Spyderco Techno flat detent?

S

Swan

Joined
Aug 15, 2015
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21
I've had my Techno for about a week and can't put the thing down, but recently it seemed to have a very gritty action. The knife is still "smooth" but there's noticeable resistance and subtle screeching sound. From further inspection I discovered that the detent ball was actually slightly flattened. This had me very concerned.

I tried everything from lubricating the detent ball + path, opening it up to check for debris, and blowing it with compressed air. Nothing is working. I've opened and closed the knife hundreds of times to see if the gritty detent ball would smooth out but I think that made it worse! The sound it makes is horrendous and annoying enough to be bothersome through regular use. I'm sure this is being caused by the detent as the knife doesn't screech at me when I lift the detent ball off the tang. Has anyone else experienced this with their techno? Is a flat detent ball normal? If you own a techno please chime in and let me know if you experienced something similar, and if the knife just needs some time to break in. (though the detent ball would probably be flush with the framelock if it keeps wearing at this rate...)

(For what it's worth, my techno is the S30V "oppsie" version)
 
Does it just have a flat spot on it? If so, this is completely normal. From what I understand, it helps "pop" the blade out.
 
Yes, just one flat spot... Good to know that it's normal but this screeching is really concerning.
 
Does the detent ball sit in a hole that goes all the way through the lockbar? If so, it can be carefully pressed out and re-pressed in with the flat spot turned in. But if it's new, I'd send it in for repair under warranty.
 
Officer's Match said:
Does the detent ball sit in a hole that goes all the way through the lockbar? If so, it can be carefully pressed out and re-pressed in with the flat spot turned in. But if it's new, I'd send it in for repair under warranty.
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Nope, the detent is only visable from one side. I don't think the warranty is valid anymore considering I already opened up the knife :(.
 
My Techno gets "scratchy" ,(no screeching) when I play with it a lot. I've found using a heavy grease rather than lighter oil or lube works best to resolve it. I pack it in the detent hole as best I can too.
 
spyderg said:
My Techno gets "scratchy" ,(no screeching) when I play with it a lot. I've found using a heavy grease rather than lighter oil or lube works best to resolve it. I pack it in the detent hole as best I can too.
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Hm, haven't tried using grease on my knives before. Will give it a shot.
 
Swan said:
Nope, the detent is only visable from one side. I don't think the warranty is valid anymore considering I already opened up the knife :(.
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That sucks. Spyderco really should be using a ceramic detent ball if the hole is blind like that. My Spyderco Southard did the same thing, but it had a thru hole and I rotated the ball.
 
Officer's Match said:
That sucks. Spyderco really should be using a ceramic detent ball if the hole is blind like that. My Spyderco Southard did the same thing, but it had a thru hole and I rotated the ball.
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Is there any way to rotate the ball without a thru hole?
 
I wouldn't have a clue how to get it out without buggering up the lockbar. Blind holes are OK IMHO as long as a ceramic ball is used (like in the case of a Sebenza), the ball will essentially never wear if it's ceramic.
 
Plenty of knives with ball detents get the flat spot. I can't tell you exactly why it's feeling gritty, but I'd bet a bath in hot soapy water and a scrub with an old tooth brush + dry and relube will fix it right up!
 
kniferbro said:
Plenty of knives with ball detents get the flat spot. I can't tell you exactly why it's feeling gritty, but I'd bet a bath in hot soapy water and a scrub with an old tooth brush + dry and relube will fix it right up!
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I feel better knowing that this is common. Unfortunately I've already tried the giving the knife a nice cleaning with no luck, but I guess it won't hurt to give it another go!
 
Another option is to very carefully try to polish the detent ball. The "square" edges of the flat spot are likely causing your issue.
 
My Techno is the only knife I actually use every day. I have a CTS-XHP model (although I don't know if it matters in this case). It still opens with the same silky smoothness it had when it was new, just a little quicker maybe.

With the noise you describe, I would send it to Spyderco and have them fix it even if you have to pay for the service because of the voided warranty.
 
TheGearGuy said:
My Techno is the only knife I actually use every day. I have a CTS-XHP model (although I don't know if it matters in this case). It still opens with the same silky smoothness it had when it was new, just a little quicker maybe.

With the noise you describe, I would send it to Spyderco and have them fix it even if you have to pay for the service because of the voided warranty.
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I'm honestly considering this. If you don't mind, could you check is your XHP techno has a flattened detent ball? hopefully the screeching will go away with more use...
 
Swan said:
I know I probably should, but this is honestly unacceptable for a knife of this price. Totally unexpected coming from a spyderco.
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I agree - Sal, if you see this, think "ceramic bearing" (especially if embedded in a blind hole).
 
UPDATE

Contacted spyderco for a repair and this is what I got...

"There is no way to repair the detent ball in the knife you have as we do not stock all the repair parts for the knives that are not made here in Golden and we do not use the same detent ball on the knives that are made here in Golden."

I have no response...
 
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