great info, thanks for posting. my i11s, purchased in Feb, is showing no issues with the steering so far, it is working smoothly with little resistance. However I am not bending any of the tubes so that could be a big factor in it continuing to work properly. cheers, roger
zastrozzi wrote:
I got my i11S beginning of May and putting some mileage with upgraded stainless steel cable.
I did yesterday 13 miles (21 km) and today 16 miles (26 km) without any technical problem. Could not love i11S more for what it has offered me so far.
Here’s summary of upgrade and findings on mine.
1. Got i11s and tried it for the first time on a small lake. After 1 hr of riding, steering to one side was good but opposite side steering was getting stiffer and stiffer, then snap the spectra cable while steering. Could not use rudder /steer as it was fixed and pulled to one direction which had cable not broken. Had to use paddle back to shore as Hobie drive was doing donut (Did not loosen the drum screw at that time to retract rudder)
2. Called dealer whom I got i11S next day and requested stainless steel rudder cable upgrade kit.
3. As a temporary solution used Albright knot (One of the Fishing knots that I trust) to connect broken cable that is located roughly in between steering housing and right out side of steering cable tube.
4. Less than a week later , steel cable upgrade kit arrived from Hobie, and dealer gave me option of a. BYOD dealer install, b. DIY: I chose DIY option, because I simply could not imagine a day without my kayak.
5. Picked up cable upgrade kit and began upgrade installation.
6. As I proceeded with MY upgrade, while steering rudder to Max, discovered that one of the steering cable tube is keep getting stuck in between steering cable pulleys in side of the bottom steering housing.
7. Steering cable inside of the tube that is wedges in between cable pulleys steers well, but wedged tube will effectively block / create friction to other steering cable as it is now negotiating very tight space with wedged tube.
8. Had why spectra line broke answered, and now needed to work on how to prevent this steering cable tube keep getting stuck in between cable pulleys when steering, as I had kayak fishing trip coming soon.
9. Created square shaped washer from an aluminum sheet that I had for fishing. Square shaped washer had to have two holes big enough for stainless steel steering cable to be able to enter steering cable tube, but small enough to stop steering cable tube from entering and being stuck in between cable pulleys. Placed DIY washer in between where cable tube ends and starts cable pulleys.
10 Applied small amount of lube (WD40) on each end of steering cable tubes (rudder direction, steering housing direction)
11. Put 28+ miles (46+ km) over the weekend: Not even a single steering issue.
Actually today steering capability was very important as I was;
AM: 2 hrs of riding / going through 1-2.5 foot ocean waves (12km / 7.5 miles)
PM: 6 hrs of ocean fishing from right pass low slack to Max Flood current. (14km / 8.7 miles)