# Dayan Zhanchi Explodes?! Help Please



## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

Hey guys, so as I am sure you can tell from the title of this thread, I am having some issues with my dayan zhanchi. It is an amazing cube 95% of the time, but it will randomly explode or a piece will shoot out for no reason during a solve. I am not using the anchors and I am sure that this wouldn't happen if I had them in, but the cube becomes more locky if I do put them in. I have my cube relatively tight, maybe a little looser than it comes stock and I am not a very rough cuber so I don't think it is that. 

Is anyone else having this happen? how tight do most people have their Zhanchi's? it would be preferable if you could tell me how many turns loose it is i.e. if you tighten all sides completely, how many turns do you loosen it before you stop. I would appreciate any help people could give me. I might try tightening it, but the randomness of the pops seems fishy to me. Thanks...


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## AustinReed (Jul 10, 2011)

I don't have a Zhanchi, but I think this cube is WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY overhyped. Yeah, they Lunhui was supposed to be unpoppable. See where that went?


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## Jostle (Jul 10, 2011)

1. Tighten it.
2. Put anchors in.
or
3. Deal with it.


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

That was pointless, why even respond if you are not going to offer any real help. I am not an *****, I have tightened it many times and i already said I don't want the anchors. I am mainly curious if others have had this problem and how tight they have theirs.


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## AustinReed (Jul 10, 2011)

jskyler91 said:


> That way pointless, why even respond if you are not going to offer any real help. I am not an *****, I have tightened it many times and i already said I don't want the anchors. I am mainly curious if others have had this problem and how tight they have theirs.


 
That leaves the third option.


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

AustinReed said:


> That leaves the third option.


 
Or possibly a fourth option like a mod or someone telling me how tight they have their cube....


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

JyH said:


> What would the person being a mod have to do with anything?
> Tighten it.


 
Person being a mod? I said "like a mod" meaning someone might be also having this problem and have figured out a mod to fix it. Can I please get someone who can offer some constructive or educated responses? I am not stupid or a noob, I average 18 seconds, and I have owned many cubes which I have tensioned the same way and the edge pieces haven't turned into projectiles. 

Isn't the entire reason for having these types of forums for cubers to meet, ask questions from one another and become better? Why is it that all I see from people when others ask questions is smart a** responses and jerkyness? Its rather frustrating and ridiculous.

Does anyone have anything constructive to say?


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## Andreaillest (Jul 10, 2011)

The 48 point edge mod perhaps? That's the only mod I can think of that people do with their Dayans.
That or you'll just have to put the anchors in.


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

^^Ya, I actually forgot to mention that I had already done that. Btw, I know this sound kind of weird and off the topic, but I viewed your youtube out of pure bordem yesterday and we cube in almost the exact same way, with the same times and the same problems of cube rotations/ poor look ahead.


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## Jostle (Jul 10, 2011)

jskyler91 said:


> *Its rather frustrating and ridiculous.*


 
Nou.
It shouldn't really be that hard to just tension it and try for yourself...
Either that or put the anchors in.

And of course, we have option number three.


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## Andreaillest (Jul 10, 2011)

jskyler91 said:


> ^^Ya, I actually forgot to mention that I had already done that. Btw, I know this sound kind of weird and off the topic, but I viewed your youtube out of pure bordem yesterday and we cube in almost the exact same way, with the same times and the same problems of cube rotations/ poor look ahead.



Ya, I hate that. I wish I was smoother.


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

Me too, I have been practicing going ridiculously slow for the last two days to make sure that I have no pauses, and it has helped quite a bit. I am still a burst cuber though. The good thing is that once our lookahead improves we will be awesome because we already have the speed for sub 15!!!


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## hammerhead (Jul 10, 2011)

HEy, about your ZhanChi problem... 

Well, I am rather a rough cuber, so without the torpedos, it popped at least once every 5-6 solves. VERY FRUSTRATING! 
The thing about putting the torpedos in, is that there are slight modifications you need to make to your cube for them to NOT cause locks and catches. Well, if you look under each corner, there is a tiny bit of plastic you need to remove so the torpedos don't make contact with them. That will make it smoother and reduce locks. I suggest trying this, because this worked for me with this cube AND modding my GuHong with torpedos :] 

You also need to lube under the corner where the torpedo runs so is is smoother. I honestly don't think they cause locks, so maybe give it time, tension in right(look up camcubers how to, it worked well for me).

