Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

mnypitboat

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OK so I acquired a brand new set of Nauticus Smart Tabs free, so I decided to give them a try. I have noticed on my Monterey that at full trim it will begin to porpoise a bit in light chop. Easily manageable by trimming a bit, but then I can feel the differance and it feels like it needs the tabs to smooth it out just a hair.

So I am not looking for another "Which trim tabs are better thread". These were free and I am using them.

What I am looking for is what is the best location to mount them on my transom. Also, I would like to know if I can use a household type sylicone sealant or do I really need to get the marine sealant? The reason I ask is because if I have to go get the sealant, I have to drive several towns away to get to a marine store that has some. If I must get the marine sealant, can I use household stuff temporarily?

Here is a picture of my transom.


Thanks guys.
 

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oops!

Supreme Mariner
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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

tabs as wide as you can get them.......two inches form the outside of the hull......

or....call naticus and ask them to look at your hull and make a suggestion.....

as far as the sealant......home depot sells 3m 5200. it is a true marine sealant.......and no.....home silly cone has no place on boats.

some rv is ok......but the real stuff can be accuired most likely even from wallmart
 

mnypitboat

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

That was my thoughts on the placement. I guess I am headed to Walmart. Maybe I will try Ace Hardware first. I cant stand Walmart.

Thanks for the advice.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

shame on you.... you've been here over a year... you already KNOW you need 5200.... ;)

I agree with the above and would stress the call to nauticus... Wide is the standard but on the chance that nauticus knows something I don't I'd sure try out their famous great customer service with a quick phone call.
 

mnypitboat

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Yeah, I knew the answer before I asked. I was hoping to not have to make a trip to the store. By the way, I found some in my toolbox, so as it turns out, I didnt have to go anywhere afterall. At least not for that. I remembered buying some for cleet installs on my other boat.



Here is the finished product. The hardest part was figureing out the angle. Mainly because I couldnt find a protractor. My wife is a principal at an Elementary school and my daughter is in 7th grade and we dont have a simple $1 protractor. I had to go buy one.
 

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Jerryh3

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Can you take a closer picture of one of the tabs. Straight on and profile. The hinge and the piston bracket should be mounted on the same plane. It looks like the way you have them mounted, they won't function properly.
 

mnypitboat

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

There is about a 1/2" bump out, or less, where the top mounts, but there is no other way to do it on this hull. So we will see how they perform. They are perfectly even, I made a template and mounted them in exactly the same fashion from side to side. I think from seeing other installs, and using the Nauticus website to help, that they will be fine. I really dont need much, just a little to help with getting on plane quicker, and a very little stability on rougher water. I can trim it out, but I think these will help without using as much down trim.
 

retiredfornow

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May 9, 2011
Messages
355
Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Bob's Discount Marine is right there in Deland if you need more 5200.
Good luck.
 

Jerryh3

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Ok. The paint line makes it look like it's a big difference in the depth.
 

chriscraft254

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Your install looks fine. The question is going to be, do you have the right sized tabs for your boat. What I mean by that is what size actuators did these (free) nauticus tabs come with?

You said you need just a little help with lift, well I hate to break it to you but you are in for some surprises! No worries though, they are most likely good surprises! :) Keep us posted on how they perform for you. I'm glad you went with the 5200, Remember to give it about 24 hrs for cure time. Good luck.
 

jayhanig

Master Chief Petty Officer
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Jun 27, 2010
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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Also, I would like to know if I can use a household type sylicone sealant or do I really need to get the marine sealant? The reason I ask is because if I have to go get the sealant, I have to drive several towns away to get to a marine store that has some. If I must get the marine sealant, can I use household stuff temporarily?


Why drive several towns away? Why not order online from Iboats.com, westmarine.com, ********.com or wherever? They all sell 5200. Even amazon.com sells it.


Note: I don't know why but one of the companies I listed must be on the iboats you-know-what list; it got auto-substituted with a bunch of asterisks for some reason. I don't know what that's all about. Maybe they don't play fair.:rolleyes:
 

mnypitboat

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Why drive several towns away? Why not order online from Iboats.com, westmarine.com, ********.com or wherever? They all sell 5200. Even amazon.com sells it.


