Trim tab setting

Roy & Dixie · Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 9:35 am Post subject: Trim tab setting

As noted in another post concerning my 1999 F-80 Yamaha, I now have it running as it should and have new lower unit seals and new water pump assembly. I also removed the Raymarine auto pilot for several reasons: There was almost 1/2 turn of the wheel of play due to the unit drive system and the bracket screwed to the dash, There was a lot of force required to steer, it did not hold a steady course very long (and seemed to zigzag no matter what sensitivity setting I chose. Also, we cruise on narrow, winding rivers and waterways most of the time. We can hold a steadier course and like to steer ourselves. Now the wheel can be turned lock to lock with one finger while docking, etc., and has no play in system while underway. Much less force is required to steer. But the boat is pulling to stb at higher speeds. I noted that the mechanic that did the repairs marked the trim tab and set it back to it's original position. I readjusted the trim tab for full left and eliminated most of the pull to the right, but due to the much easier steering, I still have some right turn pull. Possibly, the permatrim is slightly off, causing this. It looks straight in line. I'd like to have totally neutral steering at higher speeds. Is there a larger trim tab, or something I can add or adjust?

potter water · Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:10 am Post subject:

Are you selling the ray marine? I would like to add auto pilot and I am willing to repair it for my use.

Sunbeam · Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:53 am Post subject:

Roy & Dixie · Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 2:22 pm Post subject:

Roy, I'm just curious, is your "play" in the "I'm turning the wheel in the plane I would do to make a turn" way? Or is it like the wheel rocks side-to-side on its mounting? It sounds like yours is the former (?). My wheel had the latter and I decided it was probably in the autopilot and so I took it apart. Sure enough, I found three screws that were loose, tightened them up and added a bit of thread locker, and about 80% of the rocking/slop went away, to the point where it is not annoying anymore (but this was never in the steering plane). I have photos/write up in my album and in another thread if you are interested.
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There was some of both, I feel. I had previously read your post and viewed the pictures. As I removed the auto pilot, I looked for and noted that the three screws were loose. Some of the play was removed when I tightened them The bracket that should be holding the device firmly in place is a hinge design that allowed the whole device to rotate several degrees. And steering force was noticeably greater with the autopilot installed. A couple of things I did not mention in my first post was the fact that after I raised the seats 4", the wheel extended enough to make a tight fit between the bottom of the wheel and the seat. Removing the auto pilot gave me more room to slide into position in the seat. And the amount of wiring from the auto pilot, rolled up and hanging in the V-birth, was ridiculous. It more than doubled all the other wiring. Who ever installed it did a terrible job of routing wiring.

But getting back to the trim, I went out to the boat and studied the PermaTrim after my original post. I can see a very slight greater space on the left rear between the PermaTrim plate and the engine.(facing toward the bow) This would give a trim to stb. The vertical ends of the PermaTrim have a much greater area than the engines trim tab, so it would not take much to be noticed. There is no way I can now loosen the PermaTrim bolts to tweek it's position, since I used 5200 when installing. I am thinking of designing an additional small trim tab mounted to the back edge of the PermaTrim. There are two small unused holes there in the PermaTrim. Or just steer slightly to the port at high speed.

Roy & Dixie · Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 2:32 pm Post subject:

Are you selling the ray marine? I would like to add auto pilot and I am willing to repair it for my use.

If you can use the auto pilot I will be happy to ship it to you. All the parts are there and it does function. Both the installation and user manual are with it. Research if it would work on your boat and send me a personal message if you are still interested. We could then talk by phone to work everything out. PS, "Crazy" is one of my all time favorites.

Yellowstone · Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 3:29 pm Post subject:

I have a Ray Marine Sport Pilot plus which had limited use - went to hydraulic steering and installed the remote system - and the
Sport Pilot unit now sits in a box. Anyone who wants it can make a reasonable offer - contact me by email. Yellowstone

thataway · Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 3:45 pm Post subject:

I have never experienced steering torque by the permatrim. But I have been careful to be sure it was straight to a mm. Can you tell how many degrees the Permatrim is off? My thought that the folded down edges were to more "trap" the prop wash which was going up---but that may be all wrong. There are many things which can cause steering torque, as well as the prop--including trim of the boat, and weight distribution. I guess it would do no harm to make bolt on trim tabs on the trailing edge of the Permatrim. The amount of torque prop torque will vary with boat speed.

Will turning the tab slightly more correct the steering?

The Sport Pilots do not work well because of "hydraulic creep" which most of my boat hydraulic steered boats (including sailboats, under sail) have had.

Roy & Dixie · Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 4:58 pm Post subject:

Will turning the tab slightly more correct the steering?

The trim tab seems to have a stop that only allows a few degrees of angle. I will see if it can be turned a little more tomorrow. I only need just a little more to have a neutral feel. The PermaTrim is off just enough to see if you really eyeball it closely. I would have never noticed if I was not so critical with the steering feel. But if the PermaTrim angled only slightly to stb, I feel the vertical fins could steer in that direction.

Roy & Dixie · Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 8:35 am Post subject:

I was turning the trim tab to try to steer the boat, not to trim the motor to then steer the boat. The owners manual is very clear on this. But who reads the manual Embarassed

? In other words, I was turning the trim tab to the left. That only trimmed to steer even more to the right. I now have the trim tab turned to the right to trim to the left.