Lucky 13 ( L13 ) Anti-Cavitation Cone Install / 2016 AR240

[Bruce]

I have created a group buy for Lucky 13 Performance Cones at https://jetboaters.net/threads/lucky-13-performance-cone-group-buy-march-1st-to-31st-2017.12544/

Thanks to @swatski and @dan144k for pioneering this mod!

 

[dan144k]

@swatski
Have you done your final tuning with these cones yet?
Curious how many rings you are running on the cone for each engine.

 

[swatski]

@swatski
Have you done your final tuning with these cones yet?
Curious how many rings you are running on the cone for each engine.

I am running with all three spacers,both sides. I'm still close to the rev limiter after ribbon delete, so no reason to mess with it, for now. Also, my speed did not suffer at all.
But, once I'm done with the integrated ballast project I may need to reevaluate - coming on plane with some 2,500- 3,000lbs of ballast may require some tweaking.

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[dan144k]

@swatski
I went out for a hour and tested my top speed, just did the ribbon delete, also remember I have turning nozzles angled downward.

Was able to get 46.5 mph, which I am happy with. Was very windy day had to hug shore to test.

Stock impellers, and nozzles adjusted correctly at rear of boat to be strait. 3 rings on both Lucky 13 cones.

Question??? at full throttle boat was pulling left slightly, but the RPM's were both 7700. thinking I may need to adjust the rings. Will play with some day when I have time. Dont think it was the wind, pulled equally in all directions compared to wind direction. Just curious of your thoughts.

I think RPM's were 7200 before ribbon delete, from memory.

Also when I let the boat drive itself and curve left, slightly, speed increased from 45 to 46.5.

 

[swatski]

@swatski
I went out for a hour and tested my top speed, just did the ribbon delete, also remember I have turning nozzles angled downward.

Was able to get 46.5 mph, which I am happy with. Was very windy day had to hug shore to test.

Stock impellers, and nozzles adjusted correctly at rear of boat to be strait. 3 rings on both Lucky 13 cones.

Question??? at full throttle boat was pulling left slightly, but the RPM's were both 7700. thinking I may need to adjust the rings. Will play with some day when I have time. Dont think it was the wind, pulled equally in all directions compared to wind direction. Just curious of your thoughts.

I think RPM's were 7200 before ribbon delete, from memory.

Also when I let the boat drive itself and curve left, slightly, speed increased from 45 to 46.5.

View attachment 54737

Man, those are great numbers. Happy for you! I don't think I would be messing with the cones or the impellers - at 7,700RPM both - that is about as good as it gets. I honestly don't know if you can get it dialed in any better.

How does it pull with the full ballast?

Regarding the left pull, I forgot if you have Cobra steering - if yes, you could make some very slight adjustments there. Jeff @Cobra Jet Steering LLC has written about it somewhere here. Or, just adjust the steering a bit, I think it is supposed to be toe-in slightly, or something like that. But - your pumps are totally synched at WOT, and you are about 150RPM from the rev limiter, exactly on target, I would not mess with that.


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[dan144k]

@swatski
Full ballast got up to 30mph and was still climbing, but had 2-3 foot waves and did not want to sub move it.

1800lbs ballast. The 800 lb bag in the ski locker really makes bow ride lower

Full ballast starting out, seamed ok, maybe slight cavitation if accelerating to fast. Did about a dozen starts. Will need to test with surfer and extra bag on the deck.
Slight Toe In on the steering is my understanding also.

For steering I have the ultimate thrust vectors.

But you got me thinking, when I drilled my nozzles for the downward angle. They may not be exactly the same. So that would explain the pull.

 

[swatski]

@swatski
Full ballast got up to 30mph and was still climbing, but had 2-3 foot waves and did not want to sub move it.

1800lbs ballast. The 800 lb bag in the ski locker really makes bow ride lower

Full ballast starting out, seamed ok, maybe slight cavitation if accelerating to fast. Did about a dozen starts. Will need to test with surfer and extra bag on the deck.
Slight Toe In on the steering is my understanding also.

For steering I have the ultimate thrust vectors.

But you got me thinking, when I drilled my nozzles for the downward angle. They may not be exactly the same. So that would explain the pull.

Glad to hear you can pop up on the plane with close to 2,000lbs with ease. Not surprising of course, I was able to do it in my 190 after some modding.
I will be testing the limits of the twin power pretty soon.

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[dan144k]

Cavation solution, for us.

We where having intermittent cavitation problems while trying to surf. Had 3 washers installed, removed 2 washers and only using 1 skinny washer.
All cavitation Is gone, running with stock impellers and they are biting always very hard and great now with ballast empty or full.

Do not know top speed, did not test.

Also finally ropeless surfing, guessing 6' pocket, 3 days in a row. 3 guys 250 to 350lb range. On inland surfer red rocket using:
Wake wedge
Perfect pass 10.0 mph
800 in ski locker
800 under port seat
350+500 on swim deck
( fuel cap under water on port side of boat, lol)

 

[swatski]

Cavation solution, for us.

We where having intermittent cavitation problems while trying to surf. Had 3 washers installed, removed 2 washers and only using 1 skinny washer.
All cavitation Is gone, running with stock impellers and they are biting always very hard and great now with ballast empty or full.

Do not know top speed, did not test.

