BE CAREFUL when pulling Titleist T250 iron heads and shaft...the back of the head where the logo is located may get damaged!

[pingwrx]

I've worked on golf clubs since mid 1980's and I've never encounter anything like this especially from a company like Titliest.  I have been a loyal Titleist customer for many many years and I'm really disappointed with their latest T200 golf irons (2023 year model) I was pulling a steelfiber shaft using an electric heat gun and Mitchell shaft puller.  And after removing the head to clean the shaft tip I look down and the back of the Titleist head where the Titleist logo is located wrinkled!!!  It looks like there is some thin aluminum or metal piece with their logo that is applied to the back of these heads.  Pretty poor craftsmanship in my opinion.  I just reshafted T350 irons with no issues.  The amount of the heat I used was pretty minimal as the Mitchell puller did most of the work, infact the original ferrule was still intact and not damaged during the pull...so the plastic ferrule can withstand more heat then the iron head...this doesn't make sense!!  I contacted Titliest and they said to ship it back and they'll send me a new club and charge me $200...I'll pass.

 

So just be careful when working on new Titleist golf clubs.

[st1800e]

One example of why a torch is better, heat focused on the hosel , unlike a heat gun where the heated area is much wider, like the on back of the head. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10 by st1800e

[pingwrx]

45 minutes ago, st1800e said:

One example of why a torch is better, heat focused on the hosel , unlike a heat gun where the heated area is much wider, like the on back of the head. 
 

 

 

 

 

Yes but I'm not a fan of using a torch with graphite shafts...just my opinion.

[st1800e]

21 minutes ago, pingwrx said:

Yes but I'm not a fan of using a torch with graphite shafts...just my opinion.

Ok, though you might have a read through of this.
 

 

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

In the auto-industry, they use metalized plastic for a lot of the "chrome" details. It seems like golf manufacturers are using it as well, because that's what that is. You can see it when a car gets old and spends a lot of time in the sun and the "chrome" starts bubbling up.

A piece of aluminum isn't going to do that.

A torch wil do the same thing, in fact it would do so much faster if you wafted the flame over it. So the only way to prevent it is to protect the club-head or be careful about where you put the heat.

[Mike412]

1 hour ago, st1800e said:

One example of why a torch is better, heat focused on the hosel , unlike a heat gun where the heated area is much wider, like the on back of the head. 
 

 

 

 

 

Sure but I agree with OP that a club like Titleist should have came up with a better solution than this to begin with. I’ve always thought it looked and felt cheap before this, this just reinforces it. Also I do my work in a small enclosed area inside, I avoid using a torch if at all possible.

[ChaosTheory]

Well that stinks.

 

 I hate heat guns for pulling shafts.  Torch 100% of the time.  If you are dealing with paint or something sensitive, turn down the flame.

5 seconds on each of four “sides” of the hosel.

Wait 30 seconds.

Apply pressure.

Add another cycle if necessary.

 

When I do this, I can handle the head in my bare hand, other than the hosel of course.

Edited April 11 by ChaosTheory

[iRod]

putting a couple of pieces of masking tape or painters tape over the plastic inserts protects them enough against heat from a torch or heat gun. This has been the case for every version of the t200 and t250. I found out the hard way on an OG t200. 

[Valtiel]

14 hours ago, pingwrx said:

I've worked on golf clubs since mid 1980's...I was pulling a steelfiber shaft using an electric heat gun and Mitchell shaft puller....

Yes but I'm not a fan of using a torch with graphite shafts...just my opinion.

Cheers for the warning about those badges, if that saves anyone else from the same damage it was worth pointing out. 

Just a note though, this damage demonstrates exactly why you *don't* want to use a heatgun on graphite shafts, which you seem to prefer. Heatguns dispense heat more diffusely which means it takes longer to get the hosel up the temperature to cause the epoxy to fail, thereby exposing the shaft to more average heat over a longer period of time, which is what you don't want. Torches and the more concentrated heat they produce heat the hosel up faster, therefore reaching the temperature threshold of epoxy failure faster and getting the shaft out quicker with less time exposed to high heat. 

The old thinking was "graphite shafts get destroyed by too much heat, torches produce more heat, therefore torches are more likely to destroy graphite shafts". And this is true if you aren't using a shaft puller, but assuming you are then said puller acts like a thermometer of sorts that tells you exactly when to stop via popping the shaft out, therefore your goal switches from "use a less concentrated heat source so I don't overheat the shaft" to "use the hottest heat source possible to make the epoxy fail quickly". This is especially true with Steelfiber shafts as I feel like those seem to get fried the most. Maybe because inexperienced techs don't realize they behave like graphite shafts.....regardless, hopefully this saves a shaft you might have overheated from using a heatgun in the future the same you way you saved someone from crinkling their T200 badge. 

