DIY MJMods: Boat Propellers!!

[Travis L. Stevens]

I've finally found a source for the Dumas 3004 Boat Propellers that no one has been able to find. There is a hobby store here in Stillwater that just opened up. They can order them in. The cost would be $1.20/each and they wouldn't charge us shipping. I told the guy that I'll get a consensus on how many people are looking for them and would like them. So, If you want one, just put your name on the list.

Also, I saw in their odds and ends that they carry various widths of carbon fiber rods and tubes and steel as well. They might be able to get these in as well. I didn't ask. I'm sure that they also carry the "Centering Caps" as all they are are just some simple model airplane wheels.

~~~Boat Propellers~~~
Travis - 2

 

[papagimp]

Travis, can we get all the other neccesary pieces aside from the propellers? I need to mod 2 MJ's in the future and was going to order the kits, but if we know for a fact that we can find all the parts locally, than by all means put me down for 2 of em.

~~~Boat Propellers~~~
Travis - 2
Adam - 2

__________________

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I'll get a list of other parts and their cost later. I knew that there were quite a few people on here that all they needed was the propellers.

 

[Russ Braaten]

The toughest part of the mods is making the outer housing. The ones that came in the kits is very well done.

I stuck my modded MJ1200 into my 30 gallon tank and it made a huge mess. Sand and water everywhere. I am impressed!

