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Safety Wiring my prop

Flying Canuck

Well Known Member
Patron
I had my Whirlwind 200RV prop away for tear down and reinstalled it this afternoon. Managed to get it on and torqued without too much trouble. I then tried to safety wire the bolts and got the first bolt wired but then I couldn't get the 0.032 wire to feed through the hole in the bolt head. It's the welded nut style bolt head with short tubes connecting to the hole in the bolt shank. I was able to get 0.025 into the hole in the middle, but not the required 0.032.

Are there any proper ways to deal with this? I was thinking of finding a 0.040" drill bit and reaming a path through, is this appropriate? I can't replace the bolts since they are factory inserted.

I'll call Whirlwind tomorrow, but just thought someone here may have encountered this and worked through it (sorry, pun intended I guess).
 
Mark it when torqued…

Mark the position when torqued then back it off as needed to get the safety wire through, then tighten back to the mark.
 
Sounds like the roll pins that Hartzell props use, and they specify .032 safety wire though the roll pins. I wouldn’t drill the roll pins for .040.. you’ll probably break the drill bits trying it.
 
DO NOT try to drill the holes.

You can back the nut off, feed safety wire through, and then re-torque, or re-tighten to a mark.

Quitely under our breath, I can admit that lots of people believe it or not do not safety-wire their props. But with the technique described above, it is not too hard, and personally I can't image not doing it.
 
Another trick for feeding the safety wire is to make a loop of wire and use it like a snare tool and place the loop under the roll pin. Then you feed a straight piece though the bolt, and pressing the straight piece, you pull the snare and it brings the wire with it.
 
Love my WW prop, but boy do I hate safety wiring the prop bolts.

I asked WW if I could use Nordlock washers as an alternative but they do not recommend it for the 200RV prop. Not sure what the reasoning was.
 
Thanks for the quick feedback, drilling seemed too brute force to me, glad to see that there's a way to do it right. I too can't imagine not safety wiring the prop. It's a shame that it's difficult, but it's got a very important job.
 
Love my WW prop, but boy do I hate safety wiring the prop bolts.

I asked WW if I could use Nordlock washers as an alternative but they do not recommend it for the 200RV prop. Not sure what the reasoning was.

I think one of the advantages of Nord-Lock washers and one of the disadvantages of safety wire is that it's very easy to check to make sure a bolt is still torqued properly with the Nord-Lock.

I've seen bolts that have not moved, but became loose over time due to compression of the materials. But what a hassle to remove safety wire just to find out all the nuts/bolts are still tight!

My plan is to switch to Nord-Lock wherever not disapproved, so I took out a second mortgage on my house and bought an assortment of sizes from ACS.
 
Quitely under our breath, I can admit that lots of people believe it or not do not safety-wire their props. But with the technique described above, it is not too hard, and personally I can't image not doing it.

Put me in that “believe it or not” camp, waste of time IMO. Put a torque wrench on them at CI if you’re worried about it.
I’ve seen sheared bolts that would visually appear fine, until you put a wrench on them.
 
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You have done the lock wiring with the spinner back plate removed...?
Bend a small hook on the end of the wire to help it feed when it appears out the end of the roll pin.
 
The spinner back plate is not installed, nearly impossible to work with the prop bolts with that in place. My problem isn't fishing the wire out after getting through the roll pin, it's getting the wire into and through the bolt core. I'll use the mark, back off, feed and tighten approach that has been mentioned.

I'll keep the various method to grab the wire in mind, I do have a good pair of angled needle nose pliers that should do the trick.
 
I hate to recommend throwing someone else’s money at a problem, but I can tell you that using the Safety Cable tool and cables make prop wiring way easier! The cables are braided, so they are very flexible, and easy to poke through no matter how the bolt gets oriented. Then you just pull it tight through the other one, pop the tool on, squeeze - and you’re done.

However…expect to pay $350 for the tool, plus more for the cables, so figure out what you’re time and frustration is worth…. ;)

Paul
 
Agree with Paul

Yep Paul is right. I bought the tool and safety cable from DMC and have not looked back. Well worth the money if you ask me, now I'm still justifying the cost to the wife unit. Maybe I'll have her try and safety wire the prop for justification.:D
 
My quick eBay-Amazon search indicates the tool alone is going for almost $600. The used ones available were $3-400 and are missing the nose piece.
Yowza.