Good luck, buddy :]


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

hammerhead said:


> HEy, about your ZhanChi problem...
> 
> Well, I am rather a rough cuber, so without the torpedos, it popped at least once every 5-6 solves. VERY FRUSTRATING!
> The thing about putting the torpedos in, is that there are slight modifications you need to make to your cube for them to NOT cause locks and catches. Well, if you look under each corner, there is a tiny bit of plastic you need to remove so the torpedos don't make contact with them. That will make it smoother and reduce locks. I suggest trying this, because this worked for me with this cube AND modding my GuHong with torpedos :]
> ...


 
Thank you very much kind sir, I shall look up camcubers vid, what is its title?


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

hammerhead said:


> HEy, about your ZhanChi problem...
> 
> Well, I am rather a rough cuber, so without the torpedos, it popped at least once every 5-6 solves. VERY FRUSTRATING!
> The thing about putting the torpedos in, is that there are slight modifications you need to make to your cube for them to NOT cause locks and catches. Well, if you look under each corner, there is a tiny bit of plastic you need to remove so the torpedos don't make contact with them. That will make it smoother and reduce locks. I suggest trying this, because this worked for me with this cube AND modding my GuHong with torpedos :]
> ...


 
Thank you very much kind sir, I shall look up camcubers vid, what is its title?


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## hammerhead (Jul 10, 2011)

"How to properly tension a speedcube"


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

hammerhead said:


> "How to properly tension a speedcube"


 
AH, I misread what you had wrote, I thought camcuber made a vid on the zhanchi and how to stop pops. I tightened it again and not pops in the last 20 solves, but it is a little too tight for me... I might add the anchors tomorrow, we'll see.


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## hammerhead (Jul 10, 2011)

Ah, I'm sorry :/ Well, do you get the idea of the odd pieces of plastic under the corner stalks? Well remove that with a blade, and then tension it to your liking :] USING THE VIDEO! HA! see, posting the title of the video still had some meaning!(well I hope)


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## XaveL (Jul 10, 2011)

refer to this link http://puzzleaddictions.com/index/mods.html
look at the corner mod ( guhong`s corner ) , remove the excessive plastic. Im pretty sure zhanchi`s corner piece has excessive plastic
( sorry for my bad english )


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## jskyler91 (Jul 10, 2011)

hammerhead said:


> Ah, I'm sorry :/ Well, do you get the idea of the odd pieces of plastic under the corner stalks? Well remove that with a blade, and then tension it to your liking :] USING THE VIDEO! HA! see, posting the title of the video still had some meaning!(well I hope)


 
Ya, I noticed the excess when I lubed it, but I didn't feel like scraping it off. Sounds like a job for tomorrow.


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## hammerhead (Jul 10, 2011)

PERFECT! No you have a visual on what to do. Thanks for posting the link


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## izovire (Jul 10, 2011)

XaveL said:


> refer to this link http://puzzleaddictions.com/index/mods.html
> look at the corner mod ( guhong`s corner ) , remove the excessive plastic. Im pretty sure zhanchi`s corner piece has excessive plastic
> ( sorry for my bad english )


 
I was just about to post this actually. So look at picture #4 

I noticed the same exact problem when I first tried my Zhanchi. No cube is going to be perfect and not have excess plastic coming out of the mold injections. So you need to use a knife (or sand paper, nail file, etc.) and remove those 3 bumps on each corner piece. Also round the sides just a bit so your anchors can move freely and not lock or scratch. 

The 48 point edge mod is only necessary on the guhong. It has raised edges that are excess too. The other 3 Dayans are just fine. Idk why Lubix still does it for the newer cubes.


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## yockee (Jul 10, 2011)

jskyler91 said:


> Hey guys, so as I am sure you can tell from the title of this thread, I am having some issues with my dayan zhanchi. It is an amazing cube 95% of the time, but it will randomly explode or a piece will shoot out for no reason during a solve. I am not using the anchors and I am sure that this wouldn't happen if I had them in, but the cube becomes more locky if I do put them in. I have my cube relatively tight, maybe a little looser than it comes stock and I am not a very rough cuber so I don't think it is that.
> 
> Is anyone else having this happen? how tight do most people have their Zhanchi's? it would be preferable if you could tell me how many turns loose it is i.e. if you tighten all sides completely, how many turns do you loosen it before you stop. I would appreciate any help people could give me. I might try tightening it, but the randomness of the pops seems fishy to me. Thanks...


 
I tighten all my Dayans so that when you pull out the centers, you could fit a penny in between the core and center piece.


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## Akuma (Jul 10, 2011)

Jostle said:


> 1. Tighten it.
> 2. Put anchors in.
> or
> 3. Deal with it.



Proof that the majority of people on this forum are useless twats that would rather provocate a response rather than contribute anything. 

