280DA how to set the best throttle,drive trim and trim tab

[Lord Farringdon]

When reaching max. speed after trimming (trimmeter says +2 to +3) the boat starts to go up and down faster and faster, like sailing in big waves, even the water is blank. (can't remember the name of this phenomenon, it's NOT chinewalking which is sideways movements).
Anybody who had that experience ?

I have to trim down, which also means loss of max.speed.

That phenomenon is called 'porpoising' and it usually means you are too trimmed. Trim down a bit or you may start getting cavitation burns on your props. Porpoising can indicate a warped bottom but in most cases it a combination of poor weight distribution, over trimming and incorrect use of trim tabs. So, trim down (stern drive), dont carry too much weight aft (shift a passenger or two if need be) and apply some down tab trim. Doesn't give you the best speed or fuel economy but the ride is much more comfortable. :grin:

Terry

 

[Lord Farringdon]

Thanks Sayat, your engine bay looks nice and clean in there.:smt038


Terry

 

[melida]

That phenomenon is called 'porpoising' and it usually means you are too trimmed. Trim down a bit or you may start getting cavitation burns on your props. Porpoising can indicate a warped bottom but in most cases it a combination of poor weight distribution, over trimming and incorrect use of trim tabs. So, trim down (stern drive), dont carry too much weight aft (shift a passenger or two if need be) and apply some down tab trim. Doesn't give you the best speed or fuel economy but the ride is much more comfortable. :grin:

Terry

Melida:
The water heater is placed in front of the engine room just to the port side of the cold water tank.
Is it a 12V/220V converter You have in that place? (just to the right/front side of your batteries?)
At 3500 rpm I'll guess the speed will be app. 27-29 knots (just a guess though).

When reaching max. speed after trimming (trimmeter says +2 to +3) the boat starts to go up and down faster and faster, like sailing in big waves, even the water is blank. (can't remember the name of this phenomenon, it's NOT chinewalking which is sideways movements).
Anybody who had that experience ?

I have to trim down, which also means loss of max.speed.

Clasg,

It’s good to have the water heater and since our engines are fresh water cooled, water heater is connected to the thermostat outlet and you have always hot water via engine heat. Also it delays the rot of water heater because there is always antifreeze around it.

Yes that’s a 12 to 220 volt inverter, 1500watt sine wave. I can use everything except air conditioner with inverter.

At 3500rpm if I’m loaded/bad weather I can do 24knots, but when sea condition is better I can do min.25knots and max 27knots trim tabs fully retracted, drive trim +5.

At 3500 rpm or at wot drive trim must be at +5 and trim tabs must be fully retracted. That going up and down is not propoising it is plowing. Porpoising is being bow high. At that rpm which is more than planning threshold you are cruising faster than optimal so your bow drops more than flat. If you set the trim to 0 your anchor would touch to sea while jumping. I’m having it to, and it is like boat needs to raise the bow and +5 is not sufficient, it needs like +7+8 but +5 is the upper limit for cruising. Starting from +6 thru +40 it is beach range and you mustn’t go more than 1000-15000rpm while the drive is there.

As you said while jumping pulling back the drive to 0 or +1 +2 decreases the speed and raising the drive increases the speed. In a long cruise I’m always at 3500rpm +5 drive trim and trim tabs fully retracted with full diesel and water and min. 2 people carry the dinghy and outboard on the swim platform for decreasing that jumping effect.

 

[melida]

Thanks Sayat, your engine bay looks nice and clean in there.:smt038


Terry

Thanks, I'm a bit meticulous of my boat's both interior, exterior, engine room and under water/gear.

 

[Clasg]

Thanks a lot for the information.
The weather i Denmark is awful these weeks. Rain, wind and more rain. It seems to be one of the most rainful summers the last 150 years !!
So much for global warming !!

Next week I will get my boat back home to the inland seas, for celebrating our old steamship's 150 years birthday and our city's "regatta".

http://www.visitdenmark.dk/uk/en-gb...nations-regatta-at-silkeborg-.htm?CallerUrl=1

 

[melida]

Hey ClasG,
It's been two months from your last post and one month since you've visit the site.
How passed your summer with your new toy?
How was the overall performance of your KAD300?

 

[Clasg]

Hi Melida
The summer in Denmark was awful.....lots of rain and strong wind. I haven't been sailing so much lately. And I have met a very sweet girl also, so now my time goes with her too ;-)
Got the boat out of the water last week-end and after a quick bottom-wash (the boats bottom and cleaning, I parked the boat in a none-freezing garage, in one of my friends farm.
Super conditions for the boat.
By the way, I have got the C5 propellers that I wanted. A local guy had them, and he needed C6, so we switched over
They look brand new, but I haven't tested them yet. It must wait till next summer.
What about Your summer ?

 

[melida]

Hi Melida
The summer in Denmark was awful.....lots of rain and strong wind. I haven't been sailing so much lately. And I have met a very sweet girl also, so now my time goes with her too ;-)
Got the boat out of the water last week-end and after a quick bottom-wash (the boats bottom and cleaning, I parked the boat in a none-freezing garage, in one of my friends farm.
Super conditions for the boat.
By the way, I have got the C5 propellers that I wanted. A local guy had them, and he needed C6, so we switched over
They look brand new, but I haven't tested them yet. It must wait till next summer.
What about Your summer ?

