Warp Drive Propeller Repair

Warp Drive propellers are repairable and the blades are individually replaceable.

Factory Repair

Warp Drive Incorporated offers propeller blade repair services.

Please only send damaged components. It is NOT necessary to send the entire propeller in for repair, only the damaged components need to be shipped to the factory. However, there are two exceptions to this rule:

  • If an impact has occurred that may have damaged the hub, the hub needs to be inspected either by the customer or by us. Please contact us with any questions.
  • When a replacement blade is built, it is balanced to ORIGINAL specifications. Therefore, if your blades have been worn, painted, repaired, altered, etc, they no longer match ORIGINAL specifications, so the replacement blade will no match your current blades. If this is the case, it is necessary to send all blades in so that they can be balanced as a set.

Charges depend on the extent of the damage. When sending your blade(s) in for repair please complete the Repair/Credit Form shown HERE.

Paint Damage

From the factory, Warp Drive propellers are painted with a Flat Black Lacquer and then sanded slightly with Medium Scotch-Brite® to generate a smooth finish. All of our propellers require paint, you should not see any carbon fibers after painting.

Paint has a dramatic effect on propeller balance. Whenever you repaint, do your best to apply the same quantity of paint to each propeller blade. Let the paint dry completely before balancing.

Custom tip painting is available.

 

 

Fiber Damage

Common damage is usually repairable on most propellers. It is difficult to determine whether or not a specific case is repairable without assessing the damage.

It is important to clean the damaged area prior to repair, denatured alcohol is recommended to prep the surface. In general, most two-part repair epoxies will work just fine when filling damaged areas.

After the epoxy has cured, sand the epoxy so that it follows the conture of the propeller blade and then repaint the damaged area while following the painting guidelines from above.

Tip: Use a wide piece of masking tape over the epoxy while it is curing to conform it to the shape of the blade.

Nickel Damage

Water damage to the nickel leading-edge is covered under warranty. There are two levels of damage to be concerned with, the nickel either has OR hasn’t been punctured.

If the nickel hasn’t been punctured, the mass of the propeller blade hasn’t changed and the propeller is still balanced.  If this is the case, due to the high ductility of the nickel, the damaged area may be repaired by tapping/smoothing/pounding the nickel back into shape with a hammer or other similar device.  Of course the ability to get the leading-edge back to its original shape is dependent on the level of damage and the ability of the person do the repair.

If the nickel has been punctured and carbon material removed, it is possible that the blades are out of balance.  The degree to which the blades are out of balance, of course, is case specific.  The nickel leading-edge is replaceable but the damaged blades must be sent to the factory for nickel replacement.  If damaged beyond the level of customer repair, send the damaged part back to the factory and the old nickel will be removed, the fiber underneath the nickel will be repaired, a new nickel leading-edge will be bonded.  The blade(s) will be repainted, and the blade will be balanced to the other blades in the set and returned to the customer.

Without seeing the damage it is difficult to say whether or not a propeller is repairable, a phone call or email with us is required for you to describe the damage to us. Photos of the damage are helpful. E-mail photos of the damage to the address listed HERE.

Maintenance and Inspection

Cleaning

Warp Drive propellers are painted with flat-black lacquer. Clean your propeller with any substance that will not remove the paint. Window cleaner or any degreaser works well.

Inspection

Inspect your Warp Drive propeller for damage. Leading edge damage is common on all propellers over time.

You should never see carbon fiber. Depending on the extent of the damage, if you see carbon fiber it must be repainted or repaired.

Running the propeller in water conditions(rain/floats/airboats) can remove the paint fairly quickly, especially on propellers without leading edge protection.  Follow the guidelines in the repair section below for repainting your propeller.

Inspect the bolt torques on all bolts.  Torque specifications are stated in the documentation that came with your propeller.  If you don’t have the documentation, you can find them in the Downloads section on this site.