Another failed Solas impleller

[Ronnie]

This past weekend, two hours into tubing, the boat was in a turn while pulling 2 riders on a single tube when suddenly a lot of rattling noises came out of the port side. The pump was clear and the engine would start and run but the rattling sound was still constant and / or getting louder. At first I thought bad intermediate bearing which is better than an engine problem imho. I crawled under the boat this morning and found that the port impeller had lost part of a blade. See the attached pic.


this happened once before soon after my wife drove over some large pieces of wood floating in the river. I don’t know why it happened again but didn’t notice any wood or other solid material going under the boat prior to this happening. I’m tempted to buy a new/another custom pitched Solas impeller but may just take both Solas out m, replace them with the oem impllers

 

[Cambo]

Good chance you sucked up something again but it was ejected of fell out. Props get destroyed on boats much more often on and cost more than impellers so consider it a wear item replace it and hope you have better luck in the future. I lost my hat the other day and thought if a jet boat or ski sucked it up that could do some damage to an impeller rotating at 7K rpm

 

[Ronnie]

I think something got sucked up and damaged the blade i just don’t know what or when it happened. The first time I saw my wife run over debris several times before the impeller failed. This time around we didn’t run anything over, that I or anyone in the boat is aware of anyway, and the blade just failed while in a turn unexpectedly. I don’t know if it’s worth the cost to buy a new custom pitched Solas impeller, it will be my second or third one for the port side. I tried to sell and give away my oem impellers in the past and am now thankful for failing at both efforts.

 

[mrcleanr6]

This has been a thing with solas for a long time BUT its usually with the high performance waverunner guys where the prop is under a crazy amt of hp. Not usually with a stock motor. I threw a blade once but my ski is about 450hp with a 9400 red line @90mph. If its stock motor then yes it could be a casting issue but more than likely damaged by an impact. I would never put oem back in the boat. If your fed up with solas then put a skat in it. They never throw blades that i have ever heard of

 

[Ronnie]

Thanks for the feedback. I didn’t know skat trac was still offering impellers for jet boats/jet skis. I put the oem implllers back in the last time a Solas failed on me. I didn’t notice the performance loss but I am sure I had some. Oem impellers are not shiny or smooth like the solas impellers are but I have never heard of an oem impeller throwing a blade whereas I’ve lost two Solas now. After repitching and shipping it comes out to close to $400 each so using oem is the least expensive solution, followed by just replacing one Solas and finally by getting two new skats. I will probably just go with oem for the rest of this season (usually ends on October 1st) and figure out what to do for next season later.

 

[mrcleanr6]

The performance gain is the lack of cavitation. The solas dont cavitate. They hook up and hold the power. Out of the hole they are so much better. The oem are terrible. They cavitate so bad its not even funny.

 

[swatski]

The performance gain is the lack of cavitation. The solas dont cavitate. They hook up and hold the power. Out of the hole they are so much better. The oem are terrible. They cavitate so bad its not even funny.

That's has not been my experience at all with the 1.8 N/A. it could be different with the larger SVHO pump.

In fact, having gone through an extensive period of testing various impellers in the 190 - the new, unmolested OEMs consistently came out on top as far as cavitation, or lack thereof, which can be pretty bad in the singles to start with. Combined with a (well tuned) L13 cone, the OEM 6CWs can be made to not cavitate at all in a 190 1.8 N/a boat, I know it for a fact. Skats and Solas do not come close. I posted lots of posts on that.

In my current twin (also 1.8 N/A) - I like the OEM 6CWs (from single 1.8) - that's what I run with and gives the best low end/take off, which is great for wake surfing.

--

 

[swatski]

Thanks for the feedback. I didn’t know skat trac was still offering impellers for jet boats/jet skis. I put the oem implllers back in the last time a Solas failed on me. I didn’t notice the performance loss but I am sure I had some. Oem impellers are not shiny or smooth like the solas impellers are but I have never heard of an oem impeller throwing a blade whereas I’ve lost two Solas now. After repitching and shipping it comes out to close to $400 each so using oem is the least expensive solution, followed by just replacing one Solas and finally by getting two new skats. I will probably just go with oem for the rest of this season (usually ends on October 1st) and figure out what to do for next season later.

I have some 5-10 various spare impellers somewhere in my garage that would fit your pump, I would be more than happy to send you one if you like, it wouldn't be shiny and new but something to hold you over.

--

 

[mrcleanr6]

funny, your the first person i ever heard say that lol. i dont know anything about the 6cw though. i am just speaking of the std oem impellers. as soon as you start putting a little power to them they just cav like a sob. you are right though, i am speaking of the 160mm pump for the svho. the stock impeller doesnt hold the svho power. my solas is holding 450hp with zero cavitation at all. as soon as i did the first mod to my ski the stock impeller was useless. you wont find a single person on the greehulk forum using a stock impeller. repitched or otherwise. the L13 cone unfortunately is just a bandaid. i spent 2 years doing every combination imaginable. i had multiple nozzle machined at different dia. i tried different degree nozzles. i tried it all and in the end the best performance was with the stock cone and a solas. the L13 works to eliminate the cavitation yes but will also rob top end where you can just put a solas in and eliminate the cavitation without losing anything off the top. now i should say that i am speaking of the solas concord impellers. the old dynaflys are terrible.

