Bennett Trim Repair And Auto Pro Install

[Old Ironmaker]

Like I said, reading these threads I learn new things every day. All of our hydraulic cylinders were operated on a solenoid, fluid in one side, fluid out, repeat. Never heard of spring actuated. Some of our cylinders were 4' long to move massive 60" or bigger gas seal valves, that would take a pretty big spring. Thanks again you Guru's.

Johnny D

 

[redneck joe]

I keep my bunks right at transom so that was not my concren when i did auto up....it was to always know where they were. Hated coming up on plane tilted, there is enough going on when starting out to worry about leveling up.

 

[Tabman]

Thanks

Bennett tabs use hydraulic pressure to extend the tabs, and 80 pound springs in each cylinder to retract them. The pump runs it both directions but really does not pump fluid back out.

I don't use tabs to get up only to keep us level. After breaking one of the hinges I looked into auto retract. Thinking the crack happened right after a bunch of friends came down which caused me to use more tab down to keep level. I did not retract the tabs before putting on the lift, so think this may have caused the issue.

You can add auto retract to the system for much less, just need sensors (about $60) and auto retract (about $50) unit. I went with the full auto tabs so it will automatically keep the boat level as folks move around and if I have more folks on then normal. Kind of like cruise control for a boat.

They can also be disabled or enabled with pressing one button. Then when I shut the motor down they also retract full up

Actually you do not need the sensors to install Auto Retract. You only need The retractor part number AR512.

9a66b3c6-08ab-4324-a1fb-a3ce44badf6c_1.a098922be5d06ba8b5d7c0323abe8099 by Tom McGow, on Flickr

Tom
Bennett Marine

 

[Shound]

holy carbon soot batman

Bob, a new cylinder is $68. a seal kit and hinge mount is much less, and that is the route I would go.

the big issue will be the 5200 you have bonding the hinge mount to your transom.

your going to need some Anti-bond 2015 (west marine - since iBoats doesnt carry it)

Tabman should be along shortly

Yeah its kinda accesible, not expensieve at all! i'm currently searching for ways to save money because my doctor put me on hgh - https://hghreviewer.com/ and that's a real way to make your money disappear so i need to save as much as possible. that's why - Thanks! Where can it be bought?!

 

[alldodge]

The tabs were sealed with 4200 so it did come apart. If your asking the question as where can find Anti-Bond or DeBond (same stuff) by searching on the web.

 

[Alumarine]

Great write up, thanks!

 

[dingbat]

Then when I shut the motor down they also retract full up

That's the reason I disabled auto-retract on my boat after the first week.

Don't need the tabs to get on plane. Used primarily to compensate for running cross tide and to adjust running angle. Pretty common for me to set them on the run out in the morning and leave them there until it's time to head back to the barn. Auto-retract becomes a PIA with the Run and Gun style of fishing we do Spring and Fall.

 

[alldodge]

That's the reason I disabled auto-retract on my boat after the first week.

Don't need the tabs to get on plane. Used primarily to compensate for running cross tide and to adjust running angle. Pretty common for me to set them on the run out in the morning and leave them there until it's time to head back to the barn. Auto-retract becomes a PIA with the Run and Gun style of fishing we do Spring and Fall.

Its all good, different style of boating.

I don't use them to get on plane and once up I set them and for the most part leave them alone. Even when things change from wind of folks moving, for the most part I don't bother. This way I set my desired level, and no matter how things change the auto tab compensates. They retract so no tabs during take off, and once on plane, they keep the boat level as things change. My cruiser doesn't take much cross wind to cause it to start to lean some.

If I didn't have a lift I to would not need auto retract, but hey sure don't want to forget and break something, or break it because I forgot to retract before putting on the trailer. This way I don't have to remember. Looking forward to seeing how they check out.

 

[mr300z87]

btw what did you do with original upper hinge you started to replace at the beginning of the thread, remember I need one. LOL pm me or email I same user name at gmail if you want to get rid of it. Mike

 

[alldodge]

email sent

 

[alldodge]

It's gotten warmer finally and I have among other things trying to get the Auto Trim to work. Tried starting from scratch when sitting on the water. Did the full trim up/down until the red lights cleared and did it one more time to make sure.

