Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

[hd79irnhrs]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

Hello all,I am interested in these smart tabs.I have a Proline 26 walk.320 hp stern drive.I do not know the weight of the boat,It does have a 8' beam.I currently have bennit hydraulic tabs on the boat and just can't seem to get the hang of them.Seems I am always over adjusting and tend to list the boat one way or the other.Am I correct in saying that when boat is at rest,I want to extend my tabs completely which is bow down on my rocker switches correct?Then as boat comes up to plain back them off?The boat seems to really drag bad when extended.Please explain the proper adjustment to me as far as the boat listing.Say the boat is listing to port side with trim tabs fully extended,bow down on switch,do I back off the starboard side tab or the port side?I do not have trim tabs indicators so what I do is count seconds to help me know where I am.It takes about 10 seconds for tabs to fully extend.I have been thinking of these smart tabs but know nothing about them except what I read on your post so far.Is my boat to big for them? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated thanks Greg (FINANCIAL REBOUND)

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

Hello all,I am interested in these smart tabs.I have a Proline 26 walk.320 hp stern drive.I do not know the weight of the boat,It does have a 8' beam.I currently have bennit hydraulic tabs on the boat and just can't seem to get the hang of them.Seems I am always over adjusting and tend to list the boat one way or the other.Am I correct in saying that when boat is at rest,I want to extend my tabs completely which is bow down on my rocker switches correct?Then as boat comes up to plain back them off?The boat seems to really drag bad when extended.Please explain the proper adjustment to me as far as the boat listing.Say the boat is listing to port side with trim tabs fully extended,bow down on switch,do I back off the starboard side tab or the port side?I do not have trim tabs indicators so what I do is count seconds to help me know where I am.It takes about 10 seconds for tabs to fully extend.I have been thinking of these smart tabs but know nothing about them except what I read on your post so far.Is my boat to big for them? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated thanks Greg (FINANCIAL REBOUND)

Hi Greg and welcome aboard. You caught me wide eyed Can't sleep.

You are correct, when you are getting on a plane you will want your tabs deployed downward, bow down on your controller. As you get onto a plane, you want to adjust the tabs inward/up so they are not deployed while on a plane. You may not even need the full deployed tab to get on a plane but the more you have deployed,the more lift you will get and usually faster you will get the stern up and on plane.


For a listing problem while tabs are not deployed, you want to adjust the tab on the side that it is listing toward downward to produce lift. If it is listing to port, raise the port side by adjusting the port side tab down until you are level. If it is listing to starboard, adjust the starboard trim tab down on the starboard side until the boat is level.

Now, if you are running in rough seas and have the tabs deployed all the way down to chop through waves and you are listing to one side it is the reverse of above. If they are deployed down and you are listing to port, you will want to raise the starboard side until the boat levels. If the boat is listing starboard with the tabs deployed down, you will want to lift the port side tab until boat levels. Its basically the same thing as above, you are just relieving some of the lift on one side or the other or adding lift to one side or the other. All depends on how you want to look at it. Basically, the side that it is listing to, no matter where your tabs are situated, needs more lift or more down tab. The side that is high, needs less lift or less down tab.


A couple questions, does your boat list to one side or the other at rest? Do you have a kicker on one side? What is the year of your boat? Nauticus has trim tabs now for boats up to 8500 lbs. Nauticus also has conversion kits for existing tabs, you may want to look into those. Are your current tabs pocketed or off the stern? Where are you boating and how do you use your boat? I would say, your boat weights in close to what mine does being set-up the way it is. Yours may be a few hundred pounds less because you have an outboard instead of a I/O. And by the looks of it, your boat will be lighter because it is newer also.

If you are interested in the smart tabs look at there website for st1610-120 or st1610-180. These are listed as the commercial tabs. The ones I run are st1290-80. These are specific for V-8 I/O. Like I said, they also have a conversion kit, ck2830-160 that also may work and are probably cheaper to buy. I know of no one that has done the conversion as of yet and have no idea what is involved in the install process. Your best bet is to talk with nauticus and ask them what size is right for your set-up. They are great to deal with.