[RobS]

I reshafted a T200 utility and wrapped the head in a cold wet cloth.  No issues.  I always use a torch for pulling heads but I'd still suggest protecting the badge either way given that it's some sort of polymer/plastic.

[Gunslinger.]

23 hours ago, st1800e said:

One example of why a torch is better, heat focused on the hosel , unlike a heat gun where the heated area is much wider, like the on back of the head. 
 

 

 

 

 

I had the same thing happen using a torch, it's just a piss poor design by Titleist.

[Nessism]

I've mentioned this at least a dozen times previous, so please forgive for repeating myself, but when pulling iron heads I always use a full size torch.  15 seconds of heat usually does it.  With steel shafted clubs, I twist off the head with my bare hand, because only the hosel gets hot.  Don't use a bare hand when using a heat gun, or you will burn yourself.  (heat guns with small funnel tip excluded)

 

When trying to save a ferrule, I wrap it in a strip of wet cloth.  This works about 90% of the time, and the ferrule is in contact with the hot hosel.  The badge could be wrapped, as mentioned by @RobS, but I suspect it's not necessary.  

[pingwrx]

The thing that really threw me off was that I reshafted a set of T350s for a friend prior to reshafting my T200 5 iron.  Absolutely no issues with T350 and I believe the T350 has the same type of logo badge on the back.   In my opinion it's quality control issue.  The heat I used on the T200 was very minimal as I let the Mitchell puller do its job.  

Edited April 11 by pingwrx

[Socrates]

9 minutes ago, pingwrx said:

The thing that really threw me off was that I reshafted a set of T350s for a friend prior to reshafting my T200 5 iron.  Absolutely no issues with T350 and I believe the T350 has the same type of logo badge on the back.   In my opinion it's quality control issue.  The heat I used on the T200 was very minimal as I let the Mitchell puller do its job.  

The issue is you used a heat gun and didn't take preventative measures to limit where the heat would go.  It's a lesson learned.  Use a torch and cover delicate areas with a wet cloth if you are unsure.

 

It like the first time I took apart a white driver head.  You have to make sure that it is completely clean of grass or dirt or it will discolor the head with the slightest of heat. Only happened once and it was my error.

[SwingBlues]

Wow thanks for the tip

 

While I ain't a.Titleist iron fan so i dont work on those heads but I play foam filled heads like Forged Tec X etc

 

My concern is heat & foam don't mix, so I would wrap the head in a wet cloth, use the torch as @Nessism says & graphite puller. I rarely save ferrule but I have no concerns torching a ferrule on graphite for a few seconds to soften them

 

I would say anything with a badge in the back should get wet towel wrapped as a preventative measure

 

[charliebrown]

On 4/11/2024 at 7:44 AM, Gunslinger. said:

I had the same thing happen using a torch, it's just a piss poor design by Titleist.

I'd never thought of this possibility with these irons. Now I know how they're made. I have seen similar happen with certain Ping irons that have weight "medallions" glued into the back of iron heads, Some Callaway iron heads like X-20 badges come loose from soaking in warm water when simply cleaning them. Not sure if that would also happen with the Titleist irons pictured here as I have no idea how that metal logo piece is adhered to the club head. My guess would be an adhesive(glue) of some sort, double sided tape,or? I did call Callaway support re. how they recommend to re-apply their cavity badges if they become loose and you find it...club shafting epoxy. For what it's worth. 

[justokgolfing]

I've also worked on the 2020 model of the T200 and the back foil has this same issue.

 

At my store, we had a customer trade in a set of T200 irons with a strip of lead tape on the back. We like to take it off so it's back to normal and usually we use a heat gun so the adhesive comes off cleaner. But in this case, the back foil part started to wrinkle so we ended up not risking it with the rest of the set. I'm not too sure we could've prevented this from happening.

 

It's a bummer that Titleist wouldn't replace it under warranty since it's really their fault that the back foil isn't durable.

[PedronNiall]

Seems like a very strange item not to at least make retailers & fitters aware of and annoying that they won't warranty repair issues as above that they gave no warning about. I can't recall having come used a club where it would have entered my mind that tossing tape on the back would risk me marring the club for good.

[Kevmonton]

On 4/11/2024 at 1:22 PM, pingwrx said:

The thing that really threw me off was that I reshafted a set of T350s for a friend prior to reshafting my T200 5 iron.  Absolutely no issues with T350 and I believe the T350 has the same type of logo badge on the back.   In my opinion it's quality control issue.  The heat I used on the T200 was very minimal as I let the Mitchell puller do its job.  

Thankfully you didn't damage the 350's since you were doing for a friend.  I am sure you would have felt rotten if you did this to somebody else's clubs.