PDF Manuals

[nimmor]

I recently purchased a 1989 9.9 Johnson and my present manual does not cover this year. The motor is running fine but for future problems and referance I have been in the market for a repair manual for this motor. I was looking on E-Bay for any good deals and have found several in CD form you download into a PDF format on your computer. I am looking for any imput from anybody that has ever used them. The only drawback I see to them is sometimes I like to have the manual there with me when I am working and would have to print out the pages to do that. The plus side is these CD's run anywhere from 8$-12$ versus 40$ for a new paper manual.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: PDF Manuals

CD manuals are fine, but to download from an ebay source- not to my computer. i'm still old school and like to thumb thru the manuals. i still copy them to take just the page to the motor.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: PDF Manuals

I have a PDF manual, it is fine. When I want to take a page with me to work on the boat, I hit the print button, take it with me, then throw the greasy page in the garbage with the rest of the refuse.​

 

[hkeiner]

Re: PDF Manuals

I first bought the hard copy OEM Mercury manual and then later also bought a PDF version on CD when I found out about them. I like the CD version a lot for various reasons.

One reason is that I can print up selected pages, put them in a binder, and not worry about tearing the pages or getting them dirty. I can also mark up the pages and make notes. If I want a fresh page, I can just reprint the page.

Another reason is that the binder with the selected pages is lighter and easier to handle than the OEM printed manual when using it during a maintenance or repair task.

Lastly, I have a copy of the PDF manual on my PC hard drive and I find it convenient to use the search feature of Adobe Reader to find something quickly.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: PDF Manuals

I have a PDF manual, it is fine. When I want to take a page with me to work on the boat, I hit the print button, take it with me, then throw the greasy page in the garbage with the rest of the refuse.​

Kind of hard to look back at thet page after it has become landfill!! I always treasured the grease spots which tell the tale of the work you did!

 

[nimmor]

Re: PDF Manuals

I like that binder ideal. I guess with that eventually you might have a complete manual.

 

[hkeiner]

Re: PDF Manuals

I like that binder ideal. I guess with that eventually you might have a complete manual.

Not really. If you omit the pages that do not apply to your specific motor and omit whole sections that you may not want to refer to often (such as rebuild the power head, rebuild the lower unit, etc.) the number of remaining pages are much, much less than that of the full manual.​

 

[Colorado04]

Re: PDF Manuals

I like manuals in PDF format. As mentioned before, if you wreck the one you are using at the moment, just print out a new one.

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: PDF Manuals

Looks like I'm the only one that hates the PDF versions. The ones I bought were scans of the manual (not OCR) and they were a pain to read on the computer. I ended up getting the print manual.

-E

 

[ThumbPkr]

Re: PDF Manuals

I have a few .PDF manuals and for the most part I find the graphics lacking with them.I just got the FSM on CD for my bike,an 1100cc Virago and the photos are just about useless they are so dark.Actually I have a Clymer manual for it on CD and their pics are actually better than the factory provides.It looks like the manual is scanned in line art mode to save space but the paper manual is 60 bucks and the CD is 6 bucks so I will live with it.Ron G