Prop Destruction

[Martin Law]

Hey guys,

In 35 years of racing I've never had a prop throw a blade like this. This was on one of my gas riggers.

If you look closely it appears to me there is a void and some porosity in the blade material. I can't believe it hit something because the other blade is perfect and the rudder was not kicked up or damaged. Turning 18K RPM it's hard to imagine if it struck something one blade would be completely untouched. Unfortunately this situation was not kind to the transom and stuffing box tube.

Anyone have this happen or have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Marty

 

[dasboata]

Hey guys,

In 35 years of racing I've never had a prop throw a blade like this. This was on one of my gas riggers.

If you look closely it appears to me there is a void and some porosity in the blade material. I can't believe it hit something because the other blade is perfect and the rudder was not kicked up or damaged. Turning 18K RPM it's hard to imagine if it struck something one blade would be completely untouched. Unfortunately this situation was not kind to the transom and stuffing box tube.

Anyone have this happen or have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Marty

IT does look like porosity , it happens , did someone do that for you or did you buy it finished, maybe I can help you out

 

[Martin Law]

IT does look like porosity , it happens , did someone do that for you or did you buy it finished, maybe I can help you out

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your input...

I purchased it RTR from one of our other well known prop guys here on the forum. Prop was absolutely awesome on all of my gas riggers up to that point. I think he is in touch with ABC about it. Thank you very much though Chris for the offer of assistance...

Marty

 

[John Beardslee]

I’ve had it happen to me and many customers over the years. It’s the Bain of the casting business unfortunately. There are casting processes that reduce the possibility of porosity but would add too much cost to be applicable to high volume production.

 

[Tom Foley]

 

[Mike Hughes]

View attachment 323651

Awesome, got the prop back. That aint cheap. Little fiberglass work and new shaft to get back at it. Lucky.

 

[john v]

I threw a blade on a gas rigger once, pre stainless days, only one so far.
But as luck would have it, it was one of your best props right before it failed!.
Tom, never had that before, at least you didn't loose the prop!

 

[Scott Tonak]

Yikes! That's scary stuff right there. I was about to get started on this prop and saw these imperfections in the casting. Now I'm a bit nervous.

 

[Danny King]

You can easily only damage one blade by hitting something. Seen it done one smaller props and nitros at higher rpm.
But also seen blades come off on runs that didn’t look like it hit anything.
And often it is a bad deal for the transom.
Sorry Marty

 

[Scott Tonak]

Turned out ok. I was able to work the flaws out of it.

 

[Mike Hughes]

Sharpen them and send it. It is not a daily occurance. It does happen, but for most people not. I have been RC boating most of my life. Seen it happen but not to me. Beside we are modelers. We can fix.
Mike

 

[Timbo Whalen]

View attachment 323651

'SPENSIVE!!!

 

[Timbo Whalen]

I've had a couple of props from same source with pin hole voids through the blades. That's an easy fix, and not as catastrophic as your failure. But, it does tend to stick in the back of one's mind.

 

[DougSick]

The only props I have had trouble with is an H-29. Probably from the Tidewater days, not the current ones. Tore a blade off of 2 of them. I liked them on my X Hydro. Smaller diameter but pitched up so the engine would rev. Just couldn't handle the load.

 

[Al Hobbs]

I've seen propellers throw a blade. Once it happened in the hot pits as the boat was being carried towards the water. The driver revved the engine and a blade flew right in front of me. Maybe the result of hitting something in a previous heat.

 

[Joe Warren]

I threw a blade on a ABC 2719 last month at Brandon Race, tried to take the transom out on a twin, it happened really fast & the damage was real fast…….Mark Adams threw a Blade also at same race,

 

[Martin Law]

The prop I had in my initial post was an ABC 2817 19 .38 that was from recent stock.

Hopefully these are just isolated cases but how else would we know if there was a common problem with these ABC props without feedback from others on this and other forums?
This begs the question...do the stainless props have the same issue or are they immune to this situation?

Thanks guys for all the comments, this is a very interesting thread!

Marty

 

[Tom Foley]

Some way of void testing would be great .

 

[Tom Foley]

I threw a blade on a gas rigger once, pre stainless days, only one so far.
But as luck would have it, it was one of your best props right before it failed!.
Tom, never had that before, at least you didn't loose the prop!

That prop is worth half of what my house is worth ....not mine !!!

 

[Al Hobbs]

I do not think that one brand is more apt to lose a blade than any other brand. Obviously the bigger the engine and the bigger the prop; the more there is torque and weight involved, and probably the greater the likelihood of throwing a blade.

Anything cast instead of forged or billet is more likely to have weak spots. As almost all of the props we use are cast, it does not surprise me that there are a few failures. And, might I add, very few failures as a percentage of all the props we use.