Has Ping's finish changed lately

sandy · October 30, 2005

After having a couple of episodes with Ping's S-59s and rust I decided to try the i5s since they had the whole iron done in the Guyson finish and no polished areas. After roughly a months play with the i5s (by the way I like both the S-59 and i5 performance wise) here is a picture of the cavity of my 4 iron. 3 other irons have this problem as well in the same place and one has little red spots on the sole. Of course this rust doesn't impact the playability of the club but after owning many sets of pings over the years and never experiencing any rust---these recent sets imitating a raw set are a little annoying. Each iron was cleaned in clear water with a brush and thoroughly dried after. Imagine my suprise/annoyance when this appeared the other day. Ping has a great line-up this year but this appears to be a quality problem they need to address. Plus I can't be this unlucky

jbombardieri · October 30, 2005

After having a couple of episodes with Ping's S-59s and rust I decided to try the i5s since they had the whole iron done in the Guyson finish and no polished areas. After roughly a months play with the i5s (by the way I like both the S-59 and i5 performance wise) here is a picture of the cavity of my 4 iron. 3 other irons have this problem as well in the same place and one has little red spots on the sole. Of course this rust doesn't impact the playability of the club but after owning many sets of pings over the years and never experiencing any rust---these recent sets imitating a raw set are a little annoying. Each iron was cleaned in clear water with a brush and thoroughly dried after. Imagine my suprise/annoyance when this appeared the other day. Ping has a great line-up this year but this appears to be a quality problem they need to address. Plus I can't be this unlucky
57673[/snapback]

Are youn storing your clubs in a cool wet place? I've had the S59 Tours for about 100 rounds now and no problems.

sandy · October 30, 2005

After having a couple of episodes with Ping's S-59s and rust I decided to try the i5s since they had the whole iron done in the Guyson finish and no polished areas. After roughly a months play with the i5s (by the way I like both the S-59 and i5 performance wise) here is a picture of the cavity of my 4 iron. 3 other irons have this problem as well in the same place and one has little red spots on the sole. Of course this rust doesn't impact the playability of the club but after owning many sets of pings over the years and never experiencing any rust---these recent sets imitating a raw set are a little annoying. Each iron was cleaned in clear water with a brush and thoroughly dried after. Imagine my suprise/annoyance when this appeared the other day. Ping has a great line-up this year but this appears to be a quality problem they need to address. Plus I can't be this unlucky
57673[/snapback]

Are youn storing your clubs in a cool wet place? I've had the S59 Tours for about 100 rounds now and no problems.
57706[/snapback]

I store my clubs in a normal temperature normal humidity environment. I have a set of eye2 stainless steel clubs that I store in my San Diego beach house. Humid, salty and never a hint of rust in 20+ years of use.

J_Tizzle · October 30, 2005

I've had my i3+ blades for well over a year and I've noticed this little problem, but I love the clubs so much that a little bit of discoloration on the back isn't going to get them out of the bag, but if this is some type of problem that could effect the club in some way I would also like to know.

easyyy · October 30, 2005

No doubt a problem, and also disappointing coming from such a high quality OEM like Ping.

I have a question on the Guyson finish. Is that an electro static finish? Meaning, is the finish applied via spray? I know that in some Powder coating applications there is a phenomenon called Faraday cage effect (poor coverage in recessed areas coupled with excess powder build-up on boundaries and edges). This looked like it because the thin finish looks to be in a recessed area.

Also looks to be a pretreatment problem. Meaning the alkaline cleaners they use prior to coating might not have been able to remove the oils or substances from those recessed areas post casting.

Either way, a poor finish job.

myurick2 · October 30, 2005

I've noticed with my i5's that water seems to like to pool in this area of the cavity on the back of my irons also. I really try to make sure that I dry this area really well, and I haven't had a problem. Not making excuses for anyone, but there is a relatively easy fix for this if you are otherwise happy with the clubs. It's called Naval Jelly or T-gel and you can get it at most hardware stores. It's a thick pink colored liquid. You just put some on the discolored area, let it sit for a while, then brush it off with a firm bristled brush. Spots should come out quickly. Blue -away would also probably work just fine. Again, not suggesting that you should expect this sort of thing, and the eye-2 type finish does seem more durable, just offering a relatively easy fix.

sandy · October 31, 2005

No doubt a problem, and also disappointing coming from such a high quality OEM like Ping.
I have a question on the Guyson finish. Is that an electro static finish? Meaning, is the finish applied via spray? I know that in some Powder coating applications there is a phenomenon called Faraday cage effect (poor coverage in recessed areas coupled with excess powder build-up on boundaries and edges). This looked like it because the thin finish looks to be in a recessed area.

Also looks to be a pretreatment problem. Meaning the alkaline cleaners they use prior to coating might not have been able to remove the oils or substances from those recessed areas post casting.

Either way, a poor finish job.
57753[/snapback]

You may be right as a couple of the notches are starting to develop the problem as well. There are also a couple of hosels that don't have the Guyson finish evenly applied. They are kind of yellow/gold colored spots which may be the pretreatment application which the Guyson didn't adhere to. It may indeed be a spray application because if it is dipped or "plated" most of the smooth areas would be covered.

Just to make sure that is was rust I put some of that rust stop liquid on a couple of the spots and sure enough they turned black which it always does in the presence of rust.