Need some thoughts on this?

Have a cs prop from Western aircraft propellers, that was placed in service 12/11/10 i have what looks to be corrosion on the leading edges of the blade, here are some pics. Has 43 hours on the prop. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated, it is starting to concern me.

You can see there is a bunch of spots that i has the paint gone,


Thanks

Mike

I'm far from a propeller expert, but blistery stuff like that would worry me as well, particularly if it wasn't there when you installed the prop. I would get a good prop person to have a look. You'll likely get some good ideas here as well.

greg

Probably just a bad paint job but you need to get the blistering paint off to have a look underneath to see if there is any corrosion present.

Peel the blistering paint off with a little pocket knife and use a 5X magnifying glass to inspect for corrosion, pitting etc.

Thanks Greg and Walt,

Walt i do believe it is corrosion, i have not got a magnifying glass on it yet but it does look like there is some pitting. Will do that today, I guess if it is corrosion, what is my next step and why is there corrosion? i believe the prop is technically out of warranty with Western Aircraft Propeller but i will contact them on Monday. May have to find a local prop guy around here?

Thanks Again!!

I think Walt's right. I would strip, inspect, and repaint if all is well. That looks like comtamination induced filliform. Possible the prop wasn't stripped deep enough on overhaul.

airman said:

i believe the prop is technically out of warranty with Western Aircraft Propeller but i will contact them on Monday.

Thanks Again!!

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Good idea.

A phone call is cheap, and you might not be the only one with the problem, could be that they are already aware of it, and are fixing for free???

Could also be otherwise........

You wont know until you call.

Corrosion likely due to inadequate rinse after acid etching/alodining. What are you using to clean the bugs off with?

Props are meant to be conversion coated (aka alodine) before painting. It looks like yours may not have had this step done correctly.

From a Hartzell Owners Manual

(4) Before refinishing the blades, apply a corrosion preventive
coating to the bare aluminum surface.
(a) Tasdip AL 100, Chromicote L-25, or Alodine 1201 and
1200S are approved chemical conversion coatings.
(b) Apply these coatings in accordance with the
directions provided by the product manufacturer

Alodine should prevent filiform corrosion.

Mike S said:

You wont know until you call.

Click to expand...

WSTAIRPROP said:

we warrant our propellers against this forever so send it in

Laurie Marshall
Western Aircraft Propeller

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OK, so I was wrong, you dont need to call.

In this case, I like being wrong.

This is another good example of really great customer service, like seems to happen quite regularly with VAF vendors.

Good Job, Laurie

Glad to see you on here Laurie, prop was put on just after receiving from Western, no sitting and airplane is hangered. I will call you on Monday here is the info
Oh, other than this issu i have been very happy with the prop, performs well!!!

Info on Hartzell - RV-6 Prop Compatability

Guys,

This thread is absolute gold! I'm considering purchase of a propeller from the same shop. Given that I'm in Ottawa, Canada (oh, approximately 2231 sm away), I'm cautious with unknown vendors. Your customer service experience with Western Aircraft Propeller is encouraging. If anyone has customer service tales to pass along, I'd appreciate a PM.

Can anyone confirm that a Hartzell HC-C2YL-1BF/F7663-4 propeller is free of ops restrictions on an IO-320 engine? Hartzell's documents are utterly Byzantine, but I have heard that certain props have restricted RPM ranges on certain engines. I want to avoid that.

Any other advice on buying a used C/S prop would be appreciated.

Rob

Prop me up...

Rob,
The best way to get prop compatibility is to email Kevin Karam at Hartzell or simply google Hartzell propeller applicability. Several charts will show up in the search. RPM restrictions on engine/props are mainly carry-overs from the same engine props in the certified world. Hartzell can't restrict Experimentals, but they can make recommendations. Currently the only Hartzell restriction recommendation on RV's I have seen is the 0(IO)-360 with Electronic ignition. The IO-320 Narrow Deck or Wide deck use specific blades on RV's with no RPM restrictions if you purchase the correct hub/blade combination. Western Propeller should know this. Any other used C/S props you consider should have a prop log with inspections and a yellow tag or some record of inspection or overhaul.

Of course, with Experimental etched on your aircraft, none of the above apply. It is your butt though and shedding a blade inflight wouldn't be fun. Van's has an agreement with Hartzell allowing RV builders to purchase a new prop at a reasonable price, worth considering.

Of course, I would sway you to contact Craig Catto...

V/R
Smokey

Kevin Karam's email: [email protected]

Just to give you a guys an update on this issue. The prop was sent back to Western Aircraft Propeller and Western Aircraft Propeller stripping it down and repainting. They could not explain why the corrosion happened.
Well now as of 7/28/2012 the corrosion is coming back on the leading edge same as before. I have decided to take it to a different shop and get another opinion! Ether something is wrong with these blades or western is doing something very wrong. I am in Athens GA for the weekend and i admit i am a little concerned now about flying her home, there is about 5-10 areas a corrosion popping up from under the paint on each blade. Structurally i can not imaging this would be a concern but i am not totally sure. You can see the last pics i took here, http://izzosrv6a.com/problems-with-my-prop/.

I admit i am pretty pist off about this! I just pray the prop is found air worthy and its just a painting issue.

I did send an email with an update to Western, no response this time.

Mike

Latest update, the prop was taken to Palm Beach Aircraft Propeller http://www.pbapi.com/ , nice shop!!!!. Tore the propeller down completely with me there, love that!. After a few days they called me and reported all done, no major problems so that is good. Just simply not going deep enough to remove the corrosion. So, it was not the blades itself but the workmanship, Be warned with this shop mentioned.


I have been spinning wrenches all my life, and i know when i see a good shop. Palm Beach Aircraft Propeller, top notch!!! Its amazing the amount of propellers there moving through there!


Mike