Mirage drive owners - Seeking advice on cleaning grit from drive

[dsaavedra]

While fishing tonight I had to make an emergency landing on a muddy/silty beach to remove a hook from my hand. Since I had a 2/0 X-strong hook sunk half an inch in the index finger of my dominant hand, my head wasn't in the right place and instead of removing my Mirage Drive to beach the kayak I just put the fins up against the hull and beached it. The drive is now full of fine grit and I can feel it as I work the pedals back and forth.

I've hosed the drive off as much as I can and it does feel better, but I can tell there is still some fine grit in it. Does anyone have any advice for cleaning? Will this stuff flush itself out if I just continue to use the drive as normal? Would that damage the drive in any way? I'd like to avoid having to do a full disassembly of the drive if possible, but I'm willing to do that if it's the only way to really get it clean.

PS - if you don't know this hook removal method, learn it. I've used it on myself twice over the years and it works beautifully: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Re91_P7KE

[ski357]

First off, sorry to hear about your hook experience. Secondly, for future reference, I'd reccomend dunking a drive while on the water to try and remove the grit. Beached drives can be damaged by both fine grit and larger objects. In my previous Hobie life, I've serviced drives that had pebbles lodged in the sprockets that are up half the teeth. In terms of fine grit, you could let the drive dry out and then hit it with an air hose. I don't think fine grit would be as great a cause of concern with Gen I or Gen II drives, YMMV with the later reverse and kick up fins style drives. Best of luck, please keep us updated.

[dsaavedra]

Thanks. based on where I can sense the grit is, I don't think I'll be able to reach it with compressed air. I may give it a shot later today though, nothing to lose.

Your suggestion of dunking the drive to flush the grit out is along the lines of what I was initially thinking... this is fine silty grit (finer than regular sand) and it sort of feels like it may work itself out if the drive is repeatedly worked back and forth while submerged with water rushing over it (i.e. regular use). I just don't know if that would damage anything... not sure how tight the tolerances are.

[dsaavedra]

For reference, I found this very helpful and thorough video on full disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly of the 180 Mirage Drives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XCgb8Sjbi0

It looks totally doable but I'd like to avoid a full breakdown of the drive if I can.

[ski357]

Thanks for sharing the videos. I don't have a 180 Drive, but this is a teachable moment for those following. Remember to check your kayak and equipment every few trips. The Mirage Drive is a hearty and wonderful piece of equipment, but it does require minimal maintenance. Make sure the cables are tightened and under tension. They will become loose after repeated use. Make sure to clean pebbles and other grit out of the sockets. While you're at it, make sure the screws on your seats are snug!

[Mark]

Dave,

I've owned two Hobie Revos over 11 years. My first one had a standard drive (without bearings) and my current one has a 180 drive with bearings.

First, and thankfully, I've never had your emergency situatuation requiring me to run my drive onto a beach. I always pull the drive well before landing on any surface and when I launch I wait until I am in deeper water before inserting the drive into the port.

I've cared for both drives similarly. I hose them off with freshwater after every use. Then I dry them with compressed air. I was once taken to task on this forum for suggesting that. The poster said I would drive grit into the mechanism with the air. If I did, I never noticed it and I've had no performance issues with either drive.

ski357's advise to tighten bolts and cables is sound. That is something I do regularly.

Lubrication of the drive was an area that I found confusing. I used WD-40 regularly on my original drive. I squirted it directly into the main axel and soaked the chains and sprockets with it prior to each use. I also lubricated the pedals. The result was a very smooth running and quiet drive. WD-40 was the lubricant of choice discussed on Hobie Forums years back. Then opinions on the Hobie Forum arose that WD-40 would weaken the plastic parts of the drive. Again, I never expereinced that.

With my newer 180-Drive I use a Hobie Lubricant and I follow the same process I mentioned above. I don't know if its chemical makeup is any diffderent that WD-40. But it works well enough. My drive makes no noise other than the "swish swish" of the fins.

Finally, I've never dismantled my 180 drive but I did take my original drive apart. (The tolerances on the main axel were not tight by the way.) I replaced a broken spline. At that time, I could find no diagram online of the original drive. So I photographed and labeled each part as I took it off. Then I used the pictures to put it back together. That process worked fine for me and most important, the drive worked well after I reassembled it.

The Mirage Drive is a remarkable piece of equipment. I think the fact that most of its moving parts are exposed makes it easy to clean and maintain.

It has been a while since you posted your conern. I hope your drive is functioning well.

[dsaavedra]

Thanks for the response Mark. After my original post I flushed the drive extra well with fresh water and worked it a lot by hand. It felt noticeably better. After it dried I lubed it up with Breakfree CLP (following advice from the Hobie forum https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6308) and worked it in by hand again. I tightened the cables while I was at it and the drive felt good as new. I honestly think tightening all the cables made the biggest difference. I've had to tighten the cables a couple times since owning the drive, I guess the cables stretch over time and the drive feels loose and "geary". When the cables are properly tightened everything feels nice and smooth.

At any rate, I've put many miles on the drive since beaching it in May and I've had no issues with it.

[Mark]

Dave,

I'm glad to read that your drive is working well. I would have been surprised to hear that it wasn't.

Check the dates of those posts on the Hobie Forum.

They're some of the same old posts I read years ago that confused me about lubricants.

The one constant is that different lubes worked well for different users.

I'd always wished Hobie would definitively say what lubricant was best. But I think as long as you flush the Mirage Drive clean, tighten the key bolts and apply lubricant, it will work reliably for a very long time.

[dsaavedra]

I'd always wished Hobie would definitively say what lubricant was best.

They do, and to no one's surprise it's their own proprietary stuff that costs a whopping $20 for 4 measly ounces.

No wonder everyone is reaching for stuff they can grab from the hardware store.

[Mark]

Dave,

Yes. Of course they endorse their own. I'm one of their victims. Their product works fine. But so did WD-40. I think there are many acceptable alternative lubricants and I wish Hobie would acknowledge that to eliminate unnecessary customer concern.