Weakening magnets and maglev

[Deleted member 12389]

Hi
I completely left the cubing scene for a number of years (3x3, sub 30 then).
Recently retired and returned to cubing and was pleasantly surprised by the latest magnet/maglev innovation. My last buy was dayan zhanchi.

Thinking of getting rs3m. Just curious:
Since magnets have been around for the last few years, have any cubers found the cubes magnets getting weaker? With the abuse from hundreds, ifnot thousands solves, and exposure to lubes (liquid), I would expect weakening of magnets.

I worked in the train industry (but not involved in the few installed maglev trains and not an engineer)

Some
information online on weakening of magnets

What Causes A Magnet To Lose Strength? - MPI | Magnetic Separators, Metal Detectors, Material Handling

Home » Homepage » The MPI Difference » Technical Resources and Industry Knowledge » Educational Resources & Industry

mpimagnet.com

 

[OreKehStrah]

Hi
I completely left the cubing scene for a number of years (3x3, sub 30 then).
Recently retired and returned to cubing and was pleasantly surprised by the latest magnet/maglev innovation. My last buy was dayan zhanchi.

Thinking of getting rs3m. Just curious:
Since magnets have been around for the last few years, have any cubers found the cubes magnets getting weaker? With the abuse from hundreds, ifnot thousands solves, and exposure to lubes (liquid), I would expect weakening of magnets.

I worked in the train industry (but not involved in the few installed maglev trains and not an engineer)

Some
information online on weakening of magnets

What Causes A Magnet To Lose Strength? - MPI | Magnetic Separators, Metal Detectors, Material Handling

Home » Homepage » The MPI Difference » Technical Resources and Industry Knowledge » Educational Resources & Industry

mpimagnet.com

I've never experienced or heard of anyone else have the experience of magnets weakening over time in their cubes

 

[povlhp]

I think liquid is the biggest risk of those you listed, and the screws are more suspectable to it. And if magnets weakens 10% over a year or two, so what ?
Any cube behaves different after break-in.

RS3M series are heavy, relatively weak (non-adjustable) magnets, slow, blocky. They are popular though.
If you have the money, then the WRM (springs or maglev) has adjustable magnets, and generally more premium feel.

Maglev advantage (some hate it BTW) is that it is like a non-linear spring, So less pressure at low compression levels, which is often a faster cube, and just as important, Maglev does not have the spring noise. Most cubes with springs has noise where springs rubs against the washers. Fixed with heavy silicone lube like weight 5, 50k cSt etc.

I love fast and silent cubes, so maglev is my thing. XMD Tornado V3 Pioneer (flagship for spring version) is the current top of the range cube. $30-ish.

 

[Deleted member 12389]

I had narrowed my next cube to rs3m 2021 or 2022. Had even considered the new tornado but thought it was too expensive for my purpose.
I had ignored wrm completely as the hype today is more on rs3m. Was pleasantly surprised by the reviews on wrm. Will definitely consider it.

 

[quanloh]

Mechanical Engineer here
Short answer is no, they does not weaken overtime, at least not at a noticeable level within a few years.

We normally use silicon oil as cube lube, and they don't really do anything to the magnets.
The vibration/impact caused by solving does not affect the strength too.
If the impact is strong enough to affect the magnet, the plastic pieces will likely be damaged first.
Same thing apply to temperature, normal room/out door temperature does not permanently affect the magnet strength, if it does, the plastic will suffer first.

Only thing I would watch out for is water. Just prevent the magnets to directly in contact with water. There is not too much to worry about humidity imo.

 

[Deleted member 12389]

Thanks for the clarification. Appreciate the fact that you come from an engineering background.