Update: dmc website indicates a new .032 tool with 3 inch nose is $450
 
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I'll bet if you call props manufactures they would not recommend the safety cable tool either. ( It looks like a nice solution).

It takes time for a manufacture to get comfortable with any new method.
 
Good article idea for Kitplanes magazine.

Safety wire verses other fastening methods such as Nord-lock washer or the cabling tool.
 
The spinner back plate is not installed, nearly impossible to work with the prop bolts with that in place. My problem isn't fishing the wire out after getting through the roll pin, it's getting the wire into and through the bolt core. I'll use the mark, back off, feed and tighten approach that has been mentioned.

I'll keep the various method to grab the wire in mind, I do have a good pair of angled needle nose pliers that should do the trick.

Going through the core is the easy part.. are you using .032?
 
Going through the core is the easy part.. are you using .032?

Not in my case it isn't, it's not lined up properly to the roll pin. I can get 0.025" through the core but not rigid enough to feed out the other pin. The prescribed 0.032" will not go into the core.

And the safety cable tool is $735 CDN on ACS. I'll learn a whole new group of swear words to avoid that cost.
 
I hate to recommend throwing someone else’s money at a problem, but I can tell you that using the Safety Cable tool and cables make prop wiring way easier! The cables are braided, so they are very flexible, and easy to poke through no matter how the bolt gets oriented. Then you just pull it tight through the other one, pop the tool on, squeeze - and you’re done.

However…expect to pay $350 for the tool, plus more for the cables, so figure out what you’re time and frustration is worth…. ;)

Paul

The torque the nut, loosen, insert the wire, then re-torque method has always worked for me, but the safety cable is way easier. While working for GE in flight ops support, I took a safety wire class (I took every class that was offered to me). We used the safety cables - which GE invented out of necessity. Tracking bits and pieces of clipped off safety wire became a QC nightmare. Every piece of used safety wire had to be accounted for in a jet engine. Hence the safety cable - FAA approved. I bought mine from DMC, and purchased the cables/ferrules online at Amazon. The nose piece is important. Mine is 7”, but sometimes I wish it was shorter. They were about $180 each for the nose piece when I bought mine a few years ago. If you want a different size cable (like .040) that’s a different nose piece. It ain’t cheap, but one per airport, if everyone is friendly and respective, is plenty. I don’t think you can wear this tool out. A local chapter should have one for its members to use.
 
The roll pin, which is what you go through is one piece, are you calling the hole in the roll pin the core?
 
I hate to recommend throwing someone else’s money at a problem, but I can tell you that using the Safety Cable tool and cables make prop wiring way easier! The cables are braided, so they are very flexible, and easy to poke through no matter how the bolt gets oriented. Then you just pull it tight through the other one, pop the tool on, squeeze - and you’re done.

However…expect to pay $350 for the tool, plus more for the cables, so figure out what you’re time and frustration is worth…. ;)

Paul

The torque the nut, loosen, insert the wire, then re-torque method has always worked for me, but the safety cable is way easier. While working for GE in flight ops support, I took a safety wire class (I took every class that was offered to me). We used the safety cables - which GE invented out of necessity. Tracking bits and pieces of clipped off safety wire became a QC nightmare. Every piece of used safety wire had to be accounted for in a jet engine. Hence the safety cable - FAA approved. I bought mine from DMC, and purchased the cables/ferrules online at Amazon. The nose piece is important. Mine is 7”, but sometimes I wish it was shorter. They were about $180 each for the nose piece when I bought mine a few years ago. If you want a different size cable (like .040) that’s a different nose piece. It ain’t cheap, but one per airport, if everyone is friendly and respective, is plenty. I don’t think you can wear this tool out. A local chapter should have one for its members to use.
 
The roll pin, which is what you go through is one piece, are you calling the hole in the roll pin the core?

No doubt I'm using incorrect terminology. I'll try to describe it better. Start with a threaded 7/16 rod with a hole drilled through one end. Then take a 7/16" nut (3/4" hex) and cut a channel across one face. Then put the nut on the end of the thread with the channel in line with the hole in the rod. Finally insert short tubes in the channel, one on either side of the threaded rod. This is what it appears that I have. I don't think the tube (roll pin?) goes through the hole in the rod. I didn't make this, it is what came with the propeller.

What I cannot do is get the safety wire through the threaded rod, it appears misaligned. I get into the tube on the one side and it is a solid wall with only enough opening to just get 0.025" into the core.

