Removing Prop Nut

[Alexgar]

Sorry my tablet spell corrected me loctite
I've lost a couple nice props upon letting off the throttle from wot so I make sure they are on good

[driftah]

wtf lenny you are hella lucky then,most of us would have had props on the pond floor due to the thrust...I lack the confidence to use fuel line on a time invested prop.

[ozzie-crawl]

Mite just try some loctite as I think oval nuts are made to spring back into shape not sure squishing them would work.

[Peter A]

I use nyloc nuts, never have a problem. Replace when had it.

[tlandauer]

Ok, I figured you need it nice and snug because I am getting the prop coming a little bit loose after about 5 runs or so. Almost like the drive dog moves, or the nut is backing off ever so slightly. Maybe I want this slight movement in the prop? Btw we're talking about normal proboat hardware here. 3/16 shaft, x642, Mystic 29...

Nylon locknut wears out after sometime, you will have that problem. They are expandable and replacing them is your best insurance.

[Rumdog]

Actually, Yes... fuel tubing alone does an excellent job. Scary trying at first, but you'd be very surprised. Never had on come loose.

[SloHD]

Nylon locknut wears out after sometime, you will have that problem. They are expandable and replacing them is your best insurance.

Yes i agree. But I'm not using a nylon nut. I'm using a kintec nut and octura bullet. I must say it doesn't seem to get worse. But if I retighten it down, I end up with the same result about 5 or so runs later. I grease the shaft every other run.

[tlandauer]

Sorry, I misunderstood, I also hold the prop while tightening or loosening the prop nut, you are right, the risk of bending the blades is a real concern of mine. I make sure I grab the prop near the hub. I use my bare hands in a "parallel" way so I don't get cut nor do I put perpendicular pressure on the blades. I only do this while performing maintenance and there is no batteries connected to the ESC!!
* I am not recommending to hold the prop bare handed, just saying what I do and I know what I am doing, this comes from a guy who makes a living out of playing a string instrument and I take care of my hands!

[Fluid]

Not wanting to jack this thread but a couple weeks ago I received a pack of those that fluid posted a link to. All 3 are loose to screw on. Can you put them in a vice or some thing and give them a little squash ?

The problem is almost certainly a worn shaft. The nuts are harder than the shaft threads, so eventually they wear the threads loose. I squeeze the nuts in a large vice (carefully) and extend the life of the shaft that way.

I used fuel tubing to hold props on in the old days with speeds under 40 mph. After losing two props due to the tubing coming off with BL setups - and seeing several others lose their props the same way - I stopped that practice and haven't lost a prop since.


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[IRON-PAWW]

What can also happen is that your drive dog is being pushed back during a run. Some only have the smallest of grub screws holding them in place, and you actually get a fair amount of 'adjustment' against the flat on the shaft. On some setups, no amount of tightening will resolve the issue as you just end up destroying the grub screw as you try and tighten further. Plenty of loctite or equivalent is the answer in that situation, both on the drive dog & grub screw plus on the nut that holds the prop on the shaft. Doing that, you will only need a very moderate tightness on the nut, as that plus the loctite will be enough to hold the prop on.

If the locking type nuts are just getting too tight before they get to holding the prop in place then consider two non locking type nuts done up against each other with loctite. You can also get away with a small length of fuel line to fill the gap in some instances, but, I think the more power you're putting through the system the less well that works. The nuts don't have to be super tight, and if they end up being rediculously tight then you need another solution.