Whirlwind rv200 issue

Calling Whirlwind tomorrow about loose sealant at the aluminum ferrule/ blade root area. Two blades have very small amounts black specks ( similar to what's seen on " smoking rivets) coming from the root area.This airplane is white...so everything is visible.lol The prop is about midtime on the 5 year recommended overhaul time...and roughly 100 hours on it. No movement in any of the blades is visible. I'm sure Whirlwind will want it sent in,but wanted to see if anyone has a similar experience with loose sealant in these areas...thanks

Jim,
I had a 200 RV that was spitting a little grease early on, and it was coming from the blade root where it meets the metal ferrule. There was a bead of RTV there, and it was coming from under the RTV next to the blade. I just applied a little more RTV in that area, after I cleaned it, and the leak stopped. After 500 hours, it was still leak free. If it's coming from the outside of the metal ferrule (not against the fiberglass blade root), then that is a different issue, and you may have an O-ring that isn't seated. I think there are two O-rings on the blade hub that seals inner part of the assembly from the pitch change mechanism. That would require some help from Whirlwind. If it's the first issue, you might want to try patching it yourself. Just smooth out the RTV with a wet finger and you can't even tell.

Scott..this one is sounds just like yours. I think I'll remove the loose sealant and reseal the ferrule/ blade root area. This guys prop isn't throwing much grease at all, but it's just enough for him to see it. It think it would be overkill to box the prop up ..and ship it for a hour of sealing the blades for sure. Thanks for the reply!

After pulling the logs and spinner today....this is actually a 151 model prop and is leaking grease at all three blades from the hub/ blade pivot area. After speaking with Whirlwind directly I was told that these props are old and becoming harder to find parts for. The 5 year overhaul runs $550 IF the internals are good. This prop was sent in 66 hours ago and has been 2 1/2 years ....Whirlwind said new o-rings might last....or not with no guarantees. My customer is like ???. The folks at Whirlwind recommend the 200RV prop for $8900 since the 151 is becoming rare? Total time on prop is 207 since new.

Jim,
When your original post said 200RV, I thought I knew a possible solution. The 151 is a little different. There is only one O-ring on each blade hub, v.s. two on the 200RV, and it?s a relatively smaller hub and there?s not enough room to have two machined O-ring grooves (at least that?s what I was told). I had an original 151 on my RV6 and it began spitting grease at 100 hours. I flew it up to Austinburg and did an overhaul - new everything that you can replace, including the O-rings. It was fine for maybe 50 hours and then started spitting grease again. It had a wide cord blade back then and I was told they were trying to get that blade out of circulation. I?m not sure the blade was the problem. They made me a deal on swapping my wide cord 151 for a 200RV. Problem solved($). On my next RV(8) I started with a 200RV and never had any issues for the time I owned it (600+ hours). I?m building another RV8 now and it will most likely have a 200RV on it.

Jim,
I have the three blade 150 on my plane, and it started spitting some grease after 150 hours. I flew it out to Austinburg and had a tear down inspection. The grease that was in there had started breaking down, and I think that was the issue more so than the seals. My friend with a Hartzell was spitting grease, and his A&P told him to put in fresh grease, and sure enough, it stopped.
Regreasing the prop is actually quite easy once you see and understand how they go together.

Greasing the hartzell is a piece of cake, but the Whirlwind requires disassembly, new orings and possibly shimming the blades. Due to liability issues on customers props that require tear down...id rather send them up to WW for the $550 TDI.