https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTb_Y2cQYsY

Any way to turn up the screen brightness?

I’ve been using 1/2 fire for a while now but recently moved away and don’t have a sparx machine anymore nor does the rink I’m at. They do it by hand and I was wonder if my best bet is just for 1/2 or is there another cut closer to 1/2 fire.

I have seen a lot of comments on Reddit and elsewhere saying that the Sparx doesn’t sharpen well when the operator doesn’t know how to use it properly or maintain it properly.

When I set up and used my Sparx 3, it seemed pretty dummy-proof as long as the instructions were followed. Can anyone give me some tips on what is missing from the setup/use instructions that Sparx provides so that I can make sure I’m using it correctly?

Also, I haven’t seen much talk of how to properly maintain the Sparx. Apart from the instructions (air filter replacements, grinding wheel lifetime, cleaning metal pieces out of the bottom of the device), what else should I be doing when it comes maintenance? Thanks!

Please use this post to discuss and request any ongoing promotions and discount codes. Besides the official promotions available on Sparx’s website and mailing lists, Sparx Ambassadors offer codes that provide a discount of ~$100 on an Sparx machines or bundles. Please message the ambassador directly to receive their discount codes.

Let us know by replying to this post if there’s an official promotion offered by Sparx that’s not listed here or if a promo has expired.

Current promotions (as of 2024-09-05):

• Free shipping for Sparx machines – expires ???
• Free shipping for Sparx wheels – minimum quantity two – expires ??? - discount code: RINGS2024

Sparx Ambassadors:

• /u/scubastevie
• /u/Aggressive_Till_8488
• /u/Festerles

If you're a Sparx Ambassadors and would like to be added to this list, please send us moderator message.

Requesting promo codes or Ambassadors offering codes outside this post will be deleted.

Hi there, are the any active discount codes other than the shipping for Sparx 3?

Thanks!

What’s the big difference between the two? Do you need a specific Sparx machine for the fire rings?

Hello everyone. I am new to Sparks just getting situated with it now. I really like it. I will be using it for a long time so I am wondering if there's ever a time in the year that these rings go on sale and I can stock up. I was thinking maybe a black Friday sale or something like that. I am sure they're not going to get any cheaper in the long run so if I can get a bunch on sale that would be great. Thanks.

Hey everyone. I usually match the number of passes for each skate. I just had to do a bunch of extra passes on one skate to work out a chip. Do you think I should match the number of passes on the other skate? First thought is that they should be equal so they wear exactly the same, however, I am sure that skates sharpeners at Pro shops are not keeping track of their passes to make sure they are perfect for each skate. So I guess I'm just trying to see what everybody else does. Thanks.

Hi all, thinking about getting a Sparx as my Can-ice GlideMasters synthetic ice definitely dulls the blades quickly. I have a 9 and a 7 year old who skate on the synthetic and on ice 2-3 times a week. I also use the synthetic once in a while with them and ice once in a while.

I am not a sharpening pro, in fact don’t know much at all about it except for some reading I’ve done online recently. What would be the best setup to get? Do I need the Beam for our uses or is it for pros who need the precision? Is there a specific ring that would yield better results on synthetic ice which doesn’t have the glide of real ice?

The kids have separate skates that they use on the synthetic vs ice. Should I get different rings or it won’t make a big diff?

Thanks!

Well, after many many many years and thousands of sharpening, I think my GEN one is finally crapping out. Just ordered a Gen 2 I hope it's just as good if not better

Thanks for those that have tried so far - I seem to be running into regional coupon code issues. Anyone have a coupon code usable in the US for the 2 or 3? I believe there's a $100 off lingering out there, just can't seem to find one that works.

Hey just wondering what hallow everyone is using for 10 year olds U11. Currently using 5/8 but thinking of going to 1/2 for more bite. Live in northern Alberta Canada so ice is pretty hard.

I am int he chicago burbs and its been super humid. So the ice at the rinks is super soft and gets chewed up pretty easily. I have been using the 3/8 fire ring coming from 7/16. Wondering if 3/8 fire or standard 7/16 would work better on softer ice?

Also, going from a fire ring to a standard ring how many passes should I make?

My Sparx 3 is blinking 98 on the screen with a red light flashing inside the machine. Can not sharpen or make the screen do anything else. Tried turning off and back on and it goes right back to the error code. Any advice?

Apologies if these are dumb questions but wanted to probe the Sparx community regarding two (related) topics.

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Do you guys leave Sharpener ON at all time or do you turn it OFF and simply flip it ON before using it? Doubt there would be drawbacks to leaving it on but I wondered if anyone had had any issues regarding Sharpener staying ON throughout the days/weeks.

