It has come to our attention, that some Squall! HP (4 cell) owners have suffered some unexplained impeller failures in their models. We have investigated these failures and have concluded that they probably occur from the tips of the impeller blade touching the fan shroud. This causes both friction and stress in the blades which results in the blades failing at the root. Some impellers have been found to be touching the shroud from new.
Models that have been extensively flown already are unlikely to experience the problem as the tip clearance is ok.
Although thousands of Squall! HP models have been sold worldwide, we have received very few notifications of such occurrences from customers to our distributors. On investigating these and inspecting our kit stock, the above conclusion was made. The cause is an insufficient production tolerance to cater for mass produced components. Measures have been taken to ensure that this does not happen in any future kit batches.
All dealers that have been sold this model, and still have stock, will be sent replacement impellers for them. The replacement impeller can be identified from the white paint applied around the centre hole. In all other respects it looks identical to the original. It does however have a reduced diameter by 0.5mm and, as an additional (although not essential) upgrade, is moulded in a new material. The material is more resistant to stretch under high load and with the very small decrease in diameter, clearance at the tips should now be maintained. This will not discernibly affect performance
Owners of existing models are welcome to send in their old impeller to their local distributor and they will exchange it for the new type free of charge.
The 5 blade impeller used in the standard Squall! (3 cell) appears to be unaffected as clearance is better.
We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused but we felt it necessary to delay this announcement until a full investigation had been made and a solution found.
