Velos 36 - Rudder Cable Tension

[mikiek]

Cartwheeled the z-boat today and while it landed right side up, it was running sort of crooked afterwards. When I opened it up later it looked like a cable was not pinched down well under the set screw. The rudder was also a bit off center. So I loosened both cables powered up the servo and centered the arm.

So now I am wondering with both set screws loose, do you just let the cables fall where the might? Should I pull on them some to add tension before I tighten the screw? The instructions don't get down to that level of detail.

On the same note. The turning radius seems pretty large. I'd like to see if that can be tightened up some. I know about the dial on the side of the TX. It's on Max now so using that is not an option. Other ideas?

[vinnyp]

I would think you should tug on the cables a slight bit before tightening the set screws. As you said, it would take any play out of them. More importantly,it will stabilize the rudder. Loose cables may let it flutter around.
Getting to the turn radius, if I were to compare the turn radius of the Zelos to my Motley Crew, the Crew turns much tighter. However, taking into consideration that the Zelos is going faster and is longer than the Crew, I am thinking its as good as its going to get. The Zelos seems to slide around a turn. Maybe its just the way mine is set up? I don't have enough time running it to have a better determination by running different set ups.

[fweasel]

Definitely put a little tension in the cables before you tighten each one down, otherwise there will be slop and movement in the cable housings. Also, don't go crazy on the grub screws. You want them tighten, but too much and you'll begin to damage the individual strands.

My Zelos is not the tightest turning boat I own, that's for sure, but I have no desire to put more rudder in the water. It does good enough on plane and at speed.

[mikiek]

Thanks guys that makes sense.

Making that wide turn scares me a bit as where I normally have to make it, the boat is far enough away that I have lost perspective. There's a bulkheaded shoreline on one side and a floating pier from the marina on the other. Two real hard surfaces. When the boat is a quarter mile away it's hard to judge how close it is to these objects. I'm still learning about looking out ahead to where the boat will be in a second or two. At 50mph (hopefully faster soon) I almost have to take my eye off the boat to look where it will be going.