what brass tube for .062 wire drive?

[kwiktsi]

I am trying to finger out the correct brass tube diameter to use for my .062 wire drive. I had searched online quite a bit and found one that said 3/32" od which I used and seems ok, albeit not as free spinning as I would like and I have been told it needs to be bigger. I have also read 1/8" od and Jeff Wholt said 1/8" id- which is a 5/32 and seems big for a .062 wire in a 16" rigger. Just wanted to get some ideas of what others are using. Thanks.
Joe

[Jeff Wohlt]

Sorry, thought that was an 078...my mistake. Yes, 1/8" is fine OD but 1/8" ID is also fine if your bend is a bit tighter.You just want to make sure your wire is centered at the motor coupler so it is not riding the edge of the brass tube. I put an antenna nipple on the stuffing tube for small set ups and then poke hole in it for the wire to run thru...this stops an water.

[kwiktsi]

That makes more sense, thank you :). I used 3/32" od which was just over 1/16" ID as that is what I had read online somewhere. My bend is a little tighter than I would have liked since the boat is only 17", didn't leave a lot of room for a longer drive. The 3/32" felt tighter than I liked trying to spin it and today while testing out the boat, it actually locked up (and I had lubed it with light oil). I have 5/32" here which is 1/8" ID, I'll have to find a way to neck it down at the motor end for water. I'll give your antenna cap a shot. Thanks.
Jie

[egneg]

Just glue the smaller tube into the larger tube at the motor end. I have it done on both ends on my .062 wire drive. You only need a small bit at each end.

[Jeff Wohlt]

Oil alone is not good enough...always use a little grease and then a few drops of oil...makes a nice slick slather.

[Jeff Wohlt]

I still like the 5/32 for these set ups. Wire does not flop around like cable.

[kwiktsi]

I had actually changed it out the other night to 5/32" with the antenna cap on the motor end and so far, so good. I was going to solder a short length of the small tube to the motor end but figured there would be more friction with that than just the antenna cap. Took the boat out with the new setup yesterday and it is night and day performance wise, that small tube was just robbing too much power in the bend. It's only a 20mm inrunner, so it needs to be as free as possible.

With the new setup, the tube is actually pretty a pretty short piece of 5/32"- about 1 1/2" long. It starts about 3/8" or so in front of the motor and ends with a slash cut flush with the bottom of the tub. The only thing in the water is the wire. Works perfectly and have not noticed more than a drop of water in the hull after a run. Also, the wire doesn't need lube at all like this since it doesn't touch anything. I just put some grease in the tube to help seal the antenna cap.

[kwiktsi]

Ugh, double post.

[martin]

I prefer running a .098" Teflon liner with 3/16" o/d brass stuffing tube with my wire drives.

[martin]

I find on the small low powered motors theirs deff an advantage running ball bearings in the strut.

[kwiktsi]

I find on the small low powered motors theirs deff an advantage running ball bearings in the strut.

I was thinking of making another strut and trying that. Should free up some as well. Thanks.
Joe

[martin]

On the small boats I always use ball bearings in the struts, on a particular 15" mono I also made a floating bush strut just to try same design as the Speedmaster system with the rotating bush. It was noticeable that it was slower on the same boat than the ball bearings, this was on a 450size outrunner running at 42000rpm unloaded.

[kwiktsi]

On the small boats I always use ball bearings in the struts, on a particular 15" mono I also made a floating bush strut just to try same design as the Speedmaster system with the rotating bush. It was noticeable that it was slower on the same boat than the ball bearings, this was on a 450size outrunner running at 42000rpm unloaded.

wow, if you noticed that on a 450, it should really make a difference on the little 20mm! I'm going to have to make or buy another strut for this thing.