Voiding warranties by unscrewing a knife

G

generallobster

Joined
Apr 7, 1999
Messages
514
Just a quick question, how do companies know that you have taken a knife apart to void the warranty? It seems like only Loctite is the indicator of a seal being broken assuming you don't completely strip a screw trying to undo it. So how do knife companies make that call when a knife is sent in for warranty service?
 
They can tell believe me, I won't tell you how, but they do know. ;)
 
I'm actually curious of this as well. can we get a real answer in here?

also worth mentioning that while most companies wont officially cover you if you do this, some of them are really good sports about it. kershaw for one I have heard good things, they'll back you up some of the time even if its clear you've voided the warranty. great company
 
i don't think it really would effect the warranty unless you taking apart the knife caused problems by you being stupid:chargrined:
 
I have a hard time believing they could tell if you put it back together correctly. Half the time they don't even locktite all the hardware. In fact most of my knives don't have locktite on all the screws, it seems pretty hit or miss. I've taken apart both my 940 and 943 and they had no locktite anywhere (except the pocketclip). My delica 4 and leafstorm had no locktite either. I think they just say that to prevent people from sending in a knife in a plastic baggy that they were too dumb to get back together. Just my dollar three eighty :)
 
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I had taken a knife apart before from a company that said if i did so it voided the warranty, the knife was screwed before i took it apart, I dunno if they could tell i took it apart or not but they knew my disassembly didn't screw the knife up either. So i Dunno if they knew or didn't know, they fixed the knife anyway. as far as Kershaw ZT i thought you could take your knife apart without voiding your warranty?
 
ThirdTooth said:
I'm actually curious of this as well. can we get a real answer in here?

also worth mentioning that while most companies wont officially cover you if you do this, some of them are really good sports about it. kershaw for one I have heard good things, they'll back you up some of the time even if its clear you've voided the warranty. great company
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This has pretty much set kershaw/ZT as the company for me. I stripped a screw on my 560 trying to modify it clearly voiding my warranty and they still fixed it.
 
I have a question for you guys. How would a company use loctite condition as a way of knowing the knife was taken apart? They'd have to take it apart to look at it lol.
 
Take a 10x loupe and carefully examine the screw before removal, then examine the same screw after re-assembly. You will see.
 
00ChevyScott said:
I have a question for you guys. How would a company use loctite condition as a way of knowing the knife was taken apart? They'd have to take it apart to look at it lol.
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Well they could tell if they broke the locktite seal themselves. In my experience it's pretty obvious when you break that bond. You can feel it, and sometimes hear it. Other than that, I have never seen any indication of something else in the knife that would expose tampering. Ive looked at the knives I've taken apart pretty closely to. I don't take my blades apart anymore, but I used to want to take every new knife I got apart just to see how they worked.
 
A.P.F. said:
Take a 10x loupe and carefully examine the screw before removal, then examine the same screw after re-assembly. You will see.
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Ya but you could have just tightened everything up to make sure it was good to go. Benchmade sells a bluebox for christs sake! And how could they tell if the torx marks on the screw were put there by the customer and not by someone at the factory when they were initially installed??
 
leafstorm said:
Ya but you could have just tightened everything up to make sure it was good to go. Benchmade sells a bluebox for christs sake! And how could they tell if the torx marks on the screw were put there by the customer and not by someone at the factory when they were initially installed??
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When you tighten a screw, the wear indication is visible on only one side of the land.
 
A.P.F. said:
Heh, nothing that a carefully crafted 'comfort letter' won't solve. ;)
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Ive yet to use spydercos warranty service (dont own any kershaws yet) but benchmade has been nothing but a pleasure to deal with for me. The first time I had to call them up was because I had a poorly heat treated 440C mini precidio ultra. I dont know how or why, but the girl sent me a new knife in the mail without me ever sending my knife in! She must have been new, but this to me spoke volumes.

The second time I had broken an omega spring in my 943. They sent me two sets of omegas (yah 4 springs!) in the mail along with a new clip and screws for the clip. They do this as a courtesy for customers who dont live in the US. Im not the biggest fan of their designs lately but I have nothing but good things to say about their warranty. The determining factor for all of this seems to be how polite you are to the young ladies on the phone. Benchmade if you're reading this, THANKYOU, I am a customer for life and will continue to recommend your knives to other people.
 
Tripton said:
How exactly do they avoid these marks during assembly?
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Post #14

Seems that they would have to be very careful not to ever back the screws off any, I cant think of anything else that would give it away. Rev, Ankerson help us out! :D
 
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