Im running a Doug Campbell round nose abs hydro set up for LSH on 12 cells using a cordite ss-1 motor x440 prop the problem is after a 7 minute run there is 2-3 oz of water in the hull im fairly certain its making its way up the drive line im using a Hughey 1/8'' flex cable run through a teflon liner with7/32 brass stuffing box at the motor end i soldered in a 1/4'' length piece 3/16'' brass tubing to prevent the teflon liner from shifting and put a piece of med size fuel tubing over the brass tube and flex shaft to were it goes in the flex hex at the other end there is 1 1/2 of exposed teflon supporting the drive line between the stuffing box and the Hughey strut im using Mercury marines Quicksilver 2-4-c marine grease to lubricate the drive line which i grease after every run i noticed a .002 '' play in the stub shaft im going to replace the lead teflon bushings after that im running out of ideas any suggestions would be graetly appreciated.
Keeping water out off Campbell roundnose
- Thread starter riggerman
- Start date
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Scott_T
Well-Known Member
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- Feb 23, 2005
- Messages
- 75
If the fuel tubing is touching the flex cable where it exits the teflon, then I doubt the water is coming in there. You seem to have done everything right in that respect.
Have you bath-tested the hull? There may be a small leak somewhere that did not show up in initial construction.
Does the motor or ESC have water cooling? I found the water cooling tubes on my 700 motor leaked slightly. To test we connected a syringe up to the pick-up tubing (disconnected fron the rudder), and forced water into the system with enough pressure to give the same exit stream as seen when the boat is running. I could see the leaks in the water cooling system that way. Then I simply added a small amount of silicone sealant to the tubes before fitting the tubing.
I now have a dry boat!
Have you bath-tested the hull? There may be a small leak somewhere that did not show up in initial construction.
Does the motor or ESC have water cooling? I found the water cooling tubes on my 700 motor leaked slightly. To test we connected a syringe up to the pick-up tubing (disconnected fron the rudder), and forced water into the system with enough pressure to give the same exit stream as seen when the boat is running. I could see the leaks in the water cooling system that way. Then I simply added a small amount of silicone sealant to the tubes before fitting the tubing.
I now have a dry boat!
jayt
Well-Known Member
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- Feb 21, 2003
- Messages
- 654
Your lack of punctuation makes it very difficult to understand what you are trying to explain. If I understand you correctly - not so easy to do - the teflon tubing does not extend out of the inboard end of the brass stuffing tube. Your piece of fuel tubing is slipped over both the brass tubing and the flex cable. Does the tubing actually touch the flexhex? Is the fuel tubing silicone, or is it hard plastic? If the latter, then it cannot properly seal the cable. Do you have a gap of at lest 1/8" between the drive dog and the strut? If there is a seal at the inboard end of the driveline (silicone tubing touching the cable) then water cannot enter as it has no place to go.
The unsupported teflon tubing outside the hull is not a problem. Neither is the 0.002" of play in the strut bushings, it is not maintainable at zero play.
Place a piece of folded paper towel under the inboard end of the flex cable and run the boat around the pond for 30 seconds, then bring it in. If the towel is soaked, then you are leaking at that point. If not, then look for other areas of potential leaks. The most obvious ones are the rudder pushrod exit and the antenna exit. I am constantly surprised at how many boaters don't pay any attention to these two areas, somehow expecting water to be magically kept out. If needed, seal the antenna exit with a dab of silicon sealer - you can remove it later if you need to remove the antenna. How have you sealed the pushrod exit? What kind of hatch tape are you using?
The Campbel shovels seem prone to opening their seams - running a bead of medium CA around the seam from the inside may help. A bathtub test, as suggested above, will help too.
The unsupported teflon tubing outside the hull is not a problem. Neither is the 0.002" of play in the strut bushings, it is not maintainable at zero play.
Place a piece of folded paper towel under the inboard end of the flex cable and run the boat around the pond for 30 seconds, then bring it in. If the towel is soaked, then you are leaking at that point. If not, then look for other areas of potential leaks. The most obvious ones are the rudder pushrod exit and the antenna exit. I am constantly surprised at how many boaters don't pay any attention to these two areas, somehow expecting water to be magically kept out. If needed, seal the antenna exit with a dab of silicon sealer - you can remove it later if you need to remove the antenna. How have you sealed the pushrod exit? What kind of hatch tape are you using?
The Campbel shovels seem prone to opening their seams - running a bead of medium CA around the seam from the inside may help. A bathtub test, as suggested above, will help too.
DJ Campbell
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2003
- Messages
- 41
To add to this, I second the bathtub test. And run CA around the seam. Any abs boat with assembly required should be checked for that. I tend to use a thick glue such as "Goop" to ensure the seam is water tight.