The smart tabs will work for your boat but many here will tell you just to get use to what you have. 10 seconds to deploy or un-deploy sounds like a long time. Are you sure they are operating correctly? You may want to talk with "tabman" before you do anything about the ones you have now, he works for Bennett.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

Hello all,I am interested in these smart tabs.I have a Proline 26 walk.320 hp stern drive.I do not know the weight of the boat,It does have a 8' beam.I currently have bennit hydraulic tabs on the boat and just can't seem to get the hang of them.Seems I am always over adjusting and tend to list the boat one way or the other.Am I correct in saying that when boat is at rest,I want to extend my tabs completely which is bow down on my rocker switches correct?Then as boat comes up to plain back them off?The boat seems to really drag bad when extended.Please explain the proper adjustment to me as far as the boat listing.Say the boat is listing to port side with trim tabs fully extended,bow down on switch,do I back off the starboard side tab or the port side?I do not have trim tabs indicators so what I do is count seconds to help me know where I am.It takes about 10 seconds for tabs to fully extend.I have been thinking of these smart tabs but know nothing about them except what I read on your post so far.Is my boat to big for them? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated thanks Greg (FINANCIAL REBOUND)

I'd suggest a visit to the Bennett website and reading up on how they work, including trying their simulator:

http://www.bennetttrimtabs.com/simulator.htm

My guess is that you overcorrect when adjusting them. You need to activate the switch for a second, then wait a couple of seconds and see how the boat reacts. Yes, raising the starboard side tab will raise the port bow. Lowering the port-side tab will depress the starboard bow. The switch arrangement usually (but not always!) mimics the layout of the boat.

The port-side switch activates the starboard-side tab. Pushing the top of the port-side switch lowers the port bow, by lowering the starboard-side tab.

The starboard-side switch activates the port-side tab. Pushing the top of the starboard-side switch lowers the starboard bow, by lowering the port-side tab.

Practice!

 

[Tabman]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

hd79irnhrs,

Can you tell me if the 10 seconds you see for deploying the Trim Tabs is one at a time, or both at once? You can send me a private message if you like so we don't have to "hijack" this thread.

JoLin is on target with his advice. The best advice is to experiment to find what works best. And after a little while using your Trim Tabs will become second nature.

This is a little Trim Tab 101 I wrote a while back.

The most important thing to keep in mind that each boat reacts a little differently to Trim Tabs, make your corrections in short bursts and let the boat settle down between corrections. The best way to find what works best is though careful experimentation.
If you have any questions please contact me.

Tom McGow
Bennett Marine

Getting and Staying Trimmed

All boats assume different fore to aft attitudes at different throttle settings and vary in sensitivity to lateral weight distribution.

A boat?s optimum running attitude is determined by the operator. While some people may define optimum running attitude as the highest possible speed for a given amount of engine RPMs, others desire the best possible fuel economy, yet others may be trimming the boat to get just the right mix of speed and wake (such as for waterskiing.)

Optimum running attitude is when the boat is running to the operator?s satisfaction for the given operating conditions. There are as many optimum running attitudes as there are boats and boat owners

A good way to determine a boats optimum running angle is to run the boat lightly loaded at full speed in calm water. During this test observe the boat?s bow in relation to the horizon. Most boats run at or near their optimum attitude under these conditions. This should give you a feel for the appearance of the wake and bow spray when running at an efficient attitude. Note that not all boats will achieve their optimum running attitude under these conditions. Some boats will benefit from extra lift even when running at their maximum throttle settings. If you feel the boat will benefit from added bow down trim when running at speed start with the trim tabs fully up and deflect the trim tabs in short bursts. Be alert to changes in the boats handling, as you bring the bow down. Observe any changes in RPMs and/or speed. Adjust power trim if applicable.

Indications of Running Untrimmed
When a boat is running untrimmed the bow spray will exit the sides of the boat far aft. The stern wave (wake) is high and curling like a breaker on the beach. The rooster tail is high and close to the stern. The engine is laboring and the ride tends to be less smooth.

Indications of Running Trimmed
The bow spray moves forward and is flung not as far from the boat. The wake diminishes in height, as the rooster tail flattens out and moves away from the boat. The engine is operating under less load as evidenced by the tachometer and speed as well as sounding ?less strained?.

One Step at a Time
The key to obtaining optimal results from trim tabs is to operate them in short ?bursts? and let the boat react before making another adjustment. The amount of time between corrections is influenced by the size of the trim tabs and the boat?s speed. This will help avoid overtrimming or ending up with one tab too far down when correcting lateral trim. You will quickly become acquainted with a boat?s particular traits.

Take Off
Properly sized trim tabs can significantly reduce the time needed to get up on plane. They also allow a boat to keep its bow down and stay on plane at lower speeds.
As the throttle is advanced the stern of the boat begins to squat, lifting the bow. As the boat accelerates, push the bow down position of the helm control in short bursts. The boat reacts by the stern lifting, the bow coming down, speed increasing, and reduced engine laboring. If you over do it and deflect the tabs too far the boat will end up overtrimmed. When over trimmed, the steering becomes ?over sensitive? and wants to pull off course to port or starboard. If this occurs, operate the control ?bow up" until the desired attitude is established.

