warning-micro hydro
 

this is just to let people know if they by a micro hydro from mini cat racing to make sure u check were the flex shaft is solderd on to the shaft stub. mine broke of after about 6 runs. this is not minicat racings fault as they are just a importer.after mine broke we have taken the other 2 out of the other boats my friends have and 1 is good and the other needs to be re solderd.if this part comes of u loose the shaft, prop and drive dog.if anyone is going to buy one of these boats this is the only fault i have found and that can be fixed with a soldering iron in acouple of minutes.as for the rest of the boat it is first class.very fast and very well made.

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

Don't you use a torch and silver solder and sweat solder the flex shaft into the prop shaft? Thats how I do it anyway.

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

lock-tite

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

Just locktite? That really holds with all that torque?

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

yes

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

Taylor is always very vague when giving advice. So much so that it really isn't advice. When people think of loc-tite, they think of the blue stuff...no this will not hold. If you use loc-Tite, you need the Loc-Tite 648 I believe. It is green and is meant for tight fit metal on metal. It is green and is permanent. It will let go when heated. I use this on my boats with great success.

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

Just to give you guys some idea of how strong the 648 green is, on my 64" bonzi with a pair of full mod 260's inline building over 15hp on 20% nitro, I can twist the 1/4" hardened flex shaft in half by blipping to full throttle, and on the past 6 broken shafts iv used the green on the stub, and have yet to have a failure at that point.

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

Not a powerful boat but I used loctite on my renegade rigger. So far no problems.

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

actually its loctite 603

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

I use loctite 609, super bearing mount and haven't had any problems yet. Great stuff!!!!

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

So which is it, 648, 603, or 609? Where do I get some? I think it might be easier to get it centered in the prop shaft with this method. Also you wouldn't have heat up the metal and compromise it's agility. Do you still sweat some solder on the cable ends to prevent freying and stiffen up the end that gets tightened in the coupler?

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

It's 648. High strength retaining compound. I found some on Ebay. It's pretty expensive, but 1 bottle will do many shafts.

RE: warning-micro hydro
 

609 works for me and large diesel bearings but Jdoug would probably have more experience than me with the boat shafts so go with that (no sarcasm intended Jdoug :)).
It can be a bit exp and if you can get a small bottle, I would recommend that before getting the big one. Loctite does have a shelf life, I have heard of bottles being rendered useless after about 18months. I get mine for free so it is all good at this end.
As for sweating the shaft with solder, it shouldn't be necessary on the stub end, I usually stick a drill down the stub shaft and rough up the inside a bit and then clean the end of the flex and the inside of the stub with contact cleaner to remove any trace of oil. You then basically fill up the stub shaft hole with the loctite after a good shake of the bottle, it is a good practice to stick a pin into the hole to try to remove any air as well, the loctite is generally pretty thick and you will think the hole is filled when in fact it is all sitting at the top of the hole. Put the flex inside making sure you get lots of ooze of the excess loctite, you want the loctite soaking in to the flex as well hence no solder sweating, put to one side and let it go off. Any excess on the outside won't set and that can be wiped off later.