The problem seems to be that tensioning the cube makes it slower and harder to turn, however he cube will pop less.

What you need to do is modify it so that it turns smoother even when tensioned higher.
Doing teh entire GuHong Mod (lubing the core, screws everything etc) and the corner and edge mods will cewretainlky do a lot.

DO that and come back and tell us what the results were


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## kirtpro (Jul 10, 2011)

izovire said:


> I was just about to post this actually. So look at picture #4
> 
> I noticed the same exact problem when I first tried my Zhanchi. No cube is going to be perfect and not have excess plastic coming out of the mold injections. So you need to use a knife (or sand paper, nail file, etc.) and remove those 3 bumps on each corner piece. Also round the sides just a bit so your anchors can move freely and not lock or scratch.
> 
> The 48 point edge mod is only necessary on the guhong. It has raised edges that are excess too. The other 3 Dayans are just fine. Idk why Lubix still does it for the newer cubes.


 
izovire, would you please take pictures on how you would mod the zhanchi? i really admire your work with the guhong and made one myself


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## Jostle (Jul 10, 2011)

Onice, how did it turn out?


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## izovire (Jul 10, 2011)

I just did the mod (same as picture #4) and it is as smooth as butter. It took me ~5 minutes so I will do it on all assembled cube orders free of charge.


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## The Bloody Talon (Jul 10, 2011)

in my experience, tightening the cube can make your cube explode. although loosening it can make it pop.


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## collinbxyz (Jul 10, 2011)

Don't be rough, and keep the tensions slightly tighter...


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## bluecloe45 (Jul 10, 2011)

You sure toy got a Zhanchi, Check the edges, if they have big pieces pointing out into the core, thats good, if it doesn't it might perform just like a Lingyun


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## antoineccantin (Jul 10, 2011)

izovire said:


> I just did the mod (same as picture #4) and it is as smooth as butter. It took me ~5 minutes so I will do it on all assembled cube orders free of charge.


 
Only assembled ones! Darn, I should not have got mine as DIY...


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## izovire (Jul 10, 2011)

antoineccantin said:


> Only assembled ones! Darn, I should not have got mine as DIY...


 
It's a really easy mod though... I might do a vid. tutorial this week.


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## antoineccantin (Jul 10, 2011)

izovire said:


> It's a really easy mod though... I might do a vid. tutorial this week.


 
OK, I will make sure to do it when it arrives, thanks!


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## teller (Jul 10, 2011)

I've got the torpedos in, and I find the ZhanChi positively dreamy...not locky at all. Cubes are inconsistent, so maybe I just got a really good one, but if I were you I'd go ahead and put the torpedos in and work on tensioning from there.

It *has* popped on me a few times already, and I am not accustomed to pops. But any time you switch to a new main, there is a period of style adjustment your hands must go through. Some patience is called for, I think.


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## XaveL (Jul 10, 2011)

well i suggest checking your core bro if it still explodes.


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## Eric79 (Jul 10, 2011)

jskyler91 said:


> [...]I would appreciate any help people could give me. I might try tightening it, but the randomness of the pops seems fishy to me. Thanks...


If I remember right, you saw my review of the cube - go back to it and look how I have my tensions (I show it by how far you can pull the layers apart - I now, not exactly what you ask for, but it gives you a pretty good idea of it). As you also can see, the corner cutting and reverse corner cutting are still that good with the settigns as shown. So try that. 



jskyler91 said:


> I have tightened it many times and i already said I don't want the anchors. I am mainly curious if others have had this problem and how tight they have theirs.


Again, as said in my Vid, I also prefer the cube more without the anchors. Mine does not explode at all, neither does it pop. So assuming that you try it a bit tighter as you may have is could be the solution.



Andreaillest said:


> The 48 point edge mod perhaps? That's the only mod I can think of that people do with their Dayans.
> That or you'll just have to put the anchors in.


This is not necessary for the ZhanChi - same as with the V5 mod. 



jskyler91 said:


> I am still a burst cuber though.


I am not quite sure what a "burst cuber" should be, but if that means that you are very rough and or rushing through your solve I would - no joke - recommend that you get an "old" cube (I don't mean one that already was used for long but one that does by far not allow as much as the DaYan). Thus you learn how to turn more accurate while being fast and this will help you a lot with cubes that tend to pop (I don't consider the ZhanChi being one of them).



izovire said:


> The 48 point edge mod is only necessary on the guhong. It has raised edges that are excess too. The other 3 Dayans are just fine. Idk why Lubix still does it for the newer cubes.