I followed from the news that almost all Europe had cold and rainy summer, except Greece and us.

So how's gonna winter be in Denmark ? It's always cold and rainy/snowy (so an ice age is coming I don't hope so) ?

It's good to have a heated storage for your boat in that climate.
Glad got the right props for you. If you keep them always clean and barnacle free you'll enjoy the boat and the economy of diesel engine. Once it starts to foul you can't imagine how the fuel consumption inreases.

We had a really really hot summer in july and aug, warmer in september. Every weekend had daily trip to the islands where I live in summer in of them. And did a few 3-4 day long/overnight cruises through 80-150 mile away. Did 66 hours in summer and bought fuel 3 times, 300-320 liters each.

Everything went well, I have done the major services in this year's maintenance. Cleaned and serviced kompressor,turbo, aftercooler, PS cooler, oil cooler, heat exchanger, starter, alternator, replaced 4 belts and impeller. Also the leg was removed as every year and of course periodic oil,antifreeze, filters and zincs changed.

Never had an overheating issue and oil pressure problem in long cruises at 3500 Rpm during 8 hours cruise. Volvo Penta is a bullet proof engine if you keep it maintained well

Now we have a cold autumun, but I've installed hydronic heating and enjoying th boat even it snows the outside.

 

[Clasg]

Hi Melida
It sounds like You have it all in control
The Autumn in Denmark has so far been quite nice. This weekend with lots of sun and temp.'s around 10-14 degrees.

I did around 40 hours this summer. Most of the time on in-shore freshwater lakes nearby my city. Here's a top speed limit on 8 knots, so the fuel reach a long time
The ony thing I still need to do, is to change sterndrive oil, engineoil, oilfilter, anodes and to preserve the impeller.

The water in Denmark is not so salty as in Middeterrainian, and because the boat have been sailing the last 2 months in clear fresh water, its quite easy to winterize the boat :-D

 

[melida]

Hi Melida
It sounds like You have it all in control
The Autumn in Denmark has so far been quite nice. This weekend with lots of sun and temp.'s around 10-14 degrees.

I did around 40 hours this summer. Most of the time on in-shore freshwater lakes nearby my city. Here's a top speed limit on 8 knots, so the fuel reach a long time
The ony thing I still need to do, is to change sterndrive oil, engineoil, oilfilter, anodes and to preserve the impeller.

The water in Denmark is not so salty as in Middeterrainian, and because the boat have been sailing the last 2 months in clear fresh water, its quite easy to winterize the boat :-D

Hi again.
Yes, I'm a control freak and even a tiny thing goes wrong makes my morale worse.
40 hours is to muchfor you since you bought the boat late summer, hope your engine ran well.
At 8 knots means 1400-1500ish rpm burns nothing, but after that you should run hard to keep your engine healthy.
How if you leave your boat in water would have freezing issues or timeless ?
Let us show pics of your boat and boating places.
Wish you a war winter.

 

[Clasg]

This week-end I finally found the time to winterize the engine. Unfortunately the temperature made the oil so thick that I coudn't pump it out with a vacuumpump through the oil-pin pipe.
Furthermore I discovered that one of the batteries was dried out in 2 cells :-(

The impeller was in good condition, and wil be used again next year.
I still need to change the sterndrive oil, but there is plenty of time to do that

The boat is storaged in a big warm garage, only used for boats, campingvans and vintage cars.

 

[Lord Farringdon]

Do you do any other work on DP-G other than change the oil? I am being fleeced by my VP tech who changes drive shaft and exhaust bellows, prop seals and oil, and then vacumn and pressure tests every six months. He says if I dont do this I"ll possibly face thousands of dollars for a new lower unit. The way I figure it, if I keep on going like this I will have paid for two lower units without ever needing one!!. So, do you do any of this work on your stern drive yourself or do you have techs do it? What frequency do you do it?

Terry

 

[Clasg]

Do you do any other work on DP-G other than change the oil? I am being fleeced by my VP tech who changes drive shaft and exhaust bellows, prop seals and oil, and then vacumn and pressure tests every six months. He says if I dont do this I"ll possibly face thousands of dollars for a new lower unit. The way I figure it, if I keep on going like this I will have paid for two lower units without ever needing one!!. So, do you do any of this work on your stern drive yourself or do you have techs do it? What frequency do you do it?

Terry

Hi Terry

My boat sails in waters with a salinity between 1-2 %.
And I log app. 40 hours on the engine this season.
So therefore I will change the gear-oil every second year, but I will every year tap a small sample and check it for water (mis-colored oil).
I will inspect the prop-seal and lubricate the propeller shaft every year.
And every 3. to 4. year I will change the bellows, regarding the curcumstances.

 

[Lord Farringdon]

Thanks Clasg. I guess being in essentially fresh water you can afford to have slightly longer intervals between servicings.

Cheers

Terry