Factory assembled Dayan cubes - washers

[Cubic]

Just how many washers should be in a cube? I had thought that there should be six - one for each centre/spring. But last night I decided to dismantle my cubes to retension, and made these discoveries.

1. GuHong 2 - One washer as expected, white torpedoes.;
2. LunHui - TWO washers, and torpedoes of many different colours
3. ZhanChi - NO washers, white torpedoes.

Great, they all have torpedoes. The LunHui looks crazy with the different coloured ones, but as they're inside the cube, no-one will see them!

What has surprised me is that the ZhanChi had NO washers. I checked, and double checked, and it really has none. So I took the spare ones from the LunHui and used those, but now the ZhanChi sounds terrible - all 'springy' and metallic - so I guess I'll have to lube springs/screws. It also moves really badly, and I can't seem to get the tensions right.

The LunHui now sounds and moves better than before, and is more fun to use.

 

[Goosly]

Then get the washers out of the ZhanChi again?
Also, you said the Guhong V2 had torpedoes of different colours, and then suddenly it was the Lunhui :confused:

I've had like 5 ZhanChi's (for friends and a few for me), all had washers.

 

[Cubic]

Corrected the error - the LunHui has the multicoloured torpedoes. Thanks for pointing it out. :tu

If I take the washers out of the ZhanChi, then the end of the springs will grate on the plastic inside the centre pieces. I suspect this will cause problems turning in the longer term.

With two washers, the LunHui felt really sluggish, but with 1 it is much better, so I'll leave that as it is.
The GuHong is superb. It glides silently, cuts corners at 45 degrees effortlessly, and is a pleasure.
The Zhanchi... Hm.

Anyway, I'm surprised at the inconsistency in assembly quality between the cubes. 0, 1, or 2 washers. It's as if whoever assembled them didn't have the instructions (or thought they didn't need them) and just threw the bits together.

I'm definitely sticking with DIY in future.

 

[ncube]

um, sometimes the washers get stuck against the center piece. Try taking a needle or something and wiggling it around against the bottom of the inside of the center. If nothing comes out, I don't know what to tell you, since I've never experienced this problem.

 

[Cubic]

um, sometimes the washers get stuck against the center piece. Try taking a needle or something and wiggling it around against the bottom of the inside of the center. If nothing comes out, I don't know what to tell you, since I've never experienced this problem.

That was the first thing I did. But there really were NO washers there. Checked, double-checked, then checked again just before a re-lubing. Relubing has made a great difference, thankfully.

Incidentally, this cuber suggests removing the washers to make cubes smoother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPMM83eQzeY

 

[HelpCube]

That was the first thing I did. But there really were NO washers there. Checked, double-checked, then checked again just before a re-lubing. Relubing has made a great difference, thankfully.

Incidentally, this cuber suggests removing the washers to make cubes smoother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPMM83eQzeY

I had a feeling this would come in to play.

I've had a Zhanchi without washers for over a year now, and it's fantastic. I've had another one for about 6 months, and it's great as well. Some people think it feels great without washers, some people don't like it. However, if you're worried about long-term effects, from my personal experience you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Hunter]

My Zhanchi also did not come with the washers.

 

[Cubic]

I had a feeling this would come in to play.

@HelpCube - I used your video to balance my feelings about this. Personally, I feel that as other cubes have washers, so should the ZhanChi. I see no reason for them not to be inserted. My reasoning...? If you can hear the springs scraping across the washers, imagine what those springs are doing to the plastic inside the centre pieces. The washers must provide a layer of protection.

I wasn't intending to open a debate about whether or not to use washers in a cube. I was trying to express my surprise over the variability of the assembly quality. I'll leave the debate to the comments on your video. (I have subscribed to your channel, by the way - you have some useful videos; Thanks.)

 

[Endgame]

my zhanchi doesnt have washers and it doesnt make any noise at all

 

[Kattenvriendin]

All mine have washers.. Two are DIYs, one came pre-assembled. I am amazed that there were no washers in the pre-assembleds you have. New to me in any case.

Thank goodness pretty much any hardware store will have them if you take a screw and center along to fit.

 

[izovire]

Last year before the Zhanchi was out I had gotten 100 black LunHui's and the errors were enough to make me get DIY all the time now.

Several cubes had no torpedoes.
Some had Guhong corners
Almost ALL of them had 2 washers on each screw. One of them had 5 on one screw.

Some other encounters:

1. DIY bag with 42 torpedoes
2. DIY bag with 20 edges (no corners)
3. DIY bag with 12 center caps (no pieces)
4. DIY bag with only edges, nothing else at all.

statistics (estimates):

~5% of Zhanchi DIY bags have something extra or missing
~20% of WitLong DIY bags have something extra or missing OR NOT COMPLETE.
~10% of Dayan 4x4 Cubes that are factory assembled have stripped cores.
~90% of factory assembled Dayan 3x3's don't have equal tension.

 

[Kattenvriendin]

Tension is something totally not important IMHO. That can be adjusted as easily as 1 2 3. However the rest is Baaahaad.

I actually bought the assembled stickerless Dayan to avoid missing pieces because I was scared the DIY would have missing ones. I should turn that view around alright!

Currently I have a pre-assembled ShengShou 6x6 with at least 4 missing inner pieces. Needless to say the seller has been notified, but yeah.. I see where you are coming from with the DIY preference!