The Fav's lights keep flashing and been unable to get them to stop. Talked to Bennett today and they said I have to get the Auto Trim to at rest with SUN + UP and got the four corners to flash (all good)

Next pressed SUN + FAV1 for 5 seconds and all four corners flashed. Now throttled up and within 10 seconds the unit should flash again indicating it was recorded. This is the issue, tried several times and it does not flash again, and the FAV's continue to flash.

With FAV's flashing I cannot go any further. Tech support said I should remove it from the transom and mount it on the deck. Wow, I was told this would work on the transom and it was an outright bear to get it located where it is. It's windy today so I'm not goin to try again, but going to try a few more times next chance I get

 

[alldodge]

This is the task

 

[alldodge]

Talked to Thomas at Bennett today out on the water after several more tires to get it to sync up. Says there is a Thunderbird only design for their units. Is going to send me a new unit that they have to make first. Should ship by next Friday

 

[mr300z87]

Hey AD, was wondering the otherday how this was going. I was working on mine the other day got the top changed, thanks again, but cracked the bottom hinge. New one arrived today. Good luck getting this sorted out.

 

[alldodge]

New unit came in and swapped it out yesterday. Did the initialization and that worked. Going out today to see if it will sync up with the boat.

I have to return the first until within 30 days or they charge me for it, which is nice to give that much time. Called and asked if they could send me a return UPS label and charge me for it. This way I don't have to go to a store, I can just bring it to the local pickup spot. Said they would call and let me know.

 

[alldodge]

Gave it a go yesterday, tied to do the boat sitting calabration and held buttons for 5 sec and it should have flashed the 4 corner lights, but no go. Tried the acceleration and that was also no go. Did notice the Fav lights were not flashing and there was no manual control of the tabs.

Called Bennett and Tom mentioned the control light. This light was not flashing, so unplugged the cable and plugged back in and light started to blink again. So as I started the boat the lights stopped flashing. Tried unplug and replug but this time no good.

Now I'm being sent a new control cable, and my tabs will not work until then. So guess when we go out the boat will just lean a tad to starboard

Don't see them sending a label so guess I will take it to the post office. Did say I can just wait to get the new cable and send both back at one time. Figured its still warranty work

 

[mr300z87]

Well that is a real bummer. At least you are on the water, mine is coming off the trailer tomorrow for bottom paint next week while I am off from work. Hope to be in the water next weekend if it ever stop raining here in NJ. Good luck getting this system going and have a great holiday weekend.

 

[alldodge]

Latest update:

New "fully tested"unit has issues. It did the initial registration of full up/down, but then stopped working when trying to sync with sitting still and would not recognize acceleration. Also at that time it stopped being able to operate the tabs manually. Got Tom on the phone and connected up my old first until and everything worked (less acceleration).

Replaced the cable on new and old, and only the old one would work at all. So I boxed up all the new stuff and sent it back to Bennett.

They will test their new unit and hope they have an answer

 

[alldodge]

No calls get returned so I have to keep calling

The new unit which was sent did test bad, so I'm being sent a regular one today. Nothing special on this one, just going to try again.

A point to note is the uni tested bad, but appears Bennett was not going to do anything without me calling again. So they will send another and I hope this one works, but I also have to pay again to send the old one back.

Bennett stuff has been rock solid, but for anyone thinking about getting auto trim pro, might want to think about it some more. Maybe let the units be out in the field more before buying

 

[alldodge]

Installed another new unit today from Bennett, and so far it appears to have recognized acceleration. Went thru other steps, idle, planes down, planes up, forget what its called, just went thru the card. Could not get it to go into auto mode. Gave up, anchored and floated around and had some beers.

When ready to go I noticed the tabs were all the way down, and I didn't do that. Fired the motor up and headed back and went thru the calibrations again. This run thru appears to be working better but did not get to the auto trim part. Did notice when I turned the key off the tab motor came ON and retracted the tabs.

If ya'll remember I got the ATP because of auto retract.

Tried a couple times of putting tabs down a bit, then shutting the motor off, and each time the auto retract work. Check that off the current watch list. Will try the auto trim tomorrow