Remote P/S Reservoirs....
 

It looks like I now know why I've been getting air in my steering system when running hard on the Great Lakes. It seems that I need a remote power steering reservoir to keep the stock 525 reservoir completely full. I found this Latham Marine reservoir as a possible alternative fix. It has higher capacity and a baffle to keep the fluid from rushing up. Has anyone else had to install a remote reservoir and will this Latham piece do the trick for me? I have full Zeiger twin ram hydraulic steering.
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x...mreservoir.jpg

Pretty much all full hyd systems use a remote reservoir. The stock ps pumps just can't hold enough fluid.

I've already bugged the guys at Latham a couple of times and they sent me this diagram of the 525 P/S reservoir which I pictured in my first post. It only holds 2" of fluid. Why? Why so much empty space? I thought that part of the reasoning was to increase fluid capacity. Has anyone here used one of these reservoirs?
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps2a522f12.png

I think in your situation where you are sloshing the baffle will help but may not be perfect. I think the situation where you are really bouncing around and steering is pretty unique because of the boat size, single engine, etc.

If I were you I'd either find a one that daisy chains into the cap of the stock one or get a bigger one like the 42 ounce one here: http://revolutionmarine.com/shopsite...eservoirs.html

Thanks. I don't have the room to piggy back one. Even a 4" remote reservoir would require some "s" curve in the connecting hose. I also need a reservoir with two fittings on the bottom. Why would the Latham one call for so much empty space? It looked perfect for me until I saw that schematic. Keeping the stock reservoir filled to an inch from the top minimized my problem but did not completely eliminate it. IDK. I have to figure something out by spring.

The empty space is for heat expansion and when it dumps back fluid. These work by keeping the stock tank full plus the extra 2" of fluid. Sufficient in a closed loop system.

+1, the fluid is surging pretty hard back into the res. If you overfill venting out of the cap is a problem... or a mess.

This Latham unit does not piggyback. It replaces the stock 525 reservoir. Therefore I would have less fluid in the system then I do now. This part isn't cheap and I'd like to know that it will fix my problem. What have others done to fix this issue with limited height in the engine room?

Ok i think the right question here is what are you revering to as stock 525 reservoir? Not to sound the wrong way but I think I'm not getting your situation so to be clear it should be the p/s pump on the block with a tank the cap to that tank has a fitting and hose that connects to the external reservoir is that what you have?

Just happen to already have that in photobucket. The stock reservoir:
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x.../8-2012147.jpg