Indicator Cable Trouble
 

We recently had a marina install some HP tabs and a Livorsi Indicator gauge on our 2000 Checkmate 259 Convinvor. I went to check on the boat yesterday and the tabs will move a good 3 inches before the indicator moves. Also running the tab through a full range of motion a few times resets the indicator reading. For example, if I want to know when the tabs are parallel with the bottom of the boat I have to get out and visually look at the tab because the indicator changes it's reading to parallel with motion. So basically the gauge looks cool but gives you no accurate reading of where the tabs actually are. The mechanic installed 33C cables with springs. Livorsi evidently sells 0 tolerance cable but the mechanic doesn't think he can make the bend from the indicator with that cable. The seller of the tab and indicator says 33C cable should work fine. Any thoughts on what's going on? We are stumped.

too much flex on the cable?

Rob,

This sounds very unusual. I have seen this happen to drive indicators but not tabs. Some drive actuators rely on a spring to keep the cable following the drive. If the cable is wound up too tightly, the inidicator may not move accurately because the spring cant overcome the tight cable. However, on tabs, the cable is bolted to the tab. There is a mechanical connection from the tab to the guage. If everything is assembled and adjusted properly, it will work correctly.

I spoke with Livorsi and they said that there is a lock on the indicator and of course there is a lock on the tab for the cable jacket. I verified that the 33C is acceptable and used regularly for this application and the didnt see an issue with it.

I have an email into two riggers to see if they can give me any tips for taking the slack out. The marina already installed the tension springs, so it is either in the adjustment or the cables. I hope the base adjustment was done at "0" or nuetral and the slack removed from the cable. If it is done with the tabs full up, there will be issue and the same as tabs down. I had that happen on my last boat.

We'll get it figured out, that indicator is used by Cigarette, Baja, and probably a dozen other manufacturers. It's mechanical so there is something missing that is causing this. There has to be an adjustment procedure to fix this.

We're working on it opologize for the inconvenience.

Vinny,
What type of cable did you use with your tabs? They installed springs with 33C cables, does that sound correct?

Thanks Kirk.

more than like ly the cable is shot. there are springs on the back of the ind. panel to help avoid bouncing.
1 cable is junk
2 it has come loose from the back ofthe panel wher it is held in
3 it has come loose from the ene where it is held in on the tab
where it comes thru the hull.

This is a new installation. New tabs, new indicator and new cables.

I need to verify how it was adjusted originally.

Rob,

For the tabs, I used 33c cables. For the drive, I needed something that can be flexed tighter. I used an Ultra-Flex cable.

Vinny,
We are thinking maybe it is a routing issue with the 33c cables. We ended up going with the slim tab indicator only and keeping the original drive indicator. Thanks for your response.