Wire drive question.

[siberianhusky]

Is it safe to have a portion of the wire unsupported in a stuffing tube?
Thinking about a wet well stuffing tube on a mono, wondering if you can cut the stuffing tube short and leave the wire exposed to the strut.
I've seen some pictures on a site about wire drives where the guy has a long unsupported run of wire, I wonder if and how much this might whip.

http://www.fastelectrics.net/drives.php

down at the bottom of that page you can see what I'm talking about.
Thanks

[Boaterguy]

I think if it's bent it doesn't whip, or the other way around. but I have heard it can be unsupported. doesn't the stuffing tube have to go in to support the bushing?

[Basstronics]

I tend to agree with the author of that page. The wire drive can go some distance unsupported. You do need to have a three point setup though- so a stuffing tube somewhere is needed- it just doesnt need to be long. Also the stuffing tube help the wire stay put when its bent as in most boats.

[siberianhusky]

I was thinking about using a stuffing tube for all but the last about 3-4", would like about 1/4 or a bit more total adjustment range. For a 30" spec powered mono club racer/fun boat. Motor will be mounted fairly far forwards to keep the bend as shallow as possible. Would have 5" unsupported maybe?
This hull has been a 3.5 nitro inboard, an outboard and now an electric inboard, can't remember what it is anymore, had it since the 80's in it's original state it ran a sub surface drive, then surface, then the outboard!

[Basstronics]

I think you will be fine, just my opinion. In theory it all makes sense. Just make sure the mid point (ish) position is somewhat loose but not to loose.

If you want to experiment a bit try it on a dremel tool if you have a drill chuck on yours. Ive done this and had the prop shaft in the strut to feel how much it does vibrate. YOu can then experiment some with the bend and how much contact is required to take the vibration out of the shaft. If you think a little further about it the wire shaft cant go to far. At one end its affixed with a collet or set screws. The other end is trapped by a drive dog.

[Jeff Wohlt]

Hans Muller ran a 75 mph rigger in WI and smoked them all. All he had was a small peice of tubing maybe 1" long thru the hull...the rest ran open. He and I spoke several times and never had a problem with it.

[siberianhusky]

Thanks! Jeff can expect an order when he's back at the end of the month, this boat has taken far too long to get together.

[Jeff Wohlt]

He was running 2mm wire or what we call 078. He was also sponsored by lehner and came over from Germany...never saw anyone run that fast and that was 7 years ago! What I would do is alsways use a vac tubing end and drill a hole thru it for the water issues when stopped.

[siberianhusky]

Yep I read that post about sealing the shaft with a vac plug, great idea. .078 was always the idea, got laid up by the postal strike then some other problems popped up....
Still plenty of running time left in the season, last run last year ended in a white out, snowing so hard you couldn't see far enough to run the boats.
Cheers