Supervee Problem

[Racer]

A few days ago I bought a SV27. Before I ran it, I looked at the plywood parts of it and found them a little flimsy. The next day was its maiden voyage. The first run was great, except that it took a while to get on a plane. There was water in it after, but none in the radio box. The second was when something went wrong. It flipped after a minute or so. I got it back in a kayack. There was a lot of water in it, and a little bit in the radio box. While it was drying, I inspected it. To my horror, there were 3 cracks in the plywood. 2 were on either side of the radio box. and one where the tube with the drive shaft inside it meets the transom. Is it normal for the plywood to be that flimsy? What can I do to stop this?

[Darin Jordan]

Before I ever ran my SV27, I took everything out of the inside and put a coat of epoxy over all the wood and the hull-to-wood joints, etc... Haven't had a problem at all after that...

Your water is likely coming up the drive-shaft... You'll need to use good marine grease and may also have to put a piece of fuel tubing over the end of the stuffing tube where the cable enters the coupler...

Also, if you aren't taping your hatch down, you need to be... the stock hatch seal will NOT keep water out...

[mike martin]

thats not normal you should take it back. I suggest if you get a new one take the radio box out thin some epoxy with alcohol and brush it on all the wood then take all the screws out of the back and seal them rtv works well move the antenna to the rear of the boat seal the atenna hole remove the hatch lock and seal that hole make sure you tape the hatch all the way around electrical tape works well you should not get anymore water in the boat. I have one of the first s.v.27s out I race it every weekend and its all origanal



good luck:thumbup1:
mike

[Racer]

Thank You very much! I will see if i can fix it.
EDIT: Does anyone know why the radio box is leaking, and if so, how can I fix it?

[Ctonez]

Thank You very much! I will see if i can fix it.
EDIT: Does anyone know why the radio box is leaking, and if so, how can I fix it?

It is likely to be either a leak in the water cooling tubing, the boot that the speed control wires go out of, or the antenna hole (if you haven't plugged it up already.)

Another Seattle SV27...welcome!:thumbup1:
-Corey

[Racer]

One more thing: I put it in the bathtub and there was a little bit of water in it within 2 minutes. It might be coming up the drive shaft tube. I am not sure, it was pretty hard to see. I will try to post pictures...

[fastbaltek]

put sponges where the leaks might be coming from like the transom, flex shaft, water outlet...ect wherever you think the water is coming in. then test it again and it should tell you wear the leak is.

from what i read i think it is your hardware that is leaking mainly the drive strut.

[Ctonez]

yeah, I slop silicon adhesive all over the inside of the transom.
I also removed the hardware and siliconed the the bolt holes and then screwed everything back in...I still get a little water in one of my SV's after a run...I also do what fastbaltek and Darin have suggested.

where do you run your SV?

[hookedup]

Racer, Darin wrote a very informative post awhile back on what to do to a bone stock SV as far as "setting it up". try doing a search. or was that on RRR? oh well try searching there too.

[Racer]

...where do you run your SV?

Lake Washington, I live in a calm area.

[ice329]

There is a thread Bathroom or Bathtub test on this forum. It will explain the prep. These boats are great but need to be preped. Little things need adjustment and a few new hop up things really make the differnce. G/L

[Ctonez]

Lake Washington, I live in a calm area.

me too!:w00t: you have a PM.

-Corey

[Racer]

Here are some crummy pictures...

[Racer]

And more...

Could someone give me a picture of where the drive shaft enters the tube?

[whiplash]

alot of my problem was the cowl latch. that little o ring was not doing its job.
so I removed the latch and put tape on the outside and filled it with epoxy on the inside. no more leaks. I also use spectrum so I done the same with the antenna hole too, not to mention all the pre sealing of the wood and transome. tape up good and grease the flex shaft and tube every run, only takes a min. well worth it

[Ctonez]

regarding the cowl latch, I cut a thin O-ring from my cooling tubing...like 1/8". Stretch that around the latch on the side that is facing outside, that seals the latch.
Looking at the pictures, a couple things look like they need attention;
The stock epoxy is brittle and can break easily, remove the radio box and reinforce the existing fiberglass tape with epoxy, then, as stated before, use thinned epoxy or urethane to coat all the wood...I'd goop some where the brass stuffing tube exits the hull, as it appears that there is some splintering there.

Your coupler does look too close to the stuffing tube, but since there's splintering at the transom, it may have been pushed back a bit. Gently try to push it further away if you can, otherwise you may want to cut a little off...I did, and you have to if you use an Octura coupler.

[Racer]

I know it is a stupid question, but what are good methods of lubing the stuffing tube?

EDIT: Tips on removing the radio box without hurting anything?

[Rex R]

from what I've seen(and do myself) run a small bead of lube up the prop shaft, spread it around with da pinkies(get your rag/paper towel handy before hand), then insert the shaft into the tube, wipe the excess lube off the fingers and tighten the coupler. if you want to be carefull about spread the lube, ease onto the throttle just a bit(5-10 sec) after you launch the boat. this will a)spread the lube nicely and b) avoid you getting a face full of water :)

[Racer]

What do I do to un-couple the coupler?

[Ctonez]

get yourself a 10mm wrench and 12mm wrench and twist the two coupler hexes in opposite directions...this loosens the grip that the coupler has on the cable...then pull the cable out the back.

[whiplash]

the grease help with holding back some water. souns like you never greased huh?
try grease before each run it helps alot. I just cake it on there and work it while pushing it in the tube. also
when you push in the flex shaft all the way, back off just alittle bit leaving a gap between the prop dog and the strut, to
allow recoil of the shaft while under load, a fingernail gap does just fine.

[Racer]

I am wondering if I should get another turn fin... Who has one and how does it help?

[Rex R]

I do. in a perfect world you wouldn't need one(helps for turning left)...however real life ain't perfect. even if all you run is an oval a left fin helps(turn to sharp,correct left, dead boats(and those flipping) etc.)

[ice329]

I put one on one of my boats. I didnt like it. I tryed adjusting every thing but felt the boat was to sticky or actually felt heavy on the water if you know what I mean. My own personal opinion, but I did not like it and removed it.

[whiplash]

I also removed mine, seems like it was draging, creating more amp draw and lowering my run time.
DRAWBACK: when I was correcting my right turn at WOT, my boat spined out from to much left turn, and I was dead in the water with a boat commin right for me........POW! took my cowl off..........."sunday drivers" @!#*!, lol

[Avanti]

Thank You very much! I will see if i can fix it.
EDIT: Does anyone know why the radio box is leaking, and if so, how can I fix it?

the radio box bulges at each end when the clips are being use there for it is not water tight. I have been throught this whole boat. Remove all the hardware from the transom make your adjustments and replace everthing with silicone to ensure no leaks.

Tape the hatch for every run if you boat flips it will not sink witrh the hatch taped, there for the leaky radio box will not be an issue.


I bought a left turn fin but have not installed it because I don't thikn it is neccessary after put more time into the boat.