Again, I'm probably wrong with my description. I may have to take a trip out to the airport to look again. I'll try backing one off to see if realignment happens.
 
No doubt I'm using incorrect terminology. I'll try to describe it better. Start with a threaded 7/16 rod with a hole drilled through one end. Then take a 7/16" nut (3/4" hex) and cut a channel across one face. Then put the nut on the end of the thread with the channel in line with the hole in the rod. Finally insert short tubes in the channel, one on either side of the threaded rod. This is what it appears that I have. I don't think the tube (roll pin?) goes through the hole in the rod. I didn't make this, it is what came with the propeller.

What I cannot do is get the safety wire through the threaded rod, it appears misaligned. I get into the tube on the one side and it is a solid wall with only enough opening to just get 0.025" into the core.

Again, I'm probably wrong with my description. I may have to take a trip out to the airport to look again. I'll try backing one off to see if realignment happens.
Unless the roll pins got bent from over torquing I can’t see how that could be, the roll pins are one piece and go all the thru ‘assuming’ WW does it like everyone else which I think they do.
PS; make sure you’re not pushing the wire into the slot in the nut instead of the center of the roll pin.
 
Unless the roll pins got bent from over torquing I can’t see how that could be, the roll pins are one piece and go all the thru ‘assuming’ WW does it like everyone else which I think they do.
PS; make sure you’re not pushing the wire into the slot in the nut instead of the center of the roll pin.

I went out to check tonight and yes, it does look like the roll pins go all the way through. Most of them are completely or nearly completely blocked. I'm attaching some pictures I took of 3 of them, I can see light easily through one - the same one I'd actually been able to get a wire through - the others not at all at any camera angle.

I tried backing off and feeding the safety wire and had no success whatsoever. I don't see any way that I can physically safety these bolts. Unfortunately these are not field replaceable. We backed off all 6 bolts and torqued them to the specified 47 ft-lb. Very secure. I'm inclined to fly them like that and ensure that I get a torque wrench on them every 50 hours which is the specified interval. Although I think it's an error, but the installation manual doesn't say anything about safety wiring the flange bolts on a 2 piece rear bulkhead (it does for the single piece) - it doesn't say anything about installing the bolts either though.
 

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Hmmm.

I can attest that the roll pins are indeed one piece and go all the way through. It sounds like apparently your pins have some kind of debris in the hole in the center of each one. Maybe some chips from drilling and pressing the pins in? I can see how the end of the roll pin could scrape up some shavings or chips from the sides of the hole and they might get kind of packed into the end of the pin.

I wonder if you got a small diameter pin punch if you might be able to carefully tap it through the pins to clear them? Carefully - if you break the punch off, you will really be stuck. I think if you try to drill thru, it will surely grab and break the drill. But a pin punch might just clear it out.

The other possibility, as Walt suggested, is that the roll pins might be partially sheared by over-torquing, partially obstructing the hole. In that case, the hub should go back to the prop shop to re-work the "bolts".

I would think a good magnifier and bright light would help you to figure out what is going on.

If all else fails, and you can get 0.025 safety wire thru, that is better than nothing. A DAR might complain, but if that is the only solution, well....
 
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Hmmm.

I can attest that the roll pins are indeed one piece and go all the way through. It sounds like apparently your pins have some kind of debris in the hole in the center of each one. Maybe some chips from drilling and pressing the pins in? I can see how the end of the roll pin could scrape up some shavings or chips from the sides of the hole and they might get kind of packed into the end of the pin.

I wonder if you got a small diameter pin punch if you might be able to carefully tap it through the pins to clear them? Carefully - if you break the punch off, you will really be stuck. I think if you try to drill thru, it will surely grab and break the drill. But a pin punch might just clear it out.

The other possibility, as Walt suggested, is that the roll pins might be partially sheared by over-torquing, partially obstructing the hole. In that case, the hub should go back to the prop shop to re-work the "bolts".

I would think a good magnifier and bright light would help you to figure out what is going on.

If all else fails, and you can get 0.025 safety wire thru, that is better than nothing. A DAR might complain, but if that is the only solution, well....

This is second time on for the prop, installed and wired in 2017. Hasn't been any drilling in the vicinity since first installation and all safety wire was removed when I pulled the prop off in July. Not to say that there isn't debris, just that I have no explanation for it.

There was no over-torquing, at least not significantly beyond the 47 ft-lbs.

