atc question

[1956olds]

While at idle speed are the atc tabs up or all the way down? Also when backing where would they be? I like to back in with tabs up and i would think cocktail speed would be more efficient with tabs up also.Am considering adding atc for christmas present.Thanks

 

[Creekwood]

That's not exactly how it works with ATC. It's designed to hold the boat at the optimum running angle and level. So you get on plane and then set it at that angle. So it generally puts the tabs down at speed and adjusts them constantly to hold the boat at that level. When you come off plane without touching the manual tab switches the bow comes down so the tabs will retract to try to let the bow lift. They will stay retracted while at idle because the bow is down.

However , ATC is deactivated when you touch the manual tab switch, so if you manually adjust when coming off plane you would have to manually put them fully retracted before docking if you wanted to.

 

[Tabman]

Yup, it's just like Creekwood explained!

Think of the ATC like cruise control, you have it on when you are up and running and it turns off if you tap the brakes (manual control).

One note, some boats with I/O drives tend to "wander" at low speeds off plane, and lowering the Tabs can straighten the steering out a little bit.

Tom
Bennett Marine

 

[1956olds]

Thanks guys,i thought that once you set the tabs they always adjusted to match attitude while running on plane.Tom ,my idle speed is 6knts not much wandering there,love them diesels.