 

[Ronnie]

The performance gain is the lack of cavitation. The solas dont cavitate. They hook up and hold the power. Out of the hole they are so much better. The oem are terrible. They cavitate so bad its not even funny.

I agree, the Solas don’t cavitate much at all when going from idle to wot whereas the stock impellers do but at this point I’m willing to put up with more cavitation for more reliability.

The Solas impellers don’t fail often but when they do it ends the boating day and causes a lot of other work. It took two hours to get to the lake and we only boated for two hours before the impeller failed, made for a short Sunday Funday and a depressing two hour ride home. The first time it happened I was 30 miles from the ramp/tow vehicle and ended up anchoring my boat, catching an Uber to my tow vehicle and driving back to the ramp I left the boat at before driving two hours instead of one home. My only another alternative would have been to call tow boat us but that would have cost me a lot more out of pocket and would have taken a lot longer.

 

[Ronnie]

I have some 5-10 various spare impellers somewhere in my garage that would fit your pump, I would be more than happy to send you one if you like, it wouldn't be shiny and new but something to hold you over.

--

Thanks for the offer but I recently saw my oem impellers so plan to dig them or just the port one up and use it until I figure out what to do for next season.

I remember being able to count how long the stock impellers would cavitate when going from idle to wot, it was less than a three count. I did the same when I first installed the Solas impellers and only got to one. Two seconds of cavitation may have mattered to me once upon a time but not anymore. I would happily live with the cavitation from the stock impellers if they make it less likely that I will be dealing with/replacing impellers in the future.

 

[Ronnie]

I pulled the impeller and shaft after work today. This is what I found, looks a lot like the last Solas impeller that failed on me.

 

[tdonoughue]

I am noting two things:

First, the edge that broke off is pretty scratched up. Looks like it might have caught on something? But, that said, no bend and no indication of a hit at either end of where it broke off.

Second, what is that discoloration down by the failure point?

 

[Ronnie]

I hadn’t put much thought into the cause of the damage or even the burn mark, I believe that is what it is anyway. I suspect the burn mark was made when I turned the engine on and rev’d it up out of the water. Total time on was less than a minute.

I turned the port engine on after I removed the impeller and it started on the first try and idled at 1100/1200 just like the starboard engine. With this in mind I am relieved that it’s not an engine problem or a bad intermediate bearing. At least in this situation I already have the replacement part, tools and experience to deal with it. Not necessarily so for a bearing or engine problem.

Also glad that this didn’t happen on the way to or back from Sacramento a few weeks from now. About 50 miles each way. Guests are locked in and Hotel rooms are already reserved.

 

[Ronnie]

I tried to separate the impeller from the shaft but simply couldn’t do it, even with a three foot cheater bar. I will probably bring the assembly to the local power sports shop and have them break the impeller free. Yes I know the impellers are reverse threaded.

 

[RobbieO]

I tried to separate the impeller from the shaft but simply couldn’t do it, even with a three foot cheater bar. I will probably bring the assembly to the local power sports shop and have them break the impeller free. Yes I know the impellers are reverse threaded.
View attachment 161634

That’s what I ended up doing as well. Going back together is easy. The newer style wear rings slip in by hand. There are 2 big orings in the housing and the ring is molded with a binyl liner. I guess thats how they solved the corrosion issue.

 

[tdonoughue]

Time to break out the 6' breaker bar...

 

[1WetBoat]

I tried to separate the impeller from the shaft but simply couldn’t do it, even with a three foot cheater bar. I will probably bring the assembly to the local power sports shop and have them break the impeller free. Yes I know the impellers are reverse threaded.
View attachment 161634

You need a good wrench to go on the impeller tool and the shaft tool and a longer cheater bar(4-6ft), I would also use try using your cars weight to hold the wrench on the end of the shaft while you use the cheater bar to pop free the impeller. Put it all on your driveway and drive your tire over the wrench at the end of the shaft then use the longer cheaterbar to try and remove it. Doing it on a workbench with Vise-Grip doesnt work as good.

Slugging Wrench

 

[Ronnie]

You need a good wrench to go on the impeller tool and the shaft tool and a longer cheater bar(4-6ft), I would also use try using your cars weight to hold the wrench on the end of the shaft while you use the cheater bar to pop free the impeller. Put it all on your driveway and drive your tire over the wrench at the end of the shaft then use the longer cheaterbar to try and remove it. Doing it on a workbench with Vise-Grip doesnt work as good.

Slugging Wrench

I have done most of that before and thought about doing it again but I will be heading to the power sports store soon anyway for oil so will bring the assembly with me to have them disassemble it while I’m there. No need to throw out my back or even break a sweat over this as I’m in no rush. Not boating again for a few weeks. Besides a few seasons ago my son and I were doing the same work with the same set up and I ended up breaking the vise. The part that broke off hit the nearby wall hard and fast, glad neither of us got hurt. My vise is not big or securely mounted enough for me to do this work comfortably/safely.

 

[dan144k]

I got both mine to come apart with a 24" closed 12pt wrench. Mounted into a pipe chain vise