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Tag Archives: impeller

25 YEARS OF THE MODERN SEA-DOO – 1990 INTRODUCTION OF THE THREE-SEATER GT

02 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by Sea-Doo OnBoard Editor in Behind the scenes

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1990, 25 years, api, colors, dealer, first, four models, grand touring, gt, history, impeller, lifestyle, Sea-Doo, skier, three-seater, tow, two-seater

1990 marked a monumental year in the personal watercraft industry.  Bombardier would invent a new segment in the fledgling industry with the introduction of the Sea-Doo GT (grand touring), the first ever three seater-watercraft. The GT wasn’t alone as the 1990 Sea-Doo watercraft line included three new models and added in a touch of color. The Sea-Do0 SP was introduced as the base model and the SPi was a step up (the “i” stood for stainless steal impeller, that was a substantial performance gain over the standard aluminum cast impeller) and of course the GT model.

The Sea-Doo GT received its share of criticism as industry insiders argued if people really wanted to ride three-up on a watercraft. What the GT did offer was a legal platform to pull skiers with that opened an entirely new usage of watercraft with room for a driver, observer and skier. The longer platform with a, relativly, oversized storage bin in the bow made ‘touring’ a reality on watercraft. The 1990 Sea-Doo GT also included reverse, substantially assisting in docking situations.  Little did anyone predict that eventually three-seaters would eventually make up roughly 90% of the market. The 1990 Sea-Doo GT was a monumental watercraft in the history of the industry.

 

DOCTOR DOO – The Right Dose of Wake Boost for Nick Taylor

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by Sea-Doo OnBoard Editor in Doctor Doo

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180, 210, 230, airplane, best, boat, boost, change, dealer, debris, DIY, do, Doctor, doo, ensure, exhaust, fix, Florida, for, gti, gtx, hot, how, impeller, intake, jet, learn, new, perform, performance, propeller, proper, propulsion, pump, route 1 grant, rxp, sale, Sea-Doo, setting, strong, suck, system, teach, tech, Technology, texas, to, venturi, wake, water, weedless, yamaha

We wouldn’t recommend that you take Nick Taylor’s advice for treating your flu like symptoms but we highly suggest taking his advice on the wake boost settings for wake skating behind the Sea-Doo 230 WAKE boat.

DOCTOR DOO: Don’t Get “Steered” Wrong Sea-Doo Boaters

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Sea-Doo OnBoard Editor in Doctor Doo

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adjust, align, best, boat, boating, brp, california, challenger, connect, deal, dealer, direct, DIY, drive propulsion, easy, family, fast, fix, Florida, for, fun, glen, good, gtr, impeller, jet, lakes, love, maintenance, mechanic, minnesota, new, perry, ppg, pwc, repair, sale, Sea-Doo, Sea-Doo boats, Sea-Doo watercraft, speedster, steer, steering, technician, texas, used, wake, water, waterspouts, wave, world, yamaha, york

Detect, inspect, and adjust to ensure you are running in-line.

It has been a frequent question since 1994 when, then Bombardier, introduced their first Sea-Doo a
boat, the Speedster. The twin engined, twin direct drive water jet propelled machine was a new type of fun, and the family could come along too! Along with the new machine came some new mechanical layouts that differ from the standard PWC.

 

Most often PPG hears “Why won’t my boat go straight?” or “it really pulls to the left!” or to the right….

 

Well, it’s usually one or two things, sometimes as many as three elements that need to be addressed.

 

A simple Straight Edge can be used to determine is the steering nozzles are aligned or not aligned.

We’re showing a simple way, using a calibrated straight edge, to assure that the steering nozzles themselves are aligned. The steering nozzles, well, they steer, they are what ultimately what steers the boat by pushing the transom to one side or the other.

1. – This should be the first aspect to be inspected. Using the straight edge it should have contact in four places at the steering nozzles. If not, align by adjusting the connecting rod between the two nozzles, or have a certified Sea-Doo dealer do this for you. Once your nozzles are aligned, ensure your nozzles and steering wheel are straight. If they are not there are two adjustment points for the actual steering cable; one at the steering nozzle end and one at the steering wheel end. Before adjusting these points be sure to consult a official BRP/Sea-Doo Shop Manual or better yet, have a BRP certified technician do the adjustment.

 

2. – Propulsion system inspection, It is very difficult for most operators to *never* have a small stone, shell, or even a piece of floating hardwood (stick or twig) to not get processed through the rapidly spinning impellers due to the strong suction of the pumps intakes themselves (refer to our last Dr. Doo article).

A slight ding in an impeller can be the reason for the boat to start pulling one way or the other, even though they are at the same RPM’s and the throttles are perfectly synchronized.

3. – Synchronizing Throttles: synchronizing of RPM via the throttles, if you have twin throttles, is key.

Some shops say this can be done accurately without being in the water with said unit….it can’t. The reason is that the two individual pumps have to have INDENTICAL pump loads for this to work. Now when the impellers and impeller wear-rings are in new condition it is much more feasible for all things to be equal within the pump assemblies.

Once the alignment is complete, considering that the jet pumps and the impellers are in good matching shape, it is time to synchronize the throttles. This is best left to a certified Sea-Doo technician also. Patience and training make the whole process much easier, and it doesn’t cost a lot for it to be done correctly.