Have you attempted to make the outer casing to see if it will work well? MJ Mods.com did a great job making a great fitting housing.

~~~Boat Propellers~~~
Travis - 2
Adam - 2

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I haven't tried yet. I found out that they were able to get propellers at this place and haven't made the trip to any hardware stores to attempt to find any other parts. MJMod's new bell shaped housing will be hard to duplicate for sure, but I think their older models should be pretty easy. I'll do a little more research on it.

 

[papagimp]

Do they sell just the housings? After all, If these powerheads are going to be in the display, I want em to look as pretty as possible, unlike my ugly fuge (but that doesn't need to be pretty to work perfectly)

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Yes, MJMods sells the shroud and cap seperately for something like $16.98

 

[rdonchann]

If that falls through, tower hobbies site sells them.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

The shrouds or the propellers??

 

[rdonchann]

the propellors

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

FWIW, I'm going to try to head down to Stillwater Hobby tonight and see if they can/do also carry the following and their price:

2.5mm 316 Stainless Steel Rod
.098 Carbon Fiber Rod
.110 Carbon Fiber Rod
.180 Carbon Fiber Tube
.188 Carbon Fiber Tube
Nylatron Thrust Washer
Octura 1435 Prop
Dumas 3004 Prop
3/16" Rigid Airline Tubing
3/16" Soft Airline Tubing

I need to find the exact specifications for a centering cap. There was airplane wheel that was used by someone in one of the bazillion MJMod threads in the DIY Forum, but I can't find it. I'll also look for the PVC Test Caps and various other pieces of PVC to use as a shroud.

 

[djc1026]

I'm not trying to promote MJMods, but at 25 bucks for the kit, you save the hassle of the scavenger hunt and even with shipping it can't be that much more than finding all the pieces locally. But I guess if you're into that stuff, that's part of the fun.

For me, I ordered the kit, waited three days, opened the box, put it together in 15 minutes. I waited 2 hours and threw it in the tank. Super quiet, no problems and it blows away my two Seio 620's on the opposite end of my 75.

Dave

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Well, with the new style mods from MJMods, they give you enough of a variety of some parts to build a second mod. All you need is a propeller and a few pieces of PVC and you have a whole new MJMod. No sense in wasting the other stuff. Also, I think that I should be able to get the parts cheaper, but you would need to cut the slots or drill holes in the shroud yourself. A little Krylon Fusion spray paint, and the DIY MJ Mod can be any color that you want.

I apologize to everyone. I rushed home last night, but missed them closing by about 10 minutes. I'll see if I can swing by there BEFORE they close tonight

 

[Russ Braaten]

Travis, I am not sure what you got in your box but the only extra stuff I have is a piece of solid plastic rod that was used to make the stopper in case it runs backwards. You have enough to make about 3 more stoppers. You also have a short piece of rigid tubing which didn't fit anything on my MJ. Besides I have a lot of rigid tubing laying around. You have the stainless steel rod that came out of the original MJ which is too short for the mod. Then I have a skinny piece of carbon rod that was useless for anything other than using as a file to open the prop shaft so it spins faster. All in all, there is nothing that I would use in another mod except the reverse stop.

Those "few pieces of PVC" ARE the kit. Well that and the prop. The machining of the 3 shroud parts is where the cost is. He has to be using a CnC machine to make it fit as well as he does. The slits seem to be the hardest part but it is only hard in that he gets it to look good and even. The hard parts are making the piece that locks on to the MJ case and the strength and fit of the end cover that holds the center shaft both tight and square, plus the wedge shaped openings look and work great. Lastly when you snap and glue it all together the length of the housing is perfect. I am hard to impress but he impressed me.

Unless you have a CnC machine, pay the guy a few bucks for a quality product. That is unless you have a totally different type design in mind.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Travis, I am not sure what you got in your box but the only extra stuff I have is a piece of solid plastic rod that was used to make the stopper in case it runs backwards. You have enough to make about 3 more stoppers. You also have a short piece of rigid tubing which didn't fit anything on my MJ. Besides I have a lot of rigid tubing laying around. You have the stainless steel rod that came out of the original MJ which is too short for the mod. Then I have a skinny piece of carbon rod that was useless for anything other than using as a file to open the prop shaft so it spins faster. All in all, there is nothing that I would use in another mod except the reverse stop.

Actually, I had left over rigid tubing, left over soft tubing, left over carbon fiber tubing, left over carbon fiber rod, and the acrylic rod. All I used in addition to the shroud/cap/base and the MJ itself was the Dumas 3004 Prop, 316 Stainless Steel rod, and Rigid Airline Tubing for the impeller, and various pieces for the tweaks such as the arylic stopper.

Those "few pieces of PVC" ARE the kit. Well that and the prop. The machining of the 3 shroud parts is where the cost is.

That's true, but I'm doing this "group" by for the DIY Savvy that are willing to just pick up a little PVC from the store and drill their own holes or cut their own slits.

