glassdave

iTrader: (1)

well. . .i just splashed my scorpion for the first time thursday an aside from a few minor electrical issues its turning out to be a heck of a boat. one problem i noticed right away is the stock merc trim indicators on the alphas dont work at all (they are the original ones) and there arent any indicators for the tabs (bennet's). is there any intermidiate level mechanical set ups? i'm not really sure i need somthing like the big offshore ones offered by gaffrig for this boat but i do want mechanical ones. or should i try and get the stock set up back togather? any body got any ideas


just for referance i am aware that bennet has an LED set up but i dont think that is what i am looking for.. . . thanks all

32storm

gaffrig offers a mechanical set-up for the Bennet tabs. Bennet has an electronic set-up. Do not purchase this electronic set-up, had it on a previous boat and was nothing but trouble. Check sending unit on your alpha, this is probably the issue. Probably broken wire, or stripped teeth inside the unit. Make sure gimble ring isn't worn . If ring is worn, it will allow movement, and can cause sender to fail.

GregP

You can put Merc mechanical indicators on the Alpha's, as that is what my Donzi had.

-Greg

cougarman

GlassDave andy luck with the article yet?

Thanks allot
Cougarman

Airpacker

Dave,just fix what you have on the drives now. Its a simple system and relatively accurate if adjusted properly. Testing is easy,if you want,call me at the shop and I'll walk you through it. (416)233-7552 Sean

Rambunctious

Had this problem for the three years i have owned this boat.
Finally this year i just redid the merc indicators on my broavo's, they are much the same for alpha.

one thing i learned after some frustration. i dialed the indicators in. then found after a day on the water they were not reading the same!!!!!
turns out a gimbal bolt (behind the indicator) was stripped and rotating (hense the guage not reading accurately)
so check with wrench to proper torqe. if stripped the solution which i and many on the board have done is a helicoil kit. drill out the gimbal stripped hole, tap for the helicoil, insert helicoil, put stock bolt back in with some locktite for good measure. done

your guages could just be rotated out of range (like the ones i replaced, oh well). take the puck off the drive. turn on your key. and watch for the needle to move as you rotate the shaft of the puck by hand. then start with gauge showing mid range, place back on drive


then i dialed the indicators and limit switches so that the needles on the gauges are at the center tick mark, right at my best trim for top speed, slight chop water. (3 seconds on the trim switch the old way)

Now I just run the drives till the limit switches stop them, and hammer it. easy as pie.

and someday if the guages don't always read mid tick mark, i know i have a bolt rotating/stripped


now here's my next plan
poor man's mechanical indicators.
i may replace the merc helm gauges with $30 summit 2 1/8" digital volt meters. bright red digital readout to +/-0.1 volt accuracy. now i can use a number (voltage) for my drive position.
it would read a little different engine not running vs running, due to 14V while running, but no big deal. just pick numbers for when engines are running. what do you think???

Ram

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

thanks guys, i'm going to mess around with it this weekend. think i will try an get the factory system going again. my gimbals are in perfect shape and i just found a set of new sender pucks in my parts pile out in the garage. unfortunatlly i just had both drives gone over with new bellows an that would have been a good time to replace them. in the mean time i will keep my eyes open in the parts for sale section for mech trim stuff. thanks again

Iggy

You don't have to pull the gimbal apart to replace the sensor pucks.
Just turn the drive(s) to the left, remove the two sensor mounting screws, flip it (sensor) over and remove the two wire mounting screws. Reverse the order to reassemble.
It really shouldn't take much more than an hour to replace and calibrate the sensors.

Rambunctious

Iggy,
that is the easiest. and i was hoping to do that. but the new indicator pucks had a sealed small piece where the wires came into it. couldn't unscrew the wires basically

my solution. i got a bunch of those surgical locking needlenose pliers from motherinlaw who works at hospital.

cut the old wires with some room to work, clamped everything together with these pliers. slid small and then fatter shrink wrap over the single and wire pairs respectively.
soldered, coated with silicone, then slid the shrink wrap over and heated it onto the silicone coated solders. then the larger one over everything, then the plastic coil for antikinking.

should be watertight.

if you are in saltwater. maybe taking the whole drive off would be better. but i am confident in my surgical operation.

check to bolt torques before buttoning everthing up or you may have to do it all over again after a helicoil fix.

good luck

Ram