[Help Thread] Puzzle Setup / Tension Discussion

[Piotr Grochowski]

Is it bad to have a really loose cube, even though it never pops?

 

[Zerksies]

Is it bad to have a really loose cube, even though it never pops?

No, not at all whatever works best for you. My tension is very loose I don’t get pops or lockup’s I have a very delicate touch

 

[Megaminxer]

When I tension my Zhanchi it is either too loose and pops or too tight, doesn't feel good and won't corner cut! What's the happy medium?

 

[JustinTimeCuber]

You have two options:
- struggle with the tensions and the correct lubrication to make your zhanchi decent
- get a modern cube, the zhanchi came out like 7 years ago and cubing hardware has come a long way and your cube might be holding you back a bit

 

[Megaminxer]

It came way to tight, and so I loosened it when I found a screwdriver a week later and now it pops when I loosen it. What is the best tension to get good corner cutting without pops? Thanks!

 

[Duncan Bannon]

That is a problem with YLM. I'm not sure how to tell you how to tension. Can't you just play around with it? It is a harder cube to tension.

The screw is just under 1 centimeter from the top of center piece thing on me.

 

[lilKriT]

Hi,
I just came back to cubing and I'm pretty much learning everything from scratch. I watched a video about tensioning cubes and can anyone confirm the information I've got from it?

It basically said that you should check a 45 degree corner cut. If it's hard / impossible, your cube is too tense. If it goes with no effort, it's too loose. Would that make sense? Would it mean normal or reverse corner cut?

Also, does it matter if I do tensioning before or after adding lube?

 

[lilKriT]

Hello, today I decided to do some tensioning on my cubes. The 3x3 went really great after I did the corner cutting test (try to do 45 degrees cut, if it's too hard, loosen the side, if it's too easy, tighten it). Now the cube basically flies in my hands. I found the method on youtube, I think it was critical cubing but I might be wrong.

But with the 4x4 I really have no idea what to do. I lubed it up today (with disassembling). Seems like no matter what I do, I just cant get it right. One side gets too tight, I loosen it, another side gets too loose. I tighten just a bit, it can't corner cut. I loosen it up, I'm afraid it will pop into pieces.

What is your method for tensioning (even for different sizes)? Any advice for me?
Maybe I should aim for different angle when cutting with the 4x4? Or maybe I'm tensioning the wrong face - I do the corner cut on the top side and then I adjust the top side, is that correct?

 

[xyzzy]

If you're expecting a 4×4×4 to cut 45 degrees, you're probably expecting too much. You realistically don't need that much corner cutting anyway; try a smaller angle like 20-25 degrees.

 

[Duncan Bannon]

I picked up an OP dayan 2x2. Chris Olsen said they were very hard to tension and Hastag Cuber said hard to set up. Does anybody have a good setup/tool to tension for this cube?

 

[cubeshepherd]

I picked up an OP dayan 2x2. Chris Olsen said they were very hard to tension and Hastag Cuber said hard to set up. Does anybody have a good setup/tool to tension for this cube?

You are right in that the Dayan 2x2 can be a bit finicky in regards to tensioning it. What I did with mine is I disassembled it and screwed every core screw to the exact same amount of turns, and I did that until I liked all sides and was able to solve it without it popping on me, (that also is the only cube that I have ever tensioned to the exact same tightness on all sides which goes to show that is needs that, at least for me).

My best advice is to screw every side in evenly and keep doing that until you are happy with it and it does not pop. Since i have done that to mine, it has not popped on me at all.

 

[lilKriT]

Hello,
today I tensioned and lubed my Wuxa M. It feels much smoother, but just like with the Aosu GTS 2 M I have no idea how to tension it correctly. I tension or loosen one screw, and it seems to affect the whole cube. I never know if a side is too loose or too tight. I try the corner cutting test and it's not really helping. Any advice on that?

What kind of corner cutting should I expect? Is there anything I'm missing?
Thanks in advance.

Also, I seem to have a weird problem - instead of popping, sometimes one of the internal pieces moves around and then the cube stops turning in a certain direction. This happened to my Aosu few times but I fixed it. Does the issue mean to cube is too loose or too tight?

 

[Duncan Bannon]

For question 2 you can expect about 40 degree corner cutting if not more.

For question 1, you can count the amount of turns you make to each side when you assemble it. Ill leave other ways to do it to the pro's and same for question 3, to the pros.

 

[marcopolo66]

I am relatively new to cubing and am not very good when it comes to tensioning.

Can anyone provide some advice about how to correctly tension ( as well as where to place lube) the yuxin little magic?

 

[Duncan Bannon]

Tensioning- Unscrew the core pieces fully, then lube them (down below) then place into the core and do X amount of turns for each piece going into the core. Whatever feels good enough. Then assemble cube (after lubing) and don't put the caps on. Play around with the cube and if it feels loose, tighten each side. Then you can get equal and perfect for you tensions.

What kind of lube do you have? Put thicker lube in the core, and lighter on the pieces. If you only have 1, just use that in both places.

I use different tensioning then him, but basically same for lubing.

 

[Alucard]

Hey, so 2 days ago i bought a Gan 356 Air Master and after checking out the other springs, I've decided I'll stay with the clear ones. The thing is they got really clicky and loud and they aren't smooth anymore after putting them on the second time, you can also hear a spring sound when twisting any side of the cube. Could anyone please help me and tell me what I can do? Is my cube breaking?

 

[1001010101001]

Use the core as a reference. Twist the GES nuts until they are level with the core.

 

[Alucard]

It didn't help. There's still an annoying spring sound and the cube overall just doesn't feel the same way it got out of the box. Some of the GES are loose when twisting. Feels like i broke a $25 cube in 2 days. :/

 

[Duncan Bannon]

The spring noise can be solved with lube, but as for the other problem, I don’t own a Gans cube, so I wouldn’t know.

 

[Thom S.]

Hey, so 2 days ago i bought a Gan 356 Air Master and after checking out the other springs, I've decided I'll stay with the clear ones. The thing is they got really clicky and loud and they aren't smooth anymore after putting them on the second time, you can also hear a spring sound when twisting any side of the cube. Could anyone please help me and tell me what I can do? Is my cube breaking?

Screw them in really gently in a extremely loose tension and check if the click is still there and then slowly get to the tension you want.
It's very unlikely you broke your core but have caution when putting in the nut so it's not tilted