Note: I don't know why but one of the companies I listed must be on the iboats you-know-what list; it got auto-substituted with a bunch of asterisks for some reason. I don't know what that's all about. Maybe they don't play fair.:rolleyes:

I didnt realize I needed it til I was ready for the install and I only had a couple hours to get it done or I would have to wait a month or so before I can get back to it. When I read the description, it sort of indicated everything I needed was in the kit. Funny thing is, my Dad also gave me a Garmin 160c and inside the box was a brand new tube of sealant. LOL. So in the end I had all I needed.

I checked Bobs Marine, and they looked like they were closed. Maybe closed for the holiday weekend?

chriscraft, you are right. WOW. Pleasantly surprised. These ones are the biggest ones they sold a couple years ago when I bought them for my Dad for Christmas after a rough ride in the Gulf. He sold his boat and bought a Sea Ray that already had some so I did actually pay for them, but.................... Apparently they have larger ones now, but I dont think it much matters because these things are amazing.

OK first impressions. All testing today on an extremely rough day with lots of wind and a small craft advisory. Throttling up to plane is almost level, no more nose up like before. Trimmed all the way up, extremely smooth and absolutely no porpoising at all. Coming up on about a 55ft trawler and deliberately leaving the trim up and hitting the wakes to force porpoising and it just leveled right out after the wakes. Much more positive turning, which I didnt think was possible because this boat already handled well. Out on the lake I was able to hit 56mph trimmed up and as I mentioned, very rough and a head wind. When I tested prior to the install I could only achieve about 53mph on a glassy lake early in the morning with no wind. Not that I am normally gonna be going that fast, it was neat to see.

All in all we had it out for about 3 hours, mostly up on plane, and these things are amazing. The only issue I found was that it accentuates the already slight list to the left I had before. I think its because they mounted a spare battery far out in the hull and we had a lot of our gear stored on that side and everyone but me was sitting over there. Easily fixed by just redistributing some of our junk, oh and my wife. LOL.
 

chriscraft254

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Joined
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Messages
2,445
Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

I didnt realize I needed it til I was ready for the install and I only had a couple hours to get it done or I would have to wait a month or so before I can get back to it. When I read the description, it sort of indicated everything I needed was in the kit. Funny thing is, my Dad also gave me a Garmin 160c and inside the box was a brand new tube of sealant. LOL. So in the end I had all I needed.

I checked Bobs Marine, and they looked like they were closed. Maybe closed for the holiday weekend?

chriscraft, you are right. WOW. Pleasantly surprised. These ones are the biggest ones they sold a couple years ago when I bought them for my Dad for Christmas after a rough ride in the Gulf. He sold his boat and bought a Sea Ray that already had some so I did actually pay for them, but.................... Apparently they have larger ones now, but I dont think it much matters because these things are amazing.

OK first impressions. All testing today on an extremely rough day with lots of wind and a small craft advisory. Throttling up to plane is almost level, no more nose up like before. Trimmed all the way up, extremely smooth and absolutely no porpoising at all. Coming up on about a 55ft trawler and deliberately leaving the trim up and hitting the wakes to force porpoising and it just leveled right out after the wakes. Much more positive turning, which I didnt think was possible because this boat already handled well. Out on the lake I was able to hit 56mph trimmed up and as I mentioned, very rough and a head wind. When I tested prior to the install I could only achieve about 53mph on a glassy lake early in the morning with no wind. Not that I am normally gonna be going that fast, it was neat to see.

All in all we had it out for about 3 hours, mostly up on plane, and these things are amazing. The only issue I found was that it accentuates the already slight list to the left I had before. I think its because they mounted a spare battery far out in the hull and we had a lot of our gear stored on that side and everyone but me was sitting over there. Easily fixed by just redistributing some of our junk, oh and my wife. LOL.

Sounds good man! Glad to hear someone say they improved top end! lmao:D You should also see less rpms to get on plain at lower speeds, which equals better fuel economy! I dig how fast the boat reacts and responds to wakes and waves with them installed. Also, if you had some wandering back and forth before, you should see that improve to.

As far as the listing goes, sounds like you may have figured it out already, but you may also want to check the outdrive zinc trim tab above the prop. It may need adjusted to fight off the prop torque. Also make sure that both tabs are installed in the same adjustment hole. I know that sounds silly, but wouldn't be the first time. Make sure the actuators are moving freely also. Nauticus had some bad actuators some time ago that they had replaced with new style.

