[praetorian47]

With the addition of the new dinghy I'm finding the boat just won't pull out of the water as it did.

There was a tab leak found over the winter (hopefully fixed). It's been recommended that I increase the size of the existing tabs from 26x12 to 26x18. I can't get any wider due to the prop pockets in the hull, do depth is all I have to work with.

I'm also thinking of changing from Bennett to Lectrotab. I called Carver and they recommended Lectrotab, and after a few hours on the phone with both, I prefer dealing with Lectrotab.

Bennett told me that I couldn't go more than 12" cord (the depth) unless I went with their SST ($6-$12k). Lectrotab told me to go with 2 of their HD actuators for each tab and just have my existing tabs extended (they could make me tabs but this was faster).

Any reason why I don't want to extend the chord (depth)? I'm not backing down on fish hard or anything, just trying to cruise.

[Capt J]

I have had blocks made of starboard and put between the actuator and the trim tab that gave it about 1 1/2" more of downward angle on 2 boats that needed bigger tabs but didn't have the room for them due to the tunnels being in the way and other things........It worked very well and made a huge difference.

[BEAU]

CaptJ

Did you have to put the blocks further out on the tab. Assuming you add 21/2 at the bottom, don't you have to raise where the piston attaches to the transom by 21/2 if it fully closed in the up position? If its not fully closed in the up position, isn't it installed incorrectly? Dunno, just askin

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by BEAU

CaptJ

Did you have to put the blocks further out on the tab. Assuming you add 21/2 at the bottom, don't you have to raise where the piston attaches to the transom by 21/2 if it fully closed in the up position? If its not fully closed in the up position, isn't it installed incorrectly? Dunno, just askin

I had a good yard do it, they simply put them between the trim tab and the actuator......the tab stays down about an inch in the full up position......on this boat and the angle of the transom, it's not a big deal......and it's not a SF where you have to worry about backing down at 10 knots......

[DanM]

Did you look into adding drop fins on the tabs you currently have? I added them to my 396 and I use less tab than before for the same results. The folks at Bennett mentioned it to me. There is also a claim to better mileage but I cannot confirm it.

[praetorian47]

I already had drop fins. The problem was that Carver

I ended up replacing the single Bennet's with dual Lectratab HD units and having a local stainless guy extend the existing tabs from 12" to 18" on the advice of Lectratab. They calculated that I could go 18" with dual actuators and I figured go bigger and use less.

The results are pretty good. I gained all the speed I lost adding the dinghy. I was actually .1kt faster with the dinghy and the new tabs and full tank of fuel than I was with the old tabs and no dinghy. Not bad for adding 900 pounds!

I have to check to see if both tabs are still working. I found that we were listing a bit and I had to trim out the tabs and one didn't make much difference (although one down to 80% was enough to stay on plane).

I'll have to play around with trimming for speed and fuel efficiency. I just installed a Maretron DSM250 to my nmea2k backbone and am now getting fuel flow info too.

I really like the lectratab units. The control is pretty nice with a built in indicator. Wiring is easy and they give a recommendation on how to reuse the bennett wiring harness.

So I'm considering this job a success, pending some double-checking and tuning.

I'm finding best speed is at tabs about 75% now.