My 8-year old wear ring...

[Coastiejoe]

Ok, being fair, this is off my 2009 RXT-X, 255 that I purchased new untitled in November of 2011.

I pulled the pumps off my skis to put in new synthetic grease and do a good inspection.. Both are in great shape. Just wanted to post that these rings CAN last for years,,, just depends on what you get into the pump area. On this pump, I have had two twigs and some seaweed.

 

[pipedragon]

That's impressive and the prop looks good to, unlike me you probably never sucked up rocks either, rocks are the killer on these skis as I found out the hard way.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Nope, no rocks.. I do beach the ski's, but do so gently. When I take them off the beach, I do the stern up and down thing to flush out the tunnel.

 

[Jaxtoce1]

How often should these be replaced? Is there a certain time frame? Or just when the gap gets too big?

 

[Hawk388]

In my neck of the water, you have to worry about rocks, brackish water oyster shells and sand in addition to mostly saltwater riding and all that entails. So this is impressive to me. I think I'll be lucky to get 4 years out of my wear ring even with my cautiousness. I only start up in waist deep water after pushing it out, I'm 6'2", and climb on the back of the ski. Yet I've already had one instance where I was in shallow water and didn't know it until I saw the crap being expelled by the Jet. I've also had multiple instances of pine needles being caught up in the grate/impeller after coming back from riding. My ski still does 66mph (limited by GPS), 65mph even on slightly rough water, so I'm good for now.

The best way to tell premature wear of the wear ring is seeing a drop in top end speed on flat water while seeing RPM's increase without a corresponding increase in speed/"pull". If you feel high speed vibrations with a drop in top end speed, but the ski accelerates as usual, you've damaged your impeller, which typically includes damage to your wear ring.

My worst fight here is corrosion. I spend a lot of time and money combating that. Such is the Salt Life!!

 

[Coastiejoe]

How often should these be replaced? Is there a certain time frame? Or just when the gap gets too big?

Only when needed. There are no time frames. When they get damaged and or wear out.

I had a set of Polaris skis I owned for 11 years. Never replaced either one.

 

[Mickirig1]

I have stopped about 10 people from churning up the sand and rocks. They beach it then try to power off. Last one was a brand new Spark. They just did not know.

 

[Coastiejoe]

They will know,,, we all learn. Just s matter of how we learn.

 

[Mickirig1]

I feel it's a duty as a Paramedic to help people not screw up. They don't know, I inform them. You don't listen it's you fail !

 

[Coastiejoe]

Roger that. I do my best to live in that manner,,,

 

[Mickirig1]

Just stopped two out at West Branch in Portage county. They have dropped lake level down 8 feet. They were Starting up in shallow water. Two year old Sea Doo ski's. They had not a clue. I seen them put the key on and reach for start button. I yelled: STOP! Told them why.

 

[Revo]

Some people have no idea. Just like their cars. They just figure "I hit the gas and it goes!"

Had some people with a rental ski and boat set up on the beach next to us. Not 2 minutes in a teenage girl and her friend/sister on back come flying by beach the ski, and grab a hand full of throttle trying to get it further up on the beach. The "water" coming out of the jet was sand colored. I cringed.

They switched with another pair of girls, this pair clipped the boat coming in. I had my ski tied up on some sand anchors. Moved it about 6 feet over after that happened.

 

[Mickirig1]

Most of the youngsters and adults never learned the rules of the water or the launch ramp. My Family had boats most of my life. You come into pre-launch area. You unstrap tie downs, make sure it starts up and load your stuff on boat or ski. Persons involved with launch have life vests on and ready to launch. Back down and float off with the tether line. Tow vehicle pulls off. Start boat or ski's, clear the ramp for next people up for launch. If people follow these rules / procedures. Boats / ski's can be launched and recovered quickly. My 7 person crew has it down to a 5 min drill, launch / recovery. My Wife is getting pretty good at backing down a ramp too. We made her learn this skill!