Kevin Turner said:
PSG-
I have a ton of respect what you've done. And it's clear it works very well in your hull. Also, the 155 will "work" in heavier crafts, but not as well as the SJ. Here's some "general", quickly typed points. Time is short and I'm not the fastest on the keyboard.
Water is retentive, so when working with a sled nosed craft (Fishbum's) water grabs and holds on to the abrupt entry angle. Fisrt, we hafta lift the nose to shear the water's grip. Not difficult until you factor in the operator's weight near the nose (where we need to lift) and the mid ship bait tank.
The key is thrust created at rest or slow forward motion. The small 155 intake & impeller spools quickly, but the hull is moving slowly. Unlike an OB jet pump, which stays loaded b/c you can trim the intake deeper into the water, the IB intake relies on the "ram" effect b/c the impeller is higher in the hull.
Look at the long intake ramp of your 155. Great for loading at higher speeds, not so at slow speeds. The 155 struggles to plane heavy loads. That's why the big 'glass play boats use twins.
Now, the XR2 175 uses a 7.25" impeller (155-6.1") that is underdriven to get slower blade speed. The slower, but larger blade flows more water. The short, steeper angle of the SJ intake ramp allows the pump to reload quicker at rest. At rest, the SJ flows more water, stays loaded longer, thus more static thrust. Heavy or "wet" crafts need lotsa low "umph" to plane quickly.
That makes a lot of sense. You're exactly right about how the 155 mm pump winds up quick, but doesn't have much low end thrust, at least, not until you really hit the throttle, then it will pick up and go. With the flat bottom, when idling, that long intake ramp tends to shuttle a lot of air into the pump at low speeds, which causes a certain degree of cavitation, even at a fast idle.
Did some reading on your website, good info. I can see from the line drawing that the SJ pump has more angle in the back end, it's not a flat pump like the Yamaha XL1200, so, I can see how that would help to have better hook-up in the chop, as well as proper loading at lower speeds.
I'd love to have a pump that can perform better in chop, as the Yamaha 155mm pump isn't exactly the most efficient pump in terms of moving water, and if I have my boat in some chop, it has a tendency to catch air in the pump, I have to keep the throttle at about mid-range, around 6200 RPM (redline on my boat is 10K) I hate cavitation, because it puts a lot of undue stress and vibration on components. My boat and I must be telepathically linked, because it hurts ME when the boat cavitates. :shock:
With that said, when I build my next jet, I don't think I'll use a Yamaha XL1200 pump, I want a better option. Was thinking of using the Aqua Jet pump, because the impeller is so massive, especially compared to a conventional PWC impeller, even I would have a hard time of wearing it out!! But the AJ is about 3500 dollars. I'm curious how much the SJ pump costs, and how it compares to the AJ.
So, my questions are, what does the SJ's impeller look like? How thick is the housing itself? Can they ingest the occasional stone or rock without sustaining damage?
The worst I usually run through is oyster shells, but in the event I did want to go above the fall line of a river, and into some rocks, I definitely don't want to do it with the 1/16" thick casting of the XL1200, I want something a little more stout.
Also, what's the average minimum HP required to effectively run the SJ pump? Could it be done with the 160 HP MR-1 engine, or would I need something with more torque and HP, like the 215 HP Sea Doo Intercooled Supercharged engine?
Thanks in advance!