I'll try the pin punch, I think I might have one that small. The 0.025 is not rigid enough to get all the way through on the one I tried.

I really don't want to have to send this thing back to Ohio, it just got back from the teardown and it cost me $1200+ just for shipping and customs. The bolts should have been part of that teardown, I'll put a call into the manufacturer for further guidance.

No issues with having to pass any inspections other than my own, at least that's how it is in Canada.
 
Claude -

You might think of giving Whirlwind in San Diego a call, and seeing what they think. Jim Rust is now doing some selling and servicing of WW C/S props out of his own shop, and since he designed the things, he is pretty knowledgeable about them. It really does look like those roll pins are blocked by debris of some kind - you say there was safety wire in the holes when it came off? Has it been toOhio and back since then? If that’s the case, someone in Ohio did something…..

It is not uncommon for prop manufacturer manuals to be agnostic on safety wiring - they say “do what the airframe (or engine) manufacturer tell you to do”. And I can tell you that at least some prop development testing is done without safety wiring because the prop is only going to be on for a few hours before removal….

Paul
 
I went out to check tonight and yes, it does look like the roll pins go all the way through. Most of them are completely or nearly completely blocked. I'm attaching some pictures I took of 3 of them, I can see light easily through one - the same one I'd actually been able to get a wire through - the others not at all at any camera angle.

I tried backing off and feeding the safety wire and had no success whatsoever. I don't see any way that I can physically safety these bolts. Unfortunately these are not field replaceable. We backed off all 6 bolts and torqued them to the specified 47 ft-lb. Very secure. I'm inclined to fly them like that and ensure that I get a torque wrench on them every 50 hours which is the specified interval. Although I think it's an error, but the installation manual doesn't say anything about safety wiring the flange bolts on a 2 piece rear bulkhead (it does for the single piece) - it doesn't say anything about installing the bolts either though.

Look closely at Pic #4. I can see what appears to be a kink/bend in the pin's wall right where the nut and stud meet. IMHO, those pins should have been installed with the split oriented perpendicular to the load transfer direction of the nut/stud. The way they are oriented, there is only one solid side of the pin to take the tightening load that is transferred via the pin from the nut to the stud. The other side has the split and that makes it substantially weaker. When installed 90* from there current orientation, there would have been two solid wall surfaces to take the load. I would get in there with more light and magnification to see if the pins really have kinked / bent wall surfaces.

If they do have bends, you should be able to replace the tension pins yourself. No special tooling or skill required to install tension pins, just a proper sized punch. You will need to drive them from outside to in and that will likely require you to drive it some, cut off the exposed then rinse / repeat until it is out.

Larry
 
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I spoke with WW today, the main guy is out this week but they're relaying to him. The roll pins are replaced during the teardown that was just done, so they should be clear. They'll work with me to get that fixed and if the prop needs to go back to them, it will be at their expense.
 
I went out to check tonight and yes, it does look like the roll pins go all the way through. Most of them are completely or nearly completely blocked. I'm attaching some pictures I took of 3 of them, I can see light easily through one - the same one I'd actually been able to get a wire through - the others not at all at any camera angle.

I tried backing off and feeding the safety wire and had no success whatsoever. I don't see any way that I can physically safety these bolts. Unfortunately these are not field replaceable. We backed off all 6 bolts and torqued them to the specified 47 ft-lb. Very secure. I'm inclined to fly them like that and ensure that I get a torque wrench on them every 50 hours which is the specified interval. Although I think it's an error, but the installation manual doesn't say anything about safety wiring the flange bolts on a 2 piece rear bulkhead (it does for the single piece) - it doesn't say anything about installing the bolts either though.

I may not be seeing the right things but with the pin going through the bolt, isnt that acting as a carter pin and not allowing the nut to turn? I have never seen pins through bolts so I dont understand how they work.
 
This is second time on for the prop, installed and wired in 2017. Hasn't been any drilling in the vicinity since first installation and all safety wire was removed when I pulled the prop off in July. Not to say that there isn't debris, just that I have no explanation for it.

When the prop manufacturer does maintenance they usually strip off everything, including the roll pins and nuts on the studs. So while it worked great back in 2017 that doesn't matter since Whirlwind just removed the roll pins, nuts and reinstalled them. So something is up.
 
Learned one thing from this: the bolts are easier to access than on a Hartzell...

I agree that the roll pins can be field-replaced and to me would be better than shipping the prop back and forth again. I am not convinced that installing the new pins 90deg from where the current ones are is better.

