Loose blades found in annual
Moderators: Rick, Lance Murray
- Rich
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 4607
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:40 pm
- First Name: Rich
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N40XE
- Airports: S39 Prineville OR
- Has thanked: 145 times
- Been thanked: 1186 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
Some detectable movement seems to be acceptable. From the POH, preflight inspection includes:
d) Propeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . visual inspection; blade shake: max. 3 mm (1/8 in); angular play of blade: max. 2°
This is presumably based on the MT. Based on my own experience, here's something I would test in flight:
Set the RPM somewhere in level flight. Without changing anything, put the nose down and get an extra, say 20 Kt. of airspeed. Then raise the nose until you get maybe 20 Kt. below original airspeed. If the RPM's do not stay constant, rising and falling with airspeed, it's pull the prop apart time. I had the balls and races in the hub get all bunged up some years back and this was the behavior - kind of like a fixed-pitch prop. 100 days downtime getting it repaired by MT. There was no detectable play in the prop blades on preflight, BTW.
d) Propeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . visual inspection; blade shake: max. 3 mm (1/8 in); angular play of blade: max. 2°
This is presumably based on the MT. Based on my own experience, here's something I would test in flight:
Set the RPM somewhere in level flight. Without changing anything, put the nose down and get an extra, say 20 Kt. of airspeed. Then raise the nose until you get maybe 20 Kt. below original airspeed. If the RPM's do not stay constant, rising and falling with airspeed, it's pull the prop apart time. I had the balls and races in the hub get all bunged up some years back and this was the behavior - kind of like a fixed-pitch prop. 100 days downtime getting it repaired by MT. There was no detectable play in the prop blades on preflight, BTW.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
- Scottsware
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:59 am
- First Name: Scott
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N343SG
- Airports: KAPA
- Has thanked: 10 times
- Been thanked: 42 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
200 hours after propeller repair.
The propeller was tight in the hub for the first 200 hours after it was refurbished. It became loose in the hub again. I think Lance is correct, this is not uncommon and after measuring the play using the procedure in the Hartzell documentation, I think the propeller was acceptable before I had it repaired.
Here is a link to the document
https://hartzellprop.com/wp-content/upl ... -R7-WA.pdf
Even though the propeller seems to be within limits, I dropped off the plane at the propeller shop and they will open up the hub and torque it down. The owner of the prop shop said it shouldn’t be loose. Being loose does cause some very light oil streaking on the propeller.
I compared the my propeller against two other DA40's at the local flying club and those propellers were tight in the hub. The did not have the scimitar blades. I still wonder if there is some issue with the scimitar blades and ending up loose in the hub. The propeller shop said it isn’t a safety issue, once the propeller is spinning, it will seat properly.
The propeller was tight in the hub for the first 200 hours after it was refurbished. It became loose in the hub again. I think Lance is correct, this is not uncommon and after measuring the play using the procedure in the Hartzell documentation, I think the propeller was acceptable before I had it repaired.
Here is a link to the document
https://hartzellprop.com/wp-content/upl ... -R7-WA.pdf
Even though the propeller seems to be within limits, I dropped off the plane at the propeller shop and they will open up the hub and torque it down. The owner of the prop shop said it shouldn’t be loose. Being loose does cause some very light oil streaking on the propeller.
I compared the my propeller against two other DA40's at the local flying club and those propellers were tight in the hub. The did not have the scimitar blades. I still wonder if there is some issue with the scimitar blades and ending up loose in the hub. The propeller shop said it isn’t a safety issue, once the propeller is spinning, it will seat properly.
- Scottsware
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:59 am
- First Name: Scott
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N343SG
- Airports: KAPA
- Has thanked: 10 times
- Been thanked: 42 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
Two years later…. One blade started to wiggle again. I know the manual allows some wiggle and I noticed no vibration in flight but I just prefer a solid feeling propeller. I talked to the prop shop and it had 6 years since the prop had been overhauled. That is the TBO, which is also not required for part 91, I decided I be more comfortable having it as perfect as possible.
It took 5 weeks and $6600 but I’m back in the air. In the past it didn’t take so long but there are delays in getting the blades back from the manufacture.
It took 5 weeks and $6600 but I’m back in the air. In the past it didn’t take so long but there are delays in getting the blades back from the manufacture.
- Lance Murray
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:25 pm
- First Name: Lance
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Airports:
- Has thanked: 7 times
- Been thanked: 120 times
- jwx96
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 179
- Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:54 pm
- First Name: John
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N193JP
- Airports: KFCM
- Has thanked: 87 times
- Been thanked: 47 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
I have the MTV-12-B. One blade is loose but not nearly as loose as the blade in the video. I probably didn’t notice it over the winter because I was wearing gloves during my preflights. The other 2 blades are tight. The prop was overhauled locally last winter and then repaired last fall for a persistent grease leak. The plane is in the shop now and the prop is in a crate on it’s way to MT in Florida. The local shop is a MT service center but I lost confidence in them.
- jwx96
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 179
- Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:54 pm
- First Name: John
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N193JP
- Airports: KFCM
- Has thanked: 87 times
- Been thanked: 47 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
The prop is back on and all the blades are tight. The shipping cost more then the repair but I think it was worth it to get it to the main service center in Florida.
- dmloftus
- 4 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 465
- Joined: Thu May 07, 2020 3:38 pm
- First Name: David
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N868US
- Airports: KLZU
- Has thanked: 215 times
- Been thanked: 256 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
Hi John,
Do you mind sharing the shipping and overhaul costs from MT? Thanks!
Do you mind sharing the shipping and overhaul costs from MT? Thanks!
- jwx96
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 179
- Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:54 pm
- First Name: John
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N193JP
- Airports: KFCM
- Has thanked: 87 times
- Been thanked: 47 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
Sure. The work by MT this year was just a repair for the loose blade. The cost was $848. To remove and reinstall was $412. To build a crate for the 3 blade prop was $550. My shop charged $430 to ship from Illinois to Florida. MT charged $742 to ship it back. Total $2982. To overhaul the prop at my local prop shop in 2021 was $6011 + cost to remove and reinstall, but no shipping. There was a cost to remove and reinstall again in 2021 because of a persistent grease leak but the repair was free. I decided not to go back to my local shop this year for the second repair but they might have paid for it. My plane was down for 7 weeks for the overhaul and 4 weeks for each of the repairs.
- dmloftus
- 4 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 465
- Joined: Thu May 07, 2020 3:38 pm
- First Name: David
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N868US
- Airports: KLZU
- Has thanked: 215 times
- Been thanked: 256 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
Living in Atlanta, I've flown down to Deland FL to have MT service center do work directly. They have been extremely helpful and accommodating. Last time it was to repaint my peeling pseudo-chrome spinner, which they did in a couple of days while I took the kids to Disney and ran out to the coast for a SpaceX launch. Saved a lot of downtime on the aircraft and expense.
- Scottsware
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:59 am
- First Name: Scott
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N343SG
- Airports: KAPA
- Has thanked: 10 times
- Been thanked: 42 times
Re: Loose blades found in annual
Ugh, one of the blades is loose again. It lasted about 300 hours from a complete overhaul. The wobble is within limits. I’m inclined to not have it rebuilt a forth time and just accept that this is normal since it’s within limits. How are everyone’s scimitar propellers holding up? I can’t imagine what I'm doing to keep getting a loose blade. The prop shop tells me I shouldn’t be able to make it come loose with any particular technique.