VS-1 Randomly hooking to the right - what's going on?

[Stinger9D9]

#1 prop height should be slightly above sponson bottoms. approx with 1/8" level or slightly pointed down.
#2 get rid of the junk hitch servos and spend the $100 on a good airtronics don't even bother reading the rest if you don't invest in a good servo.
#3 using a three bladed prop will make the problem worse but if set up right...is good way to go....like a 3/440 cut and tuned or a good abc...1642
#4 CG is prob may be too far forward
#5 check your outdrive for the correct alignment....may be slightly twisted.
#6 lay the sponsons on a flat board...I use a drafting board) to see if they are still symmetrical....sometimes the extension on the undersurface will warp more than the other.

#2 well, I'm kind of dubious about throwing yet another $100 into this hole in the water if #4 my CoG is too far forward. There's no changing that, I've already completely gutted and reconfigured the boat (with all weight as far backward as possible). #6 - as covered earlier, I've blueprinted and checked the hull on something a LOT flatter than a drafting board and it's right on the money.

I've seen so many other VS1's running well - did everyone that built one go through all this? Even the horrible handling TS2 I had before this (running a basic - supplied with the radio - not high torque Hitec servo) never hooked to the left or right, running the exact same REK lower.

Well, like I said, I'll have some quality time with it next week. I'll see what I can do before I give up and put her on the shelf for good.

[Heaving Earth]

Have you considered trying another outboard unit?

[marko500]

IF your COG is too far forward and you can't move anything then maybe some stick on lead weights can be placed towards the transom. I have a tunnel that was hooking and spinning out and moving the COG back about 1/4 inch cured it.
Does the skeg of the outboard have a slight twist in it?

Mark

[AlanN]

#2 get rid of the junk hitch servos and spend the $100 on a good airtronics don't even bother reading the rest if you don't invest in a good servo.

zzz

[detox]

When all else fails, read the instructions. Do you have the manual that came with this boat? LOTS of good setup info there.

http://manuals.hobbico.com/aqu/aqub0006-manual.pdf

...

[Rumdog]

As $100 dollar servo ain't gonna cure anything..

[racer504]

Get an OS lower unit

[AlanN]

A $100 servo that is not of high quality will not make difference. U can make an opc run better in the turns with a well made high quality PRECISION servo. Airtronics imo make the best. I threw away all hitech junk years ago. Keep buying Chinese junk and u will never know. U do not need an OS lower unit. Ran this setup until the hull was raced and mauled to deAth by other racers.

I may even offer one of my servos just to prove a point. But if u do buy one it's not like u couldn't put it in another hull!

[Doby]

I've seen Alan's tunnels run......he knows tunnels...

[Stinger9D9]

When all else fails, read the instructions. Do you have the manual that came with this boat? LOTS of good setup info there.

http://manuals.hobbico.com/aqu/aqub0006-manual.pdf

...

Umm, yeah, I started there with the setup (prop depth, CoG, etc.)

A $100 servo that is not of high quality will not make difference. U can make an opc run better in the turns with a well made high quality PRECISION servo. Airtronics imo make the best. I threw away all hitech junk years ago. Keep buying Chinese junk and u will never know. U do not need an OS lower unit. Ran this setup until the hull was raced and mauled to deAth by other racers.

I may even offer one of my servos just to prove a point. But if u do buy one it's not like u couldn't put it in another hull!

Ok then, no point banging my head against a wall with these servos for the time being. I'll look into an Airtronics servo, but at $140 plus about $20 shipping to Canada (and duty) it'll be a while before I put that much more into this hull. I'm not racing anyway, just playing around.

Those airtronics are have ridiculous torque ratings, if one of them can't hold the motor straight, nothing can.

[bigwaveohs]

I had the same problem with my VS-1 and it turned out that the ESC (an older Turnigy) was causing the steering servo to glitch when the motor speed would "COG". Every time it did, the boat would hook randomly, even on the straights.
I think you also discovered that you need to have the outdrive hinge pin inside the ends of the sponsons...otherwise the VS-1 will "oversteer" and consistently hook. I dumped the REK for the OS outdrive and like it much better since adjusting the angle doesn't change the tension on the push-pull cables, and it has the correct geometry for the VS-1 hull.
Pete

[Stinger9D9]

I had the same problem with my VS-1 and it turned out that the ESC (an older Turnigy) was causing the steering servo to glitch when the motor speed would "COG". Every time it did, the boat would hook randomly, even on the straights.
I think you also discovered that you need to have the outdrive hinge pin inside the ends of the sponsons...otherwise the VS-1 will "oversteer" and consistently hook. I dumped the REK for the OS outdrive and like it much better since adjusting the angle doesn't change the tension on the push-pull cables, and it has the correct geometry for the VS-1 hull.
Pete

Well I'll see next week. I'll throw everything at it (if the water plays nice and stays calm enough to run it a bunch).

Remember, this hooking is only to the right and only sometimes (sometimes I can run a full pack for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes with no hooking at all, but when it comes back, even if it only happens twice on a pack, it ruins the whole experience - makes you too scared to run her at full thottle for fear it just ditching randomly).

I'd like an OS lower too, but now with the amount of time and effort, then a $140 airtronics servo and $170 for an OS lower, and no assurance that these will fix the problem for sure (I can't ask that of you guys, there are just too many variables here to offer any guarantees) I just don't know if I want it that bad.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the advice I've gotten from this thread and will apply all of it that I have the time (and money) to afford, but I can't guarantee I'll get it working 100% before I give up...like I said, time and money are always in short supply.