The question is what's the condition of the threads in the crankshaft flange? If there's any residue in there (anti-seize, Loctite, oxidized oil, crud, etc) that could cause enough thread friction to twist off the roll pins. I'd chase the threads with a tap to clean them, using WD-40 to help remove the crud.
 
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Torquing the prop nuts

I’ve not seen it referenced on VAF and maybe I missed it or just common since but when using the ultimate torque wrench make sure you use it 90 degrees to the bar as increasing or decreasing the length will throw off the actual amount of torque used. If that’s not correct feel free to chime in. Obviously important we get the correct torque.
 
I’ve not seen it referenced on VAF and maybe I missed it or just common since but when using the ultimate torque wrench make sure you use it 90 degrees to the bar as increasing or decreasing the length will throw off the actual amount of torque used. If that’s not correct feel free to chime in. Obviously important we get the correct torque.

You are correct, I am using the Anti Splat Aero Ultimate Propeller Wrench and have my torque wrench at 90 degree to avoid having to recalculate the required torque.
 
The torque correction based on extender length is a simple ratio. If an extender is set 90 degrees the arm does change by the diagonal hypotenuse distance. So a math calculation will be more accurate. For the Anti-splat wrench that’s probably not significant due to its short hypotenuse length combined with real world wrench reading tolerance.

The fancy new digital torque wrenches allow the user to enter the extender length and then automatically do the math. Nice, but the math is so easy that’s not a single feature worth the upgrade cost.
 
Another picture

I'm still fighting with this, I talked to the specialist at Whirlwind on Friday and he told me that they didn't touch the roll pins - even though their website lists their replacement at the top of the list of items done during the tear down. I'll be talking to him again tomorrow when he returns to the shop, he was out last week. I'm hoping they'll agree to working with a prop shop here in Alberta to get this fixed.

I'm attaching one more picture that turned out really sharp. When I was removing the prop back at the beginning of July, my sons who were helping reported seeing a piece depart from one of the bolts. You can clearly see that 1/3 of a roll pin broke off. It also is clear that the alignment is off and the pin is squished. I can't get safety wire through the remaining hole.

I'm going to push for new bolts all around or at least complete roll pin replacement.
 

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I'm still fighting with this, I talked to the specialist at Whirlwind on Friday and he told me that they didn't touch the roll pins - even though their website lists their replacement at the top of the list of items done during the tear down. I'll be talking to him again tomorrow when he returns to the shop, he was out last week. I'm hoping they'll agree to working with a prop shop here in Alberta to get this fixed.

I'm attaching one more picture that turned out really sharp. When I was removing the prop back at the beginning of July, my sons who were helping reported seeing a piece depart from one of the bolts. You can clearly see that 1/3 of a roll pin broke off. It also is clear that the alignment is off and the pin is squished. I can't get safety wire through the remaining hole.

I'm going to push for new bolts all around or at least complete roll pin replacement.

You can see where it sheared almost half the pin away during tightening, ironically right at the split. Given that doesn't happen to most, I speculate ti could be due to over torquing or possible a defect in the pin metallurgy. I suggest a crows foot and proper torque adaptation to ensure they are not over tightened next time. Not sure I trust the 90* torque wrench logic. I was always taught to use a calculation based upon the leverage arm length. I stand by the suggestion to not have the split directly facing where the nut is trying to shear it off during tightening. Don't have the Mechanical Engineering degree to back that up, but it makes sense that a solid tube wall is stronger than one that is split in half. Page 8 of this application guide for roll pins used in shear clearly provides that same guidance:

https://www.spirol.com/assets/files/sltp-slotted-spring-pin-design-guide-us.pdf

Kind of a shame that a prop manufacturer doesn't know this.

Also important to observe torque recommendation in the manual. Some are given for dry installation and some for use of oil or lube though not sure that would change the force that the roll pin sees.

Larry
 
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..........The question is what's the condition of the threads in the crankshaft flange? If there's any residue in there (anti-seize, Loctite, oxidized oil, crud, etc) that could cause enough thread friction to twist off the roll pins. I'd chase the threads with a tap to clean them, using WD-40 to help remove the crud.

As I said 3 days ago and repeating it now: since you just admitted to twisting off the roll pin on DISassembly, that tells me there's something in the female threads that's acting as a threadlocker...whether that's old Loctite, rust, dried up anti-seize...whatever. Clean the threads in the crankshaft flange!

