Another Venom 55" FE conversion. KOS this time!

[WhatRLaws4]

I completely understand what your talk about. I only wish now I had upgraded my stuffing tube after I decided to FE. Originally, these venom boats come with a teflon tube for the stuffing tube, and an internal teflon tube for the flex shaft...the only metal was a 2" guide tube exiting the hull. Thanks a lot, Venom. With the recommendation of Tony @ WHH, I set the center of his aluminum stuffing tube to be even with the bottom of the sponsons, then I JB welded it into the existing 2" guide tube. This is when it was gas powered of course. I did leave roughly 2" of exposed cable and teflon tube for adjustments in the drive angle and height. Getting 3/8ths clearance however may not be do-able in its current state. I would have to somehow figure out how to rebend the aluminum stuff tube without removing it. Heres a photo of the original stuffing tubes it came with, then after the warehouse hobbies drive hardware was installed. (pics are when it was gas powered still)

[bill34207]

I used to shoot for the bottom of the sponsons with my drive lines, too. Worked well with my fisrt cat (hopped up Neu 1521 powered Genesis). I didn't start raising the strut until getting into my Aeromarine Sprintcat .40. (another sweet running hull). With it, 1/4" seemed to be the magic spot.
When I set up the Falcon I started it at the same 1/4" setting but was having some porpoise issues with it and raised it some more. Both the SC and Falcon are "wide ride" hulls so yours may work for you where it's at. Or, with it being 55" long you might have to go even higher. It's like the CG, you just have to play with it and see what works out best.

[WhatRLaws4]

So far, this boat has been nothing but trial and error. But atleast these adjustments are quick and easy. I do have 1 concern however, and I hope I already fixed it. When it was gas, I would always get quite a bit of water in the hull. All my water lines were tight. The only thing I could think of was water was coming up the flex shaft. The prop shaft that WHH hobbies supplied me is a "floating" set up. The end of my cable is square. When under load, the shaft I guess gets slightly shorter in size, and is able to slide in and out of the prop shaft. Less load on my parts is how Tony @ WHH put it. Anyways, in the pic I included, the gas set up is on the left. It has a blunt face. Not hydrodynamic by any means. Could this be the culprit? I figured water was somehow getting pushed back up the flex shaft in the teflon tube. The new one for me FE set up is on the right. I took the blank shaft, put it in my drill and went up against a grinding wheel. It did the trick. Its not the prettiest thing in the world, but Im hoping this will stop the water from coming in throught the shaft now. I also got some new teflon tubing, and made it a bit longer this time so theres hardly any exposed flex cable. Think this will work? Could I be missing something?

[bill34207]

Guess I'm a little slow coming back here. I really don't have any "working" information on whether what you did will help or not though. Every time I run into one of those square drives I replace it with conventional 1 piece flex. Even if it means replacing the strut to do it.

[WhatRLaws4]

Im gonna try the square drive for now and see if rounding that piece helped any. If im still taking on water, Ill purchase a new shaft and strut next season. For now, the boat is complete. I put down industrial strength velcro ahead of the motor for the lipos, and also added a velcro strap to go around them for added security. I also got my charger in. Got the Thunder T610, read good things about it. Now Im just waiting on my lipos and power supply....hope to see those within the week.

[WhatRLaws4]

Took it out for the first time today. 54 degrees out and windy as a mother. This thing was skippin like a school girl, but man is FE sweet!!! So much better than gas. Only got on full throttle once, its fast. 50ish for the speed by my guess. But was really just puttin around at half throttle due to the conditions. But half throttle speed was same as full speed when it was gas. Im thrilled with this boat finally. It was only me today, so no running pics, but I should have some next weekend, and hopefully a vid as well.

[WhatRLaws4]