Smart tabs question

[slvrlng]

Just did an install and went for a ride today. Once running we noticed that the starboard tab was shooting a fountain up over and into the cowl. Any ideas? The port one does not do it. If you look close in the video you can see it shooting up. Lake was a lot rougher today with the wind and Saturday and 40 footers hauling butt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-1bi_4Q ... e=youtu.be

[seabob4]

Lewis, do you have a ducer mounted in relatively close proximity to the tab?  Between the 2, the water coming off both may be creating that effect.

[slvrlng]

Yes there is one, but it is over a foot away and looking over the transom the "fountain" is coming from the inboard edge of the tab. I just remeasured them and they they are the same distance from the edge of the hull. It still wants to porpoise when I trim it up , so I bumped the pressure setting up to max and will run it again in the morning and see what it does then. The edge of the tabs are right in line with the rolled edge where the chine starts. The good news, when I drilled the holes for the mounting plates out of 12 holes I only had one that had damp wood. All the rest were dry fresh smelling ply. Not bad for 29 years old.

[slvrlng]

This is what it looks like. Did I put them too far out?

[kraw2]

I don't know about these tabs but the location is where you would put other trim tabs.

[seabob4]

Lewis, you're fine on location, almost perfect...

Right hand turning prop, throwing water towards the inboard edge of the starboard tab...hey just a guess!

[pete]

Kinda hard to tell whats goin on in that rough water,really need to be in some calm water to see whats happenin,looks good tho,nice addition

[wingtime]

That is where I put my smart tabs.  Maybe just a 1/4 more inboard... hard to tell.  Is the bottom of the offending tab flush with the hull or is it a tad low?

[slvrlng]

Figured it out. Lake was glass this morning. While I drove my friend looked over the transom, the water is actually shooting in between the mounting bracket and the transom. It is doing this through both gaps between the screws. The starboard one is just slighty closer to the edge and seemingly thats all it took to make it do this. 5200 the edge and I think I'm good. I also bumped the adjustment up to max pressure last night and that really helped the handling. Hardly any bow rise when you take off and I can trim it up a good ways before it starts to hop.

[wingtime]

Yeah they help the boat get on a plane flatter and quicker...  kind of levitates up!

[kraw2]

How do you like the Smart Tabs? It seems they would create allot of drag. On my other boats with trim tabs they are seldom used and only used when necessary.

[wingtime]

Keep in mind the Smart tabs are an active tab meaning they are not ridged like a traditional trim tab.  They act more like shock absorbers compressing or extending passively depending on what the boat is doing.

[slvrlng]

Really liking them! Hard to beat for 160 bucks. I ended up sending the 70 lb actuators back and swapped for 80 lb. Only 10 lbs more pressure but a big difference in handling. Cruising at 4000 at 31 mph I can cut it hard over and she just carves into the turn. haven't gotten it to slide yet. How about this kraw,  I will have the boat in Navarre the week of the 10th thru the 16th. if you want to go for a ride call me and you can tell me what you think. Flounderpounder and myself are supposed to meet up maybe at the spoil island at Pensacola pass sometime during that time. Hopefully we can all meet up and have a couple of cold ones! I will PM you my cell number. give me a call when you get a chance.

Edit as to what Bruce said: At anything above 20 mph they are pretty much in line with the hull bottom. When you turn to port the port one stays compressed but the starboard one extends back down and makes the hull really crave into the turn. They will make it lean a good 30 degrees.

[dburr]

 meet up maybe at the spoil island at Pensacola pass sometime during that time.

Edit as to what Bruce said: At anything above 20 mph they are pretty much in line with the hull bottom. When you turn to port the port one stays compressed but the starboard one extends back down and makes the hull really crave into the turn. They will make it lean a good 30 degrees.

Don't have any tabs yet on the Osprey, this is really good info. The boat is going to spend time in fresh water and after reading the comments in other threads, Lenco vs. Bennet I was beginning to scratch my head.  

Lew when you trim up how bad is the porpoising? Uncomfortable or un controllable and when you trim to a good ride have you lost much top end speed?


On another note I am really jealous, :(  we (my wife and oldest daughter) spent many a happy hour on that island. We knew it as Sand Island and before the Engineers went in and flattend the place to make room for the spoils of the dredging project when the Lexington left, it was a really nice place to camp.  The ladies especially liked it because the "facilities" at Sherman Cove Marina were never locked   ...

Redfish in the pass, pompano and trout right off the beach, you could cast right from the campfire.

That was a while ago.

[slvrlng]

With the new prop and the motor up as high as it will go WOT I can hit 42 mph at 5200. When I try to trim it up to gain rpms it will you can feel it raising the bow and if you keep trimming it will suddenly break into porpoising. With this prop it is a real fine line when it does it. My next purchase will be a jack plate to see if that will help. Other than at WOT the prop is really hooked up hard and the boat just jumps out of the hole. The tabs have also helped the midrange and that is where I do just about all of my running so far. They have also helped the fuel mileage a lot when cruising. Don't have a flowscan yet but when just cruising the fuel gauge  doesn't move down like it did before.

Does this look familiar?