Shame on Whirlwind for not inspecting and replacing the roll pins during tear-down, but I think most of the issue here stems from gummed up female threads.

Look at OP's latest pic again below: It shows the pin sheared off from counterclockwise rotation, not tightening.

attachment.php
 
I will look at the threads, it's quite likely that the prop will be coming off to get this resolved. I've never used loctite or anti-sieze anywhere near those threads, prop was installed dry as specified in the manual. I'll clean them in any case.
 
My WW 300 series manual called out to use 65 ft lbs and Locktite 242 or 271. Hopefully not going to be an issue removing next time.
 
Look at OP's latest pic again below: It shows the pin sheared off from counterclockwise rotation, not tightening.

I did and we clearly see different things. I see that the pin was 50% sheared off and bent during the clockwise tightening operation. (Sheared portion is on the left side. The right side has a raised portion above the threads You can even see where one of the threads left an indentation in the remaining pin and the shearing left a very smooth surface, unlike a fracture). THEN during the loosening operation the now compromised pin was pushed in the opposite direction and snapped off. Look at the shape of the remaining pin. It looks just like how a tree is felled. You cut the large notch and the tree still stands. Start compromising the remaining portion and it snaps like a twig.

Nothing wrong with different opinions. It's all moot anyways as it has to be replaced. I do agree that too much force was applied to the pin and that pin having been installed incorrectly only made it worse. I know you disagree with that as well, but the pin manufacturers recommendation is clear.

Larry
 
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Just heard back from Whirlwind. They are sending me new nuts and roll pins. He also provided instructions on removing the pins - nut and washer to tightly secure the nut and drive out the roll pin with a #4 (1/8") punch. Doesn't sound too difficult.
 
Just heard back from Whirlwind. They are sending me new nuts and roll pins. He also provided instructions on removing the pins - nut and washer to tightly secure the nut and drive out the roll pin with a #4 (1/8") punch. Doesn't sound too difficult.

They might be pretty difficult to drive out once sheared. Perhaps you can grab the open end with needlenose pliers and twist/pull to pull each half out. It may take several different techniques in combination.
 
Time for an update on this still unresolved issue.

I worked with my engine builder to try and replace the roll pins and were unable to get the roll pins out despite a lot of effort and some broken punches. The pins are all compromised with Z shaped shear. The only option we see remaining is cutting off the bolt assemblies and rebuilding them. I've requested the bolt parts from WhirlWind Aviation. Dave (my mechanic/engine builder) is confident he'll be able to safely cut off the bolts and assembling the bolts from new parts should be straightforward.

I'm getting quite impatient, I'd hoped to get back in the air by now, I've been down for nearly 4 months after shoulder surgery. I'm healed up and ready to go, but I need my prop.
 
another update

I can now officially recommend not buying from Whirlwind Aviation. I got the new studs and my engine builder went to rebuild the bolt assemblies and they sent the wrong size studs (and nuts and roll pins). 1/2" instead of the 7/16" that I use. This gong show has now cost me 2 months of AOG and all of it because they didn't do the work they were supposed to when they had it in the shop. I'm happy with the prop, but not remotely close to happy with the service.
 
I can now officially recommend not buying from Whirlwind Aviation. I got the new studs and my engine builder went to rebuild the bolt assemblies and they sent the wrong size studs (and nuts and roll pins). 1/2" instead of the 7/16" that I use. This gong show has now cost me 2 months of AOG and all of it because they didn't do the work they were supposed to when they had it in the shop. I'm happy with the prop, but not remotely close to happy with the service.

You're not the only one that isn't happy with their customer service this year.
 
last update?

I got the correct studs yesterday and today managed, with a lot of help from my engine guy, to get the prop back on the plane and safety wired. Ran out of time to install the spinner - should get that done tomorrow and weather permitting I'll get up for my first flight since the first weekend of summer.

My determination for the cause of the collapsed roll pins is the incorrect torque value (65 ft-lbs instead of 47) listed in the prop paperwork from Whirlwind. I suspect that I had initially used the higher value and that this led to the compromise of the low quality roll pins. I know that breaking the torque to remove the prop in July was very difficult, much more so than it is at the correct torque as we set it today. We used higher quality, locally sourced roll pins today.

This experience has left a bad taste in my mouth regarding the propeller vendor. They did eventually make it right but it cost me 2 months of AOG, a couple of hundred dollars and a lot of headaches.
 
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