Watch your trim tab!!!

[TallRedRider]

So today had a great morning of wakeboarding. I am not very good, but there is nothing like soaring across the wake when you hit it right.

I noticed that my trib tab was less effective than usual, but figured that it must just be because we had a bit of weight in the boat and there was some chop as well. Once I got the boat on the trailer and put on the rear straps, I discovered why. The trim tab upper mount had completely fractured and my plate was dangling behind the trailer, flopping around with the lenco pump wiring swinging around.

I called the dealership and the receptionist immediately knew the problem. 'Oh yeah, we stopped making those out of alluminum because of this'. They got me a new one in the mail that are now made out of stainless steel I am told. $60 for the part. It looks like it is a simple screw in or bolt through (haven't looked at the back side of it yet).

I could not find any threads that documented this issue and thought it might be worth making sure guys inspect their mounting points for signs of wear. Might even be worth replacing before it breaks if you are that kind of guy. So here I am and might not have my boat ready for 4th of July because of it.

Check this out:

[Jerseydave]

Wow, sorry to hear about your broken bracket.

Just to get back on the water, can you totally remove the tab and re-install the screws into the hull with some silicone and run the boat without the tab? Just a thought.

[TallRedRider]

Wow, sorry to hear about your broken bracket.

Just to get back on the water, can you totally remove the tab and re-install the screws into the hull with some silicone and run the boat without the tab? Just a thought.

That is a great idea, and if I get excited to get on the water, I will probably do just that. But with me, it seems every project takes 3 times longer than it should. Should be a 15 minute job to unscrew the screws and then fill the holes with silicon (would last long enough for 1-2 trips to the lake). The lenco pump looks like it has a bolt on for the wiring that seals the wire to the housing of the pump, but I am a little hesitant to remove the pump.

Anyone know what is under the bolt where the wire enters the pump? Can I just unscrew it and then put it back on in order to get me on the water?

[venetrex]

The fact they knew it was defective and charged you is pretty low rent. I had a bad bennet hydraulic cylinder on my tige and they replaced it for free in 2009 and my boat was a 2002.
That upper piece is not thru bolted. It goes into a very thick piece of hdpe backer plate on the upper part of the hull

[TallRedRider]

The fact they knew it was defective and charged you is pretty low rent. I had a bad bennet hydraulic cylinder on my tige and they replaced it for free in 2009 and my boat was a 2002.
That upper piece is not thru bolted. It goes into a very thick piece of hdpe backer plate on the upper part of the hull

That is a good thought, but I figured it lasted 189 hours and is a 4 year old boat, so didn't try to fight it. A dealer that goes above and beyond without having been prodded would have sent it to me for free since it was their defect. They could then pretty well be guaranteed that I would have fond memories of them when I shop for another boat in the fall.

In the automotive industry, this is called a 'recall'.

[TallRedRider]

So I get out there to do this job. My part came, as I had a friend who lived in SLC and has connections that could get me shipped it overnight.

The first thing I notice is that I don't think this is the first time this has been replaced. After undoing the screws that hold the plate in place, I can see where the paper was on the backside of the plate...exactly where the paper with the part description was on the new replacement I got. Maybe they put the paper to label the part at the factory, I don't know. But I also carefully inspected the inside of the boat where the wire comes through, there are 2 different colors of silicone sealant there to stop the wire hole from leaking. Looks like when they replaced it the first time, then then piled a bunch of new silicone sealant on top of the old to seal it up.

The first problem is that the wire itself travels through the bracket. So I can't get the old bracket off the boat without disconnecting the wires, and the new bracket has to have the wires threaded through.

My options are:

1. Pull the wires out of the pump somehow. It looks like it is not made to do so. I disconnected the sealing bolt and it does not have a simple plug or anything. I looked at the Lenco owners manual, and it looks like the thing is sealed and you shouldn't be messing with it.

2. Sever the wires just inside the hull and then put them back together.

3. Disconnect the wires at the helm and feed them all the way through the boat and back through the hull, then run them all the way back to the helm. That might be painful, depending on how they are tacked up inside the sidewall of the boat.

As I said in my first post. These jobs are never as simple as they seem.

I will see what the dealer suggests tomorrow, unless you guys can fill me in sooner.

[venetrex]

Follow the wire in from the cylinder, about 18 inches in will be a deutch connector that comes apart, take it apart and feed the pins through the hole , I used 3m5200 fast cure sealant . The only one rated for continuous under water use

[TallRedRider]

Follow the wire in from the cylinder, about 18 inches in will be a deutch connector that comes apart, take it apart and feed the pins through the hole , I used 3m5200 fast cure sealant . The only one rated for continuous under water use

Maybe I followed it in about 17 inches. Will check again. Thanks for the advice!

Was that on your Tige? Or did you have the same problem with your MC?

[TallRedRider]

Dealership says that on the piston that I have, it is all 1 piece up to the switch.

They have been just cutting and splicing them back together. And the tech mentioned that they have been doing a lot of these.

[venetrex]

Get a 2 pin deutsch connector. Male and female, this way you have a connection point. They can be found on Ebay from a seller called pcs connectors. THye are waterproof and what the factory uses on the new boats. Splice it for now then get the connector, he ships fast, you'll get in in 3 days. I used him for all of my mastercraft connectors, like my heated seats and atherplugs when I added my wakeplate. My 2007 X2 I added the wakeplate, perhaps the retrofit kit included that fitting, I will try to take a photo of the connector or maybe I'll find the link on ebay. I acually drilled all the way through and thrubolted my plate and that fitting. I definately know that that fitting is painted ss on mine. When my tige one broke, I went to bennet directly and they were happy to support it. I'd call lenco and see if they'll send yoy one, they are quick to point out how much better their product is than lenco's so that would be my ammo. A lot of manufacturers will stand behind their stuff even when out of warranty. Blue sea sent me a new battery switch and next day aired it to me. I really think for the small money it is not worth the dealers time nor energy to do that. This is why I always buy used and do everything myself.

[TallRedRider]

Thanks for the good thoughts. I can't find him on Ebay.

If I have the connector in place, I still won't be helped next time it breaks. I would have to remove the connector to get it through the hole in the hull. But it might be worthwhile to make it look cleaner and also to have a water proof connection.

Something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DEUTSCH-2-PIN-DT-SERIES-CONNECTOR-KIT-18-GA-THRU-14GA-/290439654251?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item439f8d6b6b#ht_3787wt_1225


I got her all installed last night. 2 of the screws just go through the hull, and 2 of them go into the backing plate that is there for the ballast pumps. They just had the screws put in place with silicone sealant. I put 3M 5200 on the screws and gobs of silicone sealant around the inside of the plate and on the inside where the wire passes through.

There is a noticeable difference in the weight of the old mounting plate and the new one. The new one is heavier, but otherwise looks and feels identical.

I just spliced the wires with butt connectors, wrapped the wires with wire loom and electrical taped the @#$$ out of it. If I get water up that high, then the trim tab is going to be the least of my problems anyway. It might get some brief splash, and what I have done will work.

[venetrex]

That is the exact connector I was talking about. It is waterproof and easily comes apart if you needed to fish the wire through again. 3m 5200 is really strong stuff so you should be ok there. I couldn't live without the trim tab after having one on my Tige and noticed that immediately when I got my X2, so I added it. It was quite pricey. Hopefuly you are back on the water.

[Matt L.]

back when I was a Chemist our boss was giving us hell for breaking some really expensive glassware. My co-worker looks him square in the face and says "If it wasn't meant to break they would have F#@&!%& made it out of stainless steel". Boss laughs and says "good point" and walks out!

Always go with SS IMHO.

Later,

Matt