OT but: I agree with that. I guess the reason for doing it on the other cube too should only be something like a "selling argument" than it acutally makes sense. Or... ...nah, I better don't say it. 



yockee said:


> I tighten all my Dayans so that when you pull out the centers, you could fit a penny in between the core and center piece.


Jskyler91, try this too - I have my LingYun even tighter than this and it still can do the same as a looser one is really a great cube with almost no pops at all.



bluecloe45 said:


> You sure toy got a Zhanchi, Check the edges, if they have big pieces pointing out into the core, thats good, if it doesn't it might perform just like a Lingyun


That also could be possible, but is most likely not the reason. However, if there is excessive plastic from the cast-on section, then remove it - on the edges as well as on the Corners as Izovire shows it on the linked picture.

anyway, even though that does not help: If you really got a Cube that does pop all the time for some strange reason and neither do you want to tighten it more nor do you want to use the anchors - well than your problems are something you will have to deal with.
And finally: It can always happen that you just had bad luck and that you got something (when talking of cars) we call in germany a "Montagsauto" - meaning something that is defektive all the time for no reason. This can just happen and it's bad since there is not much you can do about it. 
That's all that came to my mind at this point and I hope that you'll solve the issues that you have with your ZhanChi.


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## yockee (Jul 10, 2011)

jskyler91 said:


> ^^Ya, I actually forgot to mention that I had already done that. Btw, I know this sound kind of weird and off the topic, but I viewed your youtube out of pure bordem yesterday and we cube in almost the exact same way, with the same times and the same problems of cube rotations/ poor look ahead.


 
Maybe you did the edge mod too much. Like, maybe you took too much off. You HAVE to have it too loose for it to pop. I don't have mine yet, my my Lunhui never has popped, and there's no way it ever will. I can't even get a corner out. My Gu Hongs never pop either, and they have no anchors. I can't imagine any reason why your Zhan Chi would pop. Not picking on your experience or anything, but you have only been cubing since Feb. Maybe you need more time messing with older cubes first, working with tensions, etc, rather than jumping to a Dayan. Allow yourself to build experience and skill / knowledge of cubes, before going for the gold, if you know what I mean. I've been seriously cubing for almost 2 years, and I just now average 16 - 18 because I spent so much time learning more and more about Fridrich, and cubes instead of just dealing with what I already knew at 6 months. It took me about 8 months to learn full LL.


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## gundamslicer (Jul 10, 2011)

Remove the anchors... It still has the wings on the edge....


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## aminayuko (Jul 10, 2011)

maybe change the core like the lingyun?


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## JLarsen (Jul 11, 2011)

izovire said:


> I just did the mod (same as picture #4) and it is as smooth as butter. It took me ~5 minutes so I will do it on all assembled cube orders free of charge.


 +1. You've got yourself a new regular customer. Does this apply to the preordered Zhanchi's as well?


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## Miles95 (Jul 13, 2011)

I had the same problem with my lunhui i still do on occasion, to fix it i had my anchors in and tighted the cube then lubed it with shock oil (lube provided by my friend) and now the cube is better than ever and dropped my average by a second within the day


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## mocenigo (Jul 13, 2011)

jskyler91 said:


> Or possibly a fourth option like a mod or someone telling me how tight they have their cube....


 
Well, a mod would be to put the anchors, in this case ;-)


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## Vinny (Jul 13, 2011)

The anchors are the reason why it is exploding. The same thing happened with the LunHui. The anchors are supposed to make it very hard to take out one edge (and this works). However, whenever the cube DOES pop, the anchors pull out the corners with them, so the cube explodes. I had the same problem with my LunHui, which is why I don't have it anymore.

You can try to take the anchors out, but then I'm not sure if edges would pop more. Either that or just try to be careful when using the cube.


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## yockee (Jul 13, 2011)

You HAVE to tighten this cube. It will only explode if it's loose. Just because it has the extra anti pop mech, doesn't mean you can just make it so loose it'll fall apart. I had this problem at what I thought was a reasonable tension, but HAD to tighten it, and once I did, the cube still felt great and had no more pops.


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## Winston Yang (Aug 18, 2011)

What happens if you take it off does it just pop easily or what?


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## Eric79 (Aug 18, 2011)

I use mine without the anchors and it does not pop at all.


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## Jostle (Aug 18, 2011)

I use mine with them and it doesn't pop at all.


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## Winston Yang (Aug 19, 2011)

Anchors are only for reducing pops?


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## Eric79 (Aug 19, 2011)

Winston Yang said:


> Anchors are only for reducing pops?


Yes. But as said, I don't need mine as it doesn't pop without them as well.


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