Zeal Blade Failure

[wrench567]

I had a 325mm Energy blade failure the other day. I also have a giant scar in an oak tree from the failed blades. I was doing some laps around my yard when the left aileron servo locked up in a left turn and I didn't have time to adjust or even hit TH. 4 feet high on an oak tree there is a gash more than a half inch deep. The Zeal blades stayed together but shattered the whole length. Damage was light for the hit it took. Both rotor blades, feathering shaft, and canopy. I took apart the failed servo and found a brass tooth jammed between two other gears. The servo was probably damaged in a previous crash and finally failed on this flight.

The hit these blades took and stayed together is a miracle. I have had other blades fly apart with a minor hit. Hitting an Oak tree about a foot in diameter would have shattered with pieces flying any other rotor blade.

I will buy anther set of these.
Pete

[Dylan Hudock]

Sounds more like you had a crash than a blade failure!

[Solmanbandit]

The Zeal blades are as reliable as anything else on the market. Every single blade manufacturer has had defective blades. To state that they are somehow less reliable than anything else is simply untrue. There are thousands of sets of Zeal blades with hundreds of flights on them that never have an issue.

Show me where other manufacturers have as many posts on failures as Zeal does. I looked in the Cyclone forum and didn't see a single negative review. Only other blade that I heard of that had issues was Spin Blades. I haven't heard whether they are still having issues or have since fixed the problem of breaking at the root.

[Number]

Originally Posted by Dylan Hudock

Sounds more like you had a crash than a blade failure!

I think that was a praise post

[Johnny31297]

Originally Posted by Solmanbandit

Show me where other manufacturers have as many posts on failures as Zeal does. I looked in the Cyclone forum and didn't see a single negative review. Only other blade that I heard of that had issues was Spin Blades. I haven't heard whether they are still having issues or have since fixed the problem of breaking at the root.

I asked him before, no response, because he can't say anything. At least Fun-Key is 100% bulletproof and they have been around since like 2006.

[Acko71]

Hello to all off you, new member here.
Bought a set of Zeal blades 2 weeks ago and flew with it last Thursday, had a blade failure mid flight where one of the main rotorblade broke resulting in bad crash and no heli left :-( . I´m not a 3D pilot so it cant be anything else than bad manufacturing. The tip of the blades are undamaged and the tailbom is undamaged so its not a bomstrike. Sent email to Fastlad and Heard nothing . Just want to send strong warning to anyone thinking of buying Zealblades.

My heli was a Soxos 700 with Zeal 690mm blades....

[Dylan Hudock]

They seem to work great for some people, but it is a given fact that they have a higher failure rate than other blades out there. If you like them, more power to you! But I, and a few others I fly with, have made the decision to stop flying them because of the risk.

[Number]

I fly the small blades because they're cheap. They're the best blades for the Trex 250 by far, and the Zeal 380s are basically half the price of the Switch 383. I've never had a problem with the small ones. But the forces on big helicopters are exponentially bigger compared to small helicopters, and I am not comfortable trusting them.

[longhammer]

Originally Posted by Dylan Hudock

I was out flying the Gaui X3 today, had taken off for the 5th flight of the day, and just gone into idle up (3250 rpm) and pop! The tail started to spin and it dropped. I hit hold and the damage was just skids, boom, and the missing tail blades. Upon inspection, the blades definitely failed at the root, there are the metal bushings still in place, and one grip has part of the root still there.



This was on the X3 with the plastic tail grips. These blades have not been in a crash, not nicked on the ground, and looked absolutely new. I have put around 30 flights on them. Funny thing is, after doing a quick google search, I can find a few threads with IMO, WAY too many cases of these Zeal 62mm blades failing. Zeal, could you chime in with your opinion on this? Not too happy with this, given it could hurt somebody. I do not have the blades, but here is a picture of what is left. Bad picture but you get the idea.



Here is another example https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=680523

I remember that..yeah, I've since moved on to other blade brands. I always check new blades for cracks, scratches, roots or other imperfections now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Thoemse]

You will find many comparable threads if you search for X3 tail. It's not the Zeals fault, it's the X3's fault. Did you use metal blade holders by any chance? It seems they produce this problem more than the plastic ones.

[Mike680]

A friend just had an in-flight boom strike from a super flexy set of Zeals. I've had bad experiences with them, too. Never again.

[Mike680]

Originally Posted by Thoemse

You will find many comparable threads if you search for X3 tail. It's not the Zeals fault, it's the X3's fault. Did you use metal blade holders by any chance? It seems they produce this problem more than the plastic ones.

He said plastic grips. Also, the bushings and part of a root were still in the grips. It's quite obvious the blades were what failed and departed the heli. Good carbon fiber should not fail like that.

[Atomic Skull]

I have a set of 800mm Zeal mainblades where one blade is around half a degree off from the other as shown by the pitch gauge. I know this because I adjusted the blade grips first with an RC logger pitch gauge 2, one blade matches the grips, the other shows a half degree extra pitch.

[Xfreak3D]

Originally Posted by Mike680

A friend just had an in-flight boom strike from a super flexy set of Zeals. I've had bad experiences with them, too. Never again.

boom strike usualy not blade issue i guess.. i use zeal blade myself about 20pairs .. 360, 430, 520, 550 , 700.. and have sold about 1000 pairs multi sizes .. all my dealers so far no issue reported frm users. just 1 pair have flappy sound.. but he accepted the flapping sound after we give him a big discount..
not to bias on zeal btw.. might be initial batch i guess

[Solmanbandit]

Originally Posted by Xfreak3D

boom strike usualy not blade issue i guess.. i use zeal blade myself about 20pairs .. 360, 430, 520, 550 , 700.. and have sold about 1000 pairs multi sizes .. all my dealers so far no issue reported frm users. just 1 pair have flappy sound.. but he accepted the flapping sound after we give him a big discount..
not to bias on zeal btw.. might be initial batch i guess

Initial batch or not, first opinion is very important. I went through a couple sets of tail blades and one set of main blades. I found the quality to be horrible and the finish chipped away very easily. Not again for me either.