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Sort of same deal for BEAM: Do folks leave the BEAM unit on the charge pad even though it technically is fully charged or do you take it off and put it back into the pouch when you're not using it. Feels like leaving it on could affect battery life but again I'm mostly speculating here.

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Also yes I'm likely also overthinking this but I suspect there's another sub to dive into the details of my mental health lol. Thanks much all!

Hey there, my Sparx is throwing up a 1-2-10 error code for missing air filter. The air filter is brand new and not missing. It's installed correctly but the machine is not detecting it. The little red sensor that detects it seems to look fine. When I hit the filter button to reset it it won't accept the reset. Sparx want me to ship it to Netherlands to their repair centre but this will leave me without it for god knows how long. Machine is 4 months old, please help!

After doing a lot of research on skate sharpening and profiling, as well as going to my local skate shop, I can’t help but wonder if the sparx is better for your blades when profiles compared to a standard sharpening machine. Hand sharpening there is a lot of room for error where too much or too little can be taken off in certain areas, and a profile could be screwed up pretty easily. It seems the sparx wouldn’t have this issue.

Thoughts?

I was very curious about using a polishing compound, so I reached out to Sparx and here was their answer:

Wax/lube or other finishing material would clog up the grinding ring, so it would hurt more than it would help. It's not a required step with Sparx, because every cycle we run performs a "finish" pass. On a manual sharpener the operator might perform a few aggressive passes before making their final finishing pass. Our sharpener is always doing a finishing pass.

On every one of our "cycles", which is one pass out and one pass in, the pass back is always a finish pass. The Grinding Ring spins with the direction of travel and removes less material and leaves a great finish. Our super abrasive coated steel rings are a bit different from the traditional vitrified sharpening stone and we do not need to lubricate the wheel. We do not need to reduce the friction or make any alterations to keep the blade cool (the Sparx Sharpener has a very cool process compared to a traditional sharpening) in order to produce a mirror finish on Sparx.

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Bought these a while back to try as an alternative to the Sparx "gummy stone" for my kids' coated blades. They do have some grit in them, wondering if that might damage the coating like a normal stone. Does the Sparx version have any grit at all or is it just a chunk of rubber? Anyone have any experience?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CDVFGQXH

About ready to pull the trigger on one, but using a discount code would be ideal! Anyone know of active codes?!

Please & Thank you ☺️

As above. I have goalie skates (CCM AS3 Pro, cowlingless) with 4mm step steel. Do I need to do anything beyond the normal skate sharpening steps to sharpen 4mm steel or does it not even matter?

Thanks in advance

Is there an efficient way to replenish grinding rings? Anybody offer free shipping?

tl;dr - Sharpener is great (so far), initial experience and secondary aspects are bad.  

Had I followed the Sparx setup instructions and procedures I would have ended up returning the machine. It's hard to feel good about a 1400$ +tax purchase when every step just shows incompetence on their part.  How can I expect not to encounter the same level of incompetence with the hardware?  All of the issues I encountered are easy fixes to implement; changes to hardware generally require a redesign of the product.  If they don't notice and won't fix the easy stuff, how can I feel confident about the hardware?

After sharpening my first skate, my BEAM told me my skate wasn't level and to twist 10 notches left.  I twisted, sharpened again, same result.  I did this a few times even though I coud see the left edge getting higher and higher each time I put the skate back in the machine. After looking around in the app I finally found an option to calibrate the BEAM (why is this not the first step?!?!?!) After running the calibration, it told me all was well with the BEAM and suggested not updating the settings.  Luckily, I ignored that and told it to update anyway.  Once calibrated it now gave a correct reading and I had to spend over 10% of my wheel to get my skate level again and grind down my other skate to the same height.  Calibrating the BEAM should be part of the setup process for 2 reasons.  First it teaches users that this option exists in case they have issues in the future.  Secondly, if the machine did get messed up in transit going through the process will prevent people from having my experience.

The blade holder for 3mm goalie skates doesn't work, the steel for my Bauer skates just falls out.  65$ for 2 small pieces of plexiglass, 3 screws and a sticker.  And it DOESNT WORK.  The screw is straight into plexiglass so even if you can find a way to make this thing work by applying crazy amounts of pressure it's just a matter of time before it gets stripped or cracks.

Considering one of the big selling points of the 3 over the 2 is the app, the app experience is marginal at best.  Playing the tutorials in app resulted in a black screen.  Pressing on drop downs is haphazard, or just slow.  Hard to tell since I must hit each one multiple times to get anything to happen.  It oddly doesn't use any of the autofill options (nor does their website) when filling out forms and information, just standard best practices that every app and website does.  It also doesn't fill in basic things like when adding a sharpening to the calendar and you choose a player with only one pair of skates you still need to choose the pair of skates.  Not a big deal, but why wouldn't it add them automatically/ especially since you now have to hit the drop-down multiple times to be able to select the skates you want.    And it's an app for your Sparx machine, but you must manually select your machine.  It doesn't add it by default.  It's like they don't even use their own product.

And finally, the QR codes don't work because they don't use https.  I guess they're still on dial up.  It's easy to find the app in the app store but why bother providing QR codes everywhere when they don't work?

Once you ignore their setup instructions and figure things out for yourself, it works great.  Skates are sharp, the process is quick and easy and it's quieter than my coffee bean grinder.

OFI - Why aren't the handle areas of the plastic base indented to make them practical handles instead of rounded and angled to make it more likely to slip?

Why not have slots to place extra rings?  Think of the bumps on the sides of the plastic base that work as the hinges.  Create one more on each side that you can drop a ring into.  Angle them forwards a bit so the rings don't fall out when you open it.

Why no external slot to add a magnet on the bottom of the case to collect filings and reduce dust?  Think of a slot to slide the magnet broom into or something smaller and you sell magnets that fit into the slots.

Why no plug for the hole for the adjustment screwdriver?

2/9 update: New firmware kit arrived. This time the programming worked. Broken rings still did not work but I was given replacements. If you have a old ES100 you will want to reach out to Sparx to see if your serial # requires a firmware update. If you don't, it could potentially mess up the RFID tag in new wheels. Hope this helps prevent someone else from incurring the same pain.

2/7 update: Heard back today. They are sending a 2nd firmware kit to try out.

2/3 update: after tinkering, I figured out I could unbrick by holding down cancel button then powering machine on. I did get ahold of support via the website chat feature. They want to send new firmware kit, but I'm convinced these are just 2 bad rings. The rings do not work on my friends 2nd gen sharpeners either (I've tried em in 3 different machines). I'll update again when I hear back from support.

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I purchased two 5/8" non-fire rings a few months ago. Neither of them were recognized on my machine (ES100, Kickstarter HOF edition). I have 5 "old" rings of different hollows/fire that worked fine.

After back-and-forth with Sparx support, they sent me a firmware update tool. I followed instructions verbatim and my machine is now bricked. I turn it on and all the lights stay illuminated like this:

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https://preview.redd.it/uuo901yj7wfc1.png?width=3450&format=png&auto=webp&s=ec757bd2a38e659b0dc5386b25501cd1a777255e

Anyone know how to fix this? I sent an email to help@sparxhockey.com earlier today, hoping to get a response sooner...

Here is a video:

https://youtu.be/wnRgwQCww3k

Aside: over the last few months, every attempt to call their 1-855 phone number has failed. They never answer and the one voicemail I left was never returned. Anyone ever been able to get through via phone? Not cool.

Hey guys,

I've owned my Sparx Machine (Gen 2) for over a year now, and I've really enjoyed the results thus far.

Recently I've been having issues with my Edge Checker and Alignement. I've had no issues getting perfect Edge results in the past, but recently I've been having issues getting those same results. I'm not sure what I'm doing differently.

I've realigned my machine 3 times today, and one of my skates has gotten me the perfect Edge according to the Edge Checker. However, the other skate is so far off I'm beginning to question if the skate blade is warped or not.

Just wondering if any of you have had similar issues.

Do you guys go off the Edge Checker or by the alignment tool on the actual sharpener? Thanks for all replies in advance.

I see hockey monkey are advertising Bauer prosharp. Are they moving away from sparx does anyone know?

Hello folks. I treated myself to a Sparx this past holiday season and have been trying to get it dialed in and having difficulties. I've got the edges even (based on the edge-checker), but one of the edges comes out of a sharpening duller than the other. That is, placing my boot toe-pointing right, the edge closest to me is dull -- feels dull to the touch compared to the opposite edge and doesn't really pass the fingernail test. This is after using the honing stone and leather strop. When I get on the ice it feels like the skate will just slide along the ice instead of biting in.

I'm a new skater (maybe 6 months) so I don't have great edge control, but when I was using 1/2" before sparx (getting sharpened at the rink) I could feel the bite on both edges, but since using the Sparx it hasn't been the same.

I've followed the guides online for setting up the Sparx and adjusting the alignment and where the ring hits the blade when sharpening, and, as I said, the edge-checker says the edges are even. What else should I look at?