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 Post subject: Rudder blades kicking up
PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:32 am 
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The rudder blades on my Hobie Getaway are kicking up when I am driving the boat fast-also when the blade contacts even small things like jellyfish-a bit irritating and I am sure there is a post somewhere addressing this issue of tiller adjustment -just can't find it.
Can someone point me in the right direction?
Thanks
Peter


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:28 am 
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Depends on what type of system you have - there is a EZ-Lock system which is current, and the original cast 2 piece upper and lower castings which use an adjustable cam system.

You can find tuning info on the FAQ pages here: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=467

Also we have a support page for each product we sell linked at the top of this page - try there as well: http://www.hobiecat.com/support/products/getaway/

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:19 pm 
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Thanks for that info-have printed it and it all makes sense-I have a 2 piece cast tiller system with a cam on the lower bit and an adjustable sliding tongue on the upper part(this tongue is secured by a bolt clearly visible from the top of the tiller arm)
Peter


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:20 am 
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I have the same problem with blades kicking up with the EZ-LOC system.
They definitely kick up with a Jelly fish, but I am more concerned about them kicking up with no apparent reason, just when going fast and it happens more often when I am on a closed reached.
I am not sure of what adjustment to do. If I tighten the bolt too much, it'll give more friction around the bolt but the assembly will start to open a little bit where the locks are.....


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:56 am 
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With an EZ Loc system, Tightening the bolt should not open the cam area. Its like a bolt through a clam shell. The bolt in the middle should close the shell as the bolt is tightened. The added friction will help keep the rudder down.

It is important with the EZ Loc system to keep the rudders fully up or fully down in storage. This places the cams into the indents in the rudders. By leaving partially down, the rudder housing is flexed open and distorts over time. This reduces the friction on the cams to the rudders.

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:16 pm 
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Yep, I am really careful about leaving them all the way down or up. I'll tighten the bolts then and see what happens.

thanks!

Guillermo


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:09 pm 
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I had the same problem, and it wasn't until I took the whole assembly apart did I find out that the plungers had both fractured. I originally had thought it was the cam assembly, and planned to do a cam overhaul (including drilling out the factory cams) - I do not have the EZ-lock system, BTW, mind are the older metal ones.

Anyways, once I got the cams out, I popped out the plungers (which are the pieces that the cam uses to compress the springs), and found that the plunger heads were nearly torn off. I realized that the springs were pretty much seized through a combination of old grease and sand.

I cleaned them all out, bought new plungers, regreased it all and put it all back together. First time out (on a pretty windy day), exact same thing happened. I took it all apart again, and found I had broken both of the new plungers.

Turned out I had overtightened the adjustment knob at the bottom of the spring shaft - the springs were too compressed, and the plungers again took the brunt. As well, the plates in the rudder housing up top were too far forward, and were not sitting in the cam nodes properly.

It's finally set up correctly now, but it was pretty trying, trying to figure out the root cause of the problem. If your cams are rotating properly, and your plungers are not broken, you may not have enough tension on the springs. Tighten the knobs on the bottom of the rudder housings in half turn increments each until they don't kick up any more.

Interestingly, it must have been set up this way from the beginning, because the person who I bought the Getaway from sold it because it was too hard to steer. What was really going on was that the rudders were not set up properly from the get go, and were always slightly off vertical.


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