rebuilt props, fyi

[ziggy]

just some food for thought when ya rebuild yer own prop.

i've only had this last one rebuilt. i might not do it again if the turn out is the norm.

my turn out was a loss of 400 rpm's.

the prop is a plain aluminum black max 14.5 x 19p. i figured if there was any prop that could be brought back to proper specs. it would have been this common prop.
and it wasn't like my repairs were severe either. a stripe of cavitation burn down the middle of 3 prop blades and a few dings on the perimeter.

i rebuilt mine over last winter. so last run, last fall i was achieving 4300rpm. top of my wot spec. this spring launch and right away i could only get 3900. i figured it must be something wrong with my boat. been chasing a few ideas all summer. all to no avail. finally i gave up. the last thing i touched was the prop, prior to loosing the rpms. so i got an exact replacement prop. same part number, new from mercury. problem solved. i got my 400 rpms back and again think my boat is performing proper.

lesson learned for me.

 

[Scott Danforth]

what did you rebuild yourself? if you attempted to weld and fix broken blades without the proper shaping bucks, that is one thing - dont recommend doing that yourself unless you have the experience and equipment. if you simply did a re-hub that is something else.

If this is a simple re-hub and you lost RPM, you have something else going on.

 

[alldodge]

+1 with Scott, I have had several aluminum props redone by a shop and all came back without issues or changes.

 

[ziggy]

what did you rebuild yourself? if you attempted to weld and fix broken blades without the proper shaping bucks, that is one thing - dont recommend doing that yourself unless you have the experience and equipment.

I didn't rebuild myself. It was sent to a prop shop via my local mercuiser dealer.

if you simply did a re-hub that is something else.

Not really a rehub. The prop in question has the flo torque II hub.

If this is a simple re-hub and you lost RPM, you have something else going on.

It was a simple rebuild (a re-hub if you wish). Done by joebob's (not their real name) prop shop. And I looked into something else all summer to no avail to get my rpms back. When I replaced the prop with the same exact prop (mercury black max prop 832830A45 19P) my rpms came back. I can't see how it'd be something else. I replaced the prop on the notion that it was the last thing I touched for service. I just did it over last winter so i'd have a new prop w/o dings and cavitation burn on the prop for the next season (this season). Prior to rebuild, end of last summer, I maybe lost 100 rpms which is why I sent it in, in the first place. When my old prop was new, I was getting 4300 on my boat.

+1 with Scott, I have had several aluminum props redone by a shop and all came back without issues or changes.

That's why I wanted to post a fyi. With the one prop I've had redone, that was not my experience. Apparently this is not unheard of either. This is a post from the AristoCraft fourm. From member AristoCraft who is the oem for my boat. They''ve been building boats since the end of WWII. A family run biz. AristoCraft has a long running history w/mercury (Kiekefer). As Claud turner (entrepreneur of AristoCraft) was good friends w/ kiekefer (Mercury).

Ziggy,
Glad you found the problem, as soon as i read your post I was thinking they added pitch or cup and dropped the RPM's that much.
Also if there is anything, such as the prop and loss of RPM, please just email me and I can get right back to you, happy to help you out however I can.

Since I got my rpms back with a new exact replacement prop. I still think it was the prop for my loss of rpms. A poor rebuild by joebob's prop shop.

 

[bruceb58]

This is why you need to pick a place to rebuild your prop who knows what they are doing.

I use a place in southern California which is one of the best shops in the country.

Bought a used Volvo Penta prop on ebay that happened to be rebuilt and each blade ended up having slightly different pitch on it verified by the good prop shop. Ended up returning the props to the seller.

 

[dingbat]

billy bob boy's prop shop doesn't cut it.

I send my prop in every couple of years to get dye checked, balanced and tweaked if necessary. It comes back looking like new and performs better than new.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I use either Green Bay Propeller just north of the Epicenter of Football, or General Propeller in Bradenton. I have never had a problem.