Help! Ventus Blue Shaft Snapped

[Honeybadger]

Teeing off on #10, the head flew off of my Ping G425 Max today. The Ventus snapped below the level of the ferule (pictures attached). I bought the shaft used on E-Bay in April from Mike’s Golf Outlet https://www.mikesgolfoutlet.com/fujikura-ventus-blue-velocore-5-s-59g-stiff-44-5-driver-shaft-ping-g410-g425/

I called Fujikura and they said I could only return it through a retailer. I’m hoping Mike’s will accommodate/be able to return the shaft to Fujikura. Or they could replace it, because it’s very strange that the shaft would break where it did. 
Anyone have any advice- it would be much appreciated. 
 

[Valtiel]

This is one of the most common places a shaft can break from either overprepping (too much sanding) or from fatigue, potentially from being pulled with too much heat at some point in it's life. The fact that it broke down inside the adaptor is a little more interesting though. Is that a ring of epoxy between the break and the edge of the rubber ferrule? That's the concerning part to me because the shaft would have to be sanded down quite a lot for that amount of epoxy to fit *around* the shaft inside the adaptor and below the ferrule. A clearer picture of it in focus would be nice, but you could confirm that is in fact epoxy by chipping it off with a knife (unless you don't want to tamper with anything while trying to return it). 

[Honeybadger]

1 hour ago, Valtiel said:

This is one of the most common places a shaft can break from either overprepping (too much sanding) or from fatigue, potentially from being pulled with too much heat at some point in it's life. The fact that it broke down inside the adaptor is a little more interesting though. Is that a ring of epoxy between the break and the edge of the rubber ferrule? That's the concerning part to me because the shaft would have to be sanded down quite a lot for that amount of epoxy to fit *around* the shaft inside the adaptor and below the ferrule. A clearer picture of it in focus would be nice, but you could confirm that is in fact epoxy by chipping it off with a knife (unless you don't want to tamper with anything while trying to return it). 

Yes- that is epoxy. I had noticed that the rubber ferrule had become separated a couple of weeks ago- it didn’t come that way (wondering if that matters?) 

Thanks

 

[third-times-a-charm]

I dont believe Fujikura will warranty that type of breakage. Theres a large thread going on right now and Fuji will only honor warranty's - even if through an auth distributor - in certain places on the shaft they deem acceptable as a manufacturing defect. That looks to be a prep defect from the adapter install so not sure there.

 

Also Mikes Golf Outlet sells LOTS of used stuff. They would only be able to warranty it if they got it new and then sold it to you used or something after that.

 

All I can say is good luck.

 

As a side note the breakage isnt too far up the shaft so if it wasnt tipped before, it's still salvageable as a 1" tipped shaft which is very common.

Edited July 21, 2022 by third-times-a-charm

[Valtiel]

13 minutes ago, Honeybadger said:

Yes- that is epoxy. I had noticed that the rubber ferrule had become separated a couple of weeks ago- it didn’t come that way (wondering if that matters?) 

Thanks

 

Shouldn't be related, no, at least not directly. Now that we can see it, it appears there was no epoxy applied to the ferrule or the inside of the adaptor where the ferrule sits, so it was just dry fit and thus prone to coming loose. Not related to the break, but a bit lazy/sloppy from a build standpoint. 

Looking more closely at the inside of the adaptor I think I see a little area beyond where the collar from the ferrule sits that is still a wider diameter where that shelf of epoxy could form. That means the shaft functionally broke just after it's primary insertion depth. Are you prone to heel strikes at all? Higher swing speed?

[third-times-a-charm]

2 minutes ago, Valtiel said:

Shouldn't be related, no, at least not directly. Now that we can see it, it appears there was no epoxy applied to the ferrule or the inside of the adaptor where the ferrule sits, so it was just dry fit and thus prone to coming loose. Not related to the break, but a bit lazy/sloppy from a build standpoint. 

Looking more closely at the inside of the adaptor I think I see a little area beyond where the collar from the ferrule sits that is still a wider diameter where that shelf of epoxy could form. That means the shaft functionally broke just after it's primary insertion depth. Are you prone to heel strikes at all? Higher swing speed?

The way ping adapters are made with that special ferrule - and with their recommended instructions (put epoxy inside the adapter WITH ferrule pre-installed and push it onto the prepped shaft) - you arent supposed to put any epoxy between the ferrule and the adapter and that hump on the male part of the ferrule where it sits inside the adapter 'seals' epoxy from reaching that area.

[Honeybadger]

11 minutes ago, Valtiel said:

Shouldn't be related, no, at least not directly. Now that we can see it, it appears there was no epoxy applied to the ferrule or the inside of the adaptor where the ferrule sits, so it was just dry fit and thus prone to coming loose. Not related to the break, but a bit lazy/sloppy from a build standpoint. 

Looking more closely at the inside of the adaptor I think I see a little area beyond where the collar from the ferrule sits that is still a wider diameter where that shelf of epoxy could form. That means the shaft functionally broke just after it's primary insertion depth. Are you prone to heel strikes at all? Higher swing speed?

Swing speed is about 105 and yes, my miss is on the heel. 

