Hey Guys,
Volunteered to change some rudder cables on a couple older skis. One is a Rose Ski, not sure of the other one.
I have never had a problem doing this before but never changed them on these older boats which have REALLY skinny cable housings. Think cocktail mixer straws. On one, the old cables slide back and forth EZ, the other seems to be binding slightly ... Normally would not hesitate to pull old ones out as I feed new ones in right behind them as a precaution but the snug one has me a little chicken to do this. Anyone ever run into problems such as the housing splitting inside the boat / out of reach on these older boats ? Would hate for it to go to pieces as I pull the old one out.
Thanks.
aloha,
pog
Submitted by onnopaddle on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:28pm
Tie the new cable to the old one and pull it through with it.
#1 Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:40pm
If you loose the old cable or a new one won't push thru pog, dental floss blown thru the tube with an air compressor or sucked from the other end with a vac will give you a strong small leader to attach a new cable to.
R
#2 Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:58pm
Hi Nb,
Thanks .. definately NOT possible in this case .. The housings are 'swollen' around the cable. Even if I knew how to braid them together, the slighly larger OD would not fit. Its that snug.
aloha,
pog
#3 Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:59pm
Hi Rambo,
Thought of this as I know some electricians employ a similar process ... Still worried about the things breaking off or ready to break inside. I know I just have to go for it but right now just thinking to much.
Room for floss in there so I will pull that through while pushing the new cables in right behind just in case.
aloha,
pog
#4 Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:03pm
ono, I had the exact same problem with an old roseski. What we did to fix it is we glassed on a new rudder cable tube to the outside of the boat. Then slapped on some gel coat to cover it all up. It was ugly as hell but it worked pretty well.
#5 Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:16pm
Eh Onno, I would stand that ski straight up, pointing to the sky, and secure it to a palm tree or 2nd floor lani, then try to shoot some penetrating oil down the old brittle sleeve. Let it stand overnight to disolve rust and see if the cable works more freely the next morning. If not, got to peel off the deck for replace guides? Auwe!
#6 Tue, 05/12/2009 - 9:03pm
Depending on the condition of the existing cable pog, you could attach a dremel to one end up close to the entry point and rotate it at a low speed. The cable friction might enlarge the hole in the rubber guides or at best clear the rust build up. Probably best to apply lube first as Koacanoe said above, then attach the dremel.
R
#7 Tue, 05/12/2009 - 11:40pm
Solder or silver braze new and old cables end to end
and pull through, no brainer.
#8 Wed, 05/13/2009 - 11:44am
After watching Mulus video of kids paddling true canoes, I recommend not converting the skis to oc-1's, but keeping them skis. So, go ahead rip out the cables and don't replace them. Remove the rudder and pad up the cockpit so kids can paddle the skis with a single blade canoe paddle (like in Mulus video) and learn how to really paddle a canoe. Don't worry about stability, for kids have excellent balance and will surprise you how fast they can learn how to paddle. Much better for kids to learn on their own this way, instead of the 6-man or 12-man, which somebody steers for them (boring). Within 2 to 6 months, these kids will have acquired paddling skills, most of us grownups don't even know of.
#9 Wed, 05/13/2009 - 10:28pm
if the cables are like on oc1 you can replace the tube. home depot carries irrigation tube that works. after removing old tube stand canoe on tail and drop a fishing line with some split shot lead on end through top hole. have someone listen at bottom or measure line. you want line to pass hole with lead suspended ( not resting on bottom). tie line at pedals. next take a piece of wire and bend the end to make a hook, stick it through bottom hole and pull line through. now tie new tube with line and pull through leave extra on both ends. seal with silicone. if hole is too big seal with epoxy putty then silicone. trim ends after dry and replace cable.
took less than two hours hardest part was standing canoe and climbing on roof to drop line through. probably faster if you have help.
#10 Thu, 05/14/2009 - 11:12am
Thanks Surfa,
Some other stuff you can do here it to bond / seal the new tubes with thickend epoxy on the inside. ..
The polyethylene tubing is perfect for this. You can even undersize the hole a little and 'force' it thorugh as it is a little softer and 'seals' a bit. Even though Epoxy does not technically bond to it, it WILL locate the tubing pretty solid. Rough it up a bit with 150, and inject a little thickend epoxy into hole, pull tubing through and position boat so gravity lets the epoxy back fill over hole and tubing. Gotta mix the epoxy to a little thicker than ketchup. Would be nice if boat was dry inside and inner hole prepped with a bent nail spun around too.
The coiled tubing can be straightened out by placing it inside a metal pipe out in the sun.
aloha,
pog
#11 Thu, 05/14/2009 - 7:08pm
Wow! I'm gonna save the above, mahalo Surfaa and Onno.
#12 Thu, 05/14/2009 - 10:05pm
We had the same problem with a cable. The guy at the shop cut a small hole at the rear of the OC1 repaired the cable and then put in a capsaul that can be unscrewed for future access.
It didn't take long, not much fiddling around and was not expensive.
#13 Sat, 05/16/2009 - 2:26am