Speedster 150 Concerned about water Intake area

[shorox]

Hi, thank you for the forum. I hope I can learn how to maintain my new seadoo speedster 150 215Hp Supercharged boat here. as the local Seadoo Boat dealer/servicing agent is very unhelpful and only talks about money when I phone him to ask a simple question.

Lowdown;
I imported a 2007 Seadoo Speedster 150 215Hp Supercharged boat last month from America bound for Australia. it arrived safely 2 hours on the clock. All I had to do was get it licensed in Australia and modify the trailer which wasn't a problem. if anyone needs advise on modifying the trailer to Australian standards I'll be happy to answer any question they have.

Problem: I took the boat out for the first time yesterday. I was cruising along perfectly at around 15knots for around 30 minutes. I gradually increased speed to around 20 knots and gently pulled back to 10 knots.
I increased speed again to 20 knots when I heard a strange noise from maybe the impella. now everytime I increase speed above 3 knots theres a nasty churning noise coming from either the impella or engine. I cant tell.

I got it home and checked the water Intake area. I saw 3 small sticks and 1 peice of wood which was wedged in the impella. it was only around 3cm x 1cm. I removed it eventually. tonight I will be taking it out to see if the problem is fixed. if its not can you suggest something else for me to check.

Im a little concerned. is there some sort of a cover than I can get to cover the Jet Pump Water Intake. so small sticks wont get sucked into the impella. what about seaweed ? will seaweed get stucked up and create problems as well ?

 

[seadoosnipe]

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum.....where we can talk about anything and it don't cost you money!.......:rofl:
First, you posted your issue on someone else's thread, so I opened a new thread for you.
You got a nice boat!...I tried to pull up my manual to check something, but the computer doesn't want to cooperate tonight.
What I was checking was to see if you have the handles that release your grates to inspect your impellers or used to remove trash. Since you said you got the wood out that was wedged, I'd say you do.
I'll also bank of that wood being the source of your problem. With only a couple hours on the boat, you probably didn't do any real damage. If you did, it would be to your wearing ring. The next time you can inspect the impeller, look at the casing that surrounds the impeller. That's your wearing ring. It's meant to take the burdon of abrasion caused by the sand and other particles being forced through the impeller, instead of the pump casing or hull itself. It's made of hard rubber and teflon.
As for the screens to cover your grates. I think they do make an aftermarket kit for that, but by putting anything over the intake like that, your liable to create a resistance to the flow of water at higher speeds.
Only hard things like shells, rocks, and wood will hurt your impeller and wearing ring. Seaweed and the like will normally pass through it. The ability to lower the grates is great in the event you suck up a plastic soda bottle or something like that, you can get under there and remove it. It came in handy for me last year as I had to dive in the water and swim under the boat to remove my ski rope. It took a lot of diving under and holding my breath till I turned blue, but I got it!.......
Let us know if you got any other problems, we're here to listen and help you as much as we can. But I feel pretty certain, you found your problem.

 

[shorox]

Hi seadoosnipe,
Thank you for your swift reply. and thank you for the compliment.

I totally understand about swimming under the boat to remove the boat to remove the objects stuck in the impella. you having to get the ski rope from unstuck must have been a terrible mess. all I can think about is how annoying to have no real cage or grill to protect foreign object from entering up through the water intake area.

I would really like to investigate the possability of getting or even making a wire net or something to stop this happening again. I think it will happen as theres lots of small bits of wood, sticks, maybe plastic bags, soda cans floating in the river and ocean. this seems like a real defect in the design dont you think ?

It doesn't seem like I have handels to remove the grate to get to the impella. I had to poke a steel rod through the grate to get at the wood stuck in the impella. this was annoying.

maybe I can get rectangular peice of wire chicken fence and attach it under the grill. this shouldn't impact the waterflow dont you think ?

 

[seadoosnipe]

Maybe not...

Yeah, I just noticed in the pix, that the grate looks like it has 3 bolts on one end and one on the other for taking it out. They do make the after market kits for the grate. I'll see if I can find the link again.
Like I said, with the restriction it would create, you might lose a little performance.
I was wondering if the little pieces of wood could have come from the crate it came over in and was stuck somewhere around the grate and when you put it in the water, it got lodged in the impeller.......
Oh, and meant to ask, have you taken it back out yet to find out if it's still vibrating?....It's like 9:30 at night here....so I'm not sure about the time when you say your going to take it back out......

 

[kustomkarl]

I wouldn't put anything over the grate, because if anything covers the surface of the grate it won't pump water or allow anything to pass through the grate. You need to watch the water for things that float and avoid them... Sometimes small things will pass right through the impeller so I wouldn't mess with the way the system is designed. Large things shouldn't go in the grate but you have to be carefull of garbage and debris.
Karl

 

[seadoosnipe]

Agree...