Great to hear you like them, good luck and have fun. Don't forget they are back there if you beach.
 

mnypitboat

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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

OK new info. I was having a problem with spray off the back of the boat, almost like they were dragging. I adjusted them to a softer position, and took the boat out yesterday. It seemed to help with the spray, and still functioned fine. I sent Nauticus an email to see if maybe a 60lb would work better on my boat, but have not gotten a response yet.

The problem came later in the day. When we got to our destination I noticed one tab was stuck up. I had to push it back down and the piston is not keeping tension on it. UGH, that sucks. By the time we got home the other side failed. WTF???? Has anyone else had any problems with them? Is there a warranty on these things? I havent even had them on the boat 6 months yet, and half that time we didnt take the boat out but a couple times.
 

spdracr39

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Aug 30, 2010
Messages
1,238
Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Sounds like with that offset install they may be binding when all the way up especially since it happened after you switched holes. Make sure the other one has plenty of travel and if not they can send you some different fittings for the end of the shock that mounts to the tab. Also if you have a constant list you can set the low side to a stiffer hole and use the tabs to correct it.
 

mnypitboat

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Messages
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Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Sounds like with that offset install they may be binding when all the way up especially since it happened after you switched holes. Make sure the other one has plenty of travel and if not they can send you some different fittings for the end of the shock that mounts to the tab. Also if you have a constant list you can set the low side to a stiffer hole and use the tabs to correct it.

They travel all the way up and down in all positions. No binding at all. I also thought that might be the issue, but I can move them all the way up and down without any binding. The worst part about it is that we only were on plane across the inlet, maybe 3-4 minutes. Idle the rest of the 30 minute trip, manatee zones all the way. So even if they were binding, which they are not, I cant see how they would fail that quickly. I am going to contact them on Monday and see what they can do. The problem is that they were purchased over a year before we actually installed them. Not sure what the warranty is on them.
 

nlain

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Nov 17, 2005
Messages
2,445
Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

I Installed mine with 80 lb actuators, too much, called they sent met 60 lb and I returned the 80's. Then had one actuator fail, no pressure, I boat in salt water, they said that the boot had leaked and sent me another actuator, I had bought mine a while before I installed them and told them when I installed and had dated pics with and without, they did not make me prove it. The actuators are now close to 7 or 8 years old with no trouble since. When the boat sets on the trailer for a long time sometimes they will stick down, I walk by the boat and pull them up and work them a few times and all is good. I feel sure they will take care of you, you may want to get some photos of your install from different angles that you can email to them if they want to see it. They are good people and want all their customers to be happy.
 

chriscraft254

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Messages
2,445
Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

They travel all the way up and down in all positions. No binding at all. I also thought that might be the issue, but I can move them all the way up and down without any binding. The worst part about it is that we only were on plane across the inlet, maybe 3-4 minutes. Idle the rest of the 30 minute trip, manatee zones all the way. So even if they were binding, which they are not, I cant see how they would fail that quickly. I am going to contact them on Monday and see what they can do. The problem is that they were purchased over a year before we actually installed them. Not sure what the warranty is on them.

you got the right idea, contact them and I think they will help you out. They had some actuators that were bad, but that was along time ago, also something changed on the brackets on the composite ones.

I think all there tabs should be stainless and it seems like they have less issues out of the stainless ones. Although there the same actuators, the connections are different and the stainless doesn't flex as much I would assume. Good luck, I am sure they will take care of you. If they don't send them to this forum. :)
 

JASinIL2006

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Feb 10, 2012
Messages
5,525
Re: Nauticus trim tabs, some questions.

Can you take a closer picture of one of the tabs. Straight on and profile. The hinge and the piston bracket should be mounted on the same plane. It looks like the way you have them mounted, they won't function properly.

Actually, the tab and the actuator anchor CAN be mounted on different planes. I have a contoured transom and I was afraid I couldn't use my Smarttabs SX, but I emailed Nauticus some photos and they responded (in less than 24 hours!) with advice on how I could mount the tabs. They even sent me pics of similar transoms with Smarttabs installed. Very impressive customer service.
 
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