[Honeybadger]

18 minutes ago, third-times-a-charm said:

I dont believe Fujikura will warranty that type of breakage. Theres a large thread going on right now and Fuji will only honor warranty's - even if through an auth distributor - in certain places on the shaft they deem acceptable as a manufacturing defect. That looks to be a prep defect from the adapter install so not sure there.

 

Also Mikes Golf Outlet sells LOTS of used stuff. They would only be able to warranty it if they got it new and then sold it to you used or something after that.

 

All I can say is good luck.

 

As a side note the breakage isnt too far up the shaft so if it wasnt tipped before, it's still salvageable as a 1" tipped shaft which is very common.

Do you think “tipping it” will be affected by the break? How far up the shaft will the break affect the integrity of the shaft? 
 

[third-times-a-charm]

4 minutes ago, Honeybadger said:

Do you think “tipping it” will be affected by the break? How far up the shaft will the break affect the integrity of the shaft? 
 

It all depends on the break, some are clean and some are splintered/parallel/etc. Yours looks like a clean break so it shouldnt effect anything really; besides losing however much tip off the shaft that was.

 

Shafts generally have a 4" parallel tip section so a shaft can be 'tipped' aka break cleanly within the first 3" or so and still be just fine. Now, how much tipping you want to play with is a different story. Structurally however that is the tolerance.

[Valtiel]

31 minutes ago, third-times-a-charm said:

The way ping adapters are made with that special ferrule - and with their recommended instructions (put epoxy inside the adapter WITH ferrule pre-installed and push it onto the prepped shaft) - you arent supposed to put any epoxy between the ferrule and the adapter and that hump on the male part of the ferrule where it sits inside the adapter 'seals' epoxy from reaching that area.

Interesting, I guess that fits with what we're seeing here but I can't help but think that's a great way to get ferrule creepage. 
 

23 minutes ago, Honeybadger said:

Swing speed is about 105 and yes, my miss is on the heel. 

Heel strikes exert the most force on the shaft and are known to cause premature breakage unfortunately. A regular heel miss is hard on shafts. 😣
 

8 minutes ago, third-times-a-charm said:

It all depends on the break, some are clean and some are splintered/parallel/etc. Yours looks like a clean break so it shouldnt effect anything really; besides losing however much tip off the shaft that was.

 

Shafts generally have a 4" parallel tip section so a shaft can be 'tipped' aka break cleanly within the first 3" or so and still be just fine. Now, how much tipping you want to play with is a different story. Structurally however that is the tolerance.

Pretty sure 3" is the standard for.335 shaft with 4" only primarily existing for older bore-through heads. 

[third-times-a-charm]

1 minute ago, Valtiel said:

Interesting, I guess that fits with what we're seeing here but I can't help but think that's a great way to get ferrule creepage. 
 

Heel strikes exert the most force on the shaft and are known to cause premature breakage unfortunately. A regular heel miss is hard on shafts. 😣
 

Pretty sure 3" is the standard for.335 shaft with 4" only primarily existing for older bore-through heads. 

 

Yeah I dont like the ping directions, either. I do it my way 🤣

 

And yes sorry I was thinking of other shafts. Wood shafts generally are 3", right? With 2" being the max real trim you can do with adapter insertion depth needed.

[Honeybadger]

24 minutes ago, third-times-a-charm said:

 

Yeah I dont like the ping directions, either. I do it my way 🤣

 

And yes sorry I was thinking of other shafts. Wood shafts generally are 3", right? With 2" being the max real trim you can do with adapter insertion depth needed.

Where would you cut this one? The shaft played great for me at the standard tip. I guess what asking is, what’s the minimum amount of cut I can make on this break? 
thanks 

[third-times-a-charm]

5 minutes ago, Honeybadger said:

Where would you cut this one? The shaft played great for me at the standard tip. I guess what asking is, what’s the minimum amount of cut I can make on this break? 
thanks 

Since it was such a clean break you dont need to cut much really - maybe 1-2MM - less than 1/8" or so? You probably dont even need to cut it - just sand it down flush.

 

Cut the ferrule off, re-prep 1" of the paint/tip down to the carbon fiber and glue a new adapter on and go.

 

1" tipping will effect the feel of the shaft's tip section. It will feel more stiff and potentially drop spin by about ~200rpm and launch by -1 degree.

 

Oh, also, the shaft will be 1" shorter - so you will need to extend it in the butt-end by 1" to counter that, or play it shorter now which means you will need to add weight to the driver head to re-adjust SW if you feel you want it back to the heavier stock spec.

Edited July 21, 2022 by third-times-a-charm

[Honeybadger]

Looks like I’ll be getting a replacement from Mike’s Golf Outlet. Fantastic customer service. I bought this in April and they are honoring the warranty!!! What a great store! 

[Honeybadger]

6 hours ago, Honeybadger said:

Looks like I’ll be getting a replacement from Mike’s Golf Outlet. Fantastic customer service. I bought this in April and they are honoring the warranty!!! What a great store! 

Called Mike’s Golf Outlet in the morning, and they shipped it by the afternoon- I should have it by the time of my next round.

 

[mogc60]

That’s awesome!!