So when the local BRP dealer is telling you these things have to be *right*, for it to steer correctly, and keep the throttles aligned, they are telling it to you…straight.

Hopefully this has helped shed some light on what can be an aggravating issue.

No matter where your boating takes you, Florida, California, Minnesota, New York, Texas, Ontario, where ever, Long may you run, Dr. Doo

Glen Perry of Perry Performance Group provides this installment of Doctor Doo and is a fitting author as he has earned his PHD in Doo care as a 35+ year veteran of the powersports industry with the last 20 specializing in Sea-Doo product. Perry is also the creator of the popular Sea-Doo forum sea-doo.net

DOCTOR DOO – HOW TO KEEP YOUR SYSTEM CLEAN – DON’T SUCK!

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by Sea-Doo OnBoard Editor in Doctor Doo

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Doctor Doo is here to help cure what ails you!

A problem we hear from time to time with Sea-Doo watercraft and boat owners is the congestion of debris in the direct drive water jet propulsion system but this is something that can be minimized with some understanding of what is going on underneath your vessel.

Lets first look at what a Direct Drive Water Jet Propulsion system consists of.

A Direct Drive Water Jet Propulsion system starts at the intake, this is a tunnel or track that enters the bottom of the hull to feed the encased impeller. Now hold this vision for just a few sentences… In front of the intake inside the vessels engine compartment rest the engine, mounted directly onto the bottom of the hull with the in-line drive shaft angled straight back (towards the transom) traveling through the hull and connected to the front, center of the impeller. No transmission here, it is a “direct-drive” system.

Okay back to the water flow. The impeller is a bladed or veined component that when turned transfers water from front to back, this is what creates the water propulsion. But there is more to it than that, behind the impeller blade are directional veins angled the opposite as the impeller blades to straighten the twirling water flow to force it straight back to use that energy as efficiently as possible to create maximum forward thrust. Behind the jet pump is the Venturi. The venturi is shaped similar to a cone, with the inlet being much larger in opening diameter than the smaller, tighter exiting outlet. This compresses the water and provides greater thrust when forced out. Imagine holding a garden hose with water running freely out of the end. now squeeze your thumb over the end and wow, it shoots a stream of water a lot harder, faster and further, this is what the venturi does.

Now to provide steering (and trim on some models) there is a pivoting nozzle on the rear of the venturi, this redirects the water flow from side to side to push the transom to side to side to change direction – or up and down to change/trim planning angles.

Okay so that is direct-drive water jet propulsion 101, this video offers a visual look at everything we just described.

This system draws water up into the water jet pump and pushes it out the back to propel the vessel. The pump is creating suction to draw that water into the system and anything else that might be in its negative pressure proximity. This could include sand, trash bags, sticks, Sunglasses, rope, but designed to efficiently process water and it does this very well. To help ensure only water enters the system an intake grate is mounted over the inlet. This is usually comprised of three hydrodynamically designed “bars” that run from the front of the opening to the back and are nearly flush with the bottom of the hull. The intake grate ensures large objects do not enter the propulsion system.

The intake grate is designed for hydrodynamic performance and the greater the covering, fencing or screening of the intake substantially impedes water flow and ultimately performance suffers. There is a balance but with this small objects can be drawn into the intake system. Here is where education can save you headaches.

First you should always follow your owners manual and operate your vessel in 3-feet (1m) of water depth or more but if you do find yourself in shallower water and your Sea-Doo vessel’s propulsion seems “funny” get to a safe location (one with out current and clear of potentially dangerous objects) and turn off the engine(s). The worse thing you can do is try to power through it. Why? Okay, imagine you’re vacuuming the interior of your car. You accidently run the hose nozzle over a rouge gas pump receipt and it is sucked to the end of the hose impeded airflow. Bumping up the vacuum power to max only holds the paper to the hose tighter. Shut the vacuum off and watch the paper fall off the vacuum hose un aided.

A common mistake of Sea-Doo owners that get into vegetation and it begins entering the jet pump system is powering up and hoping it will be processed. What this can do is pull the debris into the system deeper increasing the odds it will get stuck. Another common mistake is thinking by putting the vessel in reverse and powering up it will blow out the debris that way.

Remember a few paragraphs up when we discussed “direct drive”? This system works off of redirection of waterflow. In reverse the water coming out of the venture is redirected forward, similar to technology of jet airplanes when they slow down after landing.  The intake is still drawing in water in the same direction even when in reverse.  Both of these actions can also cause the exhaust to overheat as the cooling water flow is hindered. The best course of action is to turn off the engines and more times than not the debris will simply fall away.

In 2012 BRP takes this thinking a step further with the addition of the weedless system. This new system works with the iTC (intelligent Throttle Control) system and offers a button located on the dashboard of select Sea-Doo boat models and when activated (engine must be turned off) hinges the intake grate downward to utilize gravity in the aid of debris simply falling away.

That was a long way of simply saying, to keep your propulsion system clean, simply suck less!

 

 

This installment of Doctor Doo was supplied by Willy Carmine a former member of the BRP/Sea-Doo R&D team and current President of Route 1 Motorsports an authorized BRP Sea-Doo and Can-Am dealer in Grant, Florida where his customers boat in the Indian River, the 120 mile long lagoon that averages 4.5 feet (1.4m) in depth, so he knows a thing or two about shallow water boating.

 

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