I agree with karl, as I pointed out in my first post. And if you get something caught in there that restricts water flow to your exhaust system or across your ride plate heat exchanger, then you could cause bigger problems.
But that said, here's link to a aftermarket grate I found that suppose to be better in preventing cavitation and it covers a bit more surface......http://www.pcihealth.net/watercraft/SDRXPintakegrate.htm

 

[shorox]

time

wow you guys a quick. I really appreachiate the responces!

in Australia its 12.45pm at the moment. after work I will take it out and see if the problem is fixed. you will probably be sleeping due to the time difference. but I will post a message advising whether or not the vibrating has gone away.

I'll watch out for tiny bits of sticks or wood in the river.

I look forward for the link for the after market cover. in the mean time I will make something out of chicken wire. it will be easier to clean the chicken wire, under the boat rather than sticking my hand in the water intake area evertime a small stick gets caught.

mmm.. what about fish. does fish sometimes get sucked up through the grills and into the water intake area and sliced up by the impella ?

again Im thinking its a bad design of this boat to not have a good cover.

Thank you,
Shorox.

 

[kustomkarl]

Shrox, it is 11:03 pm here in Florida, USA I don't think I have ever heard of fish getting stuck in the Jet pump...now that might make good susi...but I have never heard of that. Good luck on the vibration, and enjoy your new seadoo...
Karl

 

[seadoosnipe]

Not getting it....

Shorox....your still not getting it.....the design is great..
Let me ask you like this. Have you ever heard of a jet aircraft engine on say, a passenger jet, cover the intake so that they didn't suck up any birds...no, because you can't create to much restriction to air flow. Just the same with the water intake for the jet pump......you can't have that kind of restriction. You'll have more potential for even worse damage........
Oh, btw, I'm on the all night shift. I'll be up till 6 am.....If I don't fall asleep at work...and Karl is pretty quick to the response times here. We like to keep the answer wait time down. With all the others in the forum thinning out cause of the hour it is in the US, your one of the few members still on!....and I sent you a link to the place you bought the boat from in your warranty thread. The link to your after market grate is in post #6.

 

[kustomkarl]

:agree: Seadoosnipe is right on the money! On all things...in his post. post #8 for the dealer info Shorox...not #6
Your welcome seadoosnipe.

 

[shorox]

Cheers

Thank you,
Havn't heard of a passenger jet plane crashing due to a flock of birds being sucked into the engins.
Yes I maybe just unlucky the first time I took it out the vibration started. hopefully it doesn't happen to often. I wont put any grills on. and will do my best to keep away from floating objects.
Cheers, & good night.

 

[seadoosnipe]

It's happened here!...

It's happened here in the U.S.....passenger jet taking off and running into a flock of birds, losing an engine and having to come back in for an emergency landing.
In many airports, they have sirens and other ways to deter birds. I saw one that used birds of prey to clear a runway before the planes started flying. Like a hawk.....then others that go out an shoot guns...
I do think you had an unlucky start and most of the nickel, dime stuff you suck up will pass right through the pump. For the moment, and I don't know how dirty your water is there, but you make it sound like a trash bin, I just wouldn't put that much into it. It happens. .........

 

[kustomkarl]

Shorox, Seadoo and every manufacture has almost the same design. The amount of problems is really small. I have been riding Water craft with jet pumps for almost 30 yrs! I have had maybe 4 occasions that had something get stuck in the impeller and made me remove it to continue riding...I have owned like over 15 water craft...I really think you are over think this issue...go have fun, and just keep an eye on the water for debris.
Karl

 

[shorox]

All fixed.

Hi Guys,
Last night as promised I took it out, it ran perfectly! absolutly no problem at all. I ran it for around 2 hours. and strangely didn't go through hardly any petrol (gas).
very happy
Shorox.

 

[kustomkarl]

I am so glad to hear that Shorox. The more you run it the better it will run. Go have some fun and come back soon...You could post some pictures too if you want, I 'm sure other members would enjoy then too.
Karl

 

[DaggarJon]

yes, post pictures..
1) take the skit out with it being riden at say 1/2 speed of WOT
2) have a person, or 2 (the more people you use the easier it is to get the shot you need)
3) have each person take pictures of the ski driving past them (see #2)
4) review pictures
5) post a picture of a perfectly centered image of the ski going by in this thread

why?

because that will be the image i super-impose my image on top of it HEy, i got to get something that shows me riding a ski... i want summer to be here NOW

 

[kustomkarl]

I heard Michigan is gonna cancel summer...it just isn't gona warm up there quick enough..lol:ack: