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legolfbuddy@wanadoo.fr
Joined: Sep 18, 2007
Messages: 6
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I have a set of these purchased new 3 months ago from the French distributor of Hireko (TLBGOLF).
After just 3 (summer!) months of use, four of the eight heads have major rust in the cavity, which is actually penetrating through the faces on two of them!
Seems that this is not an isolated incident - http://www.buzzillions.com/prd-144342-hireko-i3322cs-reviews/
I also have clear marks on all of the faces where they were welded on (this is where the rust is coming through) and I'm concerned that even those not rusting will fail.
Unfortunately TLBGOLF will only replace or refund on the four rusting ones - so what am I supposed to do with the four remaining random numbered heads which haven't rusted/failed (yet.....  )?!?! Given the apparent inherent problem, I certainly don't want them - I'll never have any faith that they won't fail in 12 or 18 months (had my PCF3's for FIVE years - not a blemish!).
TLBGOLF also expect me to pay the post to return them (have to return if I want a refund) and won't reimburse the original shipping to me - just the price of the heads. So I'm way out of pocket, have four useless heads, utterly lousy quality, lousy service. 
I am a Dynacraft fan and account holder (UK) for many years. No longer I fear....
I have written to Hireko.com and am hoping to get a better response from them.....
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Jeff Summitt
Joined: Jan 13, 2006
Messages: 1490
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We had someone contact TLBGOLF from here. Perhaps contact them again to see if there is an arrangement both of you can come to solve your problem. We sell to literally tens of thousands of customers across the globe who are independent contractors. Therefore we have no say in their procedures regarding pricing, policies, returns, etc.
Regarding the product, let me clarify a few things regarding this head. The construction is one that is quite unique. As far as I am aware, no other company produces a club in this manner. There are many face insert irons that have existed, but they are usually done with a maraging insert. (see article http://www.hirekogolf.com/hireko/webpages/tech_articles/maraging_steel/what_is_maraging_steel.html).
Instead of a hard material for the face, a softer carbon steel face plate is used. In the past, if a manufacturer wanted to produce an iron with a soft carbon steel face, the whole club had to be made of the same material and usually forged.
In the construction of this head, a stainless steel frame is one piece and a separate stamped carbon steel insert is produced. The insert is placed in the frame and welded together. The high temperature that occurs in the welding process produces a discoloration that can even be seen through the chrome plating and what some people think is a cracking of the face. After the head is welded, the face is then milled flat and the grooves are then engraved onto the face. This is a labor intensive process.
The rest of the head is then ground, polished and a protective chrome plating is applied to the head to prevent rusting. The next step is the back cavity of the head is sandblasted to create the frosted appearance, then the metallic medallion is inserted as one of the last steps.
Why is it rusting then if a chrome plated is applied to the head? There can be a few reasons for this. Under the right conditions there are a number of ways that rust can accumulate on objects that are supposedly rust-resistant. In almost all these cases, it is surface rust. The rust will not penetrate through to the face. Rust can occur when moisture is allow to lay in a particular area, especially if in contact with fertilizers from the golf course or from the salt from a nearby ocean.
Since the head had an undercut feature, it is difficult to place a dry towel in the cavity and get into bottom of the cavity. It would be possible for rust to accumulate in this area if not thoroughly dried as there is extra surface area caused by the sandblasting, more so than if it were a smooth surface. If this were the case, the rust could simply be removed with a Q-tip and some petroleum jelly left for a little while to react with the surface rust and later wiped clean.
The PC3's you have may very well look brand new for many more years to come. The heads are a 4-31 stainless steel - not carbon steel that has been chrome plated. Plus is has quite possibly the most durable finish you can apply to an iron head and that is the distinctive shot peen finish.
I learned many lessons on how rust can form when my wife and I owned a turn-of-the-century home years ago. Apparently the spare bedroom or the dining room we never used was not a good place to store my golf clubs. Rather they were banished to the basement that looked more like a dungeon. This is where the washer and dryer resided as well. Every once in a while I would have to clean the clubs with steel wool or chrome cleaner as rust would form on all (and I mean all) of the steel shafts and on most of the heads. It did not matter on what brand of shaft, what year it was made or the head manufacturer or material as well - the build up of rust was not discriminatory at all - if it could form it would.
Sincerely,
Jeff Summitt
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legolfbuddy@wanadoo.fr
Joined: Sep 18, 2007
Messages: 6
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Jeff - thanks for your long and detailed reply.
