Was out giving my MHX 9'7" 7wt for its inagural bass try this weekend. The tip broke on a hard hit by a bass. first time I have ever broken a rod fishing in 30 plus years. What was odd was the tip broke about 2 1/2 inchs from the tip top and then an inch past that. The first snake (acutally SF recoil) was at 5 inches per rocomendation at Mudhole. Any thoughts on what might have caused it? The rod was not hit by a hook while casting nor has it been abused in anyway to my knowlege. I've test casted it a few times and a friend of my test casted it as well, but I was standing there.

Anyone know of any known issues with this blank? Or, is this some kind of fluke?

Never heard of a 9'7" blank from Mudhole.
Is this the new 10' 7wt fly blank? If so I haven't seen these blanks yet.

Looks like it is the 9'6" not a 9'7", so that is an error. The model is:


F967-4-MHX

I ordered a MHX 9' 5wt 4 piece; when it got to my place it looked fine, but I did a test flex on all the sections before I built, and the tip was already broken, however, the mudhole guys were quick about getting me a new tip section with only a few emails. They should take care of you pretty quickly.

Did you contact them at all?

Ed,
have you called Todd or Bob at Mudhole?
My experience: if there is a problem they fix it.

Did you Static Test the guide set up before wrapping ??

If they say the first guide from the tip is 5" Seems a lot to me

Bill - willierods.com

It's doubtful that it's a design issue. Most likely some type of impact damage to that area on the tip prior to the actual failure.

...........

I'm calling them today. I'm hoping its some sort of impact damage. What was odd was that it greenstick fractured about 2 1/2 inches from the tip top then broke 1" below the first. So, actually broke in two places.

The break I had looked like it was crushed, and it started to delaminate in a spiral...you could only see it when flexed.

Ed,
Before starting your build, did you give the blank a 90 degree flex test?

i.e. starting from the tip, flex each section to 90 degrees or an amount that is similar to that - based on the position of the blank.

I am guessing that you had a damaged blank that had been shipped that way and went undiscovered during the build process.

Better to test, and break a blank before spending any time and money on the rod; rather than breaking the rod on its first outing.

Roger

I just have to say I had a similar tip section breakage on an st1144f blank I just built on it's first trip out. I emailed MHX warranty and Todd Vivian had the problem resolved within an hour. Even though it was against policy to warranty a blank without receiving the broken sections he went ahead and got one sent out to me. I am very happy with their service and will continue to fish MHX blanks. Just make sure to register your blank.

A spacing chart is always a starting point and should be Static Tested to find the final point of where the guides go

Bill - willierods.com

Called Mudhole and the process seems pretty straight forward. They were very helpful.

Roger, I did not do as you suggested but I think I'm going to introduce that into build process on a go forward. I'm on about my eighth rod to build so I'm still learning some of the finer points...thanks for the suggestion.

Ed,
Due to a similar problem when I first starting building rods, I instituted the super deep flex of all blanks before every putting a wrap on the rod.

Obviously the bend is not as great as an equivalent high stick, but it needs to get all parts of the blank to the maximum recommended bend for that blank.

Take care
Roger