Mercruiser trim senders....

[Rocky_Road]

Has anyone simply 'spliced' the wires on a new trim sender unit, to the existing wires...to prevent removing the Alpha drive unit?

I can see where my wire has broken off right at the sending unit, and if I do it carefully (using a new unit,and sealing the splice), I would be willing to sacrifice any longevity, for the sheer simplicity!

 

[Don S]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Why ask? Just do it.

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Yes, you can do this. In fresh water it might last a few seasons. In salt water maybe a season or two. Make no mistake about it, you will be doing this again in the future. My crystal ball is broken......how soon is a mystery.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Do it!!! Lot's of people do.Use heat shrink tube and seal with liquid electric tape or good plastic sealer. Should last a while.Jerry

 

[eriefeelin]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Has MerCruiser come up with a new design for those limit switches and senders yet? The current setup is not too good.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Ayuh,....

It's called learning to drive/ trim by the Seat of your Pants.....

 

[abj87]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Ayuh,....

It's called learning to drive/ trim by the Seat of your Pants.....

yep, even when mine worked it was useless, and it was useless on our friends brand new boat too... I just trim till i get max rpm for that throttle setting.

West marine sell crimp connectors with adhesive lined shrink tubing, that sould work well for you.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

yep, even when mine worked it was useless, and it was useless on our friends brand new boat too... I just trim till i get max rpm for that throttle setting.

West marine sell crimp connectors with adhesive lined shrink tubing, that sould work well for you.

Great tip, on the West Marine connectors.

I was going to flux solder the connection, smear a little marine Goop on the solder, slide a shrink tube over this...and 'lite my BIC'!

My trim works in both directions, as does the Trailer button...but the panel gauge is 'pegged'. The manual says that the trim limit sender (port) has to be functioning...or you lose all trim control. My port (left, passenger) side sender unit is the one that has the broken wire...but I have complete control.

Am I reading the 'port and starboard' thing wrong?

So far...most of you think that I can splice in the new sender units.

 

[Don S]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Splicing is only a temporary fix at best, heat shrink connectors or not.
You also can NOT solder corroded wire, it just won't work.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Splicing is only a temporary fix at best, heat shrink connectors or not.
You also can NOT solder corroded wire, it just won't work.

Elaborate...please!

Are you saying that I cannot solder corroded wire? Or, are you saying that flux core will not work...but acid core would?

Actually...I believe that I can peel back enough wie cover on the existing wires, to find 'virgin' wire. If so...flux, or acid, core?

 

[Dirty Dawg]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

I tried repairing mine, but the wire coating was very brittle and ended up losing the insulation where the wires go thru the hull/transom resulting in a short. Had to abandon the repair and will wait until the drive/ gimball comes out next year and replace them.

Ike

 

[achris]

Re: Mercruiser trim senders....

Mercruiser redesigned the trim sender/switch setup about 15 years ago. Haven't seen too many problems with the new design. My old V6 (1994) is still running the original senders and doesn't even look like failing. Same with my mate's 1995 Mercruiser.

The old ones would break the wires and the water (salt or fresh) would track up the copper. Up too far to be able to par back the insulation to make a good splice. As Don has already said, you can't solder corroded wire, acid flux or not.

If you intend keeping the boat, bite the bullet, buy the new senders and spend the time to do the job right. The part number for the new senders is -805320A1.

Chris.......