I agree with you about the technical benefits of the club - "the proof is in the eating", and it was good!
However....(you knew that there'd be a however...  )
It is reasonable to expect a decent amount of life from a club. If your high performance car started rusting after 3 months, would that be a reasonable trade-off for the performance?
The rust is not just surface rust - it is blooming through where the face is detaching.
The faces detaching is not just discolouration -. they are detaching (as with the June poster on this forum, as with the others on the buzzilions link etc). I'm quite happy to send you some photos.
I won't get any further help from TLB. They are actually going beyond their standard "replace" policy by giving me a refund on the 4 rusting ones. But in the end (with my loss of shipping etc) I'll be lucky to recover 25% of my outlay.
I understand that final liability (refund policy etc) is deferred to the selling outlet etc, but ultimately Hireko/Acer designed and made them and according to the dictionary definition of quality - "fit for purpose" - they aren't.
PS. TLBGOLF.com stock a huge range of Dynacraft/Acer etc and is the only outlet in France, so they must be reasonably large in your outlet network!
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anonymous
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I'm curious to find out if this is a common problem with the other Acer 905 models. I have been looking at these irons and have resolved to avoid the "tour" model. Also (off topic a little) I am a mid handicap golfer and I am looking at the 905 model or the Dynacraft CNC model and I am wondering if there is a large difference in "feel" and "workability" with these two clubs.
Thank you,
Eric
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Jeff Summitt
Joined: Jan 13, 2006
Messages: 1490
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Eric:
There is not a common problem with the Tour rusting, only isolated incidents. The other 905 models are wholly stainless steel like nearly all the other cast cavity back clubs on the market and don't have the multiple pieces or carbon steel materials that could potential lead to problems.
The Prophet CNC, 905 Tour and Pro are all in the same general classification. These do have game improvement characteristics (undercut cavity back), but they have a lot of the same parameters adorned by better players such as shorter blade length, higher CG, reduced offset, narrower sole, etc.
As far as feel, to be honest most people would not feel the different between the Tour and the Pro if they hit the clubs blindfolded or weren't allow to see which one they were hitting beforehand.
Sincerely,
Jeff Summitt
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anonymous
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Jeff,
Thank you for the quick response and the information.
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lanpayblack@yahoo.com
Joined: Sep 24, 2008
Messages: 1
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I'm curious to find out if this is a common problem with the other Acer 905 models. I have been looking at these irons and have resolved to avoid the "tour" model. Also (off topic a little) I am a mid handicap golfer and I am looking at the 905 model or the Dynacraft CNC model and I am wondering if there is a large difference in "feel" and "workability" with these two clubs.
Thank you,
Eric
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Eric, go with the Dynacraft Prophet CNC Forged. I had and have heard of many, MANY cases of the XP905Tours rusting and even the faces coming off. The 1's I had rusted and when I contacted Hireko, they wouldn't do anything about it, PERIOD! I also had the Prophet CNC's and they are an excellent head, I just found something in GolfSmith's P2's that I like better.
-Landon
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legolfbuddy@wanadoo.fr
Joined: Sep 18, 2007
Messages: 6
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[quote=lanpayblack@yahoo.com
Eric, go with the Dynacraft Prophet CNC Forged. I had and have heard of many, MANY cases of the XP905Tours rusting and even the faces coming off. The 1's I had rusted and when I contacted Hireko, they wouldn't do anything about it, PERIOD! I also had the Prophet CNC's and they are an excellent head, I just found something in GolfSmith's P2's that I like better.
-Landon[/quote]
Landon
Eric's post was actually a year ago, so he's probably already sorted something..... 
Just an update from me: Despite my problem with rusting Tour's I persisted with Hireko products and purchased some XP905 Pro's. Now they were better quality and I'm happy to state that they are the best irons I've ever played. They kicked my Mizuno MX25's out the bag (the XP's were longer and more accurate, and that's with exactly the same set of NSPro shafts in both iron sets) and even my Ping i5's that I'm now playing don't quite match up.
For reasons too long to go into, I traded the XP905 Pro's and now really miss them. So I'm currently planning a new set, although I'm hovering between the XP's and those new XK's.
Summary: the Tour's do seem have a specific problem, but the XP or XK Pro's have near-equivalent spec's, good quality, stunning performance.
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