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I have to agree with @PhilSch on this one Eric. The helicoil increases the thread pitch diameter in the weaker material ( in this case the aluminum stick). The helioils with an increased pitch diameter will actually support a greater load in the aluminum stick than the original thread size. This is a very common practice in the Aerospace world. In fact helical inserts are almost always required for threaded applications into aluminum for just this reason.
 
boyne bowhunter said:
I have to agree with @PhilSch on this one Eric. The helicoil increases the thread pitch diameter in the weaker material ( in this case the aluminum stick). The helioils with an increased pitch diameter will actually support a greater load in the aluminum stick than the original thread size. This is a very common practice in the Aerospace world. In fact helical inserts are almost always required for threaded applications into aluminum for just this reason.
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Except in this case, he is replacing an external nut with a Helicoil that is held only by two fairly thin walls of tubing. I would not trust that Helicoil not to pull free.
 
CZMark said:
Except in this case, he is replacing an external nut with a Helicoil that is held only by two fairly thin walls of tubing. I would not trust that Helicoil not to pull free.
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I think the helicoil is inside the standoff hole, not the frame. Not sure though.
 
Yes the Helicoil is in the standoff. Plenty of material there and very solid. I own a Bridgeport mill which makes installing the Helicoil's precise and easy. A good drill press would suffice but a modicum of machinist skills are needed. I would not want to do this job with a hand drill.
 
On the versa button I made thin spacers in my lathe and used 1" fender washers. You can not buy a 1" dia. fender washer with a 5/16" (8mm) hole so I bought 1/4" washers and drilled them out on my lathe. I ground down the top of the 8mm button head bolt to provide enough clearance so the sticks would stack all the way to the bottom of the standoffs but there is still enough depth for the hex key to grab the bolt well enough to tighten the nut on the back side of the stick.
 
PhilSch said:
On the versa button I made thin spacers in my lathe and used 1" fender washers. You can not buy a 1" dia. fender washer with a 5/16" (8mm) hole so I bought 1/4" washers and drilled them out on my lathe. I ground down the top of the 8mm button head bolt to provide enough clearance so the sticks would stack all the way to the bottom of the standoffs but there is still enough depth for the hex key to grab the bolt well enough to tighten the nut on the back side of the stick.
Click to expand...
Want to sell someone with no access to a lathe some parts? ;);)
 
Just want to throw a shoutout to @PhilSch I asked him last week for some parts to help mod my Heliums. He made them and had them across the country to me in a flash!! Thanks again!!!
 
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