Getting the Most from Power Trim
Adjust the trim tabs to achieve the desired running attitude. Then use the power trim to position the propeller thrust parallel to the water flow. If necessary, re-adjust the trim tabs to fine tune the attitude. By observing the boat?s speed and engine RPMs the best combination of trim tabs and power trim will be apparent. Trim tab angle indicators and a power trim angle indicator are particularly useful in duplicating effective settings.

Trimming to Sea Conditions
When running into a head sea you want to trim the bow down so the sharp forward sections of the boat do their work cleaving the waves. This provides the most comfortable ride and minimizes stress on the boat (and passengers). In a following sea the tabs should be fully retracted for maximum steering response.

Correction of a List
The normal control setup for trim tabs operates in relation to the desired changes in trim and not the actual movement of the tabs. Therefore, do not think about what the tabs are doing, but rather on the control and what you want the boat to do. As above, make the corrections in bursts and allow the boat to settle to the new settings. You may find it easier to correct the boat?s fore and aft attitude before you correct the side to side trim.

Correction of Porpoising
Operate the tabs in very short bursts of about half a second. Continue until porpoising subsides. The objective is to have only a very slight amount of tab deflection, just the amount needed to cure the up and down motion of the bow.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

Tabman, you aren't hijacking anything, this thread was to inform people about different tabs and what they do differently. Your information is welcome here.

 

[nlain]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

When I bought my 04 185Sport SeaRay I thought I had enough boat to handle the sound fine, it is much better than the 87 SeaRay Seville that I had. The ride was rough on the rough days, I had to slow way down to keep from beating the boat and us to death, I refuse to run my boat at high speed jumping from one place to another, unsafe and destroys the equipment. I had used a hydrofoil on the old boat, never did like it. I started reading about the Smart Tabs, I went to the website and studied there.
I finally ordered a set, the ST1290-80, and installed them on my boat, went for a ride, made some adjustments, could not get the bow up out of the water. Called Nauticus, John, the owner, answered the phone, I told him what I had bought and what I installed them on and before I finished he knew why I was calling, I had the wrong actuator for my boat, he sent me a pair of 60lb actuators, which I had in just a couple days, I installed and adjusted. I can now cut through the rough water in the sound, I can stay on plane at 15 mph, gps, where 20 was the limit before, get on plane faster, also only use a little over half throttle now to get on plane, very little bow rise, never lose sight of the water, in no wake zone there is no low speed wander anymore, I tested this in a lake idling in to the marina which is in a cove, no current and the wind not blowing, I pointed the boat and turned loose of the steering wheel, it stayed perfectly straight, wind started up and push it slightly to starboard, that was the only change in direction until I needed to turn the boat. I also have a set run that I make, I live on the water, put boat in from my back yard, I make the same run from my dock to the beach in the sound, I use less gas per run, 1 to 1 1/2 gallons per trip. My cruise speed per rpm increased and I gained a couple mph at wot. I will say that Smart Tabs do everything advertised, at least they have for me. I am a satisfied customer, I do recommend then to others and the customer support is great.

 

[Tabman]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

Tabman, you aren't hijacking anything, this thread was to inform people about different tabs and what they do differently. Your information is welcome here.

Thank you chriscraft254.

I simply meant that if I could help hd79irnhrs to make sure his Bennett system was working properly it might be easier to do that through private messages or in another thread.

I am a bit biased towards remotely controlled Trim Tabs so with that in mind I am delighted to answer any questions. But perhaps that might be best done in a separate thread so one can remain focused as you mention in your first post.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

