Broken flex shaft

[nitroH2O]

Was running my new Thundercat 31 on Sunday and the flex shaft broke and messed up the teflon tube. I'm going to put in a Prather flex shaft (pra8020)and was wondering if the o.d. of the 3/16" tubes are all the same between different manufacturers. Was thinking of using a Dumas (dum2809) tube. I was very impressed with the Thundercat other than the breakage. Any info would be great!

[Ron Olson]

Breaking the flex cables is becoming a problem with ProBoat boats. Contact Horizon Hobby before dishing out any money as they have been sending out replacement cables.
Where did it break at? If it broke up near the engine, check the alignment of the shaft to the engine. At the other end, make sure that it lines up there also. Some of the problems have also been from the solder wicking up too far in the cable were it needs to flex.
The Prather or Aeromarine cables will work fine as replacements.
Changing out the stuffing tube sounds like major work. Some Teflon tubes come out easily, others not. It has to be stretched first to get a new one in.

[nitroH2O]

Thanks for the info Ron. It broke just up from the soldered joint. The teflon tube slid out relatively easily. A friend of mine just had the same thing happen to him with his shockwave 36. Do you think that dumas tube will work?

[Ron Olson]

It should as they're all probably from the same manufacturer initially.

[Shawn300]

It should as they're all probably from the same manufacturer initially.

same problem here. so i take it the best thing to do is to contact horizon and have them mail me a new one? mine broke right at the end where the windings go into the solid metal shaft before the prop. jus bought the boat too and finished break in :confused: and this may be a stupid question i dunno but why is it a flex shaft instead of a solid steel shaft?

[SHUMZZ]

My shockwave 36 new needed the engine to be re-aligned to the stuffing tube. It was off 1/4 inch. I took a little off the stinger port side. Lines up nice now. I read so much about the issue with the cable; I got the Prather replacement with a jar of there grease with the boat. Did not want to deal with it braking on me. I think balancing the prop is very important as well. Keeping it sharp too. I read polishing can be bad for balance but if you check the balance once and a wile is good any way.