I just bought the 19' Angler "Lucky 7's" and decided to give her a little shakedown cruise in Shuswap lake. Being a little new to this and never having used trim tabs. So off we go tabs full bow down. Thinking this might be a little much decided to ease them back a touch. Following the salesman's instructions I held them in for a 3 count and let them off. We were doing about 30kph and all hades broke loose. It seems the portside rocker switch sticks and that tab was full bow up and the other almost full bow down. I'm now waiting for a new switch. Any advise for the proper use of these?
Lucky 7's first cruise.
- Thread starter geebee2
- Start date
Glen;
Welcome to Cdoryland. Great to see another Canuck posting. I had the same adventure with my trim tabs. When I installed them, the cut out hole was a little tight and one of them stuck. major chaos.... Once that was fixed, they have been good. They do take a bit of getting used to but sure make the boat perform better.If your tabs are wired from the factory, you might notice that when you push the starboard rocker for bow down it activates the port tab. This confused the hell out of me and I have wired the control so that when you push the the top of the starboard rocker switch the starboard tab goes down. Works better for me. Anyways good luck with your boat and tabs. You have got a beatuiful lake to try it out on.
Jimbo
Welcome to Cdoryland. Great to see another Canuck posting. I had the same adventure with my trim tabs. When I installed them, the cut out hole was a little tight and one of them stuck. major chaos.... Once that was fixed, they have been good. They do take a bit of getting used to but sure make the boat perform better.If your tabs are wired from the factory, you might notice that when you push the starboard rocker for bow down it activates the port tab. This confused the hell out of me and I have wired the control so that when you push the the top of the starboard rocker switch the starboard tab goes down. Works better for me. Anyways good luck with your boat and tabs. You have got a beatuiful lake to try it out on.
Jimbo
Congratulations! It just gets better from here!
After running my CD22 for a season without tabs, I put some on about half way through my second season. I trialed them in some funky seas and put them way too far down for the conditions. My first thought was how to explain wasting the four hundred bucks when I took the things off. But after a few tries I figured them out a little and very soon was wondering how I ever got by without them. You'll have the same experience soon.
I always retract my tabs fully when returning to the dock because the boat steers better for me. Therefore, they are fully up when I leave. I usually wait until I start to get onto plane before putting them down at all. I'm thinking the three count is a little much unless you are a speed counter. For running adjustments I give mine short pulses - about as quick as I can depress the switch and let it go. After a while you will know by the boat's side-to-side attitude how much more of one tab you will need than the other and can just get it right by feel. The best way I found for setting them to ideal when at full cruise speed is to watch the GPS speed numbers and go for the highest speed at whatever RPM you're running. It is amazing how much economy you'll gain simply by tuning the tabs for the best hull effiency.
Don't give up on the things. You'll learn to love them.
After running my CD22 for a season without tabs, I put some on about half way through my second season. I trialed them in some funky seas and put them way too far down for the conditions. My first thought was how to explain wasting the four hundred bucks when I took the things off. But after a few tries I figured them out a little and very soon was wondering how I ever got by without them. You'll have the same experience soon.
I always retract my tabs fully when returning to the dock because the boat steers better for me. Therefore, they are fully up when I leave. I usually wait until I start to get onto plane before putting them down at all. I'm thinking the three count is a little much unless you are a speed counter. For running adjustments I give mine short pulses - about as quick as I can depress the switch and let it go. After a while you will know by the boat's side-to-side attitude how much more of one tab you will need than the other and can just get it right by feel. The best way I found for setting them to ideal when at full cruise speed is to watch the GPS speed numbers and go for the highest speed at whatever RPM you're running. It is amazing how much economy you'll gain simply by tuning the tabs for the best hull effiency.
Don't give up on the things. You'll learn to love them.
Pat Anderson
New member
What is "30kph"? Kilometers per hour I presume, about 20 mph? 30 ANYTHING is a little fast to try to make anything more than very minor adustments to trim! The salesman needs a little more discretion about what he is telling cutomers, he could have killed you! Putting the bow down with 3 seconds of trim tab at 20 mph is just downright dangerous!
mikeporterinmd
New member
Lori Ann":n8tb2kht said:
My Lenco tabs have a series of LEDs by the switches that show how far
down they are. Given that I usually run with max tab down, the LEDs are
quite helpful when leveling the boat. For instance, if you are listing to
port, pushing the upper stbd switch is only going to work if that tab is
not already all the way down. If it is, then you have no choice but to
raise the other tab. I shoot for a level ride whenever possible, and
generally max the tabs to achieve that goal. This seems to give the
smoothest ride and best economy.
Mike