All my Zeal blades are flawless....

[gunny_jeeves]

So should I hit up the lottery or something?

I have every size from 155 (180cfx) up to 700mm on my Avant.. Plus two old sets that are not "energy" blades in 430 and 325mm.

All are dead on balanced, decent graphics, couple had scratches, but nothing I'd flip out about... And none have had any issues in flight.

I'm reading the posts and wondering... What's the latest on these blades?

QA probs in the past... Did they fix em?

Is anything shady going on? I love the sound of these blades and the look even with blemishes is awesome. But I'm wondering if I'm just lucky as all get out and my luck's gonna run out.

Just for giggles.. How many Zeal blades have you owned and how many were problems?

Me:
14 sets of blades (3 old style, 11 energy)
0 problems.
3 had scratches / blemishes on the paint.

That's it.

[jmackey]

Great post Gunny!

My results are in line with yours. Every single set was acceptably balanced - verified with Kohl rotor pro. Not always perfect out of the box, but very good balance. Several early sets of the 700's had brass inserts that needed to be filed down a little. A QC issue, but was easily remedied.

Sets I have owned to date:
(1) 710 energy
(4) 700 original
(3) 700 energy - my favorite - loud and FAST cyclic
(2) 690 energy
(2) 550 energy
(3) 380 energy
(3) 350 original
(1) 255 energy
(2) 255 original
(5) 115
(2) 105
(3) 95
(3) 70
(3) 68
(2) 62

Zero failures in thousands of hard flights on a lot of different helis.


Dang... that's a lot of blades!

[Epoweredrc]

I only have had 3 sets now, the set that came on that copterx 450. they flew great so decided to get more when had em on sale so i have another set of 325 i stuck on that heli. and some 430 for the 500 they all fly well. ive not balanced them they all look great

[Boinker]

I have owned various sets of zeal blades over the last 2 years.amping my previous blades were 2 sets of 325mm blades, 3 sets of 350mm, and 1 360mm. And about 6 sets of their 62mm tail blades.

I have done at least 600 flights on them, not one ever failed due to a manufacturing flaw. Funny. One of the 325 sets was for reviewing that I happed my friend with. Had not trouble with them and they were the original run of 325mm energy blades.

The current set I have is zeal energy 350mm. After checking my log I have 73 flights on them so far this year.

[dnj1985]

I have zeal tail blades on my tsa now for 2 seasons, went through 2 crashes and there still flawless,,,

I did have a blade strike with a set of main zeals , I thought due to worn dampners,, that's not saying the blades didn't flex more than they should,or that they didn't , don't know ,,, all I know is my tail blades are flawless

[TimBaconHeli]

I have given in to curiosity and bought 2 sets, 710's and 690's. Seen too many bad posts to not see for myself what'a going on. I attributed the issue to the fact that they were cheaper respectively and that there were more sets out there. I guess I'll find out Wednesday when my sets come in from helidirect. Although I'm going to still run rail and cyclone tails for preference. Love them in each application.

[Xfreak3D]

No issue at all ..

[Blackline]

Originally Posted by jmackey

Great post Gunny!

My results are in line with yours. Every single set was acceptably balanced - verified with Kohl rotor pro. Not always perfect out of the box, but very good balance. Several early sets of the 700's had brass inserts that needed to be filed down a little. A QC issue, but was easily remedied.

Sets I have owned to date:
(1) 710 energy
(4) 700 original
(3) 700 energy - my favorite - loud and FAST cyclic
(2) 690 energy
(2) 550 energy
(3) 380 energy
(3) 350 original
(1) 255 energy
(2) 255 original
(5) 115
(2) 105
(3) 95
(3) 70
(3) 68
(2) 62

Zero failures in thousands of hard flights on a lot of different helis.


Dang... that's a lot of blades!

dont forget the 750 blades

[Blackline]

i also have not had any problems with my zeal blades, i have a 770 with 750 zeals, that used to be Jay's. i have them on my 380 as well.