When I bought my 04 185Sport SeaRay I thought I had enough boat to handle the sound fine, it is much better than the 87 SeaRay Seville that I had. The ride was rough on the rough days, I had to slow way down to keep from beating the boat and us to death, I refuse to run my boat at high speed jumping from one place to another, unsafe and destroys the equipment. I had used a hydrofoil on the old boat, never did like it. I started reading about the Smart Tabs, I went to the website and studied there.
I finally ordered a set, the ST1290-80, and installed them on my boat, went for a ride, made some adjustments, could not get the bow up out of the water. Called Nauticus, John, the owner, answered the phone, I told him what I had bought and what I installed them on and before I finished he knew why I was calling, I had the wrong actuator for my boat, he sent me a pair of 60lb actuators, which I had in just a couple days, I installed and adjusted. I can now cut through the rough water in the sound, I can stay on plane at 15 mph, gps, where 20 was the limit before, get on plane faster, also only use a little over half throttle now to get on plane, very little bow rise, never lose sight of the water, in no wake zone there is no low speed wander anymore, I tested this in a lake idling in to the marina which is in a cove, no current and the wind not blowing, I pointed the boat and turned loose of the steering wheel, it stayed perfectly straight, wind started up and push it slightly to starboard, that was the only change in direction until I needed to turn the boat. I also have a set run that I make, I live on the water, put boat in from my back yard, I make the same run from my dock to the beach in the sound, I use less gas per run, 1 to 1 1/2 gallons per trip. My cruise speed per rpm increased and I gained a couple mph at wot. I will say that Smart Tabs do everything advertised, at least they have for me. I am a satisfied customer, I do recommend then to others and the customer support is great.

Thanks for posting your experience, sounds like you have them dialed in perfectly. I was amazed by the way the tabs kept the boat from wondering as well. Its nice not to have to have the hand on the wheel constantly.

 

[skbry]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

Whats your thoughts about not reaching top speed?

 

[nlain]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

Your setting is incorrect or you have the wrong actuators, as in, 80lb when you should have 60lb. You have too much pressure on the tabs which is holding the bow down in the water. If everything is correct you should at least get the same top speed if not more. You may want to call Nauticus and talk to them if you cannot adjust it out for top speed.

 

[skbry]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

Please read my previous post before the photo.

 

[metalwizard]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

I did get my trim motor in Got her on the water didn't have much time but 100% improvement... Got it up to 40 mph no problem got on plane FAST.. wot rpms came up a bit so I may be able to prop up a bit and get a little more out of her..

all in all best money I have spent

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

I bought 40lbs smart tabs sx for my 14' bayliner capri with 50hp. Here's my experience so far. Installed per directions letting tabs hang then mounting top bracket. Ran boat and had a rooster tail behind boat and a lot of spray behind transom going above splash well. Contacted Nauticus (great customer support) needed to check tab angle which was 30 degrees, had to re mount top mount to achive 25 degrees in deployed position.
The next test I ran to find the highest speed prop and trim position without tabs first. This resulted in my highest pitch prop 13 and middle trim position with 27mph on the gps.
Installed the tabs the best top speed was 25mph adjusted trim angles and tab positions with no better results. When I shifted my weight to the back to see if the tabs where fully retracting the speed would increase to 27. Contacted Greg with results and traded for 30lb actuators.
Tested with trim in middle position I get 24mph, trim to highest position I get 25mph, move my weight to the back of the boat speed increased to 27mph. I adjusted the tabs to the hole closest to the transom which should result in the least amount of pressure I still get the same results. The tabs are retracting so there shouldn't be any drag. The boat does plane at 14mph now compared to 20mph without tabs but I was really hoping for 30mph or least the same speed with the tabs.
Anyone have any thoughts on why the boats faster with weight in the back?

Install looks correct. Sorry, but everything about this seems odd. I know your motor is 50hp. Is it a 4 stroke or 2 stroke? I'm guessing 2 stroke. Have you done any engine work during the testing period where the motor was running better or worse? I would test your tabs with the motor not trimmed at all to start with. You will still be able to use your motor trim once they are dialed in to receive more speed and to raise the bow, but do your testing with the motor positioned all the way down or 90 degrees with the hull for consistancy. If your running the boat with different motor trim settings while testing, you will never get them tuned in right. This will keep your testing consistant.

There are actually 4 different tabs for your install for your size boat. The SX9510-30 or the Sx9510-40 are the ones you have tested. They also offer a pro-troller and a stainless version for your size boat. There is different ratings for boats with 4 stroke motor and 2 stroke motor. If it were me, I would contact nauticus again and get there advice here. Call nauticus and ask them if the stainless steel tabs with 40 lb actuators would be better for your boat compared to the Sx series.


How much do you weigh? I have to ask because you have a 14 ft boat. Weight added to the back or the bow can effect speed.
I really shouldn't but I will take a stab at it. When you are at the stern of the boat, because your boat is small, the added lift to the bow by walking to the stern is kinda like trimming the motor up. It is pushing your stern a little deeper, lifting the bow out of the water more giving you a little more speed. When you walk back to the front, you are lowering the bow more causing reduction in speed because the boat is more bow down in the water.

