Driver shaft came loose in adapter (why?)

[mgoblue83]

Hey guys I recently put together a brand new Rogue Silver and G400 Adapter and after a week of play it came loose to the point where I can turn it in the adapter but I can't pull it out.

I've put quite a few irons and wedges together with no issues but this is my first graphite shaft/adapter and I don't know where I went wrong.

My process:

1.) Prepped the tip by sanding off the paint (prepped 1 1/4in which was just smaller than the adapter depth)

2.) Made sure the adapter was clean (does it need to be "prepped"?)

3.) Mixed up Golfworks high strength epoxy with a bit of centering beads (used many times with no issues in irons or wedges)

4.) Plugged the tip with a rubber plug (came with the g400 adapter)

5.) Used "enough" epoxy making sure to turn the shaft multiple times while adding small amounts more epoxy before setting it to dry

6.) Waited a full 24 hours in front of a space heater and the extra epoxy I mixed up was 100% set before I even moved the club

 

It played great for about a week and then all of a sudden I felt it turn in my hands off a toe shot. Really frustrating and I'd like to know what I should be doing differently in the future. Thank you!

 

 

 

[third-times-a-charm]

Was it epoxy from the dual-tube with plunger? Sometimes it doesnt come out exactly 1:1 and might not make a good mix.

Also the shafting beads are pretty useless, kind of a snake-oil type thing.

Was the adapter you bought OEM or is it one of the 'no name' ones from amazon/ebay/etc? The cheaper adapters have very finished aluminum on the inside and need to be roughed up pretty good to bond.

[J13]

Most likely what went wrong:

 

You have to prep the inside of a new adapter by sanding it. Failing to do so will almost always lead to this.Plug for the tip? Whatever that is it's not needed and could cause the shaft to back out. When you installed the shaft into the adapter did it feel like air was in there pushing the shaft back out of the adapter?No need for the space heater for 24hrs. Maybe 1hr but that's even unnecessary unless you are in really cold temps.

And do NOT twist the adapter as you will destroy the graphite in the shaft. Use a shaft extractor and pull the adapter properly. Clean everything and do a fresh install. Hopefully the tip is intact and not compromised from twisting. This time prep the inside of the adapter and get rid of the rubber plug. Best of luck

[t4t3r]

99% likely the result of not prepping/sanding the adapter.

[mgoblue83]

Thanks guys! The adapter was brand new from Golf works. I assume it's OEM but it did have a shiny metal surface inside that I did not sand or prep. It was seated correctly with no air pushing it back out while it set.

You are probably all correct about the problem being not prepping the adapter.

How exactly do you sand the inside of an adapter to prep it? I have a wire brush drill bit for cleaning hosels but I don't think that would do it.

Thanks again!

[jvincent]

I just roll up a piece of heavy grit sandpaper and use that.

[t4t3r]

This. Create your own mandrel by wrapping it around a screwdriver or other tool.

The hosel cleaning bits will just polish up the inside even more.

[Stuart_G]

Sorry but I disagree. The wire brush bits have always worked very well for me for roughing up the inside of the aluminum adapter. People frequently over estimate how much roughness is actually needed to get a good bond.

For new adapters it's also a good idea to clean out the inside with alcohol (isopropyl or denatured) or acetone. You never know what type of contaminant may remain from the manufacturing process.

And finally, the ferrule of the newer Ping adapters significantly reduce the area of the shaft to metal bond so even a good job with the epoxy can still result in occasional failures. That's especially with weaker epoxies or even the use of beads where normally it wouldn't be an issue. This is one case where the CMX aftermarket adapters are actually much better than the OEM adapter. Billy Bobs CMX® Ping G410 Adaptor Fits Driver & Woods (New 2019)

[t4t3r]

I don't disagree with your experience, and I have used them in the same fashion in the past, but using sandpaper gives the desired result 10 times out of 10.

[golfnut07]

Just curious if anyone has any idea why ping is recommending putting a rubber plug in the tip of the shaft first like the OP said. I recently bought a G410 adapter and it came with one as well but I didn’t use it.

[driveandputtmachine]

Ping is erring on the side of caution? Maybe by stating that epoxy should flow out of the top, and plugging the tip(where a lot of epoxy will go to), they are making sure people who don't have a ton of experience will use enough epoxy? Otherwise I have no idea.

[Stuart_G]

And I'm not disagreeing that sandpaper is a perfectly fine method. I'm just saying that it's really not superior. The wire brush is just as effective, especially on the aluminum adapters.

 

[sendtojohn1]

Wire brush hosel cleaner into the new adapter should rough it up enough, although I've forgotten this step before and not had the issue you had.

Also check the manufacturer date of the epoxy, I've used epoxy up to 1 year after the date with no issues but sometimes you get a bad bit within that if there is a little epoxy left in the bottle and it sits for a while.

With that extra epoxy you had that dried well, was it brittle or did it have a little flex in it? It should flex a bit if it was a thin layer on the mixing surface. a thick glob will flex a little then break. If it went straight to brittle and snapping, it means the epoxy is bad.

[mgoblue83]

Was "new" epoxy that I had purchased in the last 3 weeks and already used for a set of irons with no issues. Wasn't brittle after setting.

Definitely thinking the issue is the small area for bonding on the Ping OEM adapter combined with not prepping the adapter itself. I'll try sand paper and the wire brush just to be sure.

Thank you all for the quick replies!