# My ZhanChi's always been underwhelming. Is it possible to botch a cube?



## chockets (Dec 7, 2012)

I've almost always found my v1 Guhong to be strictly better. Not better in a "oh, well, they're both good, but I get slightly faster times with the Guhong" kind of way, but just plain superior. 

They're both lubed with CRC Silicone. The ZhanChi is tensioned so loose that it sometimes pops -- yes, _with_ the torpedoes -- but it still feels slower, even "stickier," than my Guhong. I remember it turning and cutting corners like some kind of magic artifact in the hours after I first assembled and lubed it (they're both DIYs), but then quickly slowing down to its current quality. I've cleaned and relubed both cubes once since I got them and seen no change in performance.

I figure that either I'm one out of a million cubers who favors the v1 Guhong in _every single way_ over the ZhanChi, or that I might have done something wrong here or there to reduce my ZhanChi to the creaky-spring, uncomfortable-to-use thing it is now. I'm actually considering buying a second one (and maybe a v2 Guhong) with some Lubix just to see if I find a major difference in quality. Would it be worth it to try this, or should I just jot this one down to "personal preference" and keep rolling with my Guhong?


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## yockee (Dec 7, 2012)

"They're both lubed with CRC silicone." There's your first problem. Dayans suck with spray lubes. You need a Lubix style lube. Popping with torpedoes = too loose. Tighten your cube. It won't be any slower, it will be sturdier. You'd be surprised how much faster you can be with a tight cube just because it's sturdy. Even though it's expensive, try buying a Zhan Chi from Lubix, just so you can see how they are when they're lubed and tensioned properly. I had to do this when I first got a Zhan Chi. I couldn't find a good tension for my first one, so I bought one from Lubix and finally got an idea of how to tension them. Now, I love my first one. The old ones are better, though. Unfortunately, there is a difference in plastic, but we won't get into that now.


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## radmin (Dec 7, 2012)

Not all lubes can be washed out. I've found that if a Zhanchi gets bad there is no bringing it back. It's very sensitive to overlubing. If I brush the pieces with a tooth brush dipped in goo gone it can restore pretty close to new depending on what lube I'm trying to remove.

I prefer a good Zhanchi to just about everything else. So what am I considering good?
I have it tensioned for optimal speed and optimal stability. As a cube is loosened it gets faster but becomes less stable. On some cubes you can find a tension that is a good mix of both. I could never seem to find it on Zhanchi so I shorten the springs by one turn. That lets it be faster when slightly tighter, yet still controllable. If I flick U Hard it goes just less than U2. Usually if a cube makes it to U2 or beyond I'll have trouble controlling it.


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## CarlBrannen (Dec 7, 2012)

In my first 6 months of lubing, I *always* over lubed my cubes. The reason is that it takes a while for the lube to work around and until then it will act like it needs more. So I would add more and then it would eventuall degrade and become sticky and slow.

To get rid of the excess lube, the best way I found was to take it completely apart and carefully wipe each piece with the fresh part of a paper towel. When I reassemble, it's just right.


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## Muesli (Dec 7, 2012)

My advice;

1: Disassemble your cube down to each cubie (including the centres, unscrew them).
2: Get an old sock, put it over your hand and get to scrubbing every cubie (including the centres) to get any cube-dust/lube off.
3: Screw every centre on until, when pulled tight out from the core, there is about 1-2mm of screw between the bottom of the centre and the core.
4: Take a permanent marker and draw a dash on one quarter of each centre screw. (This helps you keep the tensions on each side equal when tensioning).
5: Reassemble!

You should now have a reasonably tight, dry cube. You can try CRC again, but as people have been saying Dayans don't like sprays. I wouldn't buy Lubix branded lubricant myself, I use 30,000 cSt silcone oil from here which is essentially the same stuff as Lubix (but cheaper).

A dab of this on each centre attached to the core, a dab on the base of a corner and a larger dab on an edge and you're laughing. It takes about 15 minutes to work in though and your cube will feel like absolute ass until it does.


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## Kattenvriendin (Dec 7, 2012)

4: Take a permanent marker and draw a dash on one quarter of each centre screw. (This helps you keep the tensions on each side equal when tensioning).


Sorry but doing that is no guarantee. That only goes if ALL screws are in perfectly straight, and all springs are equal in tension. Best way to tension equally is to start out with the small bit of screw showing, assembling and then by determining where you can corner cut and evening that out over all sides.

cyoubx has a good tutorial on it, I made one that added to it a little.

But equal distance on the screws can be way off in fact.


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## Muesli (Dec 7, 2012)

Kattenvriendin said:


> 4: Take a permanent marker and draw a dash on one quarter of each centre screw. (This helps you keep the tensions on each side equal when tensioning).
> 
> 
> Sorry but doing that is no guarantee. That only goes if ALL screws are in perfectly straight, and all springs are equal in tension. Best way to tension equally is to start out with the small bit of screw showing, assembling and then by determining where you can corner cut and evening that out over all sides.
> ...



I said for the tensions to be checked by looking at the gap between the centre and the core first, before putting a dash on the head of the screw so you can keep track of your finer adjustments. Obviously I'm assuming the screws are of equal stiffness, but I think it's better than blindly turning the screws and guessing the tension by feel.


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## applemobile (Dec 7, 2012)

There is nothing wrong with your Zanchi. They are just massively over hyped. I would pick a v1 guhong over a zanchi any day.


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## CarlBrannen (Dec 7, 2012)

I do two things to get tensions equal. First, I use a caliper to measure the distance between the screw head and the surface. Then after I get everything approximately equal, I hold the cube and simultaneously twist opposite sides in opposite directions. If it's perfect balanced, the middle won't rotate. If it consistently rotates in one direction or the other, then that screw is too tight (or you haven't sufficiently smoothed the pieces).

A perfectly working cube is a thing of great beauty even if you're a lousy cuber with slow fingers like me.


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## Ross The Boss (Dec 8, 2012)

my zhanchi sucks too.


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## Carrot (Dec 8, 2012)

I prefer my Dayan Megaminx over the GuHong v1 and ZhanChi  (before someone says the megaminx is out of topic; according to the package it's a dodecahedronic shaped third order magic cube, to me that sounds like a 3x3x3 shaped like a megaminx  )


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## Jakethedrummer (Dec 9, 2012)

I don't like my Guhong v2, but love my zhanchi lol


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## MEn (Dec 10, 2012)

applemobile said:


> There is nothing wrong with your Zanchi. They are just massively over hyped. I would pick a v1 guhong over a zanchi any day.


So a sticky, slow, popping zhanchi with torpedoes doesn't sound out of the ordinary to you?


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## Kattenvriendin (Dec 10, 2012)

Man.. I would say mail me that zhanchi and I will fix that for ya.. lol if it weren't for the stupid mail fees to overseas here.. 

that cube is overlubed and tensioned too loose


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## ajayd (Dec 10, 2012)

MY Zhanchi Stickerless is really horrible. It pops no matter what. My Zhanchi stickered is perfect though. I took out the torpedoes, works like a dream. Never pops.Smooth, clicky, unlike the stickerless which was just plain rough


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## bluecloe45 (Dec 11, 2012)

The Zhanchi plastic isn't really made for CRC (In my opinion.) Clean it out and try something thicker, like lubix.


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