Couple of comments to what you said. When you adjust these tabs up or down for testing, you are not really changing the pressure on the tabs. The tabs actuators are pre-set to relax at a certain pressure, in your case 40 or now 30 lbs. What you are really adjusting is when the tabs will be forced to that relaxed upward position. The boats axis/attitude and how those tabs are going to position the boat while under pressure is what you are adjusting. This is why they call it tuning because you have to find the right position that places your style hull in its best running attitude or best position on its axis for running.
These tabs, though they relax, do still have some down pressure on them when on plane, this is to add stability and causes little drag and should not effect the performance negatively.

Hope I may have helped. Keep us posted on this, I am interested in what you find out.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

I did get my trim motor in Got her on the water didn't have much time but 100% improvement... Got it up to 40 mph no problem got on plane FAST.. wot rpms came up a bit so I may be able to prop up a bit and get a little more out of her..

all in all best money I have spent

Awesome,sounds good man!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

sounds like you need to be able to trim your engine higher.... tabs will almost never increase top speed as top end is where they are least needed except to stop porpoising but by deploying to stop porpoising they increase drag and slow the boat.

a stern heavy underpowered boat might gain speed with them but yours isn't

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

sounds like you need to be able to trim your engine higher.... tabs will almost never increase top speed as top end is where they are least needed except to stop porpoising but by deploying to stop porpoising they increase drag and slow the boat.

a stern heavy underpowered boat might gain speed with them but yours isn't

Smoke, this is the biggest difference in nauticus tabs and regular tabs. Alot of people think that these tabs will actually cause enough drag to cause speed loss but they are designed not to. This relaxed pressure when the tabs are in the up position is there to stop the boat from reacting more violently to chine walking, port to starboard motion, bow to stern motion and yes, porpoising, quiker than without tabs. They give the boats hull a quiker response time to changing conditions causing more speed a wot because the whole hull rides smoother and reacts faster. When on plane, basically the smart tabs act as shock absorbers reducing the inflicted forces to the hull to be less punishing to speed.

If the tabs are sized wrong or positioned wrong they can cause speed loss. To say a under powered stern heavy boat is the only one that will see increase in speed just isn't right. Most smaller sized boats with a stern mounted motor will be inherantly out of position to start with because the motor is heavier in regards to the over all size of the boat. There are many small boats that are over powered, these have no issues getting out of the water except that because the motor is in the stern, they still have to climb out of a hole with a bow up attitude. Tabs will help most stern boats, wether under powered or not.

All that being said, imo the right prop and position of the height of the motor should be squared away before considering adding any tabs.

 

[QC]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

I really shouldn't but I will take a stab at it. When you are at the stern of the boat, because your boat is small, the added lift to the bow by walking to the stern is kinda like trimming the motor up. It is pushing your stern a little deeper, lifting the bow out of the water more giving you a little more speed. When you walk back to the front, you are lowering the bow more causing reduction in speed because the boat is more bow down in the water.

Data supports this, why is anyone confused. Weight balance . . . classic. This is an example of why the Nauticus diagram showing the hull flat is wrong. Boats are fastest with the bow up. If you can get the bow higher with the tabs, and you can shift more weight aft with the tabs . . . voila, faster

All that being said, imo the right prop and position of the height of the motor should be squared away before considering adding any tabs.

Not so sure about that. I'd set the motor up after the tabs. The tabs allow you to trim higher and possibly mount it higher, this is how they can "allow" for higher top speeds.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

I think you missed my point... I didn't say those are the only boats that benefit just that they would be the rare case where TOP speed would increase... The increased drag I referred to is a given tho it isn't much... They may not lose speed but to gain it is uncommon.....

I CAN see however that there are other situations where speed would increase but I think a better way to word my point is that gaining speed is not the primary purpose or a given and the fact that a boat did not gain speed does not mean the product isn't working properly

A tab can not increase bow lift.... just can't do it..... as such with a boat that runs faster with more weight in the rear, while the tab did help in other areas, it is not the solution to that problem.... he needs more trim from his engine

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

I think you missed my point... I didn't say those are the only boats that benefit just that they would be the rare case where TOP speed would increase... The increased drag I referred to is a given tho it isn't much... They may not lose speed but to gain it is unlikely

I don't think it is rare to see speed increases when running nauticus tabs properly set-up and sized correctly. Just on this thread alone, there are a few posters that have seen wot increases. 2,3,4 mph increase at wot may not be much but its something. I don't consider my boat under powered at all and did see an increase. Though it would be sweet to have a 454 in there!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs. The who,what,when,where,why,and how......

as you were typing I was editing... read it again