STS-250 - Didn't stop my water issue.

[kevinpratt823]

My first guess is the cooling. I was chasing the issue in a boat before and ws s surprised to find that was the issue, at speed there is as ton of pressure. To check the hull, I would tape it all up as though ready to run, but remove antenna tube, then try sucking in through the ant err nana mount, you may hear where the air is coming in if any.

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[madmikepags]

do the pressure test with water in the syringe and lines.

[fidelity101]

Water test using syringe passed. I put so much pressure in that the line came of the syringe and water went on me and the floor...so I can't imagine the system will see that much pressure unless the outlet gets clogged.

I ended up doubling the tubing at the ends instead of zip ties. Probably doesn't make that much of a difference either way but the doubled up water tubing is easier to remove and reinstall.

I haven't had a chance to test the STS-250 since adding the QUICK GRIP between the housing and bearing...will update this thread when I can. I also switched out the strut with the strut previously used on my UH-1. It's brand new and never let any water in the UH-1...so hopefully it will help prevent water intake. The pictures in the first post show the stock strut followed by the UH-1 strut. The stock strut had a flat bottom and the UH-1 strut is more of an octagon shape. Both have a floating bushing with holes and both mate up with the teflon tube and then use a piece of shrink wrap to hold the two together.

[78MaicoRider]

6.) I have a 1/2" gap between the stuffing tube and strut. The teflon tube connects the two and I use heat shrink tubing to seal both ends. I also used a little bit of QUICK GRIP to hopefully lock the teflon tube in place and prevent it from sliding around.


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I would look at this area closely. I found it works best for me to have the stuffing tube insert into the strut 1/8 inch or so. But not so far as to interfere with strut adjustment. A little silicon sealant and it's a joint that is no longer a water leak worry.

[fidelity101]

I removed the teflon liner and noticed a decent amount of water had accumulated between the tube and liner. The teflon liner had a bit of play in all directions which caused me to compare the liner to my original teflon liner from the UH-1 project. Sure enough, the teflon liner from the UH-1 was a bit tighter...snug fit vs lots of play. I replaced the teflon liner with the one previously used in the UH-1 just as a test. Rather than taking any chances, I also removed the shrink wrap that connects the stuffing tube to the strut and placed about 5 wraps of teflon tape between the stuffing tube and teflon liner. I pulled the shrink wrap back over the stuffing tube and snugged it back onto the strut. After doing these small changes, I had 20 minutes of run time with no a single drop of water! I'm not sure if the new teflon tube made the difference or if it was the teflon tape, but the problem area was definitely between the tube and teflon liner.

Here is a video I made to show the slop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vehT4iiiSt0

A friend also pointed out that vibration could have caused that slop and I should check for unbalanced collets and/or the STS-250 parts. That was a great suggestion but these are all brand new parts. The slop pointed out in the video was the same on the engine end as well as the strut end so I don't think it was caused by the few runs this boat has seen...the teflon liner is thin all around which explains why it kept shooting up inside the boat after every run. The purpose of the STS-250 was to prevent water from coming in AND to prevent the teflon liner from shooting up. I think going with a new teflon liner that's a bit better fit will also help it from spinning inside the tube.