Also finally ropeless surfing, guessing 6' pocket, 3 days in a row. 3 guys 250 to 350lb range. On inland surfer red rocket using:
Wake wedge
Perfect pass 10.0 mph
800 in ski locker
800 under port seat
350+500 on swim deck
( fuel cap under water on port side of boat, lol)

Damm, I may need to try that, too. I'm running a 3-spacer setup which works and helped a lot but I do reach a limit of about 3,000lbs of ballast, mostly aft, where I have to use trim tabs to come come out of the hole.

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[dan144k]

-skinny washer both sides
- stock impeller
- stock nozzle bore
- modified both nozzles angled down, welded and redrilled, guessing 5 degrees down.

With 3 washers we were getting cavation with more than 400 lbs on swim deck. Now with 1 skinny washer, surfed ropeless for 3 days with zero cavitation. Using a 2010 ar240

A

 

[Johnny16]

Does anyone know if this mod will work on a 2008 SX230 HO?

 

[swatski]

Does anyone know if this mod will work on a 2008 SX230 HO?

I do not know. In testing these cones in my old 190 I noticed better response (less cavitation) when paring the L13 with OEM impellers, L13 in combination with Solas Concord or Skat Trak was a less impressive. The 230 OEM impellers are shaped more like Skat than the 190 (1.8 engine) OEM impeller.

I like the L13 as they permit tuning the pump - for both cavitation issues, but also to adjust max RPM. In my experience, the L13 seem to improve pump efficiency/loading. This is hard to show in numbers, but I have run some resonably objective tests (I think) of OEM cones vs L13 - using only one engine in a twin boat - and the results were very clear. I could go way faster without cavitating w/L13s - in such a (pretty stringent) test.

But all that was in a 240, so 230 results could be either more of less impressive.

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[Johnny16]

I do not know. In testing these cones in my old 190 I noticed better response (less cavitation) when paring the L13 with OEM impellers, L13 in combination with Solas Concord or Skat Trak was a less impressive. The 230 OEM impellers are shaped more like Skat than the 190 (1.8 engine) OEM impeller.

I like the L13 as they permit tuning the pump - for both cavitation issues, but also to adjust max RPM. In my experience, the L13 seem to improve pump efficiency/loading. This is hard to show in numbers, but I have run some resonably objective tests (I think) of OEM cones vs L13 - using only one engine in a twin boat - and the results were very clear. I could go way faster without cavitating w/L13s - in such a (pretty stringent) test.

But all that was in a 240, so 230 results could be either more of less impressive.

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Thanks for the info swatski. I guess there's only one way to find out.

 

[swatski]

Had 3 washers installed, removed 2 washers and only using 1 skinny washer.
All cavitation Is gone, running with stock impellers and they are biting always very hard and great now with ballast empty or full.

So I have been doing some tuning and getting very close to where I think I want to be! I am very happy with one (gold) spacer on the strbd L13 - works perfect. The Port will need all 3, maybe even 4 - in my case, after reflash.

But that 's the great thing about the L13 - so handy when tuning a twin - just add spacer! - may not even need to repitch. Which would be great - I'm runign with stock OEM impellers, unmolested!

 

[Lake_Spray]

I'm installing the L13 on my AR190 as a winter project. @swatski grease order link no longer works:

...
The hardest part (!) was getting the OEM grease (called "EPNOC grease AP #0" or "EP") for the pump bearing. I wanted to stay with the OEM grease. After a long search found the US equivalent ("Mobilux™ EP 0") here:
https://redidriver.com/my-redi-driver-store/8-oz-ep-0-grease-for-redi-driver-free-shipping-in-usa/
...

But here's an update. Also found a guy on eBay re-selling it in 14 oz. cartridges.

Will post results of install when I can get on the water. Ice is 16"-20" thick on most lakes here right now though so that's still at least 3 months out.

 

[ScarabMike]

Ive been reading this thread and Im thinking of doing this to my waverunner. My wallet hates me for reading these types of posts,lol. Great info OP.

 

[F.M.]

Is there any reason for using the Mobilux EPO grease over the Yamaha EPNOC other than availability of the Yamaha brand?

My local shop has the Yamaha for $4.99 for a 4.5oz bottle. And Riva Racing carries the Yamaha for the same price.

 

[Lake_Spray]

Is there any reason for using the Mobilux EPO grease over the Yamaha EPNOC other than availability of the Yamaha brand?

My local shop has the Yamaha for $4.99 for a 4.5oz bottle. And Riva Racing carries the Yamaha for the same price.

Nope. My service manual specifies Yamaha EPNOC so that’s the gold standard. Mobilux EPO is simply an acceptable equivalent. They’re both lithium soap based high pressure grease with the same viscosity. The Yamaha stuff hasn’t always been easy to find (at least in small quantities) which I why this discussion popped up. Glad to see it available.

 

[swatski]

Is there any reason for using the Mobilux EPO grease over the Yamaha EPNOC other than availability of the Yamaha brand?

My local shop has the Yamaha for $4.99 for a 4.5oz bottle. And Riva Racing carries the Yamaha for the same price.

What @Lake_Spray said!
The OEM grease (called "EPNOC grease AP #0" or "EP") was not available in US at the time, other than in 50gal drums - hence we found the Mobilux replacement.

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[F.M.]

Awesome.

I've loaded my shopping cart with 2 cones and grease. I'm just a little hesitant to pull the trigger. It's hard enough to explain what cavitation is to the wife, much less that I "need" to spend $600 to fix something she doesn't know exists.