[HeliLust]

I hope I get decent results. I'm looking to get some for my 250 and my oxy, I could care less about the paint though.

I have been flying plastics on my little helis to keep crash costs down as I'm pursuing 3d, but I think I want to go to carbons for a while and see if I like the way they feel more.

[jmackey]

Originally Posted by Blackline

i also have not had any problems with my zeal blades, i have a 770 with 750 zeals, that used to be Jay's. i have them on my 380 as well.

You are right. The 750's are awesome blades as well.


Jay

[19trax95]

I have a set of 360mm on my X3. I didn't have any issues with them other than some scratches and a slight fitment issue. But Zeal took very good care of me, and did so very quickly.

So I actually just ordered a set of 520mm for my x5 that I just put in haha. I liked them on my x3 so hopefully I will say the same for my x5. They are replacing a set of rail 516.


Edit: got the blades today. The paint is flawless and no scratches. I will see how they fly later

[corywrx]

I'm really interested in getting some 360mm energy blades for my 360 cfx. I'm curious to know if Zeals are really that "bad", or if there was just a bad batch that went out and now everybody is starting a witch hunt.

Whatever the case, it seems that people have had good results with the smaller sizes. I think the yellow ones will match my canopy nicely

[Geena]

I have been flying Zeal blades exclusively since mid 2014. I had issues with two sets of original design 600mm blades, which were the ones that were made on the steel molds. The issue was delamination of the trailing edges. The molds have been redone, and the problem has long been fixed. I have had zero issues since then, and I have flown several sizes.

Sizes I currently fly are:

360mm Energy
600mm Energy and the original design
700mm Energy
710mm Energy ST
690mm Energy ST
and I have a set of the prototype 700mm VLS blades

I have also flown 570mm Energy and the original design, but I no longer have the helicopter I was using them on.

They are great blades, and I enjoy flying them.

[LubeMan1]

I've owned 3 sets.

1) 600mm greens, had the weight shift out to the end causing imbalance

(replacements have been good)

2) 620mm reds, blade weight breached blade tip(yesterday)

3) 700mm were good lost them in crash

[Bm421]

4 sets of 600mm
5 sets 430mm
5 sets 325mm plus numerous tails for each with no issues I rather like them just wish they had the black and white in my sizes. I've found they crash rather well also along with tip overs

[MajSlayer]

4 sets of 550mm Zeal Energy FBL blades..

Everyone of them is off CW, SW, tested using a trusty Miniature Aircraft Koll Rotor Pro.

Table is always leveled on all four points, tested using high quality levels (used for sniper scope leveling, they cost more than 2 sets of 550s) and a digital gauge. (for kicks..lol)

High quality scales and calibrated, thus I'll never buy from Zeal again.

These blade where purchased over the course of a full year or more.

I have ordered blades from many manufactures over the course of 17+ years and well, I have wood blades that came balanced better.

They are fixable, but not worth the trouble for the price you pay, no blades are "Perfect".. All are being listed on Ebay soon..

Oh, they do have "Pop" due to being light weight.. (Guess I got a bad vintage / year. lol)

Peace,
MajSlayer

[Hate_To_Crash]

LOL at our Field in Sac You would think I am the Zeal Rep or something..

Blade 360CFX w/ Yellow 360's
Align 500 DFC w/ Red 430's
Gaui NX4 OS55 w/ Red 500's
Align 600N DFC w/ Green 600's
Align 700N DFC w/ Red 700's

Was an Edge fan for years.. They went out of business and floundered for awhile until the Zeal's came around.. Happy Camper Here...

[JWeber]

I've had multiple set and my only real complaint was a set I purchased for my Mini Titan. They balanced fine, but I was using way more battery than I had been with the Radix blades that was my standard for that heli. After a side by side weighing, they were about 40% heavier. I took them off.

They work great on my Oxy which was designed and tested using Zeals exclusively, but I prefer other brands in the larger helis. Not a QC issue, but a flight preference one.