Trim tab questions

[edsmax]

I have a 2002 240DA with 5.0EFI Mercruiser. I have never serviced my trim tabs but I am thinking of doing so this spring.

1. What kind off hydraulic fluid do they take? Do I have to pump out old fluid? Do I need to bleed them?

2. Are there two reserviors? One for tabs and one for raising and lowering drive? Sorry, I should know this but boat is in winter storage and I do not recall.

3. When I operate tabs from helm, port side switch controls starboard side tab, starboard side switch controls port tab. Is it supposed to operate this way?

4. While boat was out of water, I noticed one tab moves at a faster pace than the other. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Ed

 

[sbw1]

Tabs should be trouble free unless you have a leak somewhere. The port button should operate the port tab and not the starboard. Sounds like someone messed with wiring and it should be easy to trace the wires and reverse them so operation is intuitive.

 

[JimG]

The port button should operate the port tab and not the starboard. Sounds like someone messed with wiring and it should be easy to trace the wires and reverse them so operation is intuitive.

Not so sure about that... when you push for bow down on the starboard side, the port tab will dig down thus lowering the starboard bow.

 

[Pachanga Boy]

I'm with sbw1 the port button should adjust the port tab! I can't imagine having it the other way to me that'd be like steering left to go right:lol:

edsmax there shouldn't be anything you need to do to service the tabs other then check the fluid level and check the hydraulic lines for any leaking. it is a seperate resevior from the drive. I've seen some tabs run in perfect unison and others have one tab that runs a tad slower, if it's a huge difference in speed then you might have an issue otherwise I'd consider it "normal"

 

[moab]

Not so sure about that... when you push for bow down on the starboard side, the port tab will dig down thus lowering the starboard bow.

Mine is setup this way also! To me this makes sense because I think of pushing the button that will make that side of the bow go down.

Also to answer some of your questions:

You use ATF fluid like Dextron. If you are low, you most likely have a leak as previously stated. My Bennett system has a single reservoir that has a single line to each trim tab.

 

[edsmax]

I don't have a leak and the fluid level is normal. I just have a suspicion that the fluid has never been changed by the previous owner and I thought it would be good to change it as preventative maintenance.

 

[moab]

I don't have a leak and the fluid level is normal. I just have a suspicion that the fluid has never been changed by the previous owner and I thought it would be good to change it as preventative maintenance.

From everything that I have read, there is no need to change it. If you did want to change it, you could siphon it out of the reservoir with the tabs fully retracted. The refill hole on my reservoir is no more than 1/4" so it would be a slightly troublesome. A syringe with about 4" of plastic tubing should work well and not be too messy.

It certainly wouldn't hurt anything if you did want to do it!

 

[CliffA]

Not so sure about that... when you push for bow down on the starboard side, the port tab will dig down thus lowering the starboard bow.

from my limited research on this i believe this is how the tabs are wired from the factory....i too thought this was very odd when i discoved my tabs were wired this way...when i first got my boat and started to learn how to use the tabs i was having difficulty understanding their operation...digging deeper into their operation is when i discovered this odd (to me) wiring set up....to remedy this i simply unscrewed the 4 screws holding the switch backing plate to the helm and rotated the entire switch 180* without disconnecting any wires...then i refastened the plate to the helm....now when i push the 'up' control for the starboard tab the starboard tab moves up and visa vera for the down control and the port tab....to me this makes much more sense and is much more intuitive....the little white boat symbols are almost completely worn off of the switch covers so it does not look like the little boats on the switches are upside down...:grin:

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

Your tabs are wired correctly. If you look at any original Bennett Tab Buttons, they will be labeled "Bow Up" on the top and "Bow Down" on the bottom. The buttons to the port will cause the port side bow to go down when pressed "down" and up when pressed "up". The way to get the port side bow to go down IS to deploy the stb side tab. The way to get the port side bow to go back up is to retract the stb side tab.

Apply the same thinking in reverse to the stb side buttons.

Photo of button here http://www.winchsolutions.com.au/boat-trim-tab-spare-parts/

Easy...

 

[sbw1]

Your tabs are wired correctly. If you look at any original Bennett Tab Buttons, they will be labeled "Bow Up" on the top and "Bow Down" on the bottom. The buttons to the port will cause the port side bow to go down when pressed "down" and up when pressed "up". The way to get the port side bow to go down IS to deploy the stb side tab. The way to get the port side bow to go back up is to retract the stb side tab.

Agree, I was wrong. Just push the helm button for what you want to happen and don't think about which tab is operating.

 

[JimG]

Wow... that's what I said... testing 1-2-3 testing, is this thing working?

 

[edsmax]

Agree, I was wrong. Just push the helm button for what you want to happen and don't think about which tab is operating.

LOL - ignorance is bliss? I assumed it was this way from the factory as the wiring does not look to have been altered in any way. I hardly even use my tabs anyway.

 

[Pachanga Boy]

huh, guess mine are wired backwards on my 22, bought it that way:huh: I think if I had it wired "normal" I'd be all goofed up at this point! I guess it's just the matter of how you want to think about what the buttons do, "normal" puts in persepective of adjusting the boat where as mine are wired to adjust the tabs themselves. go figure what most people call normal I call goofy and vice versa....story of my life.:smt101

 

[denizcan]

This thread was my common subject because my 260DA is my first boat with trim tabs and i own her 1 week before, today i asked an captain at marina he told me the strb side button remote the port side tab and the other one is strb side , i understand that it means which side of the boat was the button rake you should use that button for ex,if your fresh water tank is full and your holding tank is emyt your boat cruise port side becaue at 260DA the fresh water tank is located port side so if you want balanced the boat to the strb side you should push the strd trim button but it remotes ports side button
ok ? did i understand right

 

[JimG]

This thread was my common subject because my 260DA is my first boat with trim tabs and i own her 1 week before, today i asked an captain at marina he told me the strb side button remote the port side tab and the other one is strb side , i understand that it means which side of the boat was the button rake you should use that button for ex,if your fresh water tank is full and your holding tank is emyt your boat cruise port side becaue at 260DA the fresh water tank is located port side so if you want balanced the boat to the strb side you should push the strd trim button but it remotes ports side button
ok ? did i understand right

Yes... if you are listing port, push starboard side bow down. This lowers the port tab deeper into the water, raising the port aft.