Prop grease leak

[Steve N.]

I just about have 500 hrs on my Hartzel C/S blended airfoil prop and am noticing a slight amount of grease on the back of one blade near the hub after a flight of several hours. I'm wondering if this needs to be addressed immediately or if it can wait until I get home. I still have about 12 hours of cross country flying to do to get back. I'm in the Kalispell, Mt area right now and will be going through Billings, MT, Colorado Springs then on to the Nashville, TN area. If you know of a good prop shop on the way that can do a quick seal replacement I would like to know about it.

Thanks

[Rosie]

I wouldn't worry at all about getting your plane home, and my RV-4 hangar-mate just spent $900 to get his prop to stop slinging 'chunks' of grease (both blades) Rosie
PS: I'm heading to Kalispell next (Labor) day weekend with 8 other RVs!

[Steve N.]

Thanks for the reply Rosie. That was my uneducated opinion and am happy to get some confirmation.

We had a nice flight over the mountains from Grants Pass, OR to Ferndale on Friday, but this weekend has been unseasonable cool with overcast skies and light rainshowers. Hopefully, Tuesday will be clear enough to get over to Billings and I will keep my fingers crossed that the Labor Day weekend weather is good for you.

[10builder]

Steve,

I had the same problem with the C/S Hartzell on my RV-10. The difference was mine occured at about 50 hours TT. I called the factory and they indicated there were no safety of flight concerns, but I should get it resolved sooner rather than later. My home base is in Nashville, so I decided to visit Piqua, OH and let the factory technicians take care of it.

Long story short, they were great folks and work very fast. I arrived early that morning and was back out after lunch. That included their dynamic balancing service as well. While I was there, they loaned me a car to go to lunch an visit the factory, where I was treated to VIP tour of the whole manufacturing process! That in itself was worth the trip. Grease leak fixed, prop much smoother, happy customer.

Brian Sutherland
Nashville, TN
RV-10 N104BS (249 hours)

[Steve N.]

Brian,

I will give Harzell a call when I get home. Since the prop is now 5 years old, I'm afraid they will insist on doing a full overhaul, which I don't think is necessary.