Re: Optimax 225 Oil Reserve Alarm
I just got off the phone with Mercury Tech Support at 920 929-5040. Surprisingly, they were relatively helpful. Initially, the tech support person was appologetic and assured me that the oil tank and sending unit I had replaced perviously would be replaced at no charge if they were less than a year old, which they are. I was persistent and asked if there were any other permanent fixes that Mercury was aware of. The tech support guy put me on hold to check and came back with some answers that might make some sense.
He asked what kind of oil I was running. I explained that I run the Optimax oil although I have run other oil at times due to the lack of availability of Optimax oil in some locations. He explained that some oils contain ingredients that break down the floating characteristics of the little doughnut float in the tank. The thing appears to be made of some type of light ceramic with some magnetic particles to signal the sensor probe inserted into the tank. I guess it could get saturated with oil and not float any more. I saw on another post that someone had that happen. When I checked mine during the alarm mode, it appeared to be floating about 50/50, meaning that half of the float was below the surface and half was above the surface of the oil in the tank. I thought this was normal. It seems to me it's just a funky design. Mercury needs to step up and redesign the thing. I've checked the threads on this forum and I'm not alone. A LOT of people are having problems with this same issue. In the mean time, I'll make certain to run Optimax oil and hope that all goes well. Comments? I'm all ears.
Thanks,
Joe