He has to be using a CnC machine to make it fit as well as he does. The slits seem to be the hardest part but it is only hard in that he gets it to look good and even. The hard parts are making the piece that locks on to the MJ case and the strength and fit of the end cover that holds the center shaft both tight and square, plus the wedge shaped openings look and work great. Lastly when you snap and glue it all together the length of the housing is perfect. I am hard to impress but he impressed me.

That's fine if you want to go that route. If you want to pay $16.99 plus shipping for a really nice looking shroud and such, more power to you. Even I was impressed with the fit, the looks, the construction, etc. But, I'm easy to please so spending about $5 and doing it myself works for me, and I can use the extra $10 I saved to go buy a frag.

Unless you have a CnC machine, pay the guy a few bucks for a quality product. That is unless you have a totally different type design in mind.

Most likely, like you said, unless you have a CnC machine and want a really nice looking one, then you can't. But, I'm finding all the parts for the older style DIY Mods.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Okay, I dropped by Stillwater Hobby and this is what we found. For those that are intested in the DIY MJ Mods, I'll post up information of what you need later. It'll save you time digging through the literally thousands of posts for DIY Mods in the DIY Forum

2.5mm 316 Stainless Steel Rod: Unavailable
.098" Carbon Fiber Rod: $6.49/2pk (Each Rod is 24" long)
.110" Carbon Fiber Rod: $7.49/2pk (Each Rod is 24" long)
.180" Carbon Fiber Tube: Unavailable
.188" Carbon Fiber Rube: $4.99/each (Each Rod is 24" long)
Nylatron Thrust Washer: Unavailable
Dumas 3004 Prop: $1.20/each
Octura 1435 Prop: $3.99/each
Rigid Airline Tubing: Unavailable
Soft Airline Tubing: Unavailable
2" Dubro Micro Lite Wheels: $3.00/pair
2.5" Dubro Micro Lite Wheels: $3.25/pair

I'll need to get more information for the 316 Stainless Steel and the Nylatron Thrust Washers. I'm sure we can just use a different Thrust Washer. Something made out of Nylon I'm sure. I just need the measurements.

As far as the Airline Tubing goes, I'm not too worried about it unless someone really wants it. I probably have about 50ft of Soft Airline Tubing for anyone that even wants it. You can pick up 36" of Rigid Airline Tubing at Petco for $1.99.

When I get more information about the thrust washer, the steel rod, and the other size carbon fiber tubing, I'll post the prices again. When I get all the information, I'll start a new thread with the prices broken down in a "per mod" price. For example, the 2" Micro Lite Wheels used as centering caps will be $1.50/each with a minimum order of two which can be split between more than one person.

 

[Snarkys]

2.5mm 316 Stainless Steel Rod: Unavailable
.098" Carbon Fiber Rod: $6.49/2pk (Each Rod is 24" long)
.110" Carbon Fiber Rod: $7.49/2pk (Each Rod is 24" long)
.180" Carbon Fiber Tube: Unavailable
.188" Carbon Fiber Rube: $4.99/each (Each Rod is 24" long)
Nylatron Thrust Washer: Unavailable
Dumas 3004 Prop: $1.20/each
Octura 1435 Prop: $3.99/each
Rigid Airline Tubing: Unavailable
Soft Airline Tubing: Unavailable
2" Dubro Micro Lite Wheels: $3.00/pair
2.5" Dubro Micro Lite Wheels: $3.25/pair

[/B]

bit of help : )

the 2.5 mm 316 grade stainless is impossible to find in small amounts but you can get some here http://www.metricmetal.com/products/round.htm you can also use 3/32" welding rod found at any welding supply shop but they often make you buy a $50 box and it is just a hair to small for the black and red caps so eventually it starts spinning and drills its way through the cap. possible this could be solved by just gluing the rod into the caps

i can't say for you guys but the carbon fiber tube that is in the hobby stores around here is the wrong size. the OD is good but the ID is way to big . I buy this stuff because the ID is tighter. This is also a good place to get the rod while your at it. http://www.goodwindskites.com/merch/list.shtml?cat=framework.pultrudedcarbon.

The nylatron thrust washers I had to have made but you can get some slightly bigger ones from mcmaster.com or just use normal nylon ones and change them out every 6 months or so. The nylatron washer is some boutique type of nylon that is supposed to last up to 10 times as long as normal 6/6 nylon and have lower frictional qualities

octura sells the props way cheaper than that but you need to send them a check and wait.

the rigid airline you can get at any LFS , petco or petsmart. most of the employees will have no clue what you are talking about but they all have it.

the soft airline any home depot has but the black airline that comes in the box with the MJ works better

i don't have any experience with the wheels .


I hope this info is of some use , it's a really cool project for clubs : )

if you do it all yourself and save on shipping by splitting it with others this project is super cheap. this is horrible business to say this but i think it is more fun to build your own from scratch so you can show people and say "i built that " : )

 

[Russ Braaten]

Snarkeys,

As a club, can members get a discount without having to get too large an order together. Those of us who have gotten your kits can't say anything but good stuff about them. I have told other members about them and they now want to buy a kit. I know we would have to buy more in order to reduce the cost per each for shipping.

Tell me what you think.

Russ

 

[pwhitby]

Hi Snarky,

we had a "DIY" meeting to make and test the mJ mods last month....immediately after that we did another group buy.

Excellent product!

Paul.

 

[Snarkys]

i think the coolest thing about this whole thing is how many of the club members have come over to my house.

a 10 minute project always turns into a couple beers and 2 hours of BSing : )