CN24

Do bravo 1's come with a low water pickup? Better yet , what drives come with a low water pickup?

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Yes. Depending on yr they have a variety

Side pickup
Low water, sometimes refered to as high speed pickup
Dual has both the side and low water

Ed

Believe it or not...on some installations of low-water pick-up Bravo's...the boat will loose a bit of speed. This is due to the slipstream turbulence that the intake holes create, which aerates the propeller(s). When exchanged for non-low-water pickup Bravo(s) the boat will be faster. How much faster? Again, depending on the application...anywhere from 1 to 3 m.p.h. This has been seen in the Mercury outboard gearcase hydrodynamics for years. In 1976, the 150XS gearcase had a very simular problem. As recent as 1997, all the standard Mercury 3.0 Litre gearcases had a "bump" designed into the side of the housing for gearcase wall thickness requirements at the pinion gear. In 1998 & up housings, Mercury redesigned them to eliminate a low pressure area of water flow that this bump created. Powerhead overheating, caused by aerating the water flow to the side water intakes was eliminated. Ever look at a Mercury or Mercruiser gearcase at the trailing edge of the "bullet", next to the propeller. There is an intentional ring molded into the housings external surface to help eliminate "blow-out". I have seen many people over the years grind this ring off, in an attemp to polish or repaint their lower units...not understanding what they are doing. This ring benefits a fish boat going 45 m.p.h. or a surfacing lower unit going 90 m.p.h... Hope this helps. Ed

IRONMAN

I am going to use a standard side pickup drive with an external tthrough hull water pickup for cooling water. I plan on dumping the water from the drive pickups on the top cap for drive cooling. I will probably not get enough water tfrom the drive pickups because of drive height ( waterline will be at the lowest hole) Is this a good plan??

Ed

This has been done before. It works. It also depends on how high your X is, on the volume of water that's moved. I say do it. It's better than a drive cooler dragging in the water. Ed