I thought I'd share the tale of how I set my Superjet on fire and then sunk it.
This happened last summer. I have been working on fixing up my old '91 SN Superjet, fixing issues as they come along. The list is long and comprehensive, and up to now, almost everything has been replaced or fixed.
Last summer I was having intermittent starting issues. You'd press the start button and it would either turn over great or it wouldn't at all. Press it enough times and it would fire. I rebuilt the start/stop switch, replaced the connector that was worn out, replaced the starting solenoid, replaced the starter, tested the ground wire, and the issue remained. It would always bench-test fine but when it was back in the ski the issue would come back.
I figured it was a bad ground between the ebox and the engine. I decided to add an additional ground line going from the ebox directly to the battery. A few tests on the trailer and it started better than ever, WIN!
I went out to the lake and was having some fun and falling into the water. No matter, it started back up with ease... until it didn't. This final fall was the beginning of the next few minutes where I genuinely didn't know if I was going to lose my ski, drown, or both.
So what happened? I fell in, swam back to my ski as I've done 1000 times before, press the start button and click. Nothing. I tried a few more times and it turns over but feels like the battery is dying, aka, very slowly. Foolishly, I held the start button hoping that the starter would kick into high gear like it's done before or that maybe it would catch enough to fire the engine. This didn't work and the next thing I knew there was smoke pouring out of the engine compartment. NOT GOOD.
In my panic, I decided let's get the hood open and see if there is anything I can do to make this better. I managed to get the handle pole propped up, the hood latch released, and proceeded to fill the engine compartment with water and sink the ski... at least the fire was out.
Now, the boat is underwater, the hood is floating away, and my life jacket is working, though not very well. I'm panicking trying to keep my head above water and stay with the ski. I manage to collect everything and start swimming to shore, very slowly, dragging the sky behind me. It's exhausting.
I remembered, I have a whistle on my life jacket. Okay, let's use it. I start blowing on it as loud as I can. It's hurting my ears but nobody else seems to notice or care. Keep going. Keep going. What felt like 30 minutes later, I see somebody on shore looking out at the lake to see if they can find the source of the whistling, finally, they see me. I'll be okay. I see them running around going in and out of the house, presumably looking for the boat keys or somebody who knows how to operate the boat. I don't know. They finally decided to go to the neighbor's house and he gets in his boat and comes to save me. Thank you so much!
I finally get back to shore and get the ski on the trailer not knowing what to do next. Exhausted, I start reading the thread So you sunk your ski looking for what to do next. After a couple of hours working on it, I wasn't going to get it running again, so I did the last resort, filled the engine with diesel, and resolved myself to fix it later.
So, what did I learn from this?
- Always have a whistle on your lifejacket. I have one on every one of my jackets and one on the lanyard.
- If your lifejacket is iffy, get a new one. I had a tough time finding a red one, it seems like they're all black. If I was wearing a black one, I don't know if I would have been seen or not.
- NEVER add an additional ground between the ebox and the battery. What happened is the ground wire between the battery and the starter was broken and making intermittent contact. I couldn't see this because it was in a plastic loom with no signs of wear. It also passed every test with a multimeter. What happened was when I added the second ground, all of the power the starter uses back fed through the ebox and went through the wire I added. The smoke was this wire melting from end to end. Thankfully, it was a lighter gauge than what is from the ebox to the engine, otherwise, this would have been the melted wire.
So, if you are having electrical issues, I highly suggest fixing them properly. Never add additional wires in places they weren't meant to be. It just might be the last thing you do. I genuinely thought that was the end for me. Do it right the first time and it will last you for a long time.
I hope this can help some people ensure they have proper safety equipment and to not sink their ski.
This happened last summer. I have been working on fixing up my old '91 SN Superjet, fixing issues as they come along. The list is long and comprehensive, and up to now, almost everything has been replaced or fixed.
Last summer I was having intermittent starting issues. You'd press the start button and it would either turn over great or it wouldn't at all. Press it enough times and it would fire. I rebuilt the start/stop switch, replaced the connector that was worn out, replaced the starting solenoid, replaced the starter, tested the ground wire, and the issue remained. It would always bench-test fine but when it was back in the ski the issue would come back.
I figured it was a bad ground between the ebox and the engine. I decided to add an additional ground line going from the ebox directly to the battery. A few tests on the trailer and it started better than ever, WIN!
I went out to the lake and was having some fun and falling into the water. No matter, it started back up with ease... until it didn't. This final fall was the beginning of the next few minutes where I genuinely didn't know if I was going to lose my ski, drown, or both.
So what happened? I fell in, swam back to my ski as I've done 1000 times before, press the start button and click. Nothing. I tried a few more times and it turns over but feels like the battery is dying, aka, very slowly. Foolishly, I held the start button hoping that the starter would kick into high gear like it's done before or that maybe it would catch enough to fire the engine. This didn't work and the next thing I knew there was smoke pouring out of the engine compartment. NOT GOOD.
In my panic, I decided let's get the hood open and see if there is anything I can do to make this better. I managed to get the handle pole propped up, the hood latch released, and proceeded to fill the engine compartment with water and sink the ski... at least the fire was out.
Now, the boat is underwater, the hood is floating away, and my life jacket is working, though not very well. I'm panicking trying to keep my head above water and stay with the ski. I manage to collect everything and start swimming to shore, very slowly, dragging the sky behind me. It's exhausting.
I remembered, I have a whistle on my life jacket. Okay, let's use it. I start blowing on it as loud as I can. It's hurting my ears but nobody else seems to notice or care. Keep going. Keep going. What felt like 30 minutes later, I see somebody on shore looking out at the lake to see if they can find the source of the whistling, finally, they see me. I'll be okay. I see them running around going in and out of the house, presumably looking for the boat keys or somebody who knows how to operate the boat. I don't know. They finally decided to go to the neighbor's house and he gets in his boat and comes to save me. Thank you so much!
I finally get back to shore and get the ski on the trailer not knowing what to do next. Exhausted, I start reading the thread So you sunk your ski looking for what to do next. After a couple of hours working on it, I wasn't going to get it running again, so I did the last resort, filled the engine with diesel, and resolved myself to fix it later.
So, what did I learn from this?
- Always have a whistle on your lifejacket. I have one on every one of my jackets and one on the lanyard.
- If your lifejacket is iffy, get a new one. I had a tough time finding a red one, it seems like they're all black. If I was wearing a black one, I don't know if I would have been seen or not.
- NEVER add an additional ground between the ebox and the battery. What happened is the ground wire between the battery and the starter was broken and making intermittent contact. I couldn't see this because it was in a plastic loom with no signs of wear. It also passed every test with a multimeter. What happened was when I added the second ground, all of the power the starter uses back fed through the ebox and went through the wire I added. The smoke was this wire melting from end to end. Thankfully, it was a lighter gauge than what is from the ebox to the engine, otherwise, this would have been the melted wire.
So, if you are having electrical issues, I highly suggest fixing them properly. Never add additional wires in places they weren't meant to be. It just might be the last thing you do. I genuinely thought that was the end for me. Do it right the first time and it will last you for a long time.
I hope this can help some people ensure they have proper safety equipment and to not sink their ski.
