How Often Should You Replace the Drive Lever on Dog Grooming Clippers?

What is the most likely reason your blades aren’t performing?

Your blade drive lever should be one of the most frequently changed parts in your clippers. However, this is a necessity that is often overlooked by owners and drive levers wear down much more quickly than you might expect!

Blade drive levers by different brands, and different models by the same brand, wear down at different rates – so it is important you understand the risk for wear and tear of your own make and model of clippers. Likewise, the amount of use your clippers get will also impact speed of wear.

Clipper manufacturers normally recommend that blade drive levers should be changed every 1-3 months by professional dog groomers and vets and also by horse owners using wide blades, depending on frequency of use.

Signs your blade drive lever might be worn and in need of replacement:

Blade lines (also known as track marks) are lines visible on the animal’s coat after clipping. Such a finish can make it appear that you have used blades that are dull or blunt, even when you know they aren’t!  

If you encounter this problem in your finish, first check impacted fur isn’t blocking the blade drive lever from making its’ full side-to-side movement and that you don’t actually have a dull or under oiled blade. To rule out blade related problems, test your blade in another set of clippers first and before you blame the problem on the blade!

If your blade is sharp and well oiled, next you need to look at the blade drive lever itself. A well-functioning blade drive lever will look like the above picture:

• FIGURE 1: New blade drive lever – note squared outer edges.

However, in a worn blade drive lever (for both dog and horse clippers) the outer edges appear visibly rounded instead of square, as shown above picture

• FIGURE 2: A worn blade drive lever – note the loss of squared outer edges.

 

How often should I replace my blade drive lever?

Although varying factors such as frequency of clipper use, coat type and condition, cleaning, blade and clipper maintenance as well as clipper brand and model, all impact the speed at which a blade drive lever will wear down, the below table offers a broad guideline to replacement recommendations:

Recommended Replacement of Blade Drive Lever

Professional Groomer

6-8 dogs per day or every 6-8 weeks

More frequently if you notice signs of wear (see Figure 2 above).

Professional Groomer

4-5 dogs per day or every 3-4 months

More frequently if you notice signs of wear (see Figure 2 above).

Home Groomer

Infrequent use

Every 6-12 months

Or as soon as you detect signs of wear (see Figure 2 above).

*The above guideline is also applicable to equestrian use with wide or narrow blades.