VIPER7

I am trying to find out how the AT trim tab switches make the boat react. If I press the the starboard bow down switch will the starboard bow go down?

marylandmark

Wire them so they do what you think/want/remember what it will do...

I have Lenco's on my Concept- bow down on that side puts the tab down on that side which the bow reacts to and goes down on that side; if only using that side the other side reacts as well and the bow goes up on the other side

Gladhe8er

If I hit down on my switches, the tabs actually go up.

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

Pat and I talked about your boat & the switches.
It's all in personal preference & thinking.

Sonic wires & labels them according to what the bow does.
AT wires & labels them according to what the actual tab does.

There is no switch labeled "Starboard Bow Down" If you press the tab down switch on the SB side of the boat, its going to adjust/lower the SB side trim tab, and the PORT side bow is going to lower.

& vice versa.

If you are an analytical thinker you think about what the bow does when you press a switch. If you are an engineering thinker, you think about what you want the tab to do to make the the bow react.

The good part is, you hardly ever need to use the tabs on a 37AT! Keep them at neutral and leave them there, period.

Two phrases we use on Clark's 37AT when Chuck and I are telling him how to drive:
"Trim tabs are for puzzies!"
&
"Trim tabs waste gas!"

(Clark is crb76 and chuckbeecher is his Dad.)

If you take the Tres Martin class, you will know more about (boat) trim then you ever thought possible.
(Man will never know enough about the "other" kind of trim.)

crb76

They also save drives while getting on plane....no vibration

The design of the AVH hull keeps the bow down naturally. Unless you have a strong quartering wind or a bunch of fat people on one side of the boat, you hardly need them. Since the boat is wide is will cock into the wind if it gets real strong (+15MPH). That about the only time I use them on plane.

VIPER7

Brian,
Thank you very much for the clairification on this trim tab issue. I suppose I am an analytical thinker and I definitely want the switches wired to what the bow does. For the last 25 years all of the boats that I have had had the switches wired and labeled the way the bow moved. That is with the starboard switch wired to control starboard side bow movement and the port side switch controlling the port side bow movement. I am very aware that trim tabs waste gas & lower speeds as the 358 Sonic I had required quite a bit of tab which I did not like. Since the AT requires little or no tab played a large part in my decision to purchase an AT. My preference is that my boat have the tabs wired the same way that I am use to them reacting. I think it would not be safe for me to have to think backwards on boat movement after all these years. I have unsucessfully tried to get Pat to understand how I wanted the tabs wired and hopefully your explanation will help in resolving this issue.

Your assistance as always has been most helpful and informative.

Thanks,
Boyce

Macklin

Screw worrying about how your tabs are wired. You WILL get used to it. My previous boat was wired opposite to this one, but I actually prefer this setup now.

More importantly, if you don't already have it, put some index marks on your gauge for neutral. Run the tabs to that point before coming on plane...and leave them there the rest of the day! Voila. I ran in a strong quartering wind yesterday and actually had to drop one a bit. But that is a rare occassion.

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

Boyce,

I came from a Sonic before my AT, so I know where you are coming from. You are in a performance boat now!

However, I still agree with Pat that they should be wired according to tab placement. I guarantee you will get used to it in two trips. The reason why I agree is now that you will be in a step bottom boat, you need to be precise with all of your trim placements.

I'll explain by example:
If you are going into a sharp turn to port, at speed; you need to make sure that you know exactly where your port trim tab is set. IF your port tab is down a fair amount due to adjusting for ride comfort/balancing, and you go into a hard banking turn to port, your lowered port tab will be lifting the transom of the boat out of the water, counteracting the force of the drives. In a bad wave bounce, you could loosen up the transom of the boat and get yourself out of shape. Hence why I recommend knowing and going with exact trim placement (tabs and drives) in the way your operate and dial in the boat for constant changing conditions.

Macklin's comments are dead on about marking neutral on your drives and tabs. Pat or I can guide you on how to do this. As you learn your new boat, basically set everything at neutral EACH time out, and tweak from there. You DO NOT TRIM THIS BOAT OUT like a Sonic. (I'm not yelling, just emphasizing.)

You will probably run your drives 1-2.5 ticks up from neutral, and your tabs will be never more than 1 tick down from neutral unless you have a strong quartering sea or 3 fat chicks on one side. DO NOT trim the drives in before a turn! You have to keep them out and planted into a turn to the keep the transom in contact with the water. These are more things that the class talks about.

I was just razzing Clark (crb76) about the trim tabs. I actually use my trim tabs every time I get on plane now due to listening to Clark.

laszlo01

So the conclusion is to not have any Fat chicks on the boat and you are all set. But seriously if you take the Tres class it will be completely different than what you are used to for sure but definitely a must class to attend. It took me a few trips to get used to it as well but now it is second nature. When using your tabs make a small adjustment at a time and wait a 1/2 a second for the boat to react, otherwise you will be chasing your horizon line. But once you get used to it the ride on these are second to none especially in the rough stuff, I have passed many faster boats in the rough due to the fact that they could not handle it as well as the 37 A/T. Biggest key to remember is to neutral your drives and tabs in a turn or it will get you in trouble someday, drives in tabs down on take off and start to brings tabs up as you feel the nose steer then adjust accordingly to the sea conditions. Coming from a standard V hull took me a bit to get used to it and still learning the fine points every time out.

VIPER7

Can someone tell me about the vibration on the 37 AT? I had a vibration problem with the 358 Sonic with 30 Bravo 1 4 blade props. The vibration was of fairly short duration when coming out of the hole with a pretty heavy load. I switched to 5 blade hydro's and the problem was solved. Anyone have similar experiance with the 37 AT.