Robin 993DX

Accidentally tipped over the fan blade and one of the edge broke off... The material was very sandy and brittle, I don't think I can weld it back together.

Options?

epj993

I think it's made of magnesium (?) so not sure about welding. Even if you could weld, you'd probably create a balancing problem resulting in a high speed wobble. If it's on the inside, maybe you can just leave it as is (I know, not the best option). Only other option I'd suggest is a high quality metal epoxy. Although any failure and that chip will probably do some serious damage.

chris walrod

Robin
This is a bummer.. Try this

Although without better pictures of the imperfections from this seller, this may not be any better than what you have now. I'll keep an eye out for another example..

Robin 993DX

That was my thoughts too, leave it as it is hopefully the weight difference will not upset the balance...

I mean the chip that came off is very light almost weightless.

I think glue may be too risky, it may not hold with the temp changes in the engine compartment.

Thanks

faster

My 2 cents.... I personally wouldnt worry to much about it. Dont even bother welding it. As long as there is no serious blade root damage (at the hub). My recommendation is to aquire a set of small jewlers files and smooth all the sharp edges (dress it up as they say) and put it back in service. i worked Pratt and Whitney F-16 engines for many years and their front compressor blades spin 10 to 13,000 rpm and thats pretty much the same typical fix after it ingests a rock other debris. it will never look as pretty, but those are pretty expensive new and you will never notice any difference in cooling.

Robin 993DX

Chris, Thanks for the link and help. One of the blade looks scray so I think I will pass on this one.

jnor10

Have any friends that are A&P's? (Airplane Mechanic) We see this all the time on jet engines as already mentioned. They "dress" the nick with a file, don't know what the parameters are for a 993 cooling fan.

A nice fan just sold yesterday for $122.00 on E-Bay. That would have been the easiest solution.

Let us know how it works out.

Jeff N.

ZombiePorsche44

A new fan is a small investment in peace of mind and your car..............my 02c.........ZP44

Flying Finn

Robin,

Is the blade aluminum or magnesium? In any case, you can weld magnesium. It's basically like welding aluminum. And yes, even though it's cast.

We used to do that few times we had problems with our dirt bikes' magnesium cases.

Robin 993DX

Not sure if the stuff is even magnesium, very sandy like material. Almost like clay pot....

I will try the file dressing up approach unless I can find a fan cheap on ebay. Not going to pay $350 for a new blade for a stupid chip.

thanks

planeguy67

Just knock a similar sized chip off the other blades so the fan will be balanced.

Seriously, I don't think the fan spins fast enough to cause any problems running it like it is. But do like the other guys say regarding jet engines and dress the nick so it's smooth. You don't want any opportunities for a crack to start propogating down the blade.

Robin 993DX

I was thinking the exact smae thing about making the same chip on the opposite side this morning! But I just can't get the courage to destroy a perfectly beautiful blade on the other side!

InTheAir

....especially if the other side decided to break at a larger section.

epj993

Isn't there an odd number of blades (11?) If so, there's no direct opposite blade to chip & try to counterbalance. Since the chip is small, I'd suggest replacing or cleaning up & leaving as is as the remaining full blades should provide enough rotational balance to counteract the chipped blade.

Edit: Just checked & there's 12 blades.

faster

Robin, Do not try and knock a piece off the opposite side!! Or even try welding it, it will look even worse, do a nice blend job. i guarantee it wont break off the same, possibly a hole or half blade. No bigger chip and no more rpm's than it turns its not a big deal and wont hamper any performance paramiters cooling or hp. we dont even do that game with jet engines and their blades are weighed in grams and can be missing a significant amount of mass.