Sbt wear ring failure

[Vumad]

I put a sbt wear ring in my b1 because the stock one was destroyed when i gpt the boat (changed the prop to a mint one i had from jetmaniac). I am pretty selective buying sbt parts these days, but Ive heard plenty of people claiming great results with the sbt wear ring and have had friends who swear by them. This is my first wear ring.

I have probably less than 10 hours on the ring. Last time out the driveline started making noise and no power. Ski was excellent until then. I pulled my pump and the wear ring just fell right out. The outer portion is smooth but slides right in and out now. The inner portion has some rub from the prop. Bearings seem tight and smooth and shaft seems straight. I do spray everything down with wd40 after riding in the surf which has been probably 2 or 3 times over the last 3-4 months. The rest is fresh water, no lube. Prop seemed to spin smooth with no significant rub.

Anyone have similar experience. Could it just be a defective ring or have i been misguided on the quality of the part. Could the wd40 have damaged it (it already has signs of developing corrosion so not being able to treat it would suck.)

 

[Proformance1]

WD-40 will not cause issues. Things to check for when buying a different wear ring are concentricity to the stator, bore size, originally their interference fit. When parts are machined there is a tolerance. Any machined part has a tolerance. High tolerance equals lower cost, low tolerance is the higher cost. A standard tolerance of +-.002" is not hard to hit and can be machined quickly in most materials, a +-.0002" tolerance is difficult at best to hit on mass produced parts and tooling, machines used, temperature ranges of the ambient air, parts, measuring devices, etc. all play a role at this level.

Trouble is from a normal person standpoint all of these are hard to check out of the box. An easy check is to dry fit all parts. When assembling the stator and wear ring, how do they appear to line up? If the bores arent spot on this could be an issue. Yours, in my guess may be the interference fit, but I would have no idea without disassembling and measuring all parts.

 

[naticen]

I have one I never put in because it was loose. Tried searching and saw people said put a set screw in it. Talked to a buddy that runs a ski rental and he said that all he uses are sbt and never had one where the insert wasn't plenty tight. He goes through one weekly he said.

 

[BruceSki]

I tried one once, in a buddies ski and it wouldn't fit right in the housing. We got rid of it. I think he is back to used oem now.

 

[Proformance1]

A screw will work but with all the galvanic corrosion issues weve had with fresh water cracking lately.... Tight fit with some sort of sealer is the only way I have seen them hold for a few years.

 

[Vumad]

Where do you guys put this screw? Is there a spot or do you drill and tap? Where?

 

[Proformance1]

Call SBT before you modify it. It doesnt matter where you put the SS screw, look up all skats for photos, but once you drill if it fails its your fault. :/

 

[JetManiac]

As Proformance1 said, all parts have a tolerance and we have seen the SBT wear ring liners vary in fitment over the years. They used to fit tight on the impeller and need to self clearance during first use. SBT seems to have changed the design now and they fit more like oem with some clearance the impeller. I have seen the liner fit super tight to the housing and also fairly loose to the housing. Regardless of fit, if you use some silicone between housing and liner and then let cure before starting it, then you should be fine without set screw.