Help with wimpy Collet nut!!!

[animigan]

Hey everyone - your posts have been really helpful for me setting up my new BJ26. I have recently run into a problem with my collet nut loosening on me. After about 15 seconds of run time the nut loosens up and the drive cable doesn't spin. When I pull the boat out of the water the collet is smoking and i can freely spin the shaft inside the "tightened" collet nut. At first I thought it was to much lube, but after cleaning it all off and really tightening everything down, same deal...

Am I missing something really simple?

[macz]

Do you have the set screw on the flat part of the motor?

[domwilson]

Does the cable spin freely inside the stuffing tube? Does the nut actually loosen or is the cable just coming loose? Did you pull the cable and verify that it is lubed well? I know, alot of questions. But it will help us to determine what may be wrong.

[animigan]

I can only assume that the set screw is on the flat part of the motor, since it came stripped from the manufacturer and so far I can't get it loose at all...

[animigan]

Yes, the cable spins very nicely inside the stuffing tube. The nut itself does not seem to be loosening itself (still requires good effort to get it off after the run) but rather the cable itself just spins inside the collet nut mechanism. The cable is lubed very well inside the stuffing tube.

[domwilson]

Is the tip of the cable, that fits in the collet, solid? Does it have solder on it? If not, try to reapply solder to it.

[animigan]

Ok, good suggestion. The tip of the cable seems to be the exact diameter as the rest of the cable and doesn't seem to have too much solder on it. I think it must have melted away when things got pretty hot around the nut with the cable spinning freely for a few seconds. I am going to order a new nut and resolder the cable. Hopefully I can get some good runs in after that - have been pretty disappointed with things so far.

[domwilson]

Hopefully, you should be able to get away with just resoldering the cable. It should be the same diameter as the rest of the cable. But it should be solid for the first 1/4" to 1/2". This is to keep the cable from unravelling as well as to give the collet something solid to "Pinch".

[animigan]

Great - the tip definitely needs some solder then, since it is certainly not solid right now. I am a little pissed about the stripped set screw on the stock coupler and will probably pick up an Octura Coupler Flex Hex 5mm to .150 (Short) that was suggested on this forum on a different thread. Hopefully that will get things going! I really appreciate the suggestions.

[domwilson]

Sometimes you can remove the screw by heating it. But being that it is on the motor shaft, it may dissipate heat too quickly and can damage the motor.