Catch "22"
snipe,
When other people bashed the ceramic washers, I remember you saying in other threads that the washers being ceramic is the best material to have as far as heat and wear, what do you think of the newer steel washers as far as that design goes, could it be that most of the charger failures are do to unhooking, I think that if you didn't jump waves like crazy and just drove the boat like normal and did your oil changes you shouldn't have many problems with the charger.
This is actually a catch 22 kind of issue. If I were the one with the supercharged 4 tec, I'd prefer to have the ceramic washers, just for the reasons I stated. Ceramic is one of the only known materials that does not retain heat. It can also provide a durable, smooth surface for rotating equipment.
If you google ceramics uses in the mechanical applications, you'll see even NASA uses it.
Here lies the problem. Seadoo's have forever used a synthetic/blend of oils in their watercraft. When you see the oil designation XP-S, a lot of people think the "S" means synthetic. These supercharged engines were the first to come out using the standard mineral based oils in a long time. And I think the Seadoo research and development department didn't take into consideration that there might just be some owner, along the way, change over to the synthetic oils. Synthetics don't burn and are way to slippery for the slip washers.
I still maintain that the ceramic clutch slip washers are the best choice for this application but, when coming in contact with synthetic oil, the properties of the oil cause the washers to disentegrate and can find their way into your internal porting of the oil system. Just replacing the washers after this happens, does not protect you from further engine damage if you can't account for all the pieces of the washers.
Seadoo went to the stainless to because of liability, not because it's a better product. The stainless gets hot and retains heat. But, the oils (now the newer brand of synthetics can be used) maitain it from overheating.
The motor coming un-hooked from the water has nothing to do with this issue. What your looking at here is damage. The supercharger operates in excess of 40,000 rpm. The engine, around 8,000 rpm. When your riding wide open and you take air, the engine and charger speeds up. When you land and re-connect to the water, its like puttin the brakes on the charger. Yes, the slip washers will take up some of the slack but constantly doing this will damage the charger and/or motor. Because the charger is geared to the motor, it will want to speed up and slow down with the motors RPM. Well, in reality, that's just not possible with this component part. So, the slip washers take up that slack. But if you look at the motor doing a standard increase or decrease in speed while riding, that's significantly different than the motor coming un-hooked and then, re-torquing when it lands.
That's the double edge sword. The catch 22 on these chargers. Honestly, I don't think the application of these things are even feasible for the watercraft.
If you think about it, manafacturers are always going to add something, change something, create more horsepower or ways of achieving higher speeds with each passing year. Why? Because no one wants to buy/see the same old thing every year. And manafacturers know that change sells.
Look at the 951cc 2 stroke. That motor is almost as fast as the expensive 4-TEC. Just won't reach the speeds as fast. But, over the last 10 years, they've had to increase the horsepower just to say they have something new to offer the spending habits of the public. Look at the 4-TEC. That motor hasn't really changed design in almost 10 years, but it's changed horsepower and the addition of the SC and SCIC ......
That's how I